Musky Thread 2015

[Dave B]

My group and I will be in Camp in early August. I didn't make it to Camp last year so the next month and a half waiting is going to kill me. To help me, and my fishing buddies through the wait, I'm proposing some group therapy for all the musky nuts who visit the board. I'm suggesting that everybody post their Witch Bay/LOTW musky encounters in this thread. I know musky guys/girls are pretty tight with their information. I'm not suggesting people disclose their spots or ny specifics. But, I think we could all learn from each other if we post general information about where we see and/or catch fish (Witch Bay, Andrews Bay, main lake, other), what type of structure (weeds, rocks, combo), and what category of lure (bucktail, crankbait, surface lure, jerk bait, etc.), and general lake conditions (water temps and levels, weed growth, etc.). I'm curious to see how/if people respond. After we get back from our trip and I recover from my depression, I promise we will post lots of info. We will have 3 boats fishing Muskies pretty hard for 6 days. Good luck to everybody.

[bryan200088]

We fish an area I believe farther south than everyone that probably posts on the Witch Bay board, but noone ever really posts in the central section LOTW board anymore. I like sharing fish stories/pictures and check the board for updates most of the year. We stay near Nestor Falls and fish Sabaskong mostly. We had decent luck musky fishing this year. Caught between 30-40 over thirty inches. We fish for basically whatever will bite. Don't target any specific fish. Not our best year for a big number of 40+ inch musky but we did catch two nice ones, both over 50 inches.

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[lvilleracer]

Nice Fish. I head up with a group that fishes out of Nestor Falls starting 18 July. Can't wait to get up there and see what the lake has waiting for us this year. I missed this trip last year as well, the next three weeks are going to be difficult. Hope to see some good reports and to have some pictures and storeis to share when we get up there and get fishing.

[bryan200088]

It was an interesting year. We expected the weed cover to be up since the water was low and it had been pretty warm prior to us being there but the weed growth was actually behind. We found most of our fish once we located the weeds. We live in Indiana. I've been going for around 15 years now, but this was my father's 38th year. It was pretty unique compared to other low water years. We had to work a little harder but we still caught over a thousand on the week so I can't say the fishing was bad. We cast spinners, jerkbaits, etc. Basically hit every bay and cove we see and try to see what the fish like that week. We don't do too many shorelines and don't troll much.

[TimW]

It was an interesting year. We expected the weed cover to be up since the water was low and it had been pretty warm prior to us being there but the weed growth was actually behind. We found most of our fish once we located the weeds. We live in Indiana. I've been going for around 15 years now, but this was my father's 38th year. It was pretty unique compared to other low water years. We had to work a little harder but we still caught over a thousand on the week so I can't say the fishing was bad. We cast spinners, jerkbaits, etc. Basically hit every bay and cove we see and try to see what the fish like that week. We don't do too many shorelines and don't troll much.

You caught over 1000 muskies in a week?

[bryan200088]

No no lol I wish we had caught that many! We caught between 30-40 over thirty inches with the two biggest being the above ones shown. We caught around 50-60 muskies total. Over 1000 fish in the week (northern, smallie, walleye, muskie) which is a pretty average year for us. When we hit the 1400 mark we consider it good. We work pretty hard at it while we are up there for the week. I wait all year for the week fishing up there so I don't let it go to waste! We only caught 6 walleye this year but we don't really fish for them. Smallies were pretty slow this year too. Mostly a northern and muskie year.

[Dave B]

Guys -- thanks for posting. Let's keep the info coming. I think that by reading info about the lake and fishing a guy can start to put together the puzzle of figuring out where to start looking for Muskies. For instance, I look forward to reading the walleye reports from Camp. After the walleye bite on the weed line in Witch Bay starts to fade, I figure the musky will be on the rocks a week or so later. What types of stuff do you guys look for to put together patterns?

[Dave B]

According to the data from the weather buoy north of the French Narrows, the water temps yesterday were right around 70. Based upon info from a variety of sources, it looks like water levels are about normal, and the Muskies are transitioning to the rocks. Still some smaller Muskies being caught in the weeds -- little cup bays with weeds and/or reeds.

[lvilleracer]

My crew of 10 begins its journey to the LOW on Friday. Hope to have some good reports coming out during our trip next week, but that will all depend on the internet connectivity. As always it will be good to be on the water.

[Dave B]

Racer -- good luck. It looks like the weather has been reasonably stable the last week or so, and water temps on the weather buoy in LOTW show temps regularly holding above 70. I would think those 2 factors would help with the musky activity. We will look forward to your reports.

[lvilleracer]

Well we have returned from another nice trip to LOW. Fishing was a bit slower than normal for our group. We wound up with 14 fish over 30 inches, 3 or 4 of which were northerns, with 37 inches being the big fish for the week. Normally we end up closer to 20 with a few 40" fish mixed in. Early in the week was very tough, but fishing picked up as the week progressed. I was the only one in the group to pick up a muskie before wednesday.

It seemed like slow rolling the spinner bait was the key last week. At the end of the week we started picking up more follows off rocky points, with the wind blowing into them, if we got out of the wind we did not see much of anything moving.

So no great photos of big fish to post, but I will at least put up the biggest fish when I get them from the guy that took the photos. Good luck out there and be safe.

[Dave B]

Just got back from our trip to Witch Bay. We fished hard from Sunday the 9th through Friday the 14th. Water temps ranged from the upper 60s early in the week to mid 70s by the end. Muskies were hard to find on a reliable basis. We did manage to put a 50.5 and a 46 in the boat. We had a few days where we had a boat working good, known musky spots all day and not see a fish. The fish we did find were on some of most reliable spots over the years. On one of our better spots, we caught a 41" northern. Before this trip, we had never seen a northern on the spot. A number of low to mid 40" fish were posted on the board in the dining room. Russ reported the musky fishing was much improved so far this year over the same period last year -- perhaps due to last year's high water. Although the musky fishing was challenging, the bass and walleye fishing was very good. Russ took a couple of our guys out and they caught 146 fish by mid afternoon. Walleye were in the 18 to 25' range most of the time, with bigger fish coming deeper at times. Lots of quality bass (15 to 19") range were caught both jigging the walleye reefs and points as well as casting shorelines. Smaller crankbaits in the rocks with pauses was effective for us. Northern fishing, other than the 41" fish caught on one of our musky spots was fairly typical for this time of year -- a few small fish here and there, a few on the walleye reefs, and an occasional one related to weeds. The service and people at camp were terrific -- as usual. The food was exceptional. All in all, we had another great trip to Witch Bay Camp.

[Dward]

Dave B-

Thanks for the update, my son (9 years old) and I will be making our 2nd annual trip to Witch Bay this coming weekend. We will be there for a week. I will make sure to post how our trip went when we get back to help others who are thirsty for information as they await their fishing adventures in September/October.

[Dave B]

Dward -- good luck. I'm sure you will have fun. The guys in camp are great at getting guests dialed in quickly to productive patterns. If you have any questions before you go, don't hesitate to post here. There are lots of people with lots of knowledge the monitor this board that I'm sure would be happy to pipe in.

[Model 8]

Myself and a buddy are going to Lake of The Woods for the first time, any suggestions on where to stay?? We are leaning towards Witch Bay Camp, but are open to anywhere/anything. We are from WI and are planning on mostly Musky fishing on this trip. Our dates will be from 9/25-10/1. Any ideas???

Thanks..

[Dave B]

Well 8 you are on the Witch Bay board so you need to expect some support for that camp. I can tell you that between myself and a couple other guys in my group, we have fished out of 5 or 6 other camps on LOTW over the years, and have also done a houseboat trip. We've been coming back to Witch Bay for over a decade now. You wont be disappointed by the hospitality, food, service, docks, camps boats, etc, with Witch Bay. I do think the "common wisdom" is that the density of muskies in the NE portion of LOTW [where Witch Bay is located] is lower than the density in the NW Angle and or Sabaskong. That being said, generally speaking, my experience is that there is less pressure from serious musky fishermen in the Witch Bay area than in the Angle [I've never fished Sabaskong]. That being said, we are seeing more and more serious muskie fishermen every year but still nothing that a guy from Wisconsin would consider pressure. If you are looking for numbers, you might want to consider the NW Angle. If you want decent numbers, and quality fish, I think you would be pleased with Witch Bay. Plus the folks at With Bay cater to musky guys, and their "pros" are avid musky guys and can get you on a pattern pretty quick. Hope this is helpful

[Model 8]

Thanks Dave, great information. I hope to book sometime today and will let you know how this all works out. I think Witch Bay it is!! We fish in the Fall here in WI and if we can see/hook a fish or two a day we feel it's been a great day, so anything more will be a welcome surprise!!! Really looking forward to this trip.

[JJC]

I was at Witch Bay from 9/5 - 9/12.
It was very warm on Sunday and 5 fish were obated and put on the board.
Mine was 38 in. and in the middle of the pack others were a little smaller and two were in the mid 40's.
As the weather drew colder during the week the catching slowed down a little bit.
Fish were being boated but not quite as many.
Fish in the high 40's - low 50's were caught the rest of the week.
The main issue was there was no main pattern.
Some were catching off the rocks close to deep water others in the weeds.
The water temp started at 70 early in the week but was 64 when I left.