Chas Martin
05-26-2009, 08:26 AM
Muskie fishing since the opener has been great! The key as always during this time revolves around this principle: heat, cover, baitfish. Find those three things and you will be sure to find muskie action.
Got out Sat. afternoon for muskies and had some awesome action. Within 5 minutes on the first spot my fishing partner hooked up with a 30 incher on a jointed, shallow running crankbait. Not a bad way to start the 2009 muskie season! Then we continued fishing and I boated 35 and 31 inch muskies holding shallow and not too far apart on a weed flat. The hot action took place from about 6 to 7 pm.
On Sun. morning I guided Doug, Paul and Devin for muskies. It was a cold start with AM temps in the low 40's but things heated up quickly as Doug battled a 40 inch class muskie at boat-side after a figure-8 at 7:10am on a crankbait. Unfortunately the fish got off but it boosted our confidence as we continued the trip. The guys caught another smaller muskie and two nice size northerns and had a number of muskies following to the boat. Water temps ranged from 61-65 degrees and wind was out of the NW at 0-5 mph. Very sunny conditions.
On Monday I fished in the annual WMT North and South Twin muskie tournament in Phelps. Again AM temps were very cold in the low 40's but things heated up and as usual, the wind picked up on the big lakes at 10-15 mph with strong gusts out of the NE. Water temps ranged from 58-61 degrees and conditions were sunny. Air temps ranged from 39am to around 68 in the afternoon. A total of 17 fish were caught with the biggest measuring 45 inches, which was the only fish that was not showing scars from spawning. At 11:40am my partner and I caught a 38 1/2 inche musky on a crankbait and then at 12:40pm we caught a 24 inch musky from the same area. The fish put us at 9th place over all, as 4 teams were able to double up with a field of 50 teams this year. Weeds were found in water as deep as 9 feet and heavy baitfish concentrations were seen in wind blown areas.
Get out there, the action has been improving quickly! Good luck,
Chas Martin
www.muskymastery.com
Got out Sat. afternoon for muskies and had some awesome action. Within 5 minutes on the first spot my fishing partner hooked up with a 30 incher on a jointed, shallow running crankbait. Not a bad way to start the 2009 muskie season! Then we continued fishing and I boated 35 and 31 inch muskies holding shallow and not too far apart on a weed flat. The hot action took place from about 6 to 7 pm.
On Sun. morning I guided Doug, Paul and Devin for muskies. It was a cold start with AM temps in the low 40's but things heated up quickly as Doug battled a 40 inch class muskie at boat-side after a figure-8 at 7:10am on a crankbait. Unfortunately the fish got off but it boosted our confidence as we continued the trip. The guys caught another smaller muskie and two nice size northerns and had a number of muskies following to the boat. Water temps ranged from 61-65 degrees and wind was out of the NW at 0-5 mph. Very sunny conditions.
On Monday I fished in the annual WMT North and South Twin muskie tournament in Phelps. Again AM temps were very cold in the low 40's but things heated up and as usual, the wind picked up on the big lakes at 10-15 mph with strong gusts out of the NE. Water temps ranged from 58-61 degrees and conditions were sunny. Air temps ranged from 39am to around 68 in the afternoon. A total of 17 fish were caught with the biggest measuring 45 inches, which was the only fish that was not showing scars from spawning. At 11:40am my partner and I caught a 38 1/2 inche musky on a crankbait and then at 12:40pm we caught a 24 inch musky from the same area. The fish put us at 9th place over all, as 4 teams were able to double up with a field of 50 teams this year. Weeds were found in water as deep as 9 feet and heavy baitfish concentrations were seen in wind blown areas.
Get out there, the action has been improving quickly! Good luck,
Chas Martin
www.muskymastery.com