muskie fishing reports?

[LincolnLunger]

anyone been muskie fishing lately? I think its still pretty hot around here for muskies but I thought maybe some of you guys might have went up north...

[esoxjunkie]

Water temps seem to be cooling around here, but I haven't been out locally.

Did go up to 'boji though over the weekend and lost a nice one at the boat sunday morning. Saturday morning my friend Randy caught a 51" fish while I was asleep in the cabin!

As soon as the water temps around here get into the 70's I should have something to report.

Jamie

[jabNE]

Lincolnlunger, I finally get a little time to try it in AM, I'll let you know how it goes.
Jim

[jabNE]

nada

[fowlfoolr1979]

Fishing has been really getting better up at Big Spirit as well as West Lake in Iowa over the past couple weeks with a few giant fish landed.


Layne

[fearnofish]

Fished Wagon Train tnite for only an hour and didnt catch much. My question to whoever might know is there were some big fish hitten something on top. They were not bass , either had to be ski's or cats? Tryed buzzbaits and didnt have any luck. What topwater lures work best this time of year and any guesses on what kind of fish these were taken it off the top.

[Hooligan]

It's very possible that they were muskies banging on shad. It's also possible that they were other species, Largemouth, cats, even gills will do it.
Muskies will filter throughout the water column in mixed temps like this. The surface might be sitting @ or near 80, doesn't mean that a foot or two below is sitting at the same, you'd be surprised sometimes at the temp differences.
Now, as far as targeting them, not sure that I'd be doing that just yet, BUT I don't know for certain where the temps are at the train. I do know that it is a great topwater lake, simply because of the clarity (lack thereof). Rumblers, topper-stopper and Weagles have all been productive for me in late summer early fall there. As have 700 series Buchertails and double showgirls. I've also caught fish on Muskie Treats, and Phantoms.

[esoxjunkie]

fearno, the water clarity being what it is on WT, I've been approaching it with the louder-the-better attitude towards topwaters. Bigger is good too, as it gives the fish an easier target.

Water temps are dropping as I type this, and it looks like the world is going to cool off this week so the muskie fishing should start to get really good around here. I'll probably go to the Z a time or two this week and see if I can find any little 'skis that want to have their picture taken.

Jamie

[sqwidbrain]

51 incher!!! WOW!! Nice start to a day! 51" ski! Bet you won't sleep in next time! 51 inches! wow. 51 incher! Trolling or what?

[danager]

Esox..

Out of curiosity, what are some of your more favorite "go-too" lures come fall and as the waters start to cool off a bit?

[Hooligan]

Originally Posted by danager

Esox..

Out of curiosity, what are some of your more favorite "go-too" lures come fall and as the waters start to cool off a bit?

A lot depends on the lake, I tend to like gliders in fall, as well as some of the big rubber baits like Suzy Suckers.
Now, if we are talking late summer into early fall, when fish turn to swine, I'll throw big blades, gliders, 10" Suicks, and topwaters. On WT specifically, I like tail baits like TopRaiders, and Pacemakers. I like creepers late there, too.
It just depends on the lake and on the pattern of the fish. If you are getting into fish that are hanging on the outside edge of weeds, almost like they would in early summer, you can hit them any number of ways, pick a bait, and stick with it, there's almost certainly a fish or two that would be interested.
If you find that you are getting fish that are lazy to negative, change it up, throw a larger glider, more erratically, and see what they do with that. Vary your retrieve with baits, go from almost slow rolling a blade bait to ripping and burning it, see if you can get that fish to convert. hit a good figure 8 every time you bring your bait boatside, particularly at WT. I've had a lot of fish I didn't see, until they were right on the boat, that I may have converted if I had been paying more attention.
If I had one bait that I would say is my "go to" bait in fall, it would be a 10" Suick in black, followed closely by a wabull in atomic carp. The Wabull provides the opportunity to move the bait a little faster, and get a little more erratic. The Suick is a dead set, tuned bait that you can do so many things with, it's so versatile every muskie fisherman should have one.

[esoxjunkie]

I've found over the years that my approach to muskies is quite different than most muskie nuts. A friend of mine who has literally written the book on Lake of the Woods muskie fishing is fond of saying that he'd rather fish the wrong lure in the right spot, than the right lure in the wrong spot.

Without going into a long monologue about feeding habits and biology of muskies, I'll just say that in my opinion most people chasing muskies overthink the process. Simply stated, muskies are the top of the food chain in any given body of water they live in. That said, anything else in the water is food. Given favorable weather/water conditions and throw in a day or two either side of the full moon and muskies will be active. Active muskies will eat anything!

To make a short story long, I don't put too terribly much thought into the what I'm throwing, and concentrate more on where and when I'm fishing. I have a very small (by muskie nut standards) box that I load with 10 or 15 baits before I go. These are proven ones, with good hooking percentages, and built tough enough to handle the destruction that those mean monsters can dish out. An example of what my box might have in it for a fall day on Zorinsky or WT would be:

Mepps Giant killer-gold/brn & gold/blk
Cowgirl-blk or brown
Big Game Tackle twitchbait (9")-blk/white
Poes Giant Jackpot-no preference for color
Ace Tandem SPinnerbait (2oz)-gold/brn & Silv/white
Slammer Deep Diver-blk/white & gold/org
Crazy Crank Rumbler-blk
Boogerman Buzz Bait-blk/org
Triple-D-no preference for color

That assortment would do for a day on local water, or a week on Lake of the Woods. A few years ago on the 'Woods we were 21/2 days into the trip when I noticed the three rods I had in the boat still had the same three baits on them that I rigged the day we got there. I know I fished the same blk/chart spinnerbait for a day and a half before I even threw anything else.

Needless to say, I don't spend a lot of time changing lures and looking for the magic bait.

squid, Randy caught the 51"er casting a big cabbage bed. The 42"er I lost at the boat Sunday morning was about 50 yards from where he caught the 51" the day before.

Jamie

[fearnofish]

Esox do you fish Wt for Muskie a lot?

[esoxjunkie]

haven't been on it yet this season. The high, dirty water kept me off it so far.

I suppose over the last couple years I've been on WT a dozen times or so. Not exactly a lot by any means. When I'm there I'm fishing for muskies though, except for one time in Feb of '07 when I met Daryl and his boy on the ice for a few hours.

Jamie

[danager]

Have you hit Z yet Esox??? If so any follows or hook-ups?

[esoxjunkie]

Was on the Z for about 3 hours thursday after work. Was surprised at how muddy the lake was. No muskies seen, no muskies caught. A friend of mine has been hitting the Z pretty hard this week with no success.

Still waiting for it to turn on.

Jamie

[Phoesing]

Just returned from a short trip to W-Boji with EsoxJunkie/Jamie…

(9/10/2008 - 11:30am to 7:30PM)
Jamie hooked a hot follow 38”er yesterday afternoon on a follow-up cast (he called the shot like Babe Ruth). The fish T-Boned his Wobbler and managed to not have a hook in his mouth, she held the wood for a short ride and spit it out…
We had five other fish up on the day (one was a supertanker…

A guide friend of ours; Shannon, pulled up a hundred yards in front of us and his client boated a 47”er right in front of us on the first cast (hooked it on the “8”; his first fish ever); it was very exciting!

(9/11/2008 – 7:30am to 11:30am)
We raised four fish this morning… I had a very hot 30”er grab the black Flashabou between the hooks on my Orange/Black Supermodel on the “8” and spit it out before I could jerk up (I choked)!

Between spots, we helped a stranger on the water who needed a photographer for his 21” Smallmouth Release; very nice fish!!!

All and all, a good twelve hours on the water for our Pre-Tourney Boji visit!

P-Hoes

[LincolnLunger]

Originally Posted by Phoesing

Just returned from a short trip to W-Boji with EsoxJunkie/Jamie…

(9/10/2008 - 11:30am to 7:30PM)
Jamie hooked a hot follow 38”er yesterday afternoon on a follow-up cast (he called the shot like Babe Ruth). The fish T-Boned his Wobbler and managed to not have a hook in his mouth, she held the wood for a short ride and spit it out…
We had five other fish up on the day (one was a supertanker…

A guide friend of ours; Shannon, pulled up a hundred yards in front of us and his client boated a 47”er right in front of us on the first cast (hooked it on the “8”; his first fish ever); it was very exciting!

(9/11/2008 – 7:30am to 11:30am)
We raised four fish this morning… I had a very hot 30”er grab the black Flashabou between the hooks on my Orange/Black Supermodel on the “8” and spit it out before I could jerk up (I choked)!

Between spots, we helped a stranger on the water who needed a photographer for his 21” Smallmouth Release; very nice fish!!!

All and all, a good twelve hours on the water for our Pre-Tourney Boji visit!

P-Hoes

Got any pics? sounds like a great trip... Wish I was there

[danager]

Great report! I would love to be on Boji this fall!!!!

[sodaksker]

caught a 37 friday night on top water and this 47 on a cowgirl saturday