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Posts: 397
Location: Wisconsin | I have been researching a lake that to my conclusion has a lot of mature musky. My problem is that I know it is a very clear lake, clearer than lakes I have fished before. What are some strategies you guys use to fish very clear water? My understanding is that the bite is tough on this water because it is so clear, so I would really appreciate some creative ways to fish this water! Thanks ahead of time guys | |
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Posts: 4269
Location: Ashland WI | For starters, fish deeper. Possibly deeper than you would think. Some clear lakes have weeds in 20+ fow. | |
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Posts: 556
| Yep--just like stated---I usually fish much deeper than I would in colored water---Sometimes I even feel like I am fishing too deep over Vacant Water---but I have caught some Nice Fish by doing so...
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Posts: 104
| Consider trying the night bite. | |
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Posts: 1425
Location: St. Lawrence River | Night fishing in the summer | |
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Posts: 470
| I fish only real clear lakes, Dawn and Dusk almost always produce better than during the day.
RandalB | |
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Posts: 525
| I wouldn't shy away from fishing a super clear lake during the day. Obviously the low light periods are usually better, but I've caught some of my biggest fish during mid day on clear water. Windy days are often better than calm days as they position bait and fish better. As far as baits I use a lot of natural colors like shad, perch, etc. | |
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Posts: 656
Location: Forest Lake, Mn. | Learn to troll. Learn to walk a lure on the bottom at 20+ feet deep, while going 2+ mph, while following the breakline or weedline. | |
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Posts: 2015
| love clear water.. BOMBS AWAY! | |
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Posts: 1906
Location: Oconto Falls, WI | Each lake is different. Some clear lakes the fish don’t care what time of day it is, and don’t care they are in shallow water. Other lakes the typical low light periods are best, and you best not fish anything much shallower than 20’. You really have to go out and find out what that lake’s idiosyncrasies are.
In general if you are going to fish shallower water use fast moving baits. If the lake has deep weeds get baits down near the base of the weeds unless of course you are dealing with “sandgrass” Then get just above the sandgrass. I would focus on suspended fish of course, but that isn’t necessarily the answer on all clear lakes. Bait colors…anything goes. Bright lures work surprisingly well on some clear lakes so don’t think you have to go natural.
What it really comes down to is don’t be afraid of clear lakes, and don’t go strictly by the “you have to fish it in low light or night fish it” mentality. Hit it multiple times at multiple times during a day/night, and find out what the fish prefer on that lake. It’s pretty tough to tell you exactly what to do, and we could all list a pile of suggestions that all of may work for you. Clear water lakes don’t necessarily need special treatment. Keep an open mind, go at it with a systematic approach to find a pattern, and you will do fine.
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Posts: 1828
| Travis has good tips. Almost all the waters I fish would be considered "gin clear" by some people, and oddly enough all the clear water rules don't really apply. I definitely like wind though.
If I was fishing a super clear ( > 20 ft visibility) lake for the fist time, I would fish it just like any other lake FIRST, vs. trying all the "clear water rules" first. Maybe that's wrong, but that's what my experiences have led me to believe. | |
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Posts: 2325
Location: Chisholm, MN | Agreed jesse. People get all nervous about clear water. Muskies are muskies. Burn bucktails over fishy spots and you'll do just fine. | |
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Posts: 719
| Jig deep or sit in the shallows and cast over the deep stuff drawing them up. | |
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Posts: 2753
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | Well, its a mistake to think you have to fish deep on clear lakes...If you can see 40' down, the muskie can see 40' up to the surface, thats just 10 body lengths for a 4' fish, and they can cover that distance like a rocket or slowly rise to inspect your offering...the abyss is where the really big girls spend most of their time, but they can be up on structure or more frequently just off structure. It doesn't matter if its a reef or a point or big weed flat. Don't just charge into the structure, come in casting both to the structure and back behind you, one of you should always be casting away to the abyss.
Try to avoid using your TM as much as possible, use wind, natural drift of the boat, etc. Don't come in with everyone throwing same lure, e.g., everyone's got a bucktail on, let the fish show you what they want. If everyone is throwing a bucktail and they really want a topwater or crank bait or twich bait or surface bait, its counter productive. Longer casts, better the odds that the lure is in their zone, where they are less wary.
Lazy follower's - grab a different rod & bait, converting lazy follower's with the same bait is tough or futile at best! Use speed changes, speed can & will trigger fish both in the retrieve and at the boat in the 8 or big circle. Clear water - remember the fish can see you too at the boat! Ask my grandaughter Jazmyn! Its a hoot when she's laughing at a mid-50" fish right at boat side. Remember that noise & sudden movements are taboo. If the fish is moving and following hot, its focused, if its a lazy follower, you might turn her off, by letting her see you or hear something unusual, and any time spent trying to bring her back may be futile too. Try to wear upper body colors that match the sky conditions, I like white or light blue, the goal is to not spook the fish by giving yourself an advantage that will not likely turn them off... its no different than deer hunting...you need to be stealthy.
Everyone seems to focus on 10' breaks, I look for 20'-30' break lines. I can move into the 10' or less easily... I also love fast drops to deep water and rock wall's even rock slides with fast drops to the abyss.. The abyss is their primary home and refuge, they do move up to feed "sometime's" so checking obvious structure can pay off...
Look for incoming water - especially if there are rapids or a beaver dam, it attracts big fish, oxygen levels are higher, the water is warmer and a lot of times where beaver dams are there is usually a sand shelf from sand brought in and a very nice weed bed with a deep water edge....however, don't go into weedbed overload on trout waters, trout waters can also have big weedbeds 15'-6' flats, bays, etc! The shallow weeds are likely holding smaller fish, the big girls mostly work the edges....LOL- One lake I fish, many muskie guys say its a small fish numbers lake, just keep doing what you're doing guys...I know better! Virtually every trout water lake has really big fish.
Lure colors, you would be surprised...likewise as to lure types, black & orange or extreme colors can work well too. I try to do both if I'm not fishing alone, e.g., a mix of types and colors, but someone needs to throw a match the forage lure, the fish will give you the pattern for the day or maybe the week....
If its not working you need to try a different tactic...trolling can be very productive and allows you to cover much greater area of the lake..actually a lot of times I have the boat out in 20 to +30 FOW trolling shorelines - sometime thats 10' from a rock wall for my shore line rod or board....good electronics and side-imaging are critical to effectivelly fishing trout waters.. Sure you can just pick some spots on the map and go for it, e.g., in a camp boat with no electronics, I've done that on flyin's and have been rewarded with encounters with scary big fish.
Ok, here's secret spring- lateJune tactic of mine, I guess now its not a secret, no wait just send me PM and I'll tell you..I don't want too see the thundering herd following me around..
Ask anyone who seriously fish trout water lakes for big fish, this is their likely response ->
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ2hJezvd2I
Trout waters can be a brutal mistress, but also extremely rewarding.. I just picked up a new match the forage lure at the Milwaukee Swap Meet! He's already to run with new doubled 170lb split rings and hooks, and will be running on the deep side when I pull away from the camp dock for my first trolling run to verify fish locations this year...I fully expect "Elwood" to get bit by a really big girl!
Have fun!
Al | |
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Location: Eagle Lake Vermilion Bay, Ontario | WISCO,
simply,clear water fish are a bit diff.,hunt and feed diff than dirty fish. analogy is the diff between a cheetah and a leopard with clear water fish being the cheetah and using/relying on speed and sight to run down prey vs ambushing from cover and using more "instinctive feel" like a leopard.
you cannot move aa bait to fast in clear water if you want to "catch", if you want moral victorys put on a big ,bright slow bait and you'll see a lot more but.....catch few.
early ,late,dark days etc yes key times but DO NOT be afraid fo the sun. my personal prefernce and best days i've ever had for daytime fishing is sun and lots of wind preferably with a westerly trend whether n or s connotations does matter much except how the structure your fishing layes and key spots set up. some fish will be up high on structure and very active,wilder with generally a quicker reaction to the bait with the high levels of oxygen being generated and light breakup from the waves causes quicker reaction to baits.
generally stay as far off traditional structure as the grade of the depth from shallow to deep will allow and still be able to reach edges with long casts and alot of speed . dont be afraid to fish structures twice from shallow to deep, also, work hard on your boat side maneuvers!!!!! as clearwater fish coming in hard with speed are easily taken hard into the first couple turns with positive results. generally the % of follows /hookups at boatside is much higher than in dirty.
pay way more attention to "non traditional" musky structure also. deeper humps 16-28" ,in most canada shield waters dont pay as much attention to open water bait in huge basins as much as bait in deeper neck down areas particularly between basins with wind,schools in deep water but within 1-4 long casts from structure or over tops of deep structure or hard bottom areas, wind or current driven edges off points of island or between clusters for higher % of contact.
tip of the nipple here really,could go on all day, but some things that should help get you thinking and started in right direction.
dont fear clear water embrace it with an open mind,most of the time you'll have alot of it to yourself and access to some of the biggest fish. while learning and developing confidence lakes like the lake and area of the lake i picked ( N/W EAGLE) with diversity from gin clear to coffee with in boating distance gives one alot of dimensions and options to work and consider.
GOOD LUCK MAN,
steve herbeck
AML prop emeritus,guest fishing instruction coordinator,master guide
facebook.com/AndyMyersLodge, andymyerslodge.com | |
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Posts: 2753
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | Thanks Herbie...
I forgot to add one very important thing that I learned from a Herbie Seminar - Boat control and using the wind - storms coming in and wind are almost sure to set up big fish on windblown side of structure....per Herbie - "if you can't control the boat, you can't fish it effectively". Its pure chaos and fun as hell.. Just be safe! You might have to get out of Dodge fast too!
Read what Herbie posted above several times, its really spot on and covers way more than I did... I'm about half way through Bill Hamblin's 120 days on the Water....its a great book. I picked it up on Saturday in Milwaukee. I'm waiting for a "Herbie muskie book" or maybe I should just bite the bulllet and go fish Eagle with him?
Ok- here's my late June favorite pattern.....fish the mayfly hatch right at dusk up to or past midnight...flys hatching in 20-80 FOW with soft bottom can be really crazy, as it generates a big feeding frenzy, e.g., both forage and predators.... you can see & hear the predator fish ambushing the forage as the forage fish and predators have moved or are in top of 4-8 feet of water column picking off mayfly's. With good electronics you can see the fly's coming up too. Your sonar screen will be so cluttered you might think its broken... I love it when the walleye guys complain about fly hatches, if mayflys have hatched night before, most of the walleye if any they catch fishing shallow will be puking mayflys in their boat. I gently ask them with kind words of sympathy where they saw the fly's..... I will tell them why if they ask me why I want to know...
Same is true of open water cisco schools, they rise up in the water column following the zooplankton...including mayflys after dark. In daytime the cisco's or forage are balled up deeper because there are big predators around - if you're a cisco, you don't want to wander out of the school...classroom.
Schools of juvenile lakers and whitefish do the same thing....move up after dark...it does take a mental shift to fish in 60-80-100 FOW in the abyss. Work the deep breaks off structure first and then go out in the abyss once you have some confidence..
If clear water is really that intimidating, a guide like Herbie can quickly up your learning curve on fishing trout waters...
Just be prepared to handle big fish...release tools, net, etc. ready. I have a hard time fishing stained waters, not because I can't catch fish on them, but that I've fell in love with brutal mistresses early on +20 years ago -> Canadian Shield trout waters, I guess I'm a glutton for punishment...it hurts so good!
One thing that really helped me to understand the abyss was trolling for big lakers and splake on Canadian Shield trout water with one of my best friends "Capt Troll" (Mike Hoffmann). Trolling is not as simple as sticking a lure out there and putting the motor in forward..and driving around the lake, its a science too. We also jigged for them to in 60-200 FOW.
Have Fun!
Al | |
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Posts: 1901
Location: MN | Moral victorys - love it Herbie | |
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Posts: 536
| majority of the lakes ive grown up fishing are super clear lakes. it does get a little frustrating at times when you sea lot of fish that see you too and will get boat shy but the tactics used are the same on any lakes really. you'll find you will get eaten most of the time towards the end of the cast rather than on the 8. I use a lot of dawgs and dussa's in natural colors like walleye and perch, bucktails it seems could be any pattern at times. some of the biggest fish you will see come from the clearest lakes. a lot of tulibee and whitefish and trout in those clear lakes usually. also it seems the real clear musky lakes are usually native strain fish and in my opinion are a little tougher to catch anyway. | |
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Strategies for fishing clear water