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Posts: 86
Location: Illinois | How many muskies could the average muskie fisherman catch without a guide in seven days (Lake of the Woods)?
Edited by TMuskyFisher 7/16/2018 5:03 PM
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| IAJustin and BNelson might try and tell you 20-25. Honestly, the answer is probably closer to 7-12 per guy which could mean 14-36 per boat depending on the number of guys. |
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Posts: 299
| Depends on what section your fishing. The Angle and Sabskong have good numbers. Other sections won’t even come close to the same totals of caught fish. |
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Posts: 86
Location: Illinois | Nice to know, thank you. |
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Posts: 86
Location: Illinois | Is Nestor Falls still considered Sabaskong Bay? |
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Posts: 36
Location: Kansas City MO | I fished 5 days there at the end of June/ early July at the angle and only boated 5. My buddy only boated 1. Lots of lookers but few takers. This is generally the exception but it can be slow. |
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Posts: 17
| If you average 2 fish in the boat a day for a week you are doing better than most I have talked to. |
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Posts: 581
| Lots of variables here. What section of the lake and how many hours do you plan to fish per day? As mentioned, numbers will be higher in the NW Angle and Sabaskong. My brother and I averaged 1 boated fish per approx 3-4 hours when we were fishing out of the NW Angle. Put in 70-80 hours of fishing in 6-7 days and do the math. But everything can be weather dependent. We had some tougher trips and some better trips.
The area we're fishing nowadays is more like 5-6 hours/fish, but our average size has increased. (A trade off we're happy with).
Edit: sorry, typo's
Edited by Matt DeVos 7/16/2018 10:00 PM
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Posts: 1767
Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | Cfollow - 7/16/2018 5:36 PM
IAJustin and BNelson might try and tell you 20-25. Honestly, the answer is probably closer to 7-12 per guy which could mean 14-36 per boat depending on the number of guys.
Imo, very few people are pulling in numbers like that any longer. The average 2 person boat these days is catching about 8-12 per week. |
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Posts: 239
Location: Elroy, Wisconsin | You can have those five fish days, but if you average two you are about average. There are a lot of guys that just cant admit getting blanked on certain days. Take a look at Sarics schools 120 fish for 5 days fishing, 24 guys fishing, or about one a day per person. Think about it.
Mudpuppy |
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Location: Contrarian Island | while 20 to 30 fish for 2 guys in a week is do-able, very few do it... maybe 1 in 40-50 boats I would guess.
while we have averaged over 3 fish per day in our 6 trips, I do realize that is not avg. I've watched reports for years and as other have noted I would say the "average" boat is putting 8 to 12 in the boat for 6.5 days for 2 guys.. I don't see many boats hitting 7 to 12 fish per guy, that is per boat. as Matt noted it's also dependent on how hard/much you fish while you are there. some like to sleep in, then maybe go fishing by 11am, come back for dinner and then go out again.... unless the weather is perfect this is not the way to put 20+ in the boat for a week. Our 'worst' week was 16 and best so far was 29, unreal size with 11 over 48., with our average at about 22-23... Weather and skill level are the 2 biggest factors in putting a good number of fish in the boat any day/week/trip.
short trips also skew the data for a week trip. I roll my eyes when guys tell me they got 15 in 4 days or something and then try to assume they would avg that many fish in the week. weather can and does throw us curve balls. we got 22 in a 4.5 day trip once and I'm not about to tell you we would have caught any more if we were there another 2 days...that is simply impossible to predict. only way to know what you can do in a full week is to be there the full week....
Mhunter numbers also include the guides if I'm not mistaken. It usually ends up being about 35-40 guys, 120 fish.
Edited by BNelson 7/17/2018 9:34 AM
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Posts: 457
Location: Minneconia | Cfollow - 7/16/2018 5:36 PM
IAJustin and BNelson might try and tell you 20-25. Honestly, the answer is probably closer to 7-12 per guy which could mean 14-36 per boat depending on the number of guys.
Funny and so true! |
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Posts: 171
Location: indiana | My personal average over the last seven trips to sabaskong is 12. My best is 17. Worst was six. Three 50 and over and 3 49’s. We average just under twenty for two guys. |
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Posts: 397
| The last few years we got 13-17 in the boat for the week with either 2 or 3 guys in the boat. We fish long days and are still learning the lake. Some days are a struggle to get one bite than you smack 6 the next day. |
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Posts: 2687
Location: Hayward, WI | I think Brad's post was pretty accurate. I've been there 4 times now. We've fallen into that 8 to 12 range most trips. The 1st year was much slower. Last year we saw and hooked way more than normal but fewer hit the net.
For the most part we travel Saturday and have 6 solid fishing days. It's been just 2 of us in the boat and my partners have not had the desire or stamina to fish fast and all day with little time for breaks.
So we leave the dock at maybe 10 to 11 am and are back about dark. The boat takes a break for a while to eat lunch on an island. I'm usually fishing faster and more than my partner and have caught about 80 percent of the fish whether I'm fishing from the front or back.
So on average I'll say in a tough week with two people not hitting it hard 4 to 8 fish for the week. Yup, they don't always jump in the boat and they don't always like the easy presentations.
On an average week with a couple average guys fishing semi hard 8 to 15 for the boat.
On a pretty good week with 2 guys fishing hard all week i could see where the 15 to 30 numbers could come from.
It all just depends on so many variables. Weather. Angler effort and skill. How many fell off vs stayed pinned. Etc etc. |
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Posts: 833
| So what is the typically fishing schedule up there if you are going aggressive? I've heard it isn't the best idea to burn the candle at both ends. So are you getting out at 5, taking an afternoon nap, and then going until First Dark? Or are you ironman-ing it and fishing 18 hours every day? |
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Posts: 50
| I've been up there a handful of times out of nestor falls great water fish on any spot at any given time. Only thing that was really different was seems to be a midday window from noon to 2 or 3 a lot of fish up on structure at that time. Most follows but let you locate fish as well. |
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Posts: 93
| some like to sleep in, then maybe go fishing by 11am, come back for dinner and then go out again.... unless the weather is perfect this is not the way to put 20+ in the boat for a week.
True. It is however a good way to have a #*^@ fine vacation. Some people even take time to catch a walleye or two for shore lunch (gasp!). Success isn't only putting more muskies in the net than the other guy.
So what's average? I think people exaggerate, a lot. 10 muskies in the boat is a good week for most folks fishing muskies.
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Location: Contrarian Island | agreed. we take time out to walleye fish, pike fish, and even naps... every one has different expectations on a trip. I get to lotw for 7 days. so when I am there, my goal is to put as many as I can in the net..for others it might be to just relax and not fish as hard. I'm too young for that 
Edited by BNelson 7/17/2018 10:02 AM
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Posts: 28
| Brad P - 7/17/2018 9:35 AM
So what is the typically fishing schedule up there if you are going aggressive? I've heard it isn't the best idea to burn the candle at both ends. So are you getting out at 5, taking an afternoon nap, and then going until First Dark? Or are you ironman-ing it and fishing 18 hours every day?
We used to get up early, but definitely do not do that anymore. I just got back from a 5-dayer, and we were on the water before 10:00am once. We typically fished until 10:15pm. We caught two fish every day, with a lot of really bad luck with some lost fish right at the boat. I typically don't look at the overall # of fish boated, because of all the variables that come into play. I feel it's better to track hours per fish. Weather, getting up early, sleeping in, fishing Walleyes, taking an afternoon break, etc. all play a role into the # of fish caught. If a boat gets 16 for the week by fishing 14 hours a day, and another boat gets 9 for the week fishing 8 hours a day, who did 'better'? Sure, 16 is more than 9, but both were on fish @ about the same pace. It's a vacation, I'd much rather sleep in, drink some coffee, and maybe have a cocktail or two in the morning. |
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Posts: 581
| We usually go up in mid-August where sunrise is at 6am and sunset is around 8:30pm. Our fishing schedule is a bit of "play it by ear" by watching the weather forecast. Typical day, we'll try to be on the water between 6:30-7:00am, take an hour-long break around noon or so (unless the bite is really happening, of course), and then fish until nearly dark around 9:15pm. If it is a forecasted post-frontal day, (you always get 1 or 2 of those), we'll often sleep in. And then, there always seems to be a day or two where we'll take a solid 2-3 hour late morning or afternoon nap to catch up on any zzzz's that we've shortchanged ourselves on. When it appears that we'll have a "good weather" day, we'll typically try to be on the water pre-sunrise and fish until dark. Most weeks, we'll get a total of about 80 hours on the water, +/- up to 5 hours either way. |
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Location: Contrarian Island | we do about the same as Matt... I had tried to calculate how much actual fishing time we get on avg per day once between walleye jerking, drive time, naps etc... I think I came up with 9 hrs per day maybe 10. this year for the heck of it might take a stop watch and run it when we are fishing to see... some days we sleep in, some days we get up, some days we take a 3 hr nap mid day from drinking our buddies case of coors light the night before til 3am |
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Posts: 1767
Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | As much as a short mid day nap or break would be appealing, the logistics of doing that on LOTW can be really challenging. At any given time I could be 20+ miles away from camp (not an exaggeration) and it’s not always feasible or economical to go all the way back and then run another 10-20 again at night. Really depends how and where you fish, and where your camp is.
We generally leave the dock between 8-9 in August and do not come back in until it’s dark out. I might try tinkering with that a bit this year but it’s not as easy as it sounds with reasons above cited. The bar at Wiley’s is a dangerous trap I just discovered 
Edited by Musky Brian 7/17/2018 11:00 AM
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Posts: 300
Location: Minocqua, WI | I'm not sure if anyone mentioned this above, but good chemistry and teamwork with partners is huge, beyond being in the right areas at the right time. That's what will make or break the week for boat catch totals. I've experienced hero trips, and zero trips. Had my best trips with good partners (Musky Brian) where 15 to 20 fish per week was average. Guy up front and guy in back reciprocate. Guy up front blades, guy in back (me mostly) throw the slow/other stuff. When one guy misses, other guy catches. Vice-versa. 2 guys, with the mentality of who cares who catches what.
Then I've done blind trips with new people simply to be an extra body on their trips & boat, which turned into complete disasters. Worst partners ever had. Long story short, ZERO fish for the entire boat (3 guys) in 1 week can be possible in those situations as well. Happened once. Didn't think that could ever be possible...... I really wanted to drown myself or stab myself with #10 hooks that week.......
Having experienced the BEST and BAD of LOTW, it all comes down to good partner, good boat, and teamwork, and other lesser variables. But whatever your outlook, nothing beats Canadian fishing. |
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Posts: 2065
| All I’ll add is there are many ways and areas to catch muskies on lotw, fish weeds, fish wood, fish docks, thousands of points, islands, rock reefs that many fish but they also hold many fish, rock reefs that top out at 10-15 feet , might be a walleye guy on these.. I never see muskie guys but the fish are there..on and on..I’ve been fortunate to have roughly 50 weeks on the lake the last 15 years...not afraid to burn gas.. but I can’t fish 1/4 of the spots I’ve caught a fish on in a week. Last 3 years I’ve switched my focus to Minaki, fun to explore “new to You” water. Good luck, lotw is a truely special place!!!
Edited by IAJustin 7/18/2018 7:15 AM
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Posts: 833
| I'm excited for my trip, I'll be fishing solo because I really like a meat grinder. LOL |
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Posts: 200
Location: Milwaukee, WI | We get on the water early then come in for a fish fry around noon and a beer. Put away the 40 lures we have out all over the boat and take a short rest. Back out from 3 to 9 then a prepared dinner. This gives us some peak times and keeps us fresh from the mid day heat. |
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Posts: 1784
| This thread reinforces to myself why I like to fish alone. |
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Posts: 925
| Heading to LOTW on Saturday for a week, come home for a week, and then back for another week. I've got I think 20 weeks on LOTW in the past 15 or so years.
Since we started staying at Monument at the beginning of our trips 15 years ago and their "board" started at 40" for a musky, my buddy and I never counted sub-40" fish. If you look at that board from years' past, it wasn't out of the normal to see Saric, Heiting, Petros, or any of the other guys with only 1 or 2 fish over 40" on that board for their week. Rarely did you see any of them with 3 or more over 40.
So when we made the board on any given year, we thought we were doing well.
There has been 3 out of the 20 weeks that I personally have been skunked with nothing over 40. I remember one year having a 39!
Long story short, me personally over the past 15 years I've caught anywhere from 0 over 40 in a week to I think 6 over 40 was my best week.
If I was counting any and every musky caught, then my numbers would be higher.
I do have 4 50+ in the past 7 years, so that makes up for the lack of little ones
Midge
Edited by MuskyMidget 7/18/2018 7:57 PM
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Posts: 239
Location: Elroy, Wisconsin | In my opinion your trip is what you make it, I tend to fish long hours cuzz I am running out of time age wise. Not the majority of musky people call that fun when hour after hour nothing happens. Last year Sept. cloudy lite mist at times all day. Nothing, nada, zero till 5 PM 52 1/2". Great day, great trip, great season on Lake of the Woods. Also been blanked for week in late Oct. turned into summer. Have fun catch a few muskies, enjoy the eagles, bears, pelicans, trees growing out of rocks, I hope I die there, won't be a long trip to heaven if I am lucky.
Slimey devils God love em and all who chase them.
Mudpuppy |
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Posts: 925
| I did forget to mention that we are not early risers. We have a theory that muskies don't bite on LOTW before 11:00 am !!!
I would say we average leaving the dock by 10:15 am, but never come in, unless we are blown off by a storm which rarely happens. So 10:15 am until dark in late July is a solid day on the water.
The reason we don't fish early is because we like to drink around the camp fire and reminisce. When you don't get in to camp until 10:00 pm and you start having beers and BSing ... it becomes 1:00 am in a hurry!
To us it's as much about that as it is about the fishing.
Ball Cap
Edited by MuskyMidget 7/18/2018 8:59 PM
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Posts: 1636
| Regardless of the big numbers others put up... if you can catch at least one per day... you had a good week. Believe it or not... many people go up to Lake of the Woods and do not catch a single Muskie - all week. Some only catch a few. A lot of the people who put 10-25+ fish in the boat in one week have a lot of experience on the lake or they get a lot of help from other people. With that being said... guys who have never been on the lake and are not given any information have done well, too. Like others have mentioned... it can take a lot of work and long hours to catch a lot of fish - even on Lake of the Woods. This goes without having to say it.
Good luck next time you make it out! |
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Posts: 14
| Fished NW Angle July7-14th. Four guys 34 Muskies. |
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Posts: 111
| I don't think it has been mentioned yet. My guess is that the guys reporting high numbers are boats with anglers performing excellent figure 8's. There are weeks when 90% of the fish are caught on the 8. |
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Location: Contrarian Island | we haven't seen that high of % in the 8 over our 6 trips. I'd guess it is more in the 45-50% range but yes, a good figure 8 is key on any water...
Edited by BNelson 7/19/2018 9:12 AM
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Posts: 331
Location: Stevens Point, Wisconsin | Oh how things have changed in 20 years.....
My expectations have changed also. Best year I can recall was 2006 when I was up for 16 days. Fist 7 days I put 40 in the boat. Next 2 days a buddy and me put 18 more in the net and the final 7 days me and another buddy put 25 and 23 respectively in the net.
Not those kinds of weeks so much anymore. So much has changed as far as fish holding structure on the lake in the last 10 years (loss of weed structure). The lake fishes smaller and you still might have the occasional 5-8 fish days but stringing 3 or 4 of those days together doesn't happen much anymore.
I have had discussions with other guys on what is happening on lotw and I think for the most part we are still trying to figure it out. Definitely there has been a change in baitfish patterns and as said before musky holding structure. I believe that the shallow packs of fish that once held close to weeds and had cover and food now roam off the breaks and follow baitfish around. Fish do still slide up shallow and on mid lake rocks and you can have great days running and gunning when the rock bite is on, but throw in some crappy weather and negative fish like the last three weeks and it can make for some long weeks.
Still a great place to chase fish and if you time it right you can have a blast! This year July has been not so good. Some days where they have really turned on but a lot of days of sluggish fish. I would say if a guy can average 2 fish a day he is doing well. Most guys fishing this year in July would take that! But with that said you can put a lot more in the boat if all the stars line up and you are not afraid to run and gun and burn gas! Right Mr. Nelson
Ed
Edited by MuskyTime 7/19/2018 9:57 AM
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Posts: 925
| 39 degrees makes an excellent point. Our conversion rate went up astronomically once we learned how to figure 8 better.
We haven't kept track, but I would guess at least 75% of our fish come on the figure 8.
Honestly, we laugh when we catch one long line because it doesn't happen very often.
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Posts: 425
Location: Roseau | I have been fishing the lake for around 20 years, have a place at the Angle and parents have had a place up there since I was 10. Been keeping track of hours fished per fish and we are at 4 hours. I don't fish a ton but go out a few hours here and there every weekend in the summer and do a 3-5 day trolling trip in the fall that is sun up to sun down. Go days without a fish and have had up to 8 fish days. I see someone said July has been slow, it has bee really good for us, you never know!! |
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Posts: 291
Location: Minneapolis | As others have said, the area of Lake of the Woods makes a big difference. Fishing Whitefish Bay could mean 1-3 fish for the week. |
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Location: SE, WI. | MuskyTime - 7/19/2018 9:50 AM
Oh how things have changed in 20 years.....
My expectations have changed also. Best year I can recall was 2006 when I was up for 16 days. Fist 7 days I put 40 in the boat. Next 2 days a buddy and me put 18 more in the net and the final 7 days me and another buddy put 25 and 23 respectively in the net.
Not those kinds of weeks so much anymore. So much has changed as far as fish holding structure on the lake in the last 10 years (loss of weed structure ). The lake fishes smaller and you still might have the occasional 5-8 fish days but stringing 3 or 4 of those days together doesn't happen much anymore.
I have had discussions with other guys on what is happening on lotw and I think for the most part we are still trying to figure it out. Definitely there has been a change in baitfish patterns and as said before musky holding structure. I believe that the shallow packs of fish that once held close to weeds and had cover and food now roam off the breaks and follow baitfish around. Fish do still slide up shallow and on mid lake rocks and you can have great days running and gunning when the rock bite is on, but throw in some crappy weather and negative fish like the last three weeks and it can make for some long weeks.
Still a great place to chase fish and if you time it right you can have a blast! This year July has been not so good. Some days where they have really turned on but a lot of days of sluggish fish. I would say if a guy can average 2 fish a day he is doing well. Most guys fishing this year in July would take that! But with that said you can put a lot more in the boat if all the stars line up and you are not afraid to run and gun and burn gas! Right Mr. Nelson
Ed
Ed brings up some good points. And yes, we have discussed changes that have taken place.
So many variables play into every trip. We just returned from a frustrating trip as far as weather goes. A lot of wind kept us from fishing spots and areas we wanted to target.
(What is wrong with these weather people predicting winds. ) Every day, just add 8-10 MPH to predicted winds: ) Sheesh
Anyways, getting back to the woods, Yes, very tough to go fish shorelines like back in the late 90's, early 2000's, and boat 5-8 fish daily. I've seen classic areas, simply pounded to death, NOW you rarely see a boat fish those areas any more. Why? Fish seem to have vacated those areas, Or did they?
Fisherman really need to be versatile, and adjust to their new haunts. Fish seemed to have moved. Talked to several musky guys that were raising only 1-2 fish a day.
Just returned from a 12 day trip, boated 12 first 6 days, then got skunked 2 days in a row, then finished strong with 14 last 4 days. 7 over 45", and lost 3 big fish with boat side strikes in that stretch. Weather moving in the last 2 days, was the difference. A lot of Sun seemed to hurt our bite. Some of our bite, which I see nobody doing, is off the breaks, steep walls, and deeper humps.
Been talking to walleye guys the past 3 years. They concour that they are catching more musky, and having their catches stole by more musky than in the past.
With a 54" size limit, there should be more musky than ever, YET, fishing seems to be more of a grind. Maybe mishandling of fish could be the only reason why some are not making it. I've talked with several guides, and resort owners that said, after the Muskie schools, they have seen several musky floating. I have not seen it, since I am usually leaving right with the schools. I've had big,BIG name people tell me not to be holding fish up for photos any more, that I don't need another picture when water temps are warm, then to turn around and see them holding fish up out of the water next winter on a TV show during that same time frame!!! We rarely net a fish any more under 46. A pinch of the hook, and say goodbye, ensures that fish to grow to 50". Unless a fish is hooked deep, or has all three trebles, and to keep the angler safe, then only do we net the fish. A lot of water release shots NOW! We as anglers need to take catch and release to a whole new level to maintain fisheries to thrive.Been fishing the woods since 99, and have yet to catch a fish over 53". SO! Fish have to still be there, YET, some weeks their on, some off!
Thomas, I would guess that if you never fished the woods, you could catch 1 a day, with help from other fishers, maybe 2 a day.
JD Edited by jdsplasher 7/22/2018 8:05 AM
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Posts: 356
| Ed and Jim: yes. |
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Posts: 24
| daiwaguy do you mind saying what type of structure you were fishing? we were there at the same time. I left 3 days early. we have been going around that time for last 5 years. we typically catch 35-50 for 8-10 guys. we only caught 10 for the week. seemed to see most in green cabbage but would only follow. some on rock points in monument early but not rest of week. we fish a fair sized area over the week
thx |
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Location: Warroad, Mn | All I can say is that I'm glad I got to fish the lake the last 50 years and not the next 50 years. Still a great place, but many changes in the past 15 years. Biggest change is the lack of weed growth. I suspect this maybe hurting reproduction.
Edited by dougj 7/22/2018 11:26 AM
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Posts: 1636
| While some of the good weed spots are either gone or not as good as they once were (mainly bays)... a lot of what we would look at and believe to be a good spot... as far as deeper breaklines, points, spines, and current areas - seem to be regular producers. A lot of these spots are near areas that used to have good weed growth... or used to provide good weed growth themselves. So, these deeper spots were either always good spots, or it is possible that instead of using shallow water with no cover... many of those fish now resort to deeper water and use the depth, current, and bottom for cover.
At certain times... water temperature and sunlight or lackthereof might bring Muskies up shallow, regardless of there being weeds or not. But, weeds also provide cover and can attract forage... so, if there are neither of the two... there is no reason for a Muskie to use that area for anything other than comfort.
The idea that there may also be less fish on rock reefs now than in the past can challenge this... however, the rock reefs that are now less productive may be farther away from good spawning areas... and some rock reefs used to provide good weeds.
Spots that used to be good when there were good weeds... that are and can still be good are... saddles. They usually provide a number of different elements such as sand, current, and forage. At times... those things can attract a Muskie just as much as the weeds.
While I have not fished Lake of the Woods for as long as guys like Doug... the changes everyone speaks of did not seem to take very long.
Just some ideas. I could be out of my mind...
Edited by Reelwise 7/22/2018 2:20 PM
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Posts: 133
| I'm certainly no expert but I do have a fair amount of time under my belt over the last 10 years or so... I feel like I get very few days the fish are "on" the past couple years. Days for me to have muskies ripping hard after a bucktail have certainly decreased quite a bit actually. The fish are still in or around the spots that I fish tho, I will rework spots with a low slow moving lure just to try to see if there are fish in the vicinity and alot of times (too many times) sure enough there was a fish on the spot.... Just had no interest in chasing something down!!! |
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Location: Lakeville, MN | Just got back from a week trip, my boat got 22 muskies, with three 48.5 and above, a decent week for my boat. Definitely tried different areas and techniques, it was rewarding when it paid off. There are a lot more pressured fish now, getting a bucktail slammed in popular areas usually meant it was a smaller fish or it was at very ideal fishing times.
I saw 2 or 3 dead muskies on shorelines, haven't seen that before in my 8 yrs going up there. If in doubt, cut the hooks and bring extra hooks!
My biggest lesson? Bring a very long extension cord and be prepared to charge the trolling motor batteries from the cabin. I'll start another thread about that but it wasn't fun getting up on a very good weather day, only to find out that someone unplugged my cord to stop the dock circuit breaker from tripping, apparently due to too many boats charging. Totally changed our fishing day, in the precious little time I get to fish up there - probably would have caught a couple more. Bad musky karma for some jerk out there |
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Location: Contrarian Island | my take on it is there are still roughly the same amount of fish in the lake, they are simply getting spread out over more boats and relating to bait and/or structure deeper than most of us are casting... I hope the doom and gloom of decreased reproduction is not correct... we have seen about the same # of fish over the 6 trips I have been on … last year we saw more over 50 than any other trip by a long shot...guys are reporting seeing lots of low to mid 30s so they are still reproducing well … at least I hope.
Edited by BNelson 7/22/2018 4:47 PM
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Posts: 1767
Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | I’m not quite ready to say reproduction is an issue yet...it could be, but I don’t think that’s the main culprit behind reduced numbers on trips. The crayfish obviously have done a number on the weeds and have basically destroyed a ton of great fishing spots. Combine that with what I feel are the most anglers the area has seen from a historical norm and you have a potentially negative combination of factors. Throw in people owning nicer boats with great electronics and mapping too. Less good spots plus more guys sharing these spots equals less of a chance to find “fresh” fish. Those spots without weeds now are often no longer prime ambush areas and the fish are possibly roaming around more. These weeks in which the conditions aren’t condusive to fish being up shallow and active on rocks are hurting the average catch rate. I’ve been bailed out in past years by turning to weeds and getting reaction bites when they are sluggish...now with those mostly eradicated, it’s time to make some changes (when needed) and really start keying in on small details. Obviously you can still have a very good trip, but I think the possibility of an “off” week with a lower floor is also greater than what it once was.
.....anyways, I think we need more Musky Schools/Camps/Outings/Seminars up there. The 50 current ones just aren’t enough and there’s still some fish out there to be caught!
Edited by Musky Brian 7/23/2018 9:31 AM
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Posts: 425
Location: Roseau | I am fishing completely different than previous years, best year by far so far.
New spots, different lures, different tactics. I am seeing large pike in big numbers also. I have my boy with me all the time he is 10 and picked up a 45" pike Saturday. Many pike in the 40-42" also. I gave up on my go to bays and weed spots, used to be mainly a weed guy too. Hope this trend continues!
Good luck |
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Location: Hayward, WI | Fisher - 7/23/2018 9:39 AM
I am fishing completely different than previous years, best year by far so far.
New spots, different lures, different tactics. I am seeing large pike in big numbers also. I have my boy with me all the time he is 10 and picked up a 45" pike Saturday. Many pike in the 40-42" also. I gave up on my go to bays and weed spots, used to be mainly a weed guy too. Hope this trend continues!
Good luck
Interesting. Are you fishing deeper? Being more of a cooler water fish I'm sometimes surprised at how many bigger pike are caught in warm shallow water up there. |
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Location: MN | Musky Brian - 7/23/2018 9:27 AM
I’m not quite ready to say reproduction is an issue yet...it could be, but I don’t think that’s the main culprit behind reduced numbers on trips. The crayfish obviously have done a number on the weeds and have basically destroyed a ton of great fishing spots. Combine that with what I feel are the most anglers the area has seen from a historical norm and you have a potentially negative combination of factors. Throw in people owning nicer boats with great electronics and mapping too. Less good spots plus more guys sharing these spots equals less of a chance to find “fresh” fish. Those spots without weeds now are often no longer prime ambush areas and the fish are possibly roaming around more. These weeks in which the conditions aren’t condusive to fish being up shallow and active on rocks are hurting the average catch rate. I’ve been bailed out in past years by turning to weeds and getting reaction bites when they are sluggish...now with those mostly eradicated, it’s time to make some changes (when needed) and really start keying in on small details. Obviously you can still have a very good trip, but I think the possibility of an “off” week with a lower floor is also greater than what it once was
.....anyways, I think we need more Musky Schools/Camps/Outings/Seminars up there. The 50 current ones just aren’t enough and there’s still some fish out there to be caught!
Spot on, and yes let's have more schools. |
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Posts: 153
| My two cents? Reproductive success is declining, success is the key word. Without the weeds beds to offer cover and protection the chance that a fingerling can grow into a fish that can protect itself, is hard to imagine. 30 years ago we would maybe catch one of two pike per year. Now they are everywhere. Guess what those pike eat fingerling muskie.
The pressure is unbelievable. And the number of dead fish in unbelievable as well.
For those that did not fish the lake prior the rusty's they have no idea the affect. The lake is becoming more in-fertile. Entire islands were surrounded by cabbage.
Like my neighbor (DJ), glad I fished the last 30 years and not the next.
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Location: Chisholm, MN | Dan Klis - 7/23/2018 11:08 AM
My two cents? Reproductive success is declining, success is the key word. Without the weeds beds to offer cover and protection the chance that a fingerling can grow into a fish that can protect itself, is hard to imagine. 30 years ago we would maybe catch one of two pike per year. Now they are everywhere. Guess what those pike eat fingerling muskie.
The pressure is unbelievable. And the number of dead fish in unbelievable as well.
For those that did not fish the lake prior the rusty's they have no idea the affect. The lake is becoming more in-fertile. Entire islands were surrounded by cabbage.
Like my neighbor (DJ), glad I fished the last 30 years and not the next.
I'm seeing more and more veteran muskie hunters take less and less of an interest because of how bad the fishing is these days. I always tell my wife after shes's frustrated with not catching anything that it's too bad you weren't muskie fishing with me even 10 years ago. You'd have a lot more follows and bites, with a lot less people pounding the spots. I only started fishing lake of the woods 3 years ago and I feel like I'm on vermilion some days with how much pressure I'm seeing. I thought I was going there to escape, but you can't escape the mob!
Edited by Kirby Budrow 7/23/2018 1:56 PM
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| Time to start stocking it I guess!!! |
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Location: oswego, il | A buddy of mine just spent 10 days up there. He got 5, his partner 0. |
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Location: Warroad, Mn | I agree!
Look at this from an evolutionary standpoint. Muskies have been spawning in emerging weeds on the LOTWs for hundreds of years. All of a sudden there's no emerging weeds. What do you think is happening?
LOTWs is still probably still one of the best muskie fisheries in the world, but I fear!
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Posts: 2065
| There’s no emerging weeds??? I can think of about 100,000 acres of weeds? Just because the nice green cabbage beds aren’t there that hold fish during the summer doesn’t automatically mean the sky is falling... the places they did and still do spawn in are choked with weeds by July 1st? |
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Posts: 581
| Ok, so this discussion got me thinking and so I went back to my old notes. Sorry in advance for the long post.
The context is that I’ve been fishing LOTW since the late 90’s, sometimes as many as 3 trips in a year. I lay no claim to being any kind of expert but I started keeping a fishing log/journal for LOTW in 2005. In 2011, we started keeping detailed stats along with the log/journal. This is currently an 80-page document, single-spaced. (Yes, unfortunately, my wife has seen it—she thinks I’m certifiably crazy). Anyways, here’s my $0.02 based on what the stats show.
We keep track of some nuanced things, as well as basic things such as total “active fish” (follows, strikes, boated) and total hours fished. So, at least since 2011, I can see trends with hard numbers.
I don't know if the numbers are good, bad or somewhere in between, but here are the figures for hours per active fish on our trips since 2011:
Aug ‘11: 0.56
Oct ’11: 1.15
Aug ’12: 0.43
Oct ’12: 0.62
Aug ’13: 0.67
Oct ’13: 0.50
Aug ’14: 0.59
Oct ’14: 1.19
Aug ’15: 0.98
Oct ’15: 0.69
Aug ’16: 0.74
Oct ’16: 1.66
July ’17: 1.13
Oct ’17: 1.25
From the above, it is clear that my boat has contacted fish less frequently in the past few years: out of the past 14 trips to LOTW, 3 of the 5 toughest (for overall fish encounters) have occurred consecutively over the past 3 trips, each with > 1 hour per active fish, versus only 2 such trips amongst the 11 prior. (By the way, although we’ll do a bit of trolling in Oct, we go in early Oct and are mostly casting so I don’t think it skews the numbers much).
I feel like I can blame the recent tougher fishing on a few different factors, (weather, most notably), but diminished reproduction and/or reduced population density in the lake hasn’t really been something I’d considered. But I suppose it can’t be ruled out for the reason DougJ mentions.
Regardless, the trend definitely seems to be that the fish are using the traditional, shallow-structure less frequently. I also agree that having success, at times, does require paying close attention to particular, subtle patterns. I don’t think there is a single, specific explanation but it’s probably due to a combination of factors, along the lines mentioned by Brian, above.
I certainly could be wrong but I'm having a tougher time believing that the overall population has been or is declining significantly, at least for present purposes. Mainly, this is because when we’ve put things together, we’ve been able to find fish doing exactly what we think they’re doing….and they’re there…in spades. Kind of just like always.
I don’t know whether it is true or not, but I’ve been told that there has recently been, or currently is, a “perch explosion” on LOTW. Does anyone know if this is true or not? If it is, perhaps it might also explain a few things?
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Location: Warroad, Mn | Justin
Ive have to disagree, There are very little weeds left on the Ontario side of the LOTWs, maybe 5 present of what there used to be. |
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Posts: 2065
| Agreed 95% of great fishing weeds are gone compared to 20 years ago.. I’m talking about the “crap” where I’ve always seen muskies spawning... 4 years ago or 20 years ago. Miles and miles of the crap
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Location: Warroad, Mn | Still disagree! Not much "CRAP" either and they come up way too late for muskie survival! I'm fishing Smallies in June. Wasn't uncommon to catch a small muskie (or some times a big one) Don't see that much any more. Not much for weeds left!
Edited by dougj 7/23/2018 7:26 PM
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Posts: 153
| Kirby Budrow - 7/23/2018 1:55 PM
Dan Klis - 7/23/2018 11:08 AM
My two cents? Reproductive success is declining, success is the key word. Without the weeds beds to offer cover and protection the chance that a fingerling can grow into a fish that can protect itself, is hard to imagine. 30 years ago we would maybe catch one of two pike per year. Now they are everywhere. Guess what those pike eat fingerling muskie.
The pressure is unbelievable. And the number of dead fish in unbelievable as well.
For those that did not fish the lake prior the rusty's they have no idea the affect. The lake is becoming more in-fertile. Entire islands were surrounded by cabbage.
Like my neighbor (DJ), glad I fished the last 30 years and not the next.
I'm seeing more and more veteran muskie hunters take less and less of an interest because of how bad the fishing is these days. I always tell my wife after shes's frustrated with not catching anything that it's too bad you weren't muskie fishing with me even 10 years ago. You'd have a lot more follows and bites, with a lot less people pounding the spots. I only started fishing lake of the woods 3 years ago and I feel like I'm on vermilion some days with how much pressure I'm seeing. I thought I was going there to escape, but you can't escape the mob!
Kirby - I can say that I have become less interested in the past few years. Although I love my time on the lake and get to spend of time there, Muskie fishing is not as fun for me as it was. I used to enjoy the solitude of fishing LOTW and maybe seeing A couple boats per day. I am spoiled, but can’t change what’s going on.
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| Well we can disagree, but why are you on lotw talking about weeds an hour before sunset in July????
Edited by IAJustin 7/23/2018 7:54 PM
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Location: Warroad, Mn | Because I can! I can go every day if I want. Im also almost 80! I've already caught my limit! |
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Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | The results up there so far this year are very interesting....there are definetely some monster trips still being put together, as good as ever. Then again, there are more “tough” trips being reported than I have ever seen as well.
I heard the MH school caught 55? That’s wayyyyyy off the norm, which is usually 120+.
Edited by Musky Brian 7/23/2018 8:49 PM
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Location: oswego, il | Isn't the water level way down this year? That will change how fish use spots if at all.
Edited by ToddM 7/23/2018 9:11 PM
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| While there are still good numbers of weeds to be found... most of these weeds are in locations there have always been weeds... and are prime spawning grounds for other species such as Pike. A lot of these spots/areas... are also areas that have a much softer bottom. Not to mention... they are not always the best spots for Muskies throughout the rest of the season.
Much of the weeds on the harder bottom areas... and locations that may not be preferred or heavily populated by other species, such as Pike, are gone. These are not only areas where spawning can take place... but, these are also areas where Muskies spend much of their time outside the spawning season. With lesser weeds... or no weeds at all... that is only taking away an element not only Muskies may prefer... but, forage fish as well.
I understand that some may think the 'lack of weeds' talk is only an excuse for lesser quality fishing... but, it is a reality and a good reason for why the fishing has changed throughout the years.
Edited by Reelwise 7/23/2018 11:04 PM
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| Seems like we got more fish in "random" spots 15 years ago...
A lot of the hot spots are still good hot spots.
So, good numbers are still being had... and it doesn't surprise me considering you can predict their location fairly well... but, it just seemed like the phantom fish are now more phantom-like. |
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| If the weeds are taken away, they are taken away for all the fish, not just the muskies. The forage went somewhere also.
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| Brad P - 7/24/2018 9:11 AM
If the weeds are taken away, they are taken away for all the fish, not just the muskies. The forage went somewhere also.
Exactly! Or the forage no longer has protection and cover
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Posts: 331
Location: Stevens Point, Wisconsin | I think more fish spawn out on mid lake structure than we give credit for, or at least they are present on mid lake rock structure prior to the muskie season being open. Whether they are just there following bait fish or actually spawning is another question.
I think the declining weed beds (green cabbage in W / SW facing bays) and (submergent green cabbage along portions of island and main shorelines) is largely to blame for the lower numbers in shallow packs of fish from opener to mid July, but I think there are other factors perhaps that might contribute to less contact with fish in the past 5 years or so. Water levels are better regulated now than when I first started fishing in 1998. The better control has really cleaned up the water. I can remember trips where you couldn't fish certain areas because they were like chocolate milk. I don't think I have seen that kind of dirty water in over 10 years. Along with the cleaner water you seldom catch long skinny fish. This of course can be attributed to more open water fish following packs of bait fish around, but also a higher success rate for muskies targeting baitfish. The cleaner water provides a better opportunity I suppose for muskies to catch their pray. The cleaner water also helps fish identify us and our baits. Fish tailing off half way to the boat never really happened 10 years ago. Yes, pressure has a lot to do with this but water clarity is a contributing factor as well. IMO
The other interesting thing that I believe correlates to the reduced shallow fish is the sharp decline in top water action. For those of us that have fished the lake for 20 years or more can attest to literally throwing top water all day and it was just as effective as a bucktail! Again pressure has a lot to do with declining top water action but I wonder if fish that lived in close proximity to shallow cover all summer preyed on ducks, and small surface swimming rodents and therefore were more likely to eat our top water. Conversely open water fish that slide shallow are less likely to be fooled. Yes we still catch fish on top water but not like it was. Pressure is a large part but when the fish in the whole area act the same even in low pressure areas it must have something to do with a biological change?
I have changed a lot and have adapted to these changes and have altered my approach, but there are at times some fish behavior hard to explain when conditions are, or should be perfect.
Pressure, loss of shallow weed structure, cleaner water, fatter fish (better predator success rates), and weather have created a perfect storm IMO. Still great fishing and no better place on earth IMO to cast for muskie.
On a side note... one of the things I really miss is those secondary spots that had submergent strips of green cabbage in various stretches of shoreline. Those spots held multiple fish every time you fished them and the packs would be there until you caught them or hooked them, then another pack would move it. It really spread the pressure out! Of course the sandy bays always held multiple fish that resided there almost all season as well. The bays are still good but not like they once were! Now like I said the lake fishes smaller and spots get pounded with much more pressure.
Ed |
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Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | Interesting post by Ed...I agree on several fronts. The elimination of those smaller strips of weeds you would find on a small stretch of island or shore really hurt. Those were absolutely money from east to west across the whole lake. Used to constantly pull multiples out of those...those hurt me more than the big bays which I rarely fish. I think those were easier to stay hidden from people too.
Also agree with the topwater...my boat just hasn’t seen results with it like the hype suggests. At best, average action on that front for normal Canadian standards. I know a few others here have done well though on that front and might disagree
As far as the water clarity....I feel like Sabaskong is also experiencing the dip in numbers, and the water out that way is still pretty darn dark. That would kind of counteract that theory. There were a ton of people complaining last year about how tough the bite was and some people up there out of Morson said it was in line with the worst they have ever seen. We got our tails kicked up that way for 3 days last time I was up there but also didn’t know many spots so...hard to say
Edited by Musky Brian 7/24/2018 12:28 PM
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Location: Minneconia | So with the destruction of weed beds by rustles, and correlating effects on musky behavior, I wonder if eventually the crayfish population will crash after the rapid explosion and everything will equalize at some point? I realize this would be measured in many years instead of a few. Maybe some weed growth will eventually return but not in the amount LOTW previously had as well as a stabilized and much smaller rusty population?
I have fished Sabaskong on and off since 2003, and the Angle a couple times in between. Anecdotally, my catch #'s are probably down slightly per hour over that time after thinking about it, but I would say I see less fish overall and less active following fish per hour than the early into late 2000's.
Very interesting subject, it's great to read everyone's take and experience regarding the topic. |
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Location: SE, WI. | Dan Klis - 7/24/2018 10:31 AM
Brad P - 7/24/2018 9:11 AM
If the weeds are taken away, they are taken away for all the fish, not just the muskies. The forage went somewhere also.
Exactly! Or the forage no longer has protection and cover
YES and NO
What about the ski's that feed on whitefish and Tulibee. NO cover for them. EXCEPT! They school up and look big. SO does perch and walleye stack, Crappies/ Xmas tree, and bluegills pod up. Talking to the walleye guys on the woods, they catch eyes, the perch and crappie ALL together!!! This occurs in all our inland lakes!!! Fish suspend all the time. This is their protection, OPEN WATER...to school up and look big...NOW
Is it easier for a musky to feed open water, OR, around Rock, Rock walls, and WEEDS...?
I think it's easier for them to feed around the ladder. Musky push their prey against structure. Think there's contrast there, and limited water to escape. Your boat, is an object they pin your bait against.
Open water is endless, and fish can dodge any way they want. Yes, one piece of bait vacates the pod, and their meat.
Bottom line is...I believe the ski's are still their, we as fisherman need to adjust, and be more versatile than just chuckin, and winding a tail, or topwater.
We just got back from LOTW's, struggling our first 8 days catching 12, then made adjustments and got 14 in 4 days.
It's fishing, they adapt, NOW YOU ADAPT!!!
JD
Edited by jdsplasher 7/24/2018 4:16 PM
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Location: Stevens Point, Wisconsin | Dirt Esox - 7/24/2018 1:10 PM
So with the destruction of weed beds by rustles, and correlating effects on musky behavior, I wonder if eventually the crayfish population will crash after the rapid explosion and everything will equalize at some point? I realize this would be measured in many years instead of a few. Maybe some weed growth will eventually return but not in the amount LOTW previously had as well as a stabilized and much smaller rusty population?
From what I understand the Rusties invaded Kenora over 50 years ago and they once had nice weed beds. So far from what I hear after 50 years those weed beds have not recovered. I was amazed at how fast they devastated the weeds through the NW Angle and now heading SE. How soon until they reach Morson area?
I will add that I didn't see but a few fish under 34" my last trip. I would say 75% of the fish we raised were over 40 with a lot of mid to upper 40 inch fish. To put that in perspective on average we would see 15-25 fish a day. Typically what I have seen in late June early July is after the spawn the larger fish slide out for a bit and small males move shallow for a bit and then the larger females slide shallow again. Sure hope the lack of smaller fish has nothing to do with reproduction decline and was just a timing thing. Good news was that we did see a lot of really good fish.
Edited by MuskyTime 7/24/2018 2:41 PM
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Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | Morson area must already be hit. Had a few different guys mark up a map for us and any of the weed spots marked were basically toast minus that spaghetti-weed junk...this was in 2016.
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Location: Cedarburg, WI. | Just got back from Sioux Narrows area. Water is down and we boated 4 in a week (all between 37-45") and had another 5 either go around on the 8, follow or lost after a hookset. Also had half a dozen pike in the 30-36" range. |
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Location: Fifield | The best advice on Muskie fishing I ever got was from Doug J.
I was young and kinda green and on my first trip to LOTW. I had question after question about things I have heard or read about. Doug said to me "son, the Muskies up here don't read books". I think about that every year and every year a slightly different pattern exists. I hope to figure out a pattern next week up there. |
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Location: Warroad, Mn | Yes I remember that!
About all I can say is that I hope the LOTWs, the Muskies and Mother Nature figures this all out. They probably will, at least I hope so.
In the mean time the LOTWs is still one of the best muskie fisheries in North America, and one of the beautiful places in the world. My favorite place to be.
Good luck to every one who comes to the LOTWs! |
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| Fished LOTW 24 years lots of changes happening but when not seeing big fish up shallow I start trolling fall spots and always connect with a few good fish and would of never though of that 10 plus years ago !!
Darren |
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| I’ve only recently started fishing LOTW...the last two years...and each time my father and I have stayed for a full week. First year we caught 6 fish and second year we caught 7. I was slightly disappointed with those numbers, but the way you guys are talking apparently I should be happy. This thread sounds like doomsday. |
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| MuskyTime - 7/24/2018 12:34 PM
I think more fish spawn out on mid lake structure than we give credit for, or at least they are present on mid lake rock structure prior to the muskie season being open. Whether they are just there following bait fish or actually spawning is another question.
Agreed.
Pretty much echo'd what I posted. |
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| One 53 inch fish is = to about 37 sub 40" fish.... So who cares about numbers!! |
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| Just tumbling a few thoughts around in my head.
With the reduced weeds, is it possible that fish are just leaving those shallow areas more quickly early in the year compared to in the past when the nice weeds would hold them longer during their transition to later summer areas. Ie., if the fish are moving out sooner, is spending a lot of time fishing shallow in June/July really just fishing memories? There's not as many weeds, so they can't hold as many fish, so the fish move out sooner? The guys who mostly fish rocks in later summer have never caught as many fish as those in the early July peak, and you don't hear as much from them about changes having a negative impact on numbers.
Also, there's a "lull" in September as the fish leave late summer spots and aren't yet on the October feeding spots. Is there a similar kind of early summer lull developing as the fish are recovering from the spawn out deeper rather than in weedy areas?
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Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | Any conversation that doesn’t include pressure as at least somewhat of a factor is a non starter to me. The month of July up there has become outrageous. And don’t discount the floaters people are seeing....that’s very alarming, and I’ve seen a few as well. That’s just the type of stuff you weren’t really seeing before.
Edited by Musky Brian 7/25/2018 8:21 AM
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| And don’t discount the floaters people are seeing....that’s very alarming.
Yes, although it's probably less alarming than the number of fish that were harvested without being seen prior to the 54" size limit being put in place.
Here is what the Muskies Inc Lunge Log data shows, as a representative sample over the last 10 years.
Edited by undersized 7/25/2018 10:07 AM
(MuskiesInc-LotW-10yr-Resize.jpg)
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Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | Hard to determine what that data is really saying though. With increased anglers you’d get increased entries.
There were 2 official outings last week I am aware of...Flatlanders Outing did 24 guys, 75 fish. MH school (usual 25 guys) did a brutal 53. That’s well below 3 fish per guy.
Tournament out of Wiley’s a couple weeks ago, with several guide boats and locals...I think I saw 17 boats (34 guys) caught 25 fish in a 2 day tournament?
As always..ton of variables. Skill/weather/timing blah blah blah But I’m starting to see more of these types of results than what I would consider to be the average norm.
I’m doing my trip in 2 weeks, so I’m just going by what I’m seeing. Which, to be fair, are also still some very strong trips. Nelson has assured me 40 is a lock in his boat
Edited by Musky Brian 7/25/2018 11:40 AM
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Location: Contrarian Island | hey now 40? lol. I think all lakes go thru cycles, even huges ones like lotw... the thread makes me think it is simply a combination of ALL factors... more pressure, less weeds leading to less reproduction sucess, maybe a small % of delayed mortality and maybe baitfish moving out deeper. do I personally think the fish are still there, yes, a higher % may just be following around schools of baitfish more and don't come shallow as much where the summer anglers are casting for them.... say 10 or 15 yrs ago, more fish were possibly being caught by avg anglers as they were "easier" to target, you could run down any shoreline and wack a couple or pull into any cabbage bay knowing full well there ARE fish in there..so they are easier where avg anglers can get them... it simply takes adjusting where and how you fish to have a good week. skill level is more important now than ever... almost becoming "Eagle-esque"??
Edited by BNelson 7/25/2018 11:36 AM
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| Never got to fish the lake while it had weeds. But in my time of fishing LOTW and the Winnipeg river pressure has increased dramatically in the last 10-15 years. In my experience weed growth can be the great equalizer when it comes to fishing pressure. The fish have a more stable environment, they have more habitat, and it just helps reduce pressure. Coming in behind a boat that just fished a very thick weedbed I can still feel sorta confident because they might have missed the pocket or point that is holding the active fish. Pulling up to a bare rock point or reef? Why bother. You are playing a timing game coin flip.
If the twin city metro fishery that I spend the vast majority of my time on was a bunch of weedless rock lakes I would not be a musky fisherman.... The weeds are critical from fishing pressure standpoint.
Does the OMNR do any evaluations on the lake of any type? The loss of fishing cabbage really sucks for us but there are still large nursery areas in the Morson area full of mixed weeds. I only know of one spot with cabbage and I'm not going out of my way to fish it. Can they grow up in those nursery areas then move out? |
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Location: Warroad, Mn | At one time their was an OMNR Fishery Biologist, Tom Mosindy, (I think now retired), Who did what he called the Select Muskie Anglers Survey. This started sometime in the early 90's or so. I participated in this. A number of full time muskie guides and resorts (ones who Tom thought would tell the truth) kept track of their muskie fishing success. We would keep track of the number of fish caught, the size of the fish, the number of fish seen, the number of people fishing, the number of hours fished, and the general areas fished. From that he could calculate the catch/unit effort (how long did you fish to catch a fish). The average size (going up or down), maximum size (sort of), some of the population dynamics (going up or down), areas of the lake that where the best for muskie reproduction. And probably several more things. We would do is for a two year period, then skip two years and then do two more. This went on for around ten years. Don't think this being done anymore.
Somewhere I have the reports that I used to get. They where very interesting.
Yes, pressure is very much a factor. We have a decreasing number of fishable spots due to the loss of weed growth, with an increasing number of fishermen. Bad combination!
Edited by dougj 7/25/2018 5:00 PM
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| Just to put things into perspective... the Northwest Angle of Lake of the Woods is not much larger than Lake Vermilion - within' reason. I am talking the Canadian side of the lake most people fish and refer to as, The Northwest Angle... not the Minnesota side. Obviously if you include the areas up by Skeet and down by Big... the acreage increases. Lake of the Woods is about a million acres in size they say... but, honestly... it is kind of like fishing several different lakes. If pressure is noticeable on Lake Vermilion... you will notice it in the Northwest Angle. I do appreciate the increased number of people who fish for Muskies... but, I do understand what some are saying about the pressure.
Edited by Reelwise 7/26/2018 2:05 AM
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| Yes, pressure is very much a factor. We have a decreasing number of fishable spots due to the loss of weed growth, with an increasing number of fishermen. Bad combination!
Do you think that is that a bad combination for us? Or a bad combination for the health of the muskie fishery?
Let's suppose for a minute that the population is relatively stable, meaning there are the same number of fish available to be caught each year. If you spread those fish out across more people, it would definitely decrease angling success for each individual person, while maintaining collective success the same as it ever was...
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| I can guy named Jack and I used to say, "If we boat two muskies a day throughout the season we are doing pretty good". We fished a ton together.
All the big fish being caught today are probably over 15 years old/maybe 20 and close to the end of their life cycle. That's about the time when the Rusty's came to eat all the cabbage beds - about 15 years ago. Watching the weeds disappear over about two to three years from the mouth of the Tranquil Channel down past the Windigo's was fascinating and scary. I remember hanging with Doug, Jack, Dave, Dave, John and a few others and all of us were saying, "This cannot be a good thing".
The true results of the impact will be in 5 to 10 to 15 years. I suspect there are less muskies around. Our trolling results the past few years have leaned towards that. But again time will tell. And I do agree that tactics need to be changed to continue catching them.
We used to catch muskies trolling basically Oct 1 to ice up. Now the window is smaller because the forage are not moving out to the first break once the water begins to cool (i.e. From the weed lines out to the first break which is about 9 to 10 feet). Now the window is when the ciscoes spawn, which is at the end of Oct into early Nov.
Also there were many times (a few times per day) when the screen on the depth finder would go dark, then all the rods would go dead. Guess what, there would be a shiner on every hook of a Jake. I haven't had that happen since the Rusty's. That is my concern with respect to a forage problem.
All I am going to say is in 1999, Doug J got 17 muskies over 50 inches and a ton more in October alone. Me and my friends got a bunch that year as well. I boated four over 50 in one day! It was fantastic!
People can take shots at this, but I spent the last 30 years fishing LOTW and not as a tourist. But someone that fished at minimum 70 to 80 days per year. From Nestor Falls to the Angle. And up to 120 when I guided. Been blessed to fish with some very fine anglers that put their time in as well.
Years ago I was accused of scare tactics to get people to not come up. I was sharing an observation. Well they did come and now others complain about pressure.
So again I am sharing an observation, that's all. And I will be happy to admit I am wrong! And hope I am wrong. But the MH results last week have me more concerned than ever.
Lake of the Woods is still my favorite place to fish and consider my cabin my home. In fact its the only place I fish, except for Florida. 30 years ago next week (8/2) I caught my first 50 incher off a little island with cabbage on it. Next week my 13 year old nephew is coming to fish, and hope he gets one off that spot. But that spot has not been the same since the cabbage is gone.
If you plan to go to LOTW, all I wish is for everyone to have a safe trip.
Edited by Dan Klis 7/26/2018 11:20 AM
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| Nice post Dan.Lotsa truth in it. |
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| dickP - 7/26/2018 10:24 AM
Nice post Dan.Lotsa truth in it.
I hope you are well! |
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| The true results of the impact will be in 5 to 10 to 15 years. I suspect there are less muskies around.
Anecdotal observations are important, especially from experts with so much time on that water like Doug, Dick, and Dan. I think it's useful to compare those observations to other evidence as well. There are some indications that the numbers of small fish are actually up, which suggests some good recruitment in the last 5-6 years even after the arrival of the rusty.
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Location: Minneconia | I don't think muskies inc data is a good reflection of number of small muskies in LOTW unless the # of anglers and angler hours were the same, or equalized by a hours/fish ratio. Might as well be anecdotal |
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Location: Warroad, Mn | I agree! Need what fishery biologists call catch/unit effort. How many hours did it take to catch a fish. Looking at the chart I would sort of be worried with the last dip. |
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Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | Just wait until the 2018 results are posted...
Edited by Musky Brian 7/26/2018 5:54 PM
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Location: Warroad, Mn | Interesting that on both charts shown there is a dip in 2008. That also happens to coincide with the last recession that we had going on. Is the dip related to fishery population changes or a change in fishing pressure? I suspect fishing pressure?
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Location: Minneconia | dougj - 7/26/2018 7:34 PM
Interesting that on both charts shown there is a dip in 2008. That also happens to coincide with the last recession that we had going on. Is the dip related to fishery population changes or a change in fishing pressure? I suspect fishing pressure?
I was thinking the same thing and should've said it...there were not many boats up there 08 or 09 from what I recall. |
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| I hope I am not jinxing my self but the last 2 years we have "seen" a ton of 50" plus fish I have changed things up from when I started on the Wood 24 years ago but have been going to the Angle for the last 18 and have been very happy. I have had many, many 50" plus fish in my boat over the years even a "Legal" the first year they changed the size limit to 54" and last year had a true giant on up to the boat that got off " Fish stories" but to people who know me it's true. Hopefully this August I can prove it All I am saying is you need to adapt and go way out of the box !! Fish eat but you need to be where the fish are
Darren |
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Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | dougj - 7/26/2018 7:34 PM
Interesting that on both charts shown there is a dip in 2008. That also happens to coincide with the last recession that we had going on. Is the dip related to fishery population changes or a change in fishing pressure? I suspect fishing pressure?
....and gas prices were through the roof and at record highs in 2012. Also very high in ‘11 and ‘13. Another potentially limiting factor that may have been responsible for less people and could explain the dips.
Edited by Musky Brian 7/26/2018 9:06 PM
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| Perhaps it's anecdotal evidence, but one thing is certain: the muskies inc. figures are not supportive of a doom and gloom narrative. |
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| Pressure a key factor.Darren hit it in part.When under pressure some move around and dance to different tunes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoDh_gHDvkk |
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Location: se wi | More numbers to look at for you number crunchers...
http://www.redwinglodge.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Red-Wing-Lod...
For us fishing the 3rd week of July was pretty tough this year. We had 8 in the boat up to 48 with 4@35", 2@38" and a 44" to round things out. We've been fishing here around that timeframe for 20ish years. |
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Location: MN | We're up here now. First day was tough. Only saw 13 fish, buy ten of them ate. Of those we got hooks into 5. Some of our traditionally best spots showed us very few. So we keep checking stuff we've never fished before an lo and behold. |
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| That doesn’t sound all that tough to me Propster. That sounds like a pretty good day to me. |
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Thanks for sharing this.
If I had more time, I'd get more in-depth, but I just spent about 30 minutes running some quick numbers here.
In the Muskies Inc. logs there are 31,922 muskies registered from LOTW, dating back to the 1970's. Here are the historical size breakouts by %, compared to the overall total of fish caught:
30-34.9": 21.8%
35-39+: 32.0%
40-44+: 28.7%
>45”: 17.5%
(Caveat: I understand that the MI numbers might not be completely accurate or precisely representative, but there is obviously a huge sample-size and of course we are speaking in generalities here--at a minimum, I think it is fair to assume that the MI data is indicative of general trends).
Caveat aside, if there is a recently-developing trend toward diminished natural reproduction and/or recruitment, I’d expect to see amongst the more recent figures that the % of caught fish < 40”, (and particularly the % of fish < 35”), would be notably lower than the historical percentage for caught fish in that same size range.
So now, I'm looking at the Red Wing %’s during the past decade. There is a total of 5,883 catches during this timeframe, (I removed the fish < 30” from the total on their spreadsheet), so it is a fairly substantial sample-size. The 10-year averages from Red Wing are as follows:
30-34.9": 19.1%
35-39.9": 35.7%
40-44.9": 28.2%
>45": 15.4%
There is a very low % of 30-34.9” muskies caught out of Red Wing in 2017 (only 7%), and this does stick out like a sore thumb. This might either be an anomaly, or cause for concern. But otherwise, it is remarkable, to me anyway, how closely the Red Wing %’s over the past 10-years mimic the historical Muskies Inc %’s. (ALL the numbers are within <3 % points). In fact, if you only categorize by % of fish caught > and < 40”, it’s almost EXACTLY the same: 54.8% of fish caught out of Red Wing in the past 10-years are < 40”, as compared to the historical MI average of 53.8%.
2017 aside, if we can assume that Red Wing’s numbers are generally representative of the entire lake (which I suppose may or may not be a safe assumption), based on the information above, it seems like the size distribution of muskies being caught, recently, is about the same as it’s been, historically. |
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Location: MN | jvlast15 - 7/28/2018 7:47 AM
That doesn’t sound all that tough to me Propster. That sounds like a pretty good day to me.
That was 3 guys, 16 hours. That's tough fishing. Today was worse, though we did get a 51.5 |
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Location: 31 |
Nice link Dick, agree 100%... and it's across the board too.With increased pressure there is certainly more movement... and mortality.
How times have changed… it was not an everyday occurrence to see another muskie boat while fishing out of the Northwest angle in the mid-80s.
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Location: Stevens Point, Wisconsin | Would be interesting to hear from the folks that fish in the Kenora area as to whether they have noticed a drop off in reproduction success in the last 30 years?
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| I was up last week 7/21 - 7/28. We fished everything from Monument Bay up to Wiley Point, including the Skeet area and Tranquil Channel. Saw very few musky boats. I can count on one hand the amount of musky boats we saw. I know the 4th week of July is kind of late, but we were very surprised (and very happy) with the lack of boat activity.
2 of us fishing 10 hours per day, we boated 36, 39, 41, 41, 42, 42, 44, 47, 49, 51.
We were happy with our results of fish in the boat ... follows however are another story. We used to figure about 1 follow per hour and for every 5 follows we catch a fish. There has really been a noticeable decline in the number of chasers we get.
Our fish per hour seen was not even close this year. I can honestly say I went 3 days without a follow. (1 day without a follow was almost impossible when I started going there 17 years ago.) Front of boat, back of boat, didn't matter. The most fish we contacted in 1 day was 7.
On day 3 of no follows I finally had a chaser in the front of the boat at 9 pm and I converted her on the figure 8 which turned into my 51.
Converting a 51 after 3 days of no follows makes things better, but not great!
It's really concerning to me the lack of follows. We fished everything from the normal shallow rocks, weeds, sandy bays, etc. We even pitched to some underwater reefs with nothing to show.
The days of 20 chasers a day and playing marry go round with all those fish are gone ... at least for us as our chaser numbers are way down over the past 3 years.
I am hoping the fish are just using different areas or are out deep chasing bait fish and the gloom and doom of lack of production isn't correct, but I am concerned it probably is.
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Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | Somebody brought this up a few pages ago but one thing I find a bit suspect about the crayfish/spawning theory is that it would impact Muskies but not so much the other fish. I’m not a biologist, but I can’t see how all spawning fish wouldn’t be effected by this as well if this was truly the big issue. Are walleye guys also experiencing worse results up there?
Edited by Musky Brian 7/30/2018 4:33 PM
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Location: Missouri | Musky Brian - 7/30/2018 4:31 PM
Somebody brought this up a few pages ago but one thing I find a bit suspect about the crayfish/spawning theory is that it would impact Muskies but not so much the other fish. I’m not a biologist, but I can’t see how all spawning fish wouldn’t be effected by this as well if this was truly the big issue. Are walleye guys also experiencing worse results up there?
It would depend on the specific location that each species spawns and if the vegetation that species needs is present or not (water depth, vegetation type, substrate).
For example, species like walleye, smallmouth bass and largemouth bass don't even need vegetation to spawn. So actually you could see a decrease in muskie recruitment and no change in the bass or walleye recruitment IF.....IF crayfish destroying vegetation was in actuality causing poor muskie spawning (I don't really know if it is or isn't)
Also if newly hatched fish of each species need vegetated nursery areas to survive after hatching or do they just drift in open water. That could impact recruitment success
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Location: Missouri | I should add. The other day I was reading a recently published article on Rusty Crayfish eating Lake Sturgeon eggs from rocky substrates. So it's also possible in the right situations that the Rusty's could eat fish eggs of certain species in certain locations. |
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Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | Any reports from this week yet?
Looks like a fairly aggressive cold front just came in and I see overnight lows hitting the 40s.
T-minus 6 days for me |
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| The buddy I was with last week stayed this week for week 2 and he said it's been tough ... and that was before the cold front hit!
I'm going back on Sunday for a week. Last I looked it looks hot and stable next week. Hope that turns things around.
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| Musky Brian - 7/30/2018 4:31 PM
Somebody brought this up a few pages ago but one thing I find a bit suspect about the crayfish/spawning theory is that it would impact Muskies but not so much the other fish. I’m not a biologist, but I can’t see how all spawning fish wouldn’t be effected by this as well if this was truly the big issue. Are walleye guys also experiencing worse results up there?
A good friend fishes with Bob Strand (former MN Fisheries Biologist) and he asked Bob about Muskie spawning, this is what my buddy texted me. “Muskies spawn over soft bottoms. They prefer low organic matter that produces Oxygen. They NEVER spawn over bare rock as unlike other fish species (trout, salmon, smallmouth) their eggs aren’t sticky and won’t adhere to the bottom (ie Rock). They need a surface the will ‘cradle’ the eggs protecting them from the current.
Muskies do not spawn over open water reefs.....
The Rusty’s probably affect smallmouth bass over any other species. Not catching many smaller bass these days.
Walleyes maybe not so much as prefer gravel and current. Walleye population on LOTW seems good, but a little concerned about the numbers of slot fish and big ones. |
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Location: Warroad, Mn | I agree with Dan on the Smallies. Used to catch lots in the 8-10" range, didn't see many this year. Still a good population, but I fear!
Here's what bothers me most about muskie reproduction! on the LOTWs. Muskies seems to have very selective environmental conditions that they do well in. Muskies have been stocked in a large number of lakes across the US. By and large there's been very little natural reproduction that has occurred in any of those stocked lakes even though it seems from a biologist viewpoint that the lake looks like it has the proper conditions for muskie sawn. When a lake suffers a large biological change, I begin to wonder if the fish can adapt to it? Sure hope it's more than weed beds that make muskies reproduce on the LOTWs!
I've fished the LOTWs for over 50 years and have seen lots of changes! Hope the next change is to get rid of Rusty Crayfish!
Edited by dougj 8/1/2018 5:06 PM
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| This year was encouraging in the Kenora/Bigstone area, saw cabbage starting to pop up in areas I haven't seen it in 10 plus years. It could be a cycle with the Rustys up there, but it was interesting to run into cabbage again in some of those areas. I also noticed more crayfish in pike and walleye stomachs than normal. One of locals suggested that the increase in cabbage up there is largely due to the fact that nearly all species have focused on crayfish as primary forage and are putting a noticeable dent in the population.Just a theory though. Whether it is one musky a day or 10, LOTW is a piece of heaven on earth....... |
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| I'm no biologist, but I've observed a similar phenomenon with the Zebra Mussels on Lake Minnetonka. The first few years they run rampant and dominate, but then things stabilize as the ecosystem adjusts towards it's new equilibrium. I've long felt that the rusty menace would at some point reach critical mass and the predators in the system would start capitalizing on the new food source. Nature moves at her own pace...
Edited by Brad P 8/2/2018 9:17 AM
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Location: Minneconia | Brad P - 8/2/2018 9:14 AM
I'm no biologist, but I've observed a similar phenomenon with the Zebra Mussels on Lake Minnetonka. The first few years they run rampant and dominate, but then things stabilize as the ecosystem adjusts towards it's new equilibrium. I've long felt that the rusty menace would at some point reach critical mass and the predators in the system would start capitalizing on the new food source. Nature moves at her own pace...
You could say the same with the milfoil on Tonka, that seems to have crashed hard two years ago. Let's hope the rusties crash on LOTW. |
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Location: SE, WI. | Grinding bottom almost assures U boat 3-5 rusties daily :(. The Mrs. Shutters at the thought of removing a crab from her bait;).
Almost all of the pike we clean have 3-12 crabs in their stomachs....pike are doing their part. Interesting how the pike meat from LOTW, has a slight orange/ pink Hue to them, compare to other lakes without crayfish.
Ski's probably also chewing on Rusties.
JD
Edited by jdsplasher 8/2/2018 1:17 PM
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| When I was there last week I caught a 39” pike with the fullest belly I have ever seen. It looked like a football.
I hope he was chewing on rusties! |
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Location: Roseau | 40" fatty, hopfully rusties
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Location: indiana | We have caught a lot of pike lately that were full of crayfish and the skin wore off their mouths I assume from the rocks they are inhabiting.
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Location: The desert | Heard a former poster got 24 with his wife last week. Maybe he's still reading, good work! |
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Location: oswego, il | Pointerpride102 - 8/5/2018 2:09 PM
Heard a former poster got 24 with his wife last week. Maybe he's still reading, good work!
Tell us it's Sponge! |
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Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | Pointerpride102 - 8/5/2018 2:09 PM
Heard a former poster got 24 with his wife last week. Maybe he's still reading, good work!
Be curious what the magic potion was as I’ve heard pretty emphatically it was a tough week |
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| MuskyTime - 7/30/2018 10:18 AM
Would be interesting to hear from the folks that fish in the Kenora area as to whether they have noticed a drop off in reproduction success in the last 30 years?
Howdy,
I can't speak to Kenora but I do fish out of Witch Bay and the Andrews Bay area. While I've not been there for 30 years, I have spoken to people who have been.
From a spawning standpoint, the key bays remain unchanged. Still as weedy as ever, largely from the fact they are more of a muck bottom as opposed to a hard bottom. This, I hope, bodes well for reproduction as these key areas are still in prime spawning condition.
Beaches that once had cabbage are totally bare and the weeds have been gone for close to 15 years. Teacup bays still have the occasional weeds but not nearly as many as before.
Fish numbers on this part of the lake are much lower but they always have been so its hard to compare them to the Angle. Water clarity seems to be improving, as it the size of the fish. The pressure there, while not a bad as the Angle, is still very much present.
I could go on but a lot of what I would say has already been stated.
Take care,
Ruddiger |
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| Deleted.
Edited by dickP 8/5/2018 7:02 PM
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Location: Contrarian Island | just got back. had a very tough week weather wise to get fish to bite. Saw more fish than any other trip. (some of course were the same fish). I had some terrible luck to the point I felt I was cursed... we could/should have boated 18-20.... my boat got 12 in 8 days, with 1 over 50 and a 49.5. I'm a numbers guy so I look at data which is interesting.... on avg our other 6 trips we got about 30% of the fish we moved to hit the bait... this trip 13% hit the bait...
Personally I chalk our week up to absolutely bad weather...lots of other guys I heard had similar experiences with fish having lock jaw.. fairly confident it os more out of them having lock jaw than us sucking at triggering strikes when every other year we have gotten them to eat.. now was it due to more pressure year after year? maybe, I did notice some of the fish we caught were clearly caught before and even some of the fish we raised showed signs of being caught before.... it's still a fun lake, if a guy wants to wack 10 a day every day. go to LSC
I saw a guide post he got 48 in 21.5 days..which is interesting as he also posted he had like 30 or 32 in the 1st week of that 21.5 days...so the 2nd half he put 16 or 18 in the other 14 days... yah, water temps going from 81/82, to 71/72 didn't help matters I guess.... weather trumps all...
Edited by BNelson 8/5/2018 10:28 PM
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Location: MN | Now I don't feel so bad with 10 up to 51.5 on our trip last weekend for 3.5 days. Sunday the 29th was a pretty poor day for us and for the other 3 groups I talked to that were up there. We saw 7 and caught one that day. Slowest day on LOTW we've ever experienced. So the other 2.5 days were halfway decent relatively speaking. |
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| Dang BNelson... you are human, after-all. Glad you were still able to have a decent trip.
Did the majority of your fish go into the figure 8 and go around more than once? Or... was it follow and turn away... or follow and go around once - most of the time?
Thanks for sharing. |
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Location: Contrarian Island | most would not engage in the 8. I looked at my trip totals... it bums me out. we had 34 hits, only getting 12 into the net.. I lost 8. some very big ones too. saw lots of big fish....
wish I was there when they decided to eat …
Edited by BNelson 8/6/2018 7:30 AM
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Location: The desert | I sense and IAJustin post coming soon.... |
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Location: Contrarian Island | anyone who was there last week knows it was tough weather to deal with... we had 34 hits.. which is actually about our normal trip tally... but the dice didn't roll our way.... |
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| Leaving Thursday for 7 day trip looks like some decent weather in the forecast. Will be my first trip looking forward to it, hope a few decide to eat! |
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| Don't worry, Brad, Brian and I will go clean up those big ones for you. You sent him coordinates, right? |
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Location: oswego, il | Leaving this friday, stable weather through Tuesday then the temps drop and the north winds blow. The forecast keeps changing the cold front was starting saturday, hopefully it keeps delaying as the week progresses. |
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Location: minocqua, wi. | ToddM - 8/6/2018 9:20 AM
Leaving this friday, stable weather through Tuesday then the temps drop and the north winds blow. The forecast keeps changing the cold front was starting saturday, hopefully it keeps delaying as the week progresses.
no excuses ToddM ... |
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Location: Contrarian Island | well, we had our "best" day the day after the cold front went thru with 7 hits... muskies don't read musky hunter mag found fish in 1 foot of water to 20... |
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Location: Roseau | best fishing so far this year has been during cooling periods and easterly winds, doesn't make sense? |
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Location: Minneconia | Pointerpride102 - 8/6/2018 8:01 AM
I sense and IAJustin post coming soon....
Hahaha I'm sure it's coming soon.... |
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| Todd... green Dannybait. |
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Location: oswego, il | Reelwise - 8/6/2018 8:23 PM
Todd... green Dannybait.
Got a white one. Interesting bait. |
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| Dirt Esox - 8/6/2018 5:46 PM
Pointerpride102 - 8/6/2018 8:01 AM
I sense and IAJustin post coming soon....
Hahaha I'm sure it's coming soon....
For my fan club
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Location: Contrarian Island | wait, did you leave lotw for dryberry 3 or 4 yrs ago? and since it's not saltwater fishing it must be lame
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| The only people with relevant info. are 60 and up... who have a buddy in fisheries biology. Thought you guys knew that already? Our opinions don't matter. We have not been alive long enough to know what we are talking about. Just ask Rich R.
Edited by Reelwise 8/7/2018 3:55 PM
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| Leaving Friday for Baystore can not wait no matter what happens fishing wise, made soo many great friends even before all this internet stuff this is my 25th year on the Woods and most of them 2 or 3 weeks a year and all well worth it :).
Darren
P.S. My first and only "Legal" in 01
Edited by musky1969 8/7/2018 5:59 PM
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Location: SE, WI. | ^^^^^^ Darren, that you? Or Darlene? Nice Hair;) ^^^^^^
JD |
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Posts: 356
| Jim,It’s Darlene.Has to be,only pics of Darren and that fish were ‘plumbers crack’ ones mixed in with 4 or 5 F bombs.
Wonder if he remembers what he was doing in that bay? |
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Location: Contrarian Island | awesome fish. sweet hair!
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| Ha Ha Mr P. sure did love that bay learning about birds and the bees LOL And remember that was not that other jumbo you pointed out to me that would of made for a unbelievable day
OH and that video is classic right !!! LOL |
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| Darren,
????????
One of the great videos of muskies ever. Beyond classic. ?? |
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Location: oswego, il | Darren, we will be neighbors for the week it appears! |
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Posts: 356
| Oops,meant smileys, not ? marks. |
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| Andrew is correct sometimes it's the weather or maybe the 3rd person that comes on your trip that can't find a partner. 2 is perfect a 3rd changes everything ! |
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| Good luck Darren, we will miss seeing you guys this year! have a safe trip |
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Location: Elk River, Minnesota | Up here currently...
Tough conditions at this point... high skies, temps in the 80s. Not seeing a bunch of fish and my experience is following similar to bnelson. So far after 3 day, 5 in the net, one lost on a net mistake, 4 other hits with no hooks... seen a couple big ones so far...
Not pushing it very hard like other groups do... action very slow during daytime high temps, so relaxing in the shade and will hit it tonight and probably hard all day tomorrow.
Also of note... best day was also after the cold front Sunday. Figured it would be a tough day, but managed 3 with two short hits... encountered 9 altogether. So far it’s been all rock for me... double 10s have 2, twitched grandma has 1, and 10” suick has 2.
One suick lost to rocks.. weighted...
Steve |
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| We did well on Shallow Invaders when the water temperatures were around 77-79.999... and when conditions were calm. |
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Location: MN | We just got back. We fished 3.5 days. My buddy and I put 13 in the boat and had 2 come unpinned. We had a 7 fish day on Sunday. Our friends got 6 in their boat and had 5 come unpinned. Two 48's were the big ones of the trip. Fished about noonish to dark because the whiskey and beer was flowing pretty good in the evenings. Lots of 37-40 inch fish seen and caught so there must be a pretty good year class coming up. Overall pretty satisfied with our success. Can't wait to get back up there! |
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Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | .....still up here with a few days left. I’m definitely not seeing any doom and gloom scenarios. I wouldn’t say the fishing is on fire, but in average and stable conditions it’s pretty decent. We put 7 in yesterday alone and left a few on base. Been able to make a few adjustments that seem to be paying off. Speed, timing, and spot selection has been very key. Extended underwater flats have been best and did stumble upon a very hot weed bite as well. Couple hot bucktail colors too. One observation this week as I have covered anywhere from Miles Bay way up through Allie is that different sections might be hot versus others that ain’t
Edited by Musky Brian 8/13/2018 10:30 AM
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Location: minocqua, wi. | Musky Brian - 8/12/2018 2:11 PM
.....still up here with a few days left. I’m definitely not seeing any doom and gloom scenarios. I wouldn’t say the fishing is on fire, but in average and stable conditions it’s pretty decent. We put 7 in yesterday alone and left a few on base. Been able to make a few adjustments that seem to be paying off. The very first light bite has been outstanding at times, and speed has been key. I could see leaving the dock at 8/830 and heading out there only to think it’s dead as 9 AM on has been a near death sentence until evening. Lay off the cocktails at night, get up early, and come in and rest mid day. Extended underwater flats have been best and did stumble upon a very hot weed bite as well
that doesn't fit the narrative Brian ... we'll need an edited report of compliance out of you. |
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| Just got back from my 2nd week. I was with my soon to be wife and 2 step children. So the hours on the water were much less than my normal trip with my buddy.
36 hours of fishing with 2 people = 72 man hours. 20 follows ... 1 fell off at boatside ... and 4 in the boat. 45, 45, 45, 47 ... Rookie figure 8'ers don't help the conversion ratio either, that's for sure.
This same week with them last year was the absolute dead sea. Very few follows and nothing in the boat. So this year's trip felt like a banner week for everyone.
My soon to be 14 year old step son got his first 2 muskies ever, 45 and 45. So I am so pumped as I have had him musky fishing with me here and there for 3 years.
Talked to a few guides and they were having the same experience I was for the week, so that always makes me feel good.
On my normal musky trip with my buddy ... we typically don't go fishing until about 10:30 am and then fish all day. But this week the 14 year old convinced me to get my butt out of bed a couple of mornings and guess what ... both my fish were caught about 10 am on on Friday and one on Saturday. First couple spots we fished in the mornings we moved fish. Then it felt like a switch was turned so we always went in about noon and back out on the water at 5:00 PM. Moon set was in the evening all week so that played perfectly into the fishing plans.
All this talk about numbers is tough to compare because Sabaskong vs. Angle vs. Kenora vs. any other part of the lake will surely yield different results.
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Location: Contrarian Island | good job Brian. Keep on em! Heard the bite was very good from a few others this week too... muskies like warm water |
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| Brian,
Curious as to the size of the 7 fish in the boat on the 11th for you? How many over 40? When guys are catching that many fish in a day I am wondering what the sizes are?
Thanks - Midge! |
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Posts: 93
| Our experience was similar to most other years: a few slow days where you want to sell the gear, and a few good days with fish on every spot you cast. Bucktails weren't really moving fish so crankbaits got them to eat, and we definitely had a lot of short strikes with many more lost fish than usual. Pressure thing? Maybe. Water was more clear than usual too.
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Posts: 93
| Our experience this year was similar to most other years: a few slow days where you want to sell the gear, and a few good days with fish on every spot you cast. Size distribution was typical for both follows, lost, and caught fish. Bucktails weren't really moving them so crankbaits got the call. We definitely had a lot of short strikes with many more lost fish than usual. Pressure thing? Maybe. Water was more clear than usual too. |
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Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | MuskyMidget - 8/13/2018 1:37 PM
Brian,
Curious as to the size of the 7 fish in the boat on the 11th for you? How many over 40? When guys are catching that many fish in a day I am wondering what the sizes are?
Thanks - Midge!
All over 40 minus 1, but biggest 46. Found a really hot bite in the AM and did some heavy running in the PM well out of the Angle. Yesterday was hot too. Today kinda sucked |
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Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | Well I’m done. Picked a few off this morning on the ride across the pond to Morson (holy cow was I sloppy and out of practice solo netting). Ended up with 20, biggest was 49.5. Little mishap cost me a morning and 1/2 night too...and a night camped out on the lake. 18/20 were on blades, 2 on topwater. Topwater seemed to be going well actually but I couldn’t get a Dadson off the line. Would have loved to bag a few more 48s or a 50 but we always want more. Pretty aggressive cold front just came through, don’t see that helping matters much for those up now. Beyond some adjustments in approach, the LOTW Lakemaster chip for Hummingbird was really clutch in being able to run underwater reefs with more precision. Caught a lot of fish on the edges of structure and on spots that I think get overlooked.
Side note....can somebody tell me what the heck this is? (See attachment) Had a similar mark on the other side and caught another big one in a particular basin that looked like it had maybe the early start of these sores.
Edited by Musky Brian 8/14/2018 1:12 PM
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Location: SE, WI. | A Beaver thinking it was a tiger tree stump;)?
Or a musky fisher back in the 50's with a Colt 45;)? Dick P. You??? Hopefully Not Darren back in that bay with Plumbers....well? You know???
Darren, please say it isn't so with the lower unit ;(???
Hopefully Not some Kind of VHS;(?
JD 
Edited by jdsplasher 8/14/2018 2:44 PM
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Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | The consensus seems to be lamprey wounds that are infected
Edited by Musky Brian 8/14/2018 2:45 PM
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| Most muskies I caught over my 2 week period had sores on their tails. |
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Location: The desert | Doing well on the cold front for numbers, but not much on size. 5 so far today but biggest only 41. Did get a 38 inch pike followed by a 38 inch musky on consecutive casts. I haven't seen a musky that aggressive in a while, we joked it was mad the pike got to the bucktail first.
Edited by Pointerpride102 8/14/2018 6:07 PM
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| Looks like bnelson resorted to dynamite in the picture I saw, Brian.
Edited by Reelwise 8/14/2018 5:43 PM
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Location: minocqua, wi. | could it be one of the 171 sightings that was temporarily snagged but unfortunately lost? |
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| Jim,
Wasn't me,I've gone to a Glock 10MM. |
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| One week... Brian and I prolly should have just jumped in after them.
I actually did jump in that week... butt-naked. Weird. |
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Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Musky Brian - 8/14/2018 12:57 PM
Well I’m done. Picked a few off this morning on the ride across the pond to Morson (holy cow was I sloppy and out of practice solo netting). Ended up with 20, biggest was 49.5. Little mishap cost me a morning and 1/2 night too...and a night camped out on the lake. 18/20 were on blades, 2 on topwater. Topwater seemed to be going well actually but I couldn’t get a Dadson off the line. Would have loved to bag a few more 48s or a 50 but we always want more. Pretty aggressive cold front just came through, don’t see that helping matters much for those up now. Beyond some adjustments in approach, the LOTW Lakemaster chip for Hummingbird was really clutch in being able to run underwater reefs with more precision. Caught a lot of fish on the edges of structure and on spots that I think get overlooked.
Side note....can somebody tell me what the heck this is? (See attachment) Had a similar mark on the other side and caught another big one in a particular basin that looked like it had maybe the early start of these sores.
Could possibly be a systemic bacterial infection. I have seen that on Wabigoon too, and some fish get pretty ratty but then seem to heal up with large scars where it takes a long time for scales to cover again. Maybe this one, maybe not: Piscirickettsia |
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Location: oswego, il | The cold front wasn't as bad as i thought. It didn't get as cold as they said and this evening was nuts. 10 fish up all but one tried or did eat and none in the net. Got one in each major and the rest came at dark. 49.5 is the biggest my partner caught. A 51 was caught tonight.and two mornings ago a 54.5 seen that pic, over 40lbs. |
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Location: MN | ToddM - 8/14/2018 10:31 PM
The cold front wasn't as bad as i thought. It didn't get as cold as they said and this evening was nuts. 10 fish up all but one tried or did eat and none in the net. Got one in each major and the rest came at dark. 49.5 is the biggest my partner caught. A 51 was caught tonight.and two mornings ago a 54.5 seen that pic, over 40lbs.
What part of the lake are you fishing Todd? |
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Location: oswego, il | I am in the angle. |
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Posts: 222
| Ok my trip was cut short due to someone placing a rock somewhere and Lakemaster did not find it, the Navionics boys did was using my Lakemaster at the time, yes I knew it was there but was in a hurry during a bite window to get the monster we seen and was 5 ft. off O'well another lesson learned.
Saturday got 2 one on a Crane and one on a LLungen tail, Sunday got 3 two on the Crane and one on a Dadsons 9mm, Monday got 5 finally think we figured it out had 2 in the net by 6:30 am 1 on a Fat Bastard and 1 on a Double 8 Juice, got 1 more middle of the day and 2 more around 8 P.M. then decided to run to "THE"spot and boom.
One area of the lake we raised a lot of big fish other area we caught smaller fish, fish size's 34", 37', 37", 38", 38",41",41", 41" 42" & 44". Seeing the smaller fish is good for the future IMO we seen plenty of big fish even lost a few, 5 fish caught on the 8 the other 5 caught on the cast out, could of had another 6 fish if they stayed hooked but did not. Can not predict how the rest of the week would of gone but felt confident it was going to go well.
I think the future is bright and look forward to next year
Darren |
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| Ok my trip was cut short due to someone placing a rock somewhere and Lakemaster did not find it, the Navionics boys did was using my Lakemaster at the time, yes I knew it was there but was in a hurry during a bite window to get the monster we seen and was 5 ft. off O'well another lesson learned.
Bummer. Can you share where that rock's located?
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Posts: 2065
| Best advice is use caution off of main track, most rocks are now marked well but not all.. there is a killer rock at the entrance/middle of a fairly large bay, really good bay too.., I’ve never seen that rock on a chip, last time I hit a rock was 2001 at that time we still ran with paper maps ..that was interesting!! |
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Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | Put my boat up on a rock in Sabaskong while fishing on the way out. Lakemaster said 8’, but I think they meant 8” instead. Gotta love that Sabaskong water where you could be up on the rock and still not see it in the water under you.
I know of a couple disastrous off chip rocks. One near Windigo and one in south Bishops that would ruin your day in a hurry.
Edited by Musky Brian 8/17/2018 11:06 AM
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Location: The desert | One more evening of fishing to wrap up my week. I feel pretty good about the week I put together largely fishing solo. As some may remember I came up with my wife, her sister, and sisters fiancé who are from California and have little to no fishing experience. The week was filled with ups and downs. Caught fish, lost fish, and lost a couple fish I should have caught. My hands are sore, and forearms haven't been this strong since I was last single. I burned one bait, a black and nickel dbl 9 almost exclusively the entire trip. Fish were primarily caught in the 8, but they were largely just nipping at baits in the 8, and primarily innthe straight aways and not the turns. This made things challenging for me. I dropped a few fish I'd like to have back, one most certainly was my fault, but best way to learn is to screw something up.
One more round of slinging tonight. The count is at 9 with the biggest at 49.5. My sister in law's fiancé has improved his casting ability and has really enjoyed learning about and how to musky fish. He has joined me every morning, even if he didn't want to cast at all. He lost one in the 8 today that I thought was hooked good but it popped off. The Californians enjoyed the LOTW experience more than I anticipated. I think they'll be back.
All in all a great family trip to one of the greatest places on earth, where any Tom, Dick, or Pointer can catch a fish.
Thanks to all who helped with some tips or shared info while we were on the water. ToddM, I owe you a beer. |
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Location: Hayward, WI | What kind of structure are people finding fish on in the NW Angle lately? Headed up on my first LOTW trip in the morning and think I am going to be overwhelmed with all the water to fish. |
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Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | kjgmh - 8/17/2018 3:54 PM
What kind of structure are people finding fish on in the NW Angle lately? Headed up on my first LOTW trip in the morning and think I am going to be overwhelmed with all the water to fish.
Pick out 10-15 spots on the map or your GPS chip with stars (rocks) either at the tip of an island or in a cluster. Get out and run them and see what happens.
Your eyes will be seeing lots of stuff that all looks good. Some of it might be, a lot of it won’t be. |
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| Went from reefs on Saturday to Points on Sunday to Sandy Bays on Monday you need to try it all daily !!!
Darren |
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Location: oswego, il | We have 11 so far but should have 20 as i am 0-9 the last two days on hookups. I don't think i have had a well hooked musky(more than one barb) all week. I caught a 43 that was skin hooked. My partner, his fish are #*#*ting his baits. He has a 49.5 and a 48.5. Pike, i can pin them all day long on the same baits i am losing muskies on. Definitley hit all structure. The bloom was north of Johnston's pass but it has since moved south.
I found a rock not on the map as well. Didn't hit it but it was in a spot where it could he hit.
Edited by ToddM 8/17/2018 10:03 PM
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| 48.5” pike? Wow. That’s unreal. The largest one we have ever had in 17 years is 42.5”! |
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Location: oswego, il | It was a musky. There is a period after 48.5. Pike is in a new sentence. A buddy of mine says he did hook and lose a ~50" class pike two years ago. |
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Location: oswego, il | The rock is between the small island and the sand beach on the sw corner of lilly.
Edited by ToddM 8/18/2018 7:28 AM
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| My bad Todd. I read too quickly! |
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| What are some good lodges/outfitters in the nw angle? Trying to plan a trip for next year that can include muskies but can also contain walleyes for my dad and grandpa. |
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Location: Storm Lake, IA | I know that rock and you would be pretty silly to hit that rock at any kind of speed. |
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Location: The desert | nolan aker - 8/18/2018 12:39 PM
What are some good lodges/outfitters in the nw angle? Trying to plan a trip for next year that can include muskies but can also contain walleyes for my dad and grandpa.
Walleyes are basically all over the lake. It's not in the angle but I'd highly recommend Mylies Place in Morson. Don't need to do the awful gravel road to the angle either. Great rates, great hosts. |
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Posts: 1901
Location: MN | I would consider Tamarack Island Wilderness Lodge. About 8 miles west of Morson, but now you're staying in the heart of the good fishing vs slugging it out with all the guests staying at Mylies, Buena Vista, Sportsmans, Red Wing, and several other resorts based out of Morson. Your hosts are top notch, they really go out of their way up take care of you. |
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| Tamarack looks nice, especially the location, but it's over a grand more for a week with less boat (we'd be renting) |
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Location: minocqua, wi. | Pointerpride102 - 8/17/2018 3:00 PM
One more evening of fishing to wrap up my week. I feel pretty good about the week I put together largely fishing solo. As some may remember I came up with my wife, her sister, and sisters fiancé who are from California and have little to no fishing experience. The week was filled with ups and downs. Caught fish, lost fish, and lost a couple fish I should have caught. My hands are sore, and forearms haven't been this strong since I was last single. I burned one bait, a black and nickel dbl 9 almost exclusively the entire trip. Fish were primarily caught in the 8, but they were largely just nipping at baits in the 8, and primarily innthe straight aways and not the turns. This made things challenging for me. I dropped a few fish I'd like to have back, one most certainly was my fault, but best way to learn is to screw something up.
One more round of slinging tonight. The count is at 9 with the biggest at 49.5. My sister in law's fiancé has improved his casting ability and has really enjoyed learning about and how to musky fish. He has joined me every morning, even if he didn't want to cast at all. He lost one in the 8 today that I thought was hooked good but it popped off. The Californians enjoyed the LOTW experience more than I anticipated. I think they'll be back.
All in all a great family trip to one of the greatest places on earth, where any Tom, Dick, or Pointer can catch a fish.
Thanks to all who helped with some tips or shared info while we were on the water. ToddM, I owe you a beer.
any Tom, Dick or Ponter could do that ... |
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| I feel you are leaving a name out...
Requires explosives, though  |
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Location: Warroad, Mn | Lots of great resorts in the Angle. Here's a link that will help. Been too every one of them and they are all great. Pretty much can't go wrong!
http://www.lakeofthewoodsresorts.com/ |
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Location: oswego, il | We stayed at Sunset Lodge. Great staff and facility. My secomd time on lotw. We went 13 for 22 and quite a few nice pike. I went on a two day stretch of hooking 9 muskies and landing 0. My partner got the biggest two, 49.5 and a 48.5
Bass and walleye fishing is just plain stupid. Just use a crankbait. My left eblow is pretty sore and my right thumb and index finger are stained black from cranking. One of our club members took out his lower unit saturday driving to the resort. I use a 10" graph just for the map. I am really glad i do. |
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Location: The desert | Todd, I know you had a mailbox up there but did you happen to have your stop watch going? |
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| Todd,
Where did they take out there lower unit going to Sunset ?
Darren |
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| We were up for part of the same week as Musky Brian and his reports are pretty close to our experience as well. My boat also ended up with 20 in the net for the week, but the biggest only 47.5. Dropped the only 50 we had hooks into. Dropped too many fish overall...13 coming unpinned in total. Had an additional 17 fish that ate without getting hooks. So, we netted only 40% of the confirmed "biters" for the trip. Pretty poor ratio...it got frustrating at times...
I also wouldn't describe the fishing as "on fire", but you could get into some good, fast action. Two things were key for us: (1) area of the lake being fished and (2) current. Obviously, current is an important, typical factor...but on this trip it was basically decisive for us. At times, it seemed that aggressive/catchable fish were ONLY located on the first contact point of any given spot, facing into direct current and only heavy direct current. At other times, it was ONLY in the slack water/current seams, or, at times only protected spots away from any direct wind-induced current. But then, it seemed like someone would flip a light switch and the pattern would fizzle completely.
We ran around a lot more than normal and found numbers in a particular area, but few big girls. In another area of the lake, it was the opposite: pretty darn slow, but the fish encountered tended to be big, but lazy. We spent about 2/3rds of our time in the non-action area, trying to stay on a few of the bigger fish we had located, but just weren't able to cash in.
Blades, whether 8s/9s/10s all seemed to have their own moments and honestly, I couldn't say that blade size made any noticeable difference. We mostly threw 9s. Most fish were caught in the 8 on blades. Also, the back angler did well at times with either a Bobbie or Wades. Caught 2 fish on topwater as well, at dusk when the lake laid down.
Edited by Matt DeVos 8/20/2018 7:10 PM
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Location: oswego, il | Darren, flag island reef not paying attention to the bouys. Went between the white and red. Shook my head on that one. The people at the resort call it million dollar reef, it's generated at least that much repair revenue.
Mike, the mailbox isn't mine it's a rub on another club member who is very unhappy about it which has made it even funnier that i was able to get a fish on it.
Matt, the wildfire smoke came in and there was a huge difference in fish activity which seemed to be pretty steady. We had activity all day. |
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| ToddM - 8/20/2018 7:57 PM
Matt, the wildfire smoke came in and there was a huge difference in fish activity which seemed to be pretty steady. We had activity all day.
That's pretty interesting, Todd. Probably exemplifies the difference between areas of the lake that I was refering to. That was Tuesday and we stuck to a certain area of the lake where we hardly moved squat. Got a 41" mid-morning, before the heavier smoke/overcast moved in. Moved a jumbo in the afternoon, but it was late and low. A handful of other follows, but overall it was one of our slowest days. |
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Location: Hayward, WI | Got back from my first LOTW trip. We put 16 in the boat with a 50 and 48. Got 10 pike up to 40 also. Buckrail bite was good to start with but things slowed and cranks got more action as the week went on. Moved at least 20 fish per day and caught 3/4 of our fish at boat side.
Hooked a fish one evening fishing some big rocks. Fish took off and was peeling drag like nothing I have felt before and then nothing. Figured it rubbed my line on a rock and frayed it. Next AM we had a HUGE fish follow in with my Giant Shallow Invader stuck in its back. Sure wish we could of got it to bite... |
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| Anyone know How much the rustys have impacted the weeds in WFB? I know there are alot less weeds naturally occurring in this area, but was just curious since im planning a trip there. |
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Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | muskysaloon - 8/27/2018 9:02 AM
Anyone know How much the rustys have impacted the weeds in WFB? I know there are alot less weeds naturally occurring in this area, but was just curious since im planning a trip there.
Any reason why your planning a trip there? |
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| I'm assuming it's to fish muskies.... |
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| Yup, trout water is the most beautiful water in the shield, and its home to the biggest muskies. |
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