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Posts: 2361
| Is this really a case of fish moving from dying weeds to rocks or simply an increase in the population of shallow fish which increases the number using rocks as cover?
Do rocks segregate fish by size? Or do all sizes use rock beds consistently in your opinion?
Were there NO fish on the rocks all year until fall? | |
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Posts: 1996
Location: Pelican Lake/Three Lakes Chain | FSF,
I am a huge fan of fishing rock structure all year long for musky, and concentrate almost entirely on rocks after turnover. About half of my fish every year come from rock structures. One thing I see people neglecting year after year are the mid-depth and deeper rock structures. These areas hold a lot of food for muskies, it only stands to reason that they will be there. These areas also get much less pressure than the more traditional weedlines, so the fish there are more apt to eat. I have found also that my best average size comes off of rock structure, deep or shallow, with deep water adjacent to it.
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Posts: 4266
| I cut my teeth on rock muskies of Vilas County lakes, and I have noticed that it was a spring and fall bite for me.
As mentioned, spawning fish will use rock/gravel areas to give the fry places to hide. Though the muskies don't target the fry, they do target mama and papa.
In the fall again, I've seen schools of baitfish suspend off of certain rock areas or rock and sand mixed areas, and the muskies take advantage of the waiting fish.
Being a multi-species angler, like I'm sure most guys on this site are, rock areas are my first go-to areas in the spring for walleyes and smallies because the rocks warm faster if they are getting hit by the sun. Warmer water is a catalyst for all spring time happenings, be it weed growth or crawfish emergence, microscopic critter activity that the panfish or fry take advantage of. Warmer water is a draw in the spring whether you are in a lake or river, and rocks play a major role on warming the water more in some places and less in others.
Seeing that the muskie is the top rung of the food chain, it will follow the chain to rock areas when the rest of the chain is active in those areas.
Whether it's temperature or cover, when the food is using rocks, muskies won't be far behind.
Beav | |
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Location: Contrarian Island | I love fishing rocks...more than weeds. Muskies use them all year...a good thing for summer is try the rocks at nite with cranks, like a draider bouncing down the break/edge...
Fish them all year and you will catch fish on them all year. As mentioned..where do alot of walleye fishermen camp out...rocks. Muskies are never far behind the smaller fish...Also as mentioned alot of fair weather musky fishermen pound the weeds cuz they can see them...those same guys don't fish deep underwater humps much cuz they can't see the structure...less pressure on rock fish in my book.
My opinion bigger fish are on rocks as there isn't any real "cover" so a 30" is less apt to use rocks cuz he is dinner for the 50"er
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| Rocks, rock shelves, and rock reefs all hold muskies, especially complex structures of rocks and rock piles. These rock structures can be shallow, sticking out of the water, and easy to identify, or hidden in deeper water, harder to identify. Knowing how to read a map can help you learn where to find potentially good deep water structure. | |
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Posts: 32892
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I forgot to mention I also fish the rock/marl basin line edge alot with jigs for suspendos in the summer if heat has been a factor. Works for me! | |
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Musky on the rocks?