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| Have any of the pros found any new presentations for suspended muskies on clear water shield lakes or for attacking mid-lake sunken reefs in those waters.
I have read Dick Pearson's book and many of Paul Klein's articles.....terrific stuff, I'm just looking for any new tips the pros may have tried and found productive.
Thanks | |
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| Hi Rick, I too have read Mr Pearson's book and I have a hard time adding any more info or tips to it. If I can give you one important peice of advise on fishing suspended fish (or no-mans land as I've heard it called) it would be, persistence, persistence, persistence. This is not an action type of pattern, and only a small majority of muskie fisherman consistantly fish this way, don't give up on it. I truly believe that 90% of trophy fish spend 98% of their time in or near and over deep water. Hope this helps | |
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| Hey Rick, I'm not quite a pro yet but I may be able to help. I have fished 2 time with Mr. Klien, and spend the majority of my time fishing suspended clear water musky. Like Chuck said, "persistance, persistance, persistance." However, unlike what Chuck said it can be an action pattern. I have had 4 fish boated within 1 1/2 hours in the same day.
I haven't read Mr. Pearson's book so I apologize on anything I may repeat.
- Don't be afraid to fish within the top 5 feet over deep water. Muskies will come up a very long ways to hit a bait if they want to eat.
- Use lures with a lot of flash to attract fish from a long distance.
- Be erratic. At least have an erratic retrieve!! If you want to act that way it doesn't hurt! [:devil:]
- Experience. When you first start out it's hard to stick with fishing out in the "boondocks." However, when you raise or catch a fish in a certain spot remember it. It sure seems like suspended fish will occupy a certain are more consistantly than a shallow water fish. Good spots will produce year after year.
I hope this helps. Good luck!
"Let em go, Let em grow"
Travis Kopke | |
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| Watch out for the Kopke Brothers!!!! These guys are pros that just haven't been discovered yet.
Anyway, about the only thing I can add to Travis' response is also be strategic in your lake choice when targeting open water muskies. In Wisconsin that can mean considering forage base and population density of that forage. It may also mean depth of thermocline or shape and location of the mainlake basin. If considering this pattern on a HUGE canadian shield lake... I would definitely increase the priority for the presence of baitfish. In Wisconsin the presence of baitfish is not always that critical because often times the baitfish schools will travel across the basin multiple times per day and the basins are small enough that you can fish the entire thing like a piece of structure, however in large lakes you will need to use the presence of (or frequent presence of) baitfish to help eliminate miles and miles of "basin". In other words, in a small 300 acre lake in Wisconsin, the basin itself can be considered "structure" whereas in a massively huge body of water the baitfish becomes your "structure".
Also, I think DickP is correct in suggesting that open-water is one of the few final frontiers in musky fishing. Glad I'm ahead of the game on that one, but its getting to the point where I'd rather not talk about this pattern anymore to preserve some of my hotspots. I like to share... but there comes a time when it is O.K. to be selfish. So start fishing open-water muskies.... but stay out of MY basin[:halo:] | |
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| No other responses? I'd like to keep this thread going to compare notes with how and what everybody else is doing. | |
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| I'll be trying out the trolling/casting to deep water fish on a 22,000 acre lake near the house this weekend. There are some musky in this lake + I have hooked 2 in the past 6 yrs while rockfishing + they were nice fish...I plan to try to locate schools of gizzard shad near the channel + go from there...any additional input would be great!!!
Also there are 3 small islands off the main channel + they are surrounded by deep water...how would you guys fish this area? I'm leaving Thursday morning so PLEASE add info. by tomorrow night! [:sun:] | |
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| Any last minute advice!!!?[:sun:] | |
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| I've found two presentations to be the most effective.
1) Ernie - Tennesse Shad or Holoform shinner.
2) Jackpot - very good on cisco based lakes.
The best time of the year for suspended fish, in my opinion, is in mid to late June in Wisconsin when the thermocline starts to form and push the fish higher in the water column. This applies more so on deep clear lakes. Think about it, if the fish are forced to concentrate in less water, your odds at contacting more of them are that much better. | |
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| Only 400 acres....still out in the open, that can be a lot of water to cover! Best plan as I would see it is to start off about 2 casts off the structure, with ne guy long-bombing to the structure, one guy to the OPEN water, known affectionately as the "Canadian Side". Yes, you can start in the open, but my thought is that if you can find those bait fish schools, you're one step ahead of the game. Like the others said be persistent, keep rolling and rolling....you may not see the baitfish on your screen, but keep at it, you will find them eventually, and when you do, you will find the skies!
Slamr | |
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Suspended Clear Water Muskies