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Posts: 253
Location: On the water | Guys we need help! We can't seem to find the muskies early in the season. We know that they spend the winter in deep water, but at what temp do they start to move back to the weeds? What is the process from deep to shallow? Thanks for your help. Tom |
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Posts: 7101
Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | Please don't take this the wrong way, but sometimes you need to try shallow, deep and somewhere in between. Muskies don't generally "read the book" and alot of times aren't where they are "supposed to be". And, being that in the early Spring they can be really tough to get to move, sometimes they're there, but they just aren't moving.
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| find the bait. find the muskies. |
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Posts: 717
Location: Grand Rapids, MI | Slamr(BUCK PERRY) - 3/23/2009 5:48 PM
Please don't take this the wrong way, but sometimes you need to try shallow, deep and somewhere in between. Muskies don't generally "read the book" and alot of times aren't where they are "supposed to be". And, being that in the early Spring they can be really tough to get to move, sometimes they're there, but they just aren't moving.
You mean this book?  All fishermen should do themselves a favor and read this.
http://www.buckperry.com/ |
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Posts: 203
Location: Alexandria, Minnesota | I agree with Sling Blade, I usually concentrate on locating their food source ,because you will find more fish and active fish around what they eat, not that I havent caught fish in shallow water sunny themselves. |
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Posts: 73
Location: Indiana | Depends on the temperature...
In cold cold water...like in the 30's and low to mid 40's, find the baitfish. Lots of way to trigger them...but most of them are in open water.
But once the water his 45 degrees and up, fish will not want to eat. I don't agree with the finding the baitfish strategy at this time. I don't think muskies are super pumped to eat this time of year...they're too busy thinking about getting it on. I think you really gotta put yourself in a position to make them pissed enough to bite. Most of the time you're gonna get reaction strikes. Use something loud and obnoxious that runs in a somewhat straight line. That whey when the muskies react they don't miss...cause it's not likely they'll chase it after the fact.
I think Slamr is dead on with this one. Some will be deep. Some will be shallow. And some will be heading up into shallows and "in between". No matter what time in the spring, there will be some muskies in each location. The trick is to find where you want to fish, and how you want to annoy them.
Again, temperature is the trick. Shallow muddy bottoms warm fast and you'll find fish there warming up. So look for large flat areas and check your temps. Some flats will be warmer than others depending on the bottom and where in the lake they are (where the sun hits first and stays the longest for example). Open water near these flats will hold fish that venture up onto the flats during the day to warm up as well as some other fish that are still waiting to spawn later down the road.
Take your pick. Lots of choices. And again...they don't want to eat, so don't feel bad if you don't get one to bite.
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Posts: 1530
| our muskies are still deep. they will move into spawning areas shortly after the walleye spawns are done. on the great lakes on natural fish thats the pattern. in early june its still a crapshoot till they recover from spawn.. it strukes me funny guys would fish muskies while they are in spawn cycle?? |
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Posts: 73
Location: Indiana | In Indiana they don't reproduce naturally. The Indiana DNR does a fantastic job collecting eggs and making plenty of little muskies to put back into the water....despite the fishing pressure the water gets every year (webster...enough said). The fishing pressure is nothing new. But I must stress....if the fish were there doing their thing and actually making it work, I would totally support a closed season. Honestly though, in Indiana, we need to worry more about the massive cold fronts we get in the spring...they'll push ALL of the fish off the beds in a day and they won't come back on...they'll just reabsorb their eggs out in open water. |
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Posts: 425
| What are some of those lures that Halfpint is talking about. The lures that will piss off the muskies and make them want to eat this early in the season. Jake |
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Posts: 618
Location: Michigan | I've heard burning small bucktails are good for getting reaction strikes. |
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Posts: 73
Location: Indiana | Hummmm...whatever lure you can burn by their face. I can't give too much away. HA! |
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| Halfpint...you obviously listened pretty well at my recent seminar!!!!! 
Hulbert |
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Posts: 253
Location: On the water | Thanks guys for all the help, especially Halfpint for the indepth posts. Also I heard the muskies start to filter back into the weeds when the water hits 45 degrees. Do you think that is true? Again thanks for help! Tom |
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Posts: 73
Location: Indiana | Yes...Hulbert, you're the man. But actually, I got quite a bit of that info a couple years ago from you as well. The seminar was a good refresher course though!
We had a perfect illustration of what you talked about in the seminar though. We started fishing open water with regular bull dogs and kickin minnows. One of our buddies comes to the same area and starts casting a bull dog. On like the 4th cast he gets one. Snagged a little guy in the back. Ten minutes later the guys got another one on. It's a bigger one, and again, it was snagged in the back. Over the next few hours fishing in open water, my brother and I litterally felt our lures HIT and go over the back of muskies suspended in open water. The first time I doubted what I was feeling. But when you look back at the depthfinder and know there's no water less than 20 feet within two cats of you, there are only so many options. The second time you do it erases all doubt you just almost snagged one in the back. Needless to say, these fish did not want to eat.
Now we were able to annoy fish in shallow water that day.
So my question is this Mr Hulbert...what the hell do you do to annoy the fish into biting in open water when running the #*^@ lures over their backs doesn't even work??? HA! |
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| Rip a DDD or a Depthraider past their face for a reaction strike. Or rip a DDD, then let it sit still for 10 seconds. They'll suspend right in front of their face, and they won't be able to bear it "invading their territory". |
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Halfpint...when those open water fish don't want to bite..it is all about being patient and just keeping beating them to death....cast after cast....they will bite...it just takes some time!
Hulbert |
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Posts: 73
Location: Indiana | Thanks for the motivation. I'm still hoping for 60 degrees plus and hungry fish. |
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Where are the muskies?