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Posts: 51
| Do some muskies orient to weeds and others rocks/reefs/open water? Or, are these the same fish moving back and forth?
If they are the same fish, what triggers the transition and are there are "weed" days and "rock" days?
If they are different fish, do they react to weather and light conditions differently? Meaning there would still be "weed" days and "rock" days.
My biggest fear in musky fishing is spending a whole day where there are no fish, or active fish, when they are waiting to be caught elsewhere. |
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Location: Eastern Ontario | Tagging studies would indicate some move great distances and others tend to be homebodies. They tend to move greater distances in larger bodies of water. Years ago people thought muskies would take up residence in a location (some may)
Years ago I was tagging and I thought I knew the location of a 40 inch fish on a small weed hump. I tagged 8 fish of between 38 and 42 inches on that spot so what I had assumed was a resident fish was actually multiple fish moving in and out. |
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Posts: 51
| Thanks! I gave up golf. I spent as much time in the water on the golf course as I did while fishing. |
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Location: Eastern Ontario | I shoot in the high 80's but I do a little better on the second hole. |
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Posts: 51
| I shoot in the '70's or 80's. Any warmer or colder than that and I don't go out. |
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Posts: 8863
| Wow.
The short answer is YES. It's mostly a matter of seasonal progression. As the water warms up into the later parts of summer, most the fish typically will move out of the weeds and onto the adjacent rock bars, reefs and humps. It doesn't happen all at once. We've had weeks in Canada where we found nothing in the weeds, everything on rocks. We've had the same week a year later when it was all weeds and the rocks were all but barren. We had a year when it was all rocks, until a night that got down close to 40. Back in the weeds. Hot day, back on the rocks. Cold night, back in the weeds.
Are they the same fish? While I think you can always find some fish relating to weeds, I'd say it's the same fish, back and forth. This all seems to happen right around 68-70 degree water temp mark, and I suspect it's just been our luck to be fishing right during that point of transition.
Only advice I can give you is to pay attention to the changes in surface temps and watch the weather from day to day. Just because they were there yesterday doesn't mean they're still there today. They're still around, and likely haven't gone far. |
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Posts: 2083
| Lakes fish different, fish move seasonally, weeds are better some years than others, baitfish are attracted to weeds differently lake to lake , forage base in a lake makes a huge difference...too many variables to answer your questions any better than....well yes,no, sometimes, seasonally, some years and all of the above - Monsters roam weeds, rocks and open water - all have their time and place and some systems will have fish using all three at the same time - hope this helps - HA!  |
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Posts: 409
Location: Almond, WI | As stated above they will use both, and some move, some stay.
General rules: I like rocks on a windy day, weeds on a calmer/bright day. (Note: bright days are great to see muskies on rock bars, but it's only that, they're sunbathers and not interested in eating.)
The less weeds in a lake, the more they will concentrate the fish. If a lake has weeds, fish will use them--regardless of other conditions.
Not all weed types are equal. Not all rocks are equal. Learn to pay attention to weed species and the size of rocks (chunk vs boulder). Different types will excel at different times. |
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Posts: 51
| Thanks for the tips! |
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Location: Eastern Ontario | One of the radio tagging studies found that there were always fish in the weeds but never were all the fish in the weeds and if I recall correctly I don't think any of the fish was always in the weeds. |
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Posts: 1082
Location: Aurora | I was a snot nosed punk when I traded my prized Lew's Speed Stick to a MN resort owner for a "quick look" at a map he'd acquired that had been used to track "over 42 years" of spots where muskies had been caught by any and all means. I got all whipped up and thought it was a joke at first cuz there were x's ringing the entire shoreline, peppering nearly every piece of main lake structure, and several in open water areas relating to nothing. I was quickly reassured that it was no joke and that the real question was whether or not they travelled clockwise or counter clockwise around the lake.
Edited by Sidejack 3/12/2014 11:25 PM
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Posts: 371
Location: Dixon, IL | Heavy fishing pressure that I believe that large musky are off from shore and swim around or near rocks/reef. Most people beat weeds to death! |
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Posts: 1530
| great question.
my main thoughts.
water temps.
seasonal movements. |
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Posts: 455
| You have to be careful not to make too many assumptions. Don`t get too hung up on what you think they are doing. They can be active on rocks, weeds and open water all at the same time. |
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Posts: 906
Location: Warroad, Mn | Yes, Muskies swim around! Doug Johnson |
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Posts: 140
Location: Northern Illinois | Right on Doug Johnson. In musky fishing 2+2 might not = 4.
Keep on cranking....it's just a matter of time. |
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Posts: 8863
| dougj - 3/13/2014 6:40 PM
Yes, Muskies swim around! Doug Johnson
Heheh. Not going to argue with Doug on that, but it sure seems like most of the muskies I encounter would rather just sit there doing nothing!  |
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Posts: 14
Location: minnesota | The fish are where they are, not where you wish them to be...
LD |
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Weeds vs rocks/reefs. Facts requested, opinions welcome.