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| Hey Guys,
I have a question that I havent been able to figure out. When cruising or trolling deep water, I frequently come across areas where I mark big fish hanging in deep water. Is there any way to coax into striking, or are these fish neutral or inactive?? I've tried countdown Depth Raiders, jigging and even spoons to no avail. Any thoughts??[:sun:] |
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| I don't normally fish deep water areas but, in my own non Pro opinion, if these fish are just suspending at or near the thermocline they are inactive fish. However, if they are relating in some way to baitfish or a travel channel to baitfish (point, inside turn, outside a weededge etc) then they are catchable.
Just my opinion. |
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| Stalker,
I catch a fair amount of fish from what is considered deep water. The first question I would have is, "How deep is deep"? I never target muskies deeper than 40 feet for a couple of reasons: 1) That is about as deep as I can work effectively, still able to cover any amount of ground. 2) I have had problems in the past with reviving fish taken deeper than this; not often, but one nice musky that does not revive well is too many.
On thing to consider is whether it is actually muskies that you are seeing on your electronics. In many systems there are many other large fish that will get deep. In my area we have to consider carp, drum, catfish, sturgeon, gar, just to name a few. Check with your local DNR and find out ALL the species that live in your lake.
Are these fish over open water or tight to the bottom? My experience has been that if they are muskies and they are tight to the bottom and NOT relating to some steep break or shallower piece of structure, in other words they are just sitting on a deep flat, they will tend to be pretty inactive. There is only a small part of the season that I find muskies to be deep and active on a regular basis and that all takes place post turnover. The rest of the season they are the same as any other fish, their activity level is dictated by weather, time of day, and certain feeding windows that open and close changing their feeding mood.
One thing you did not mention is whether you have tried live bait for these fish. It is hard to beat live bait for neutral fish. If you can get some live bait in front of their nose consistantly with no takers, I would bet that your not targeting muskies.
Good luck, hope it helps, and let us all know if you find out anything.
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| Well, I've been very fortunate to fish with a great guide by the name of Paul Klein. He's one of the guru's of open water fishing, and showed us how it was done last summer. My brother and I both "doubled up" on fish that were found in the "main basin" in Mid-June. These suspenders were found over 40 feet of water and both fish where caught on crankbaits. I don't believe that these fish were hugging the bottom of 40 feet of water, but if they were 20 feet down or so they didn't hesitate popping our twitched crankbaits out in never-never land. I think a musky won't hesitate popping a bait above it no matter where it lies in the water column. What we may consider deep, may just be a walk in a park for a musky. It takes only a quick spring of it's body to propel it quickly towards it's target. I think we would be amazed how quick and far a musky can travel in a blink of an eye. Just ask Cisco Kid.... when he had to empty his drawers after a skie blew-up at his bait at boatside after doing a couple twitches. [:knockout:]
catch ya later,
Krappie |
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| Most of your question has been answered, however if you would like to still target these deep water fish with another technique you can try this.
If your are fishing where you may have more then one line. I throw out two sinking baits (for example bulldawgs) retrieve one in with a jigging pattern and dont be afraid of letting the bait drop, even a few feet as you bring it up. Then when you bring the bait to the boat, when you cast it out you bring it your second line with the same jigging pattern as your first line is sinking. That way you are always fishing productively and with any luck bang a fish.
Its a new way of jigging I guess
Brad
breuerguideservice.com
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| As Krappie said we had the luxery of fishing with Paul Klien last year, and the year before. From what I hear about this guy is he catches many very large muskies a year. You know what, he fishes water at least 40, 50, and 60 feet deep. Personally I have caught muskies and walleyes over 40, 50, and 60 feet deep. Keep in mind, however, that just because you are in deep water doesn't mean the fish are deep. Most of my experiences with deep water muskies are the same as shallow water fish. Most of the fish hit during the first few cranks of the reel! Keep in mind, if there are baitfish over 100 ft of water I'm sure a musky is close behind.
A thought to ponder: Fishing a tournament last year for muskyin a deep, clear lake me and my partners saw a person row trolling all day over 100 feet of water! At the end of the day we met up with him and asked how he did. With a big grin he held up what I'm sure was a 10 lb walleye, and had caught a couple more. Now I know these are walleye, but that's baitfish for muskie.
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| One good thing to remember about open water Muskys is that they rarely can be fooled by speed as the can when they are in a cover or ambush type location.That is why,as mentioned in a previous post, that twitched crankbaits that imitate an injured baitfish work well to trigger these fish.Even a nuetral to slightly negative mood musky will find it hard to pass up a good looking easy meal if its put in her face,preferably at the same or slightly above the depth that the musky is holding at. HC Meyer seven Islands Guide Service Presque Isle Wis. |
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