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Location: SE Wisconsin | We've all seen it before. The day before was overcast with some chop on the water and the fish were going nuts. The next morning, the same thing that was working the day before is working, that is, until the sun burns off any remaining clouds and the wind stops dead. It's flat calm, 85-degrees and you can feel your skin baking under the sun. What do you do next? Some guys will quit, others will take a break, but in a tournament situation, or if you're just plain unwilling to leave the water, how do you adjust or what works for you? |
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Posts: 2058
| Some of my favorite conditions - throw some mags and pounders out in the basin  |
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Posts: 20245
Location: oswego, il | Just to add trolling and slop fishing. |
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Posts: 357
Location: Duluth, MN | Small bucktails ripped as fas as humanly possible til you cant stand it anymore. Then, hit the nearest tavern. Odds of a big one are probaly better there!  |
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Posts: 157
Location: Lincoln, NE | Implement trolling and jigging. Go deeper. This is after trying the usual first for a bit. But at some point you gotta be willing to abandon what feels right and start thinking about what's going to work. Lotta times we planned the whole trip around the fish being on the best spot during the best baitfish time, etc. and had to force ourselves to think outside the box and ended up saving the day throwing lures we didn't want to in locations we didn't want to. But the ride home is a lot more fun if you get one in the bag on a horribly hot boring tough condition day. |
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Posts: 1767
Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | by no means any guarantees in those conditions but historically things that have saved me from time to time are slop/weeds ( number one for sure), top waters, bright gaudy baits, and luck
I have caught some big fish in Canada at times that we moved in the morning during a " peak time" only to to hit them in mid afternoon with seemingly little chance of success only to bag them ( talking like zero wind, bright sun)....doesn't always make sense but a time frame from 11am-2/3 pm has always been good to me in terms of big fish, one reason I am always very hesitant to take any breaks on a trip because you just never know what "their" schedule is and it might not fit your logical criteria for success...i can guarantee I have bagged more quality fish in the afternoon then traditional peak times over the years
Edited by Musky Brian 6/25/2014 2:34 PM
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Posts: 1023
| I agree with Musky Brian on the slop option. However, topwaters??? I guess I should try that. |
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Posts: 162
Location: Metro, MN | Deep. Pounders and Bondy Baits. or sometimes very very shallow slop. Those are the times when I've had success sight fishing in the shallows. |
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Posts: 51
| Bondy |
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Posts: 1767
Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | MuskyKarma - 6/25/2014 3:31 PM
Those are the times when I've had success sight fishing in the shallows.
forgot about that one too....there are a couple lakes I fish where there can be really good action sight fishing in the sand for fish taking in sun. They are often skiddish or lazy, but long casts with big rubber can turn around a boring afternoon. really fun way to fish |
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Posts: 1168
| You described my 2nd favorite conditions to fish under coming in behind those cold post frontal bluebird sky days.
Great time to throw away 95% of the magazine articles we've all read and have been programmed to follow and put your mind outside of the box....or keep it inside of your box if your mind is already there most of the time. The weed stuff is pretty straight forward as is going deep...outside of that, applying what you know about how water reacts and responds under certain situations (weather) can open up a plethora of opportunities you might not realize exist.
Outside of tournament fishing when you are stuck on that body of water....if you have to fish in those conditions due to limited opportunities, then figure out what lakes are at their best during that time and fish them. If conditions are more "text book" fish some place else.
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Location: SE Wisconsin | I agree with many of the opinions so far. Myself, it's go deep or super shallow. I find that fish tend not to want to come up and chase jerk baits and gliders in these conditions, so I typically will go tight into the slop and cast a weedless topwater or navigate through the pads. Top props and Bucher Slopmasters bulged are weedless options that move at a good clip and can stir a reaction strike.
If I move out, than it's the rubber that naturally is put to the test. I'll throw Dussa's and Dawgs evenly, and occasionally, if the conditions are right and my graph is telling me to do it, I'll go vertical with a Bondy or a Zipper.
One thing I haven't found a lot of confidence in is buck tails midday under these conditions... Am I missing out? |
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Posts: 4080
Location: Elko - Lake Vermilion | depends on where I'm fishing...If it's during a Tourney than you have no choice...Usually I'll burn bucktails A ways off of the structure or some other "faster" running lures.... If no "Luck" then than I'll move up closer to the structure....You'd be surprised how much Top Water lures work during this time... Never rule out Rubber.. Personally,.. I like this type of conditions.. You can at least "locate" fish... and come back to them at dusk.....Unless your fishing a Tourney.... Then you just have to work your Arse off !
Skinny water ,... with weeds and Rock Humps always hold fish....Pick it apart..
Jerome
Edited by Top H2O 6/25/2014 9:22 PM
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Posts: 411
Location: Waconia,MN | With some of you guys sayin shallow in the slop, what about under and around docks? |
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Posts: 7
| Bdog, on point brother, we call them lunge lizzards.
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Posts: 275
| Eight - ten feet of water with 4 - 6 foot of weed growth.........HAWG WOBBLER!
Jaimy |
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Location: Hayward, WI | I would say I've had some fairly decent days in conditions like this. I spend a lot of time fishing a cast or so off breaks, or maybe landing my baits a bit on the deep side of a weedline out from deeper water (boat usually in 25+ feet). Usually using rubber, a Hardhead, or a deep crank. I don't necessarily run the baits deep, but the fish over deeper water don't seem to be that bothered, at least not always, by conditions like this.
This isn't really what I change to on those days though, as I fish that pattern a lot for a good part of the summer. I just notice that I catch a fair amount of my fish under what many might consider to be tough conditions (calm and sunny).
Have also had pretty good luck over mid depth rocks in those conditions. Last Friday (sunny and calm) I caught one (just a 36, but a fish anyway) on a rock bar in about 15 feet of water on a Cowgirl. It followed agressively and hit after a couple turns in the 8. This was on a crystal clear cisco base lake.
One thing that doesn't seem to work quite as well most of the time for me is fishing traditional weedlines on these days. Seems those fish may push out of the weeds and over deeper water, or according to some of you move up shallow in the slop.
I don't fish many lakes that have much thick slop. It goes against what "seems right" in my head, but a lot of people have luck with that tactic on bluebird days. |
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Posts: 4343
Location: Smith Creek | Rip rubber through the slop. It's painful to do but if you're fishing a tournament (to win) you're not really out there to relax and have fun. |
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Posts: 284
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To answer your question properly, I would want to know what type of lake you are fishing.
Every lake that I have fished for muskies seems to have its own pulse. Because of that you are going to get quite a variety of answers and in the end still not know what to do.
So I would just suggest go fishing, have fun and if you were meant to catch fish that day, you will.
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Posts: 1030
Location: APPLETON, WI | Dunlap - 6/26/2014 1:49 PM ...I would just suggest go fishing, have fun and if you were meant to catch fish that day, you will.
I think this is one of the best answers of all.
Maybe prior to the conditions you're inquiring about, you've already had a rough day. This makes the conditions that much rougher, especially when you've thrown everything but the kitchen sink at 'em.
I do remember reading in an issue of Musky Hunter several months ago about this exact same scenario. Rough day on the water and by rough, I mean, you're working your tail off and not even seen a fish in places where you know you've seen and caught fish previously. Heck, the entire lake is acting like a lake you've even been to before. To make matters worse as you described, you're baking in the sun and if you're in Wisconsin like me, the humidity level is rising and sweat is flyin' off your forehead with every cast. Not a fun day on the water unless you're tubing or pleasure boating. In the article, I recall the writer stating that gaudy baits you'd never even THINK to put in your tackle box much less snap on your leader should be fished under these conditions. Gaudy, bright, insane, Vegas showgirl-like baits tend to work best. I cannot prove or disprove that theory, but it tends to make sense to me.
On the other hand, we could simply do what Dunlap suggests... just have fun and fish. Enjoy your time on the water and the nature and scenery around you. I don't know about you guys, but when these kind of conditions come on, I tend to put even MORE pressure on myself. I lose sight of the overall picture and instead of having a good time and fishing, I'm not. I'm too busy focusing on "OMG! When in the eff am I gonna see a fish?!" stay positive. enjoy yourself and just fish. |
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Posts: 156
| I don't know what to do on days like this anymore. Last year in Canada, we had a day with 91 temps (110 real feel), no wind (completely flat lake), and zero clouds. We decided to troll just to get some air moving "through the boat" as it has hard to even breathe. It was miserable. I wound up handing control of the boat over to my two friends and I went to sleep on the front deck. I was drenched in sweat, and honestly couldn't have cared less if a fish hit. If one hit one of the three lines out...I was fine with one of my friends landing the fish and netting themselves. Happy to wake up and take pictures. |
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