Muskie Discussion Forums
| ||
Moderators: Slamr | View previous thread :: View next thread |
Jump to page : 1 Now viewing page 1 [30 messages per page] Muskie Fishing -> General Discussion -> How to Approach Clear Deep Lakes vs. Stained Shallow Lakes... |
Message Subject: How to Approach Clear Deep Lakes vs. Stained Shallow Lakes... | |||
Lucky Craft Man |
| ||
Posts: 242 | I did a search looking for this answer, but didn't really find one. I do 99% of my musky fishing on clear (visibility over 5') deep lakes where I fish the rocky points, deep water humps, or suspended baitfish. I feel very comfortable fishing this type of lake and have tailored the lures in my tackle box to reflex what works there. This past weekend, I had a friend invite me to musky fish with him. We arrived at the lake and visibility was less than 6" and there were weeds everywhere. The deepest part of the lake was no more than 20 ft. Totally different situation that I am used to and I felt like a rookie fishing here. My buddy threw a bucktail all day over the weeds and I just followed suit, but it felt unnatural (as I almost never fish a bucktail). So here is my question. How do you guys approach lakes that have almost 0 visibility and are chalk full of weeds with not much depth? | ||
Chuckin Baits |
| ||
Posts: 143 Location: La Crosse, WI | Good question, I think the hardest thing about fishing dark shallow waters is the fact that you usually get more fish that eat than follow which can make it difficult to figure out where they are located. Usually they are either in the weeds, on the weed edge, or suspended in open water depending on weather and time of the year. For a presentation, I like bucktails, topwater, spinnerbaits, and suicks in the weeds. On the weed edge you can throw deeper running baits like cranks and rubber. A parallel presentation to the weed edge can be a really effective way to target fish in darker water. It allows the bait to stay in the feeding range longer. Also, loud baits work well or baits that have a lot of vibration and flash. | ||
Musky Brian |
| ||
Posts: 1767 Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | basic general rule is that in dark water shallow lakes fish will hang closer/ tighter to structure....clearer water they "might/should" be hanging a further distance away. Lure color might need adjusting but more then likely boat position and casting accuracy will be a bigger factor. a bucktail can be a huge tool in your box in those shallow water situations, but any other bait casted right up onto the weeds or rocks can be just as effective....shallow water is generally an easier pattern to figure out imo... | ||
vegas492 |
| ||
Posts: 1036 | I always had better luck on brighter baits in darker water. Yellows and oranges. More natural colors like dark brown or black on clearer lakes. And those darker lakes? A very good figure 8 is a must. Sometimes you never see the fish, you just whip and 8 and all of a sudden, there is a fish there! | ||
tyler k |
| ||
Posts: 409 Location: Almond, WI | If your buddy knows the lake, I wouldn't question him too much. Bucktails and topwater are great on dark lakes, I like contrasting colors like chart/black or orange/black. If there is weeds fish will use them, doesn't matter if the weedline is in 3' or 13' of water. In dark water inside weedlines and shoreline wood/rocks can be really good too. And always do a full figure 8/circle. I was out on a dark lake last week (1' visibility), working one way and then see a boat working the opposite way towards me musky fishing. As we pass they ask how I'm doing, I say I saw 2 (which was true), and I notice the guy is only doing a half j-turn at the boat--both fish I saw swiped in the third turn of my figure-8 and I had not seen them at all before or after that. I would have never seen any fish doing a half j-turn... | ||
muskidiem |
| ||
Posts: 255 | I agree with all replies, noting figure 8s are necessity. On a dark lake chain my boat partner decided to figure 8 excessively one slow day. He had a strike on the 6th pass, and this happened to be the pattern for the other fish we missed that day. I've been surprised at the boat on numerous strikes that flash out of nowhere, some you catch and some you have to laugh off. Try single hook spinnerbaits that can be worked high or low in water to reduce snagging on stumps and weeds every cast. | ||
curleytail |
| ||
Posts: 2687 Location: Hayward, WI | Nothing is always 100% but I agree with the others and say those lakes tend to have shallow weed patterns. Bucktails, spinnerbaits, and topwaters rule on that type of water for me. I fish more clear water, and use lots of rubber, cranks and Cowgirls and fish like you tend to, but shallow water I'm usually on shallow structure with some sort of blade bait or topwater. | ||
Jump to page : 1 Now viewing page 1 [30 messages per page] |
Search this forum Printer friendly version E-mail a link to this thread |
Copyright © 2024 OutdoorsFIRST Media |