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Posts: 267
Location: Central Pennsylvania | Is there any way to find musky without electronics? I'm planning on fishing a small impoundment with a steady population of tigers; from a canoe, the lake goes to depths of 40 feet in select areas and has large weed beds throughout plus a lot of man-made structure. What is my best shot at finding them during the summer? |
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Posts: 536
Location: deephaven mn | As you know Muskies will follow your bait to the boat. So you will see them if your casting in the area they are in.
Beauty of Muskie fishing is you can get your data with your eyes. Many Muskies were caught and or found long before Side Imaging was put to use. Keep casting. |
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Posts: 390
| I often fish for them out of a kayak without electronics. Look for weed edges and surface bait fish. If it is a little windy watch where waves break to find reefs and shallow structure. |
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Posts: 20180
Location: oswego, il | As stated above you will need to site cast your structure. Funny I grew up fishing eagle lake without a trolling motor or depth finder going from Kimberly's to the falls and places in between as a teen in a 16' Naden and a 20hp johnson. |
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Posts: 1971
| Do you own a unit for ice fishing? Sometimes take my old Zercom flasher in my kayak when on new water and want to check things out. You can also use jigs and crankbaits as a depth finder and then make a mental picture of what's under the water on small impoundments..
Edited by IAJustin 3/16/2021 9:55 AM
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Posts: 357
| cast to what you can see, then turn around and cast away from what you can see, then move out and cast to where you were then repeat until you contact them. |
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Posts: 2237
Location: SE, WI. | IAJustin - 3/16/2021 9:54 AM Do you own a unit for ice fishing? Sometimes take my old Zercom flasher in my kayak when on new water and want to check things out. You can also use jigs and crankbaits as a depth finder and then make a mental picture of what's under the water on small impoundments.. ^. ^. ^ This. ^. ^ ^ Jigs and Cranks will also Tell you Hard Bottom Area ‘s + Weeds! Then Start lining up things With your Eyes. Trees, Flag poles, Towers, Homes, piers.......etc.....etc Tigers love to bury themselves in weeds....especially in mid summer...Start rippin some fandangos and creatures through weeds....Fish-on! JD
Edited by jdsplasher 3/16/2021 12:37 PM
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Posts: 267
Location: Central Pennsylvania | I sadly do not have a ice fishing flasher, but I do have some heavier jigs. Are wind blown points and shorelines a good spot to look if I cannot see much structure? |
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| Is there a fishing hot spots map for this body of water? If so, you can study it ahead of time, get a good idea of contours, rock piles, etc.. Once on the water you can look at land features to see where you are relative to the map. |
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Posts: 2280
Location: Chisholm, MN | Of course! Cast, reel, repeat! |
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Posts: 390
| sometimes it adds a little more to the experience to go back to the basics
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Posts: 20180
Location: oswego, il | I didn't have a boat for one season, 2005 and I had an old base model lowrance I made portable. Built it on a small box. I used a small 12v motorcycle battery came with a charger. I bought a small clamp on device made for transducers. Worked just fine. |
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Posts: 267
Location: Central Pennsylvania | I've found a video of a lake breakdown from recently, but I'm not sure what to look for in terms of musky fishing. Also, there are two very large weed beds. If someone has time and can watch it and possibly advise me please pm me! |
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Posts: 8722
| During the warmer months I've found hybrids in unusually shallow water where you wouldn't expect them to be. I'd fish the weed beds on the outside edge first and don't be afraid to try the inside edge. |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | Get yer buddy a good set of goggles and a sturdy belt for you to hold on to. m |
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Posts: 1188
| esoxaddict - 3/16/2021 12:40 PM
During the warmer months I've found hybrids in unusually shallow water where you wouldn't expect them to be. I'd fish the weed beds on the outside edge first and don't be afraid to try the inside edge.
This. I've encountered them in knee deep water in the middle of summer. Also, they love docks. Don't be afraid to cast right up into the pocket where the dock meets the shoreline, and bring back parallel to the dock. And as said before, they'll bury into the weeds. Top water baits over the weeds, and spinners right through the weeks, and small cranks along the edges of the weeds. |
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Posts: 3784
| Here are my two cents..
Cent 1 - Ask the locals/regulars where they've been catching panfish. Ask the nearest bait shop the same thing, where are the panfish? Gills on the beds? Perch on the flats? Walleye suspended? (Drop some coin in the bait shop, first, don't expect help* unless you help first.) Muskies hang around their food.
Cent 2 - In a canoe you can't fish high wind-blown structure or shoreline, because, yer in a canoe. But if the wind dies down rush to those spots and cast to to the shore line, like right on the beach. Muskies get very shallow to pick off baitfish rolled in the waves.
* Help on the way
Well I know only this, I've got you today
Edited by Ranger 3/16/2021 7:31 PM
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Posts: 596
Location: Duluth | By fishin.
I find muskie via electronics maybe once a year and that's an open water bite on a large NE MN lake. |
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Posts: 20180
Location: oswego, il | CincySkeez - 3/16/2021 9:15 PM
By fishin.
I find muskie via electronics maybe once a year and that's an open water bite on a large NE MN lake.
Hmmm, large NE MN lake, let me.think what lake could that be, so many......:-) |
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Posts: 1188
| ToddM - 3/16/2021 9:25 PM
CincySkeez - 3/16/2021 9:15 PM
By fishin.
I find muskie via electronics maybe once a year and that's an open water bite on a large NE MN lake.
Hmmm, large NE MN lake, let me.think what lake could that be, so many......:- )
Well, you don't think all those fish in the St. Louis just stay there do you? There's at least two. |
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Posts: 596
Location: Duluth | TCESOX - 3/16/2021 10:41 PM
ToddM - 3/16/2021 9:25 PM
CincySkeez - 3/16/2021 9:15 PM
By fishin.
I find muskie via electronics maybe once a year and that's an open water bite on a large NE MN lake.
Hmmm, large NE MN lake, let me.think what lake could that be, so many......:- )
Well, you don't think all those fish in the St. Louis just stay there do you? There's at least two.
Lucky this isn't a trout forum. You'd get warnings for talking about "unmentionables"  |
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Posts: 1206
Location: Walker, MN | Use Google Earth or Maps in Satellite view before hitting the water, you can learn a lot. |
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Posts: 20180
Location: oswego, il | TCESOX - 3/16/2021 10:41 PM
ToddM - 3/16/2021 9:25 PM
CincySkeez - 3/16/2021 9:15 PM
By fishin.
I find muskie via electronics maybe once a year and that's an open water bite on a large NE MN lake.
Hmmm, large NE MN lake, let me.think what lake could that be, so many......:- )
Well, you don't think all those fish in the St. Louis just stay there do you? There's at least two.
True but one is really big I know driving and finding open water fish then casting to them is a tactic there. |
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Posts: 4269
Location: Ashland WI | I fished muskies in my younger years without electronics. I just casted at stuff that looked "fishy". I caught fish.
Today I do not use my electronics to find muskies. I use it to find structure. |
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Posts: 518
Location: WI | Fishing w/o electronics is how I started out musky fishing during my pay check to pay check years after college. Take the time to learn what you can about the lake with whatever resources you have. I anchored and worked areas thoroughly before moving a casting distance away. Anchor was great for learning hard vs soft bottom areas. Deep diving crank baits are great for learning the deep weeed edges. Probably some of the more enjoyable years of fishing for me. |
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Posts: 1209
Location: E. Tenn | raftman - 3/19/2021 9:52 PM
Fishing w/o electronics is how I started out musky fishing during my pay check to pay check years after college. Take the time to learn what you can about the lake with whatever resources you have. I anchored and worked areas thoroughly before moving a casting distance away. Anchor was great for learning hard vs soft bottom areas. Deep diving crank baits are great for learning the deep weeed edges. Probably some of the more enjoyable years of fishing for me.
Got a Shakespeare trolling motor in the early '80s, used it to stay on the weed edges, casting into the weeds first, then out into open water.. did rather well... Later got a portable Humminbird Super 30, and realized I didn't need to do much differently, I could just see what was under the boat a lot better.
Now I have a Helix with all the bells and whistles after several upgrades over the years..
I found myself paying more attention to the electronics than what I was doing for a bit.. and it reflected in my catch rate. Went back to fishing as opposed to constantly watching the sonar, and the results improved immensely.
..
Edited by miket55 3/19/2021 11:02 PM
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Posts: 1197
| Lake map! |
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Posts: 408
Location: MN | The navionics app on your phone can function as a chartplotter. You might not have sonar to confirm depths, but if the maps are good for your lakes you should be able to stay pretty close to where you want to be. I have used it when my boat unit malfunctioned during a trip and it worked pretty good for staying on midlake structure. |
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