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MuskieFever |
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Posts: 572 Location: Maplewood, MN | This past week, we went from fishing an overcast day with light rain and post storm conditions, to the next day being a bluebird, no wind, and 80 degrees. We had no production on the bluebird skies. My question is, how do you approach bluebird conditions? The obvious is to target deeper weed edges, but what else and what presentations? | ||
| Slow Rollin |
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Posts: 619 | when that bluebird hit, it was not deeper, a few active fish had moved up shallow and were caught on faster moving bucktails, real shallow, less than 5 fow | ||
| Hawkeye |
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| Honestly, I try to avoid fishing by a set of rules. (If it’s cloudy fish shallow, if it’s sunny fish deep, etc.) The problem there is that in every circumstance there are just to many variables and too many ‘exceptions to the rule”. I usually just try to find a pattern by trying various lures in different places, regardless of the weather too much. My experience is that Musky’s don’t play by the rules, and you just never know what or where they’ll hit. That's my take, anyway. | |||
| 619musky |
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Posts: 264 | Muskie Fever: you should be able to come up with your own bluebird sky pattern, so man up and go out their. | ||
| Slow Rollin |
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Posts: 619 | hey 619 i heard they are biting on the Wi River, blue showgirl, 4 fow, on sunny days at 12:05  i had too, all in funEdited by Slow Rollin 6/26/2010 1:23 PM | ||
| jerryb |
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Posts: 688 Location: Northern IL | Some may not adhere to any rules and I certainly could be in that category however,, there are guidelines that we can use to up our chances. 1st you must know that no matter where you are fishing on a post cold front day things are going to be tough, 2nd if you must fish then except this fact and look forward to better activity the following day. If you have something else pressing this would be a good time to take care of things. If you have a lake that is gin clear on one side of the road and another with a dark yellow green color then fish on the dark colored lake. If you have 2 lakes with identical water color, fish the deeper one. Understand movements if any, will be short and will probably occur late in the day, however if you got out at sun up some fish could still carry over from the previous day if they moved in the evening, the mid day in most likelihood would be time wasted, "IF" you know the lake, other wise learning new areas and investing time mapping bottom features is never time wasted. Understand it's never a lure that catches the fish but the depth and speed the fishermen places the bait "where",,, that triggers the take. Edited by jerryb 6/26/2010 3:07 PM | ||
| ulbian |
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Posts: 1168 | jerryb - 6/26/2010 4:03 PM 1st you must know that no matter where you are fishing on a post cold front day things are going to be tough I disagree with this statement. I know a handful of lakes that are better on post frontal days than they are when fronts are approaching. Those days of "muskie weather" you go someplace else. I had this conversation with a very accomplished angler this past week about one body of water in particular. We had a good laugh about how you throw all of these so called "rules" out the window regarding this lake. Why let an assumption that things will be tough on a post frontal day keep you off the water? Not all fish are going to eat when storms are moving in. Not all will be shut right down after fronts have moved through. Don't let a widely accepted theory that is too often passed along as "fact" discourage you from fishing post frontal conditions. Fish are catchable on these days. It just requires you to think a little bit and get away from the "monkey see, monkey do mentality." | ||
| Slow Rollin |
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Posts: 619 | ulbian - 6/26/2010 3:12 PM jerryb - 6/26/2010 4:03 PM 1st you must know that no matter where you are fishing on a post cold front day things are going to be tough I disagree with this statement. I know a handful of lakes that are better on post frontal days than they are when fronts are approaching. Those days of "muskie weather" you go someplace else. I had this conversation with a very accomplished angler this past week about one body of water in particular. We had a good laugh about how you throw all of these so called "rules" out the window regarding this lake. Why let an assumption that things will be tough on a post frontal day keep you off the water? Not all fish are going to eat when storms are moving in. Not all will be shut right down after fronts have moved through. Don't let a widely accepted theory that is too often passed along as "fact" discourage you from fishing post frontal conditions. Fish are catchable on these days. It just requires you to think a little bit and get away from the "monkey see, monkey do mentality." do you put cowbells away on those tougher days? | ||
| ulbian |
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Posts: 1168 | I never use cowbells on "tougher" or "easier" days. I don't throw bucktails of any kind. Anyone who has ever fished with me will tell you that. Spinnerbaits are a different story, but inline bucktails...nope. | ||
| jerryb |
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Posts: 688 Location: Northern IL | Well Bob, You don't mention the lake, 's's but let me assure you if you catch any fish on any kind of regular basis, post frontal conditions, and let me be perfectly clear they COULD be SPANKED,, big time before the front moves through. Because A fish is a fish is a fish, north, south, east, or west they ALL react the same, it's nothing special You or any angler does do to make them go. Give me the Lakes and I'll be happy to send a few guys over to put a woopen on that lake. Edited by jerryb 6/26/2010 5:11 PM | ||
| MuskieFever |
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Posts: 572 Location: Maplewood, MN | 619musky - 6/26/2010 1:18 PM Muskie Fever: you should be able to come up with your own bluebird sky pattern, so man up and go out their. learn how to spell 'there' then we'll talk. | ||
| JM |
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Tough crowd here on this one. J Some variables on the Bluebird sky: sometimes it’s a post-frontal thing, but not always. Sometimes it’s just a stable weather clear sunny sky. Then there’s the particular lake you happen to be on…could be dark water, or might be reasonably clear water. The point is, I do different things in different situations. Might even depend on what time of year it is. Not trying to talk down on you, MuskieFever, but depending what the circumstances are can lead to different approaches in fishing it. What you describe in your original post doesn’t sound like a cold front sky. Just sounds like a clear, sunny, early summer sky that showed up after a few days of clouds and rain moved out. I’ve had some trips where the bite was decent during 3-4 cloudy days, then shut down a lot the day when the sun showed up. Seems like the best fishing usually happens during prolonged stable periods. And the bite can slow down when the changes happen. (But…sure, not always.) I approach days like you’re describing pretty similar to Bass fishing. I hit the shorelines with bucktails and topwaters early and late, and then try deeper weed edges and stump fields with lures like Big Game Twitchbaits, Squirrley Jakes and other cranks during the mid-day. Depending on the lake and the fish’s mood that’s kind of my go-to pattern. | |||
| MuskieFever |
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Posts: 572 Location: Maplewood, MN | thanks for the input. by the way, me and 619 are buds, just messin around | ||
| 619musky |
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Posts: 264 | Oddly enough, i do the best on the clearest lake i fish on the brightest days, chrome blades seem to work best in the clearest water reflecting the most sunlight, and burning them seems to be the ticket on bluebird days. | ||
| ulbian |
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Posts: 1168 | jerryb - 6/26/2010 6:09 PM Well Bob, You don't mention the lake, 's's but let me assure you if you catch any fish on any kind of regular basis, post frontal conditions, and let me be perfectly clear they COULD be SPANKED,, big time before the front moves through. Because A fish is a fish is a fish, north, south, east, or west they ALL react the same, it's nothing special You or any angler does do to make them go. Give me the Lakes and I'll be happy to send a few guys over to put a woopen on that lake. Well Jerry, Let me assure you if you catch any fish on any kind of regular basis, pre frontal conditions, and let me be perfectly clear they COULD be SPANKED,, big time.... You like to think that there is a certain set of rules that can be applied to every body of water at any time, anywhere. Why then does Pete Maina refer in one of his books to a "Lake Opposite" where you do the opposite of what you think you should be doing? Your first post on this thread had you writing that fish not being active on post frontal bluebird days is an absolute. How do you figure? The animal kingdom is not ruled by a set of absolutes. Muskies are part of the animal kingdom. Baitfish are part of the animal kingdom. If these absolutes apply like you suggest they do then why even bother fishing or hunting in certain conditions? This "monkey see, monkey do" mentality makes me laugh. You know, the type of mindset that limits the weak minded to never thinking against the grain or outside of the box. Muskies will only eat surface baits when the temps are in a certain range. You have to fish windblown areas, non windblown areas will never have fish. I'm sorry but I just can't allow myself to fall prey to a type of thinking where other possibilities outside of these widely accepted "rules" exist. The funny part of this to me is that there are two fisheries within 20 minutes of me that act totally different and the locals know this. On pre-frontal days you won't see many locals at all on Lake A, but instead they will be on Lake B because it follows along more closely with what you "should" be doing. On post frontal bluebird sky days the locals are hammering the crap out of Lake A but will avoid Lake B at all costs. The fish might have a cross regional sharing of characteristics but is every body of water you have ever fished on identical? Is LOTW the same as Melton Hill? Is Green Bay the same as the WI River? No two muskie fisheries are the same...some can be very similar but no two muskie lakes or rivers are created equally. To think that they all, from Cave Run, Melton Hill, Green River, Lake St. Clair, Green Bay, Moen Chain, etc. can be approached the exact same way is just plain foolish. | ||
| RyanJoz |
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Posts: 1711 Location: Mt. Zion, IL | ulbian - 6/27/2010 7:12 PM To think that they all, from Cave Run, Melton Hill, Green River, Lake St. Clair, Green Bay, Moen Chain, etc. can be approached the exact same way is just plain foolish. The method of EFFECTIVELY using spoonplugs to locate active fish and fish producing structures can be applied anywhere, anytime. Don't knock it til you try it. My father and I have had many multiple fish days using this method of locating active fish, and fish producing structures. We have used it so intensively on some lakes that about 90% of the time we can tell you where the fish will be and how they move. Jerry is right my friend. | ||
| BenR |
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| If this is true, why don't spoonpluggers win tournaments or catch records? It would seem pretty simple according to you folks....BR | |||
| RyanJoz |
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Posts: 1711 Location: Mt. Zion, IL | BenR - 6/27/2010 10:47 PM If this is true, why don't spoonpluggers win tournaments or catch records? It would seem pretty simple according to you folks....BR Because there are so few that do it is the best non-arrogant answer I can come up with. Your statement is very absolute. I choose not to fish tournaments because of how they are run/the attitude of those involved. That is a personal choice of mine, maybe others have the same opinion, I do not know, but a statement like yours is very childish. | ||
| musky-skunk |
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Posts: 785 | Don't make us send you boys to your rooms! We wouldn't want to have to spank you or issue time outs or something lol. Everyone has his or her own opinion based on there experience... which is the point of these forums... to share those experiences in hopes of learning something new. I personally love bluebird days with no wind... it makes for a really good night bite sometimes... but obviously not always. In the daytime I generally avoid it and do my scouting on lakes until evening. But thats just me. | ||
| Makintrax73 |
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Posts: 156 | RyanJoz - 6/28/2010 8:48 AM BenR - 6/27/2010 10:47 PM If this is true, why don't spoonpluggers win tournaments or catch records? It would seem pretty simple according to you folks....BR Because there are so few that do it is the best non-arrogant answer I can come up with. Your statement is very absolute. I choose not to fish tournaments because of how they are run/the attitude of those involved. That is a personal choice of mine, maybe others have the same opinion, I do not know, but a statement like yours is very childish. Ryan, I didn't take the question as childish at all. There is a ton of money in winning tournaments. If there was a better method of fishing out there I would think that someone out there would be taking advantage of it. I don't have a good understanding of the method so maybe some are using the method just not the lure? Anyway I think the question is a valid point for discussion. | ||
| BenR |
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RyanJoz - 6/28/2010 8:48 AM BenR - 6/27/2010 10:47 PM If this is true, why don't spoonpluggers win tournaments or catch records? It would seem pretty simple according to you folks....BR Because there are so few that do it is the best non-arrogant answer I can come up with. Your statement is very absolute. I choose not to fish tournaments because of how they are run/the attitude of those involved. That is a personal choice of mine, maybe others have the same opinion, I do not know, but a statement like yours is very childish. It is a valid question and it goes towards all types of fish not just muskies. Your response did seem to hint of a touched nerve and perhaps a "childish" flavor to it. I also did not ask why you don't fish tournaments, I asked about spoonpluggers...BR | |||
| RyanJoz |
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Posts: 1711 Location: Mt. Zion, IL | First, sorry if I seemed irritated but I am always catching crap from people for spoonplugging, especially from tournament anglers (both bass and muskies). It is long hard work and it can be very boring and that is really why i think most people don't do it. I am not saying casting or trolling is harder here so please don't take it that way. You are constantly getting hung up on snags and such, and you get snagged probably 20-30 times before you catch one fish. Until a few years ago we used to lose lures quite regularly until a fellow spoonplugger showed us his lure retriever (probably 4-5 lures/day). We have located some amazing pieces of structure for bass fishing where we average 70 to 150 fish days. Some of the fish are small, some of the schools are very large. Depending on the feeding cycle, one school may be active and another inactive. The lake i fish for bass we have used the spoonplugging method so meticulously that we don't have to use it anymore except during periods of inactivity to locate stragglers. Come to central IL and I will show you, with largemouth bass, how effective this method has been for us. I have adapted the method (heavier gear, leaders, etc) for muskies and have been successful on Shelbyville, and Kinkaid. I have had about a dozen 6 fish days on Shelbyville, and even an 11 fish day (not counting below the spillway at Shelbyville). Kinkaid has yielded a few 4 fish days, but I am still trying to deal with the weeds and such there. | ||
| Simple fisherman |
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Posts: 69 Location: Pittsburgh | Musky fever here are some of my thoughts I use while fishing and you or anybody else can certainly agree or disagree with me. first the rules. Rule #1 Dont listen in Grammar class as a lad Rule #2 Fishing can be enjoyable any calendar day Rule#3 Buck Perrys Guidelines are not rules and he said so.They are Guidelines to Catching fish Rule #4 If you want to catch more fish follow Rule #3 Rule #5 Spoonplugs are not the only lures that work Rule #6 Post frontal fishing is always tougher. Rule #7 Any day fishing is a great day if you let it be Rule #8 ALL fisherman LIE but me. Rule #9 All successful fisherman are spoonpluggers they just dont use spoonplugs or call themselves such but they sure as heck fish somewhere within the guidelines on most days. Rule #10 If you fish any flood control impoundments with a clean bottom use the 800s even if you shortline. Rule #11 Never get in a internet hullabaloo with BenR | ||
| MuskieFever |
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Posts: 572 Location: Maplewood, MN | alright this is gettin outta hand. i was askin what people do for their own bluebird days. not all these #*^@ battles on if post frontal is better or worse. i enjoy fishing, everyone on here does. i was simply asking how to up your odds of catching if forced to fish a bluebird | ||
| Simple fisherman |
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Posts: 69 Location: Pittsburgh | Sorry Muskie Fever didnt mean to give the impression of argument. Mostly tongue in cheek to my replies here. But cant seem to express this on here just not internet savy not a young man. to answer your question Buck perry really did make me a better fisherman and his guidelines truly are worth alook. | ||
| dtaijo174 |
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Posts: 1169 Location: New Hope MN | I fish the off of the deep edge first, then turn around and fish edge, then over the structure. I keep doing this till i start getting action. After 2 follows or so, I'll stick to the depth/structure that they followed from. Probably not the best method out there, but that's what I do and it's worked well. In post coldfronts on the few lakes i fish, I find most suspended off the structure or on the deepest edge, but not always. | ||
| jerryb |
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Posts: 688 Location: Northern IL | Wish I had some time to respond but heading out on a trip, just got back from one and landed 34 muskie to 48" and about a 100 walleye to 29" and others stuff,,,, doing that monkey see thing, that will be the day!! What a frickin joke!!!! | ||
| Kingfisher |
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Posts: 1106 Location: Muskegon Michigan | jerryb - 6/26/2010 4:03 PM Some may not adhere to any rules and I certainly could be in that category however,, there are guidelines that we can use to up our chances. 1st you must know that no matter where you are fishing on a post cold front day things are going to be tough, 2nd if you must fish then except this fact and look forward to better activity the following day. If you have something else pressing this would be a good time to take care of things. If you have a lake that is gin clear on one side of the road and another with a dark yellow green color then fish on the dark colored lake. If you have 2 lakes with identical water color, fish the deeper one. Understand movements if any, will be short and will probably occur late in the day, however if you got out at sun up some fish could still carry over from the previous day if they moved in the evening, the mid day in most likelihood would be time wasted, "IF" you know the lake, other wise learning new areas and investing time mapping bottom features is never time wasted. Understand it's never a lure that catches the fish but the depth and speed the fishermen places the bait "where",,, that triggers the take. That is pretty well said. For me fishing on Bluebird days has been some of my best times on the water. However we were trolling most of those times and fishing St. Clair. Planer boards have a way of dealing with those spooky fish. However here are some other things to do when its bluebird on clear water. Use very natural colors like coppers and Browns,tans and browns and just plain browns. Try to fish the low light times like the first hour of light and the last hour of light. Make long casts to keep yourself away from wary fish. Fish inside of heavy cover like dense weeds using weedless jigs and spinnerbaits. Fish deep for those fish laying on the bottom. Troll plain and simple. Troll with planer boards and watch your numbers go up. I got my personal best casting during the morning of a Bluebird day. That same day we caught three other mid 40 inch fish on the same tan and brown lure. We casted to dense Cabbage beds and twitched these fish into striking. That day we got two in the morning and two in the evening. We could have slept from 11 am till 5 pm. and probably should have .. Also think about night fishing during bluebird times. Hope this helps. Mike | ||
| Slow Rollin |
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Posts: 619 | what is spoonplugging? | ||
| dway |
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Posts: 107 Location: central illinois | I don't know what spoonplugging is either. Is it just jigging a spoon? Where the hell have I been? I don't believe I've even read any articles or seen any shows about this technique, honestly. | ||
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