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Posts: 148
Location: DES MOINES, IOWA | We have done well in June/July on Sabaskong pounding large weedbed areas, however, what I can,t figure out is why some beds are goldmines, and others are totally void of Muskies.I am assuming the good ones are major spawn areas, and the others aren,t.Why? I have fished areas similar in every way,which don,t hold Muskies, and few Northerns.I am leaning towards some of these non-productive areas not holding bait fish for whatever reason?I do know my top areas for Muskies also hold a large population of Northerns, which by the scars on some of these are being eaten by the Muskies.I know we waste time exploring different weedbed areas trying to find productive Musky waters, but trial and error seems to be the only solution.For those doing a lot of weed fishing, have you noticed anything about your productive areas that seem to match? |
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Posts: 600
Location: West Bend, WI | The one question that I would ask myself is maybe not what the weed bed has. but the location in lake and most important what is surroundng or near by the productive weed beds?does the wind hit it more?is there deep water nearby?does it supply better shading?is there some form of current? |
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| Good slop weedbeds usually are within fertile bays or have nearby deep water access. Sometimes sunlight has something to do with it as well. I think many of us have just discovered that big muskies can be present in very shallow water most of the year, and now we are starting to have lures that enable us to access them. For example, Lindy tubes, sluggos, jigs with reapers, spinnerbaits, and the Bucher slopmaster which I can't wait to buy. |
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| Look for weedbeds that are close to deep open water and a sand beach
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Posts: 1046
| I have found weed-beds that were way isolated from any deep water basins,no current,no shade,no other cover(except the weeds themselfs)no creek channel for a travel corridor,just out in the middle of a big flat.The one thing it did have was BAITFISH,perch,perch,and more perch and guess what not a single boat even came close to us.Over the course of 3 seasons this isolated area put out a couple dozen fish and never seen another musky lure while we were there!This season will be the same thing,everyone one else will be fighting over all that classic musky structure and we will be smok`in fish where no one else is even looking.Case and point,all weeds are not created equal but those isolated areas that look lousy and away from everything can be the hottest fishing of the season.We even heard people making fun of us at launchs about our locations and little did they know we had CPR alot more then they did.We just know where the bait was. |
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Posts: 32958
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I am a slop fisherman, big time. Handy has it, IMHO. The key is aquatic insects and whatever else draws the baitfish to the cover, canopy so a Muskie is able to move around in the stuff, and overall water temps. Too warm, they will move out. That is rare up here.
One of my favorite patterns is south facing slop weedbeds in early season as the water is still warming. The temps there in the weeds can be 70 when the surrounding water temps are 60, or so. I find muskies so shallow in these areas most would pass them right by. ALL my Goon fish last year came from about 2' or even less, in NASTY slop.
I really like the very shallow 'dollar pads', too. Awful to get a bait through, but if the baitfish are there, so are the predators. Buzzers, Sluggos, and other near weedless applications will make fishing that stuff easier, but it is still a pain. Well worth it, though! |
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Posts: 148
Location: DES MOINES, IOWA | Sabaskong really isn,t a deep water lake, and our three goldmine weedbeds don,t really border on deep water.However, two of them do face South, and the third is basically a river running North to South.All three areas have heavy weed growth (umbrella type), where even on hot and sunny days the Muskies are laying in the shade.Hence, Muskies at any time of the day, bluebird conditions or not.The best of three for large Muskies, like Handymans spot is not fished.Islands in front of the bay are pounded, but no one swings into bay and fishes the weeds.Go figure. In June,we caught three in one day in a 2 hour period, and didn,t get caught by Musky fishermen hitting the islands.They think we are walleye fishing/northern fishing.Amazing how far voices carry on the water.Steve, you like slop, you should see the river.Channel is 5-30 yards wide with the thickest slop you haver ever seen on both sides, running 1/2 mile back in spots.I can take a Johnson Silver Spoon, and cast it as far as I can back into this stuff, and bounce it all of the way back to the boat without hitting open water.I think we took 7 Muskies out of there this year,with a system I talked about on another post.So, reviewing, looking for South facing weed beds, and thinking back on it, all of three have areas of umbrella type of weeds that shield the area from direct sun.Helps a little in the scouting. |
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Posts: 87
Location: michigan | I definatly need to get a few of you casting/live bait experts out my way, you guys would have a stroke if you saw all of the totally unpressured areas which are exactly like the ones you describe here. I know they hold a lot of muskies cause I see them on a regular basis when fishing for perch, bass and walleye. Noone fishes them because of the close proximity of lake st clair and the number of fish it produces, and the lack of info on other techniques. There are definatly less numbers in the rivers but all of the fish I see are huge. I have armed myself with some very good info from the guys on this site and intend on spending a fair amount of time chasing these beasts this year. If I can nail down a couple of good tactics I'll have the market cornered LOL! Now all I have to do is put together a trip for the two best guys here to come help me. Any suggestions???? |
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Posts: 1769
Location: Algonquin, ILL | One thing to keep in mind is that "Deep Water" is a relative term based on the lake your on. If a lake has a max depth of 20ft then 20ft is the deep water for that system.
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| Underwater spring?? |
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Posts: 32958
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I would agree with MD, dpeth in a slop area is relative. Some of my best slop areas on the Wisconsin River are hundreds of yards from deep water, but are a foot to a couple feet deeper that the surrounding area. |
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Posts: 1335
Location: Chicago, Beverly | My biggest fish came from a major slop area at least 200 yards, or more from deep water. Found a nice pocket about 30-40' across in the slop and could see some crappie and shad, pitched a spinnerbait across...and got my big fish. Nothing like hooking into a decent fish in about 3' of water completely surrounded on all sides by weeds, no where for him to go, no open water for me to fight him in... |
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