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| I am fortunate enough to be taking my first LOTW muskie trip, albeit a short one, to the Nestor Falls/Sabaskong Bay region in early July (July 1-4 ish). Having grown up fishing muskies in Wisconsin, this trip is much anticipated. From the guys with experience in this region, what baits and colors would be considered must-haves for the area? What is the water clarity at this time in this region of the lake? How about the primary forage base? Space is not an issue, so fire away. Joe Bucher said it best, “…it never ceased to amaze me how guys could drive hundreds, even thousands of miles to fish for muskies and not bring the proper gear…” Thanks guys and gals. |
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Posts: 2089
| 6" Reef Hawg, 7" Big Game, DCG, Headbanger, Rad Dog Spinnerbait. For the entire season. |
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Posts: 335
Location: Minnesota | All colors worked last year for us. DCG, spinnerbaits, and topraiders caught most of the fish. |
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Posts: 10
| LOTW
Best pair of sunglasses you can get!!!
Hit the low light periods hard morning/dusk
spinnerbait
suick
bucktail
jointed depth raider |
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Posts: 134
Location: (South of the 218) | Have fun fishing LOTW out of Nestor Falls... it's as I imagine the Pearly Gates of heaven.
I will second what brmusky says as I was his "Extreme Netman"
- Dbl 10's - heck even caught a nice 46" on Fluted Dbl. 9's (Basement Baits) - Brown, Chart. and Blacks
Lots of action on TopRaiders - darker Lures but that's what we had.
You can't go wrong on LOTW w/ Spinnerbaits.... my personal fav. is Black/Nickel. (But that's because the Bears are so #*^@ big up there!)
Best of Luck - let's hear some reports mid July.
Out
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Posts: 56
| Shumway Flashers (black tails, mostly)
Crane 207s/208s
Spinnerbaits (Grim Reaper Wildcats /Grinders)
Top Raiders
Reef Hawgs if necessary
Might be a good year early if temps stay up. |
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| where's RPieske when you need him?
(hope that spelling is close.....)
ErieBoy75 |
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Posts: 484
Location: St. Louis, MO., Marco Is., FL, Nestor Falls, ON | Hey...here I am. Just got up to Nestor Falls yesterday...a few weeks late this year. All of the suggestions are good. I have my favorites to fish that time of year. I love the Crane Baits in a black on white pattern. I twitch them at the weed edges and in the saddles. In-line spinners are always good...Buchertails in sunset pattern are my favorites. Topraiders in black. Walk the dog lures. Grandma baits. I love the Fin-S-Minnow rigged with a large single hook and treble trailer for throw back and working pockets. One of my best producing baits in the past few years has been the Bucher Slopmaster. I have not found the need to go with the HUGE baits....I'm not saying they are not effective, just that fishing muskies every day...all season long discourages me from using them too much. I do throw double 10's and even a 13 once in a while. But the above lures make up about 85% of my fishing time. Give me a shout before you come and I'll try to update the season to that point. Anxious to get out there and hit some smallies, northern and walleyes tomorrow. The walleyes have been LARGE and numerous. Two guys here fish only large walleyes and have caught 22 over 28" this week. Now that's successful. Good luck this season. |
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Posts: 69
| We throw a lot of the same lures as Bob. We like the 700 Bucher Bucks, and the best colors were the ones they discontinued. I like throwing Hellhounds, which have been very effective for me. Color doesn't seem to matter. Topraiders have been good. Blades have also put a lot of fish in the net. We'll be up to Helliars on our annual 2 week run to Sabaskong July 3rd-17th. Good luck. Jay |
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Posts: 125
Location: North Saint Paul, MN | Bob,
I will be up in Nestor for the muskie opener in a couple weeks. Will be staying at Red Deer Lodge just north of Nestor Falls. What kind of water temps are you seeing right now? Sounds like the walleye fishing is great right now. |
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Posts: 484
Location: St. Louis, MO., Marco Is., FL, Nestor Falls, ON | Ryan:
I just put the boat in yesterday and the water temperature on a sunny day was just over 70 degrees. Today is cool and raining. That should cause it to drop. I guess I'll wait till tomorrow to start fishing. Oh well, just one more day. LOL |
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Posts: 2024
| In my opinion (some may disagree), LOTW is not a difficult body of water to fish once you get a feel for the types of structures/cover out there. If you're new to the water, spend the first couple days trying a mixture of spots (e.g., rocks, weeds, rock/weed combos, bays, slop, neck downs, saddles, etc.) to hone in on what types of areas the fish are using. For that section of water, do yourself a favor and buy Canadian Hydrographic's map 6214. Location is obviously critical, but once you've found the location throw your confidence baits. LOTW has a variety of prey species, and if you sampled their stomachs my guess is perch would be the main forage fish followed by suckers.
When we fish it generally my starting rotation consists of: walk-the-dog topwater, Top Raider or Top Walker, bucktail (Mepps Marabou, double 10, insert favorite here ____), orange/black dot 10" unweighted Suick, Pearson perch Hellhound (custom/discontinued color, I'm sure regular perch would be fine too), and a walleye pattern Shallow Invader. Give me those 6-7 baits and I'm confident I will put fish in the boat... the only question is what size? 
Edited by esox50 6/4/2010 2:34 PM
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Posts: 2087
| Agree with you Sean - it is generally "easy" because there is usually a large portion of the population shallow making the fish accessible to most common muskie lure choices.... but not always, Fish are often on the move first week of July, should be a good # of fish on or moving to main lake rocks by then this year. Very seldom do LOTW skies get lock jaw but strike zones do shrink - Fish laying in 8-10 feet of water are normally not going to come up to eat a topraider. DDD's, DR's, and working dawgs deep have there place on given days and weeks and have saved weeks for me when others in camp are struggling. Good luck - it is the best all-around muskie lake in the world. |
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Posts: 906
Location: Warroad, Mn | Use the lures you have the most confidence in. Muskies on the LOTWS aren't all that fussy. Doug Johnson |
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| I knew Bob would have some input. Hope you have a great season up there, Sir!
ErieBoy75 |
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Posts: 309
Location: Elgin IL | Top 10
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