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Location: Northern Wisconsin | Does anyone have success fishing steep shorelines for musky? Lots of the lakes and flowages I fish in N Wis have these type of shore lines. The spots I'm taking about drop off very quickly, leaving no weeds or very little weeds right up along shore. If so, what do you look for in these spots? Fallen trees? Boulders? Baitfish?
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Posts: 2361
| Steep shoreline by itself is rather unremarkable, and without suspended forage, even less remarkable. I haven't found a situation I want to fish on the lakes I hit in WI. Not that the addition of cover and an inside turn couldn't be attractive, just haven't found one.
Sets a small table. |
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Posts: 457
| I think that steep breaking shorelines are probably better during the fall, but what the hell do I know. |
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Posts: 3240
Location: Racine, Wi | Most of the lakes that I fish have steep breaks of some sort, and usually I target those spots in a Summer through early Fall time range, then again in late fall. I'm usually looking for baitfish when fishing those spots and tend to fish a lot of rubber in those areas. With that being said, there's typically deeper sandgrass or some sort of cover near by that the fish can slide into or our of, so that tends to dictate where I fish. In areas that are shoreline related and drop straight into deep water, I typically look for cribs in deeper water and fish them parallel as well unless there is some sort of shoreline cover and good wind or low light, at which time, I'll throw a few casts into the cover to keep myself honest.
Usually though, I'm fishing parallel and deep on these spots, looking for any bottom content changes or deep cover like rock piles, fingers, sandgrass etc. |
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Posts: 1906
Location: Oconto Falls, WI | The steep shorelines, and I am talking the ones that you don't like to see when you need to pull ashore for a potty break, can be good throughout the year. Most just think of them as good fall spots, but then again that is one of the few times most people think they need to fish deep. Fish that deep throughout the year and you could be pleasantly surprised.
What I have found is this. If you have a steep shoreline you need to have some sort of structure that creates a destination spot for the fish. If that whole shoreline is rocks and boulders big deal. However if along that shore some of those rock and rubble go out into the lake like a mini underwater point than that is good. Usually these shores don't have weeds. So fallen timber is another huge draw for fish, and especially early in the year. Yes I said early in the year! Areas that have a lot of fallen trees, and criss-crossing will almost always outproduce a single tree even if that tree is large.
Just like the tiny rock underwater point you will also find slight sand/gravel points coming out from these shorelines. Another great spot even if it is only like a 1-2' rise in depth.
Often times you will also have a small flats area along the shore that doesn't drop near as quickly as the rest of the shore. Those can be goldmines especially if you find smallmouth bass like to inhabit them throughout the year.
Otters and mink love steep shorelines from what I have seen. So there is a good reason they are there.
I almost always fish the shoreline perpendicular. Once in awhile I may get one casting parallel but for whatever reason I have much better luck with a traditional approach. Also like Joel mentioned contact with structure can be key! Bounce a deep diving crank down that rubble as far as you can. Don't be afraid to throw a diver like a hooker jr. right up into 1' of water. Well unless you have trees! Fish your lures up tight to shore as you will find a surprising amount of fish right tight to the waterline on occasion especially if there is some deep wood out from them.
Again don't overlook these areas early in the year especially if you are on cisco based water. Ciscos will be close to shore early in the year along these shores. |
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Posts: 433
Location: Cedarburg, Wisconsin | Yes, they can be quite good at times. I fish a flowage with shorelines that drop into the old river channel in spots. In a few spots, you can take a few imaginary steps off shore and be in almost 40 feet. I've found the crappier the weather for fishing the more likely the fish can be contacted on these steep breaking shorelines, and tight to shore, most times less than 10 feet down. Found the same in Canada only deeper. The more horrendous the weather became the tighter muskies held to these shoreline spots and the deeper they went.
Maybe it has something to do with crappy weather making them want to migrate vertically to feed rather than horizontally. If I catch a talking musky I'd like to ask it about that.
The WI waters I fish are so small, relatively speaking, I can fish all the steep spots in a day a couple times over if I want to so I don't worry about something inparticular. Just pound 'em and when you catch a fish remember that spot and eventually you will find the areas they like. I would however suspect that if you found a deep inside turn, wood, or maybe a pile of rocks that those would tend to hold fish longer than just featureless shoreline.
I like diving jerks for fishing these in WI, like Suicks or weighted Reef Hawgs, whereas in Canada I'll troll them whenever possible with Believers or Jakes. |
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Posts: 785
| On the natural lakes in MN I fish (june-september) I've yet to find any fish in such areas. Steep drops on the edge of a large flat can be excellent but no luck for me on any steep shorelines. I don't fish in the fall, usually hunting then. |
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Posts: 1220
| This is one of those statements that are not always true, but the shape of the shore will often telegraph the shape of the bottom. Often a sandy beach will extend out shallow for quite some distance, while a really steep cliff-like shore will likewise extend that same vertical drop below the water line. I think it is likely to be more true of Southern impoundments than of more natural lakes in the North. You can almost draw in your mind what it might look like underneath. Naturally, this can be pretty useful when you are looking for warmer water in the spring and fall as well as cooler water in the warmer days. The other thing about the steep dropping shore is that the drop itself becomes the structure, as well as the fallen trees and often much bigger boulders that you find on the steep shorelines. There were times late last summer (especially on the Chip) when I fished the steep shorelines almost exclusively. Marty Forman |
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Posts: 222
Location: c.wis | another thing that might be thoughed over would be if there is a adjacent flat, hump or any other structure. someone else touched on that- id also tend to think that the fish would relate to the shoreline for a reason. ex. being you metioned flowages so that would make some current, old river channel or pos manmade debris that has acumilated over the years. or certin times of year when you have bait relating to that shore line, id think that anywhere on that break where you had a shelf or large boulder it would create a nice place for a fish to hang out. if i was there iguess id look for that change in depth, bottom composition, or nearness to other structural element- guess thats my 02$
Edited by eric001 1/28/2011 9:38 PM
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Posts: 2753
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | Read Dick Pearson's "Muskies on the Shield" he has as section on them. I have gotten a few muskies off steep drop shorelines - "Canadian Shield lake" shorelines are deceptive - You can be in 120' of water 20' from shore.
I got a 44' on Cass Lake while fishing with Ranger, we were in ~60 FOW casting up to shoreline. The fish came off from under a dock, so don't pass up a few casts up to docks on steep shoreline breaks.
Sometimes shoreline breaks and structure are there & you don't know it. My best example of that was a flyin trip where my daughter Felicia & I were fishing on a shield flyin lake. We were in 80 FOW and 40' from shore and she was casting to shore for smallies, I was casting to deep water for muskies, when Felicia said "Dad, big fish". I didn't get to see the entire fish, only it's tail at ~10-15' feet down as it headed straight back down into the abyss, it was indeed a very big fish. I found out out how deep it was after I went back w/ a depth finder the next year. The shoreline didn't really reveal how steep the break was or the available structure. There were a couple of blow down's hanging in the water along the shoreline. It was one of those typical 4- 5 ft rock, trees, and moss shoreline without any other trees showing in the water, so I was thinking rock rubble - small boulders = smallie action for Felicia.
Boy was I wrong! I found out out how deep it was after I went back w/ a sonar 2 years later. I just had to find out what was holding this "big fish". It was a lot of large trees on the bottom in 80 FOW. I found the answer how they got there after talking to an experienced Canadian Shield fisherman/resort owner. The trees were the final stage of the blow down's that we saw hanging in the water. Because the blow down tree is still attached to shore by some of its roots, it eventually dies and becomes very water logged over time, then finally the roots decay and the tree drops or slides into the abyss. The same happens with spring thaw on lakes, the ice can capture the tree pull it loose as the large patch of ice moves from being pushed by wind, then drop it when the ice flow/patch melts. They had probably been accumulating for centuries.
Just like the wind, heavy snow's can do the same, drop trees with weaker root systems into the water.
BTW: This was ~ 50 yards from a nice patch of shoreline cabbage on a trout water Canadian Shield lake- Think Crow/Kagagi clear water as a comparison. If what you're doing isn't working, try some steep shorelines.
My next trip to this lake will be with my HB 997SI rigged as a portable. It should be an interesting trip.
Have fun!
Al
Edited by ESOX Maniac 1/29/2011 8:41 AM
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Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Not only does the structure ON the break make a difference for holding fish; what's on either end of a steep break can make it hot or not. |
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