The deep clear oxygen rich Mesotrophic Lakes of the Clearwater-Pipestone Chain provide the perfect habitat for trophy muskie waters. There are very few lakes that can produce 50 inch plus muskellunge, our lakes do it year after year. Our world class musky lakes provide the avid musky hunter a great opportunity of hooking into a trophy muskie, While staying at our Ontario fishing lodge.
The muskies main food source in our lakes are ciscoes, whitefish and perch, and to a lesser extent bass, walleye and even small ducks. It is a known fact that cisco lakes produce larger northern pike and musky than lakes with only perch as the main forage. In our lakes you will find musky that spend most of their near weedbeds and dropoffs, the areas where perch are normally found. Then there is the musky population that spends much of their time suspended in the open water feeding on ciscoes.
How water temperature affects the predator and prey relationship should be one of the most important assets in any musky hunter’s wisdom. If you know where to locate the muskie forage based on water temperature you greatly increase your success rate. Ninety percent of the fish in any body of water are holding in 10% of the lake you’re fishing, and that 10% is changing on a regular basis.
Spring
Musky season is closed until the third Saturday in June in order to protect them throughout their spawning cycle, pre-spawn through post-spawn. Muskies are in shallow bays facing south, these locations receive the most direct sunlight, therefore warm up quicker than the rest of the lake. Most of the fish species in our lakes will be seeking out this warm water area for spawning and feeding on baitfish. Many nice muskie are unintentionally caught during this time by our guests who are fishing for smallmouth bass and northern pike. We won’t talk much about this time a year, because musky season is closed.
Summer
Once the water temperature starts to approach 60 degrees, the post-spawn muskie start moving into summer territories, typically this period is around opening day. Of course an early or late spring may have a dramatic effect on where they are located.
A lot of the early summer musky population will spend most of their time suspended shallow over deep water gorging on ciscoes and whitefish. The best open water areas will have rock humps that top off shallower than 15 feet, muskies will use these rock humps as areas to feed in packs and corral schools of ciscoes. Trolling or casting crankbaits, bucktails, jerkbaits, and large minnowbaits are most effective when fishing rock humps as again the fish are not that deep
Other muskies will remain shallow and in most cases not far from their spawning area. Look for the early season weed growth that is developed well, these are musky hotspots. This early weed growth signifies warmer water and baitfish, plus it offers cover for the musky to hold in. Good lures to fish over and around these early emerging weed patches are minnow baits and bucktail spinners, especially on overcast days with any kind of wave action. Reeds or bulrushes over shallow sand flats also attract early season muskies.
Weed beds near deep water are excellent locations, fish that hang out in deeper water will head to the weed beds to feed on schools of perch. On larger weed beds, work the outside edges first, especially the inside turn, before heading towards the center. Speed up your presentation at this time of year to the ideal speed for your lures. Large spinner baits, bucktails and jerk baits get the aggressive fish. Full sized crankbaits and spoons are also a good bet. Your heavy duty muskie tackle is a must!
As the season progresses and water temperatures reach 65 degrees, muskies will be scattered throughout the lake in their summer ranges. You will find musky on the classic structure that is easy to recognize, such as rocky or weedy points, narrows, island clusters, cabbage weedbeds and rocky reefs near deep water.
At the peak of summer, our lakes surface temperature may reach 76 degrees; with metabolism at its peak in muskies, they will feed more frequently than any other time of the year. During the day, fish will suspend in deeper water. Trolling with large deep running plugs or bucktails, is the best way to cover a lot of water as effectively as possible. Troll with a long line and troll fast, 3 to 6 mph along weedlines near deep water, narrows and reefs.
With high water temperatures, early mornings and evenings are prime fishing times to fish the shallow water weedbeds, deep water muskies move in to feed on the baitfish. Night fishing with topwater lures or large spinnerbaits can be a deadly tactic. Cast out and slowly retrieve your lure over submerged weeds or along the edges. This technique is not for the faint of heart, as you can expect a heart-stopping explosion from beneath the surface at any second!
Strong winds, warm surface temperatures and sunny days can be a productive time to fish bulrush points close to deep water. Because of the strong winds, these reeds will quite often hold schools of baitfish; creating a perfect ambush opportunity for the aggressive musky. The best lure to use are spinnerbaits with Colorado blades, the silver or gold blades thump hard and create incredible flash.
A stretch of stable weather during the summer period will produce some of the best fishing of the year. If water temperature quickly drops several degrees because of a severe cold front, muskies will be much more fussy and difficult to catch. Using smaller lures and slower retrieves will increase your chances.
By late summer, the nights are cooler and water temperature has dropped back into the mid 60’s. This transition to fall is a high activity period, musky are on the move from their summer feeding patterns, being versatile is now your greatest asset, when fishing for muskie.
Fall
If you want to catch a trophy Muskie, fall is the time to do it. Most seasoned muskie fisherman agrees that September and October are the peak months to catch a true trophy. Muskies don’t feed in the winter and with the water temperature on a steady decline; they are binge feeding, not only to fatten up for the long winter, but to nourish their developing eggs.
Summer fishing patterns will produce well in the early fall. Well into fall when water temperatures are approaching the low 50’s; muskies are feeding and focusing on forage with high fat content, like whitefish and ciscoes. Musky relate more to vertical structure that allows easy access to deep water. Look for drop-offs or sharp vertical points leading into inside turns. Trolling crankbaits along these breaklines, parallel with the edge, offers you the best chance to hook into a trophy musky, which by now has reached its peak weight.
By late fall with water in the low 40s, most weedbeds have turned brown and died. The bulrush banks are good fishing spots, especially in those areas where the reeds grow on a firm bottom in water as deep as five feet. These are the ciscoes spawning locations, huge walleye, pike and muskie are in these shallows gorging on these high protein baitfish. Other late fall casting spots include large sandy or gravel flats adjacent to deep water, reefs and narrows that create current areas between islands.
A spinner bucktail with a silver blade/black skirt, gold blade/black skirt, silver blade/white skirt, or gold blade/skunk bucktail are tough to beat. The key with bucktails is to fish them slowly in the fall. At this time, muskie usually won’t chase a bait burned across the surface.
When casting for muskie, wear a quality pair of polarizing sunglasses to watch for muskie follows. Make sure to do a figure-8 or L-shaped turn in the water with your lure at the end of each retrieve. Muskellunge are curious and it’s common for them to lurk beneath your boat after following a previous retrieve.
No matter the lake or the season you are fishing in; a good day of muskie fishing is seeing two or three fish and boating one. Remember, muskie fishing isn’t walleye or perch fishing. If you catch one muskie in a day, you’ve had a great day. The best advice I can give is to keep exploring new locations and structure; trying to understand where fish are and why they are there. On your next Canadian fishing trip, we invite you to stay at Little Moose Lodge, you will be glad you did!
Recommended Rods and Reels for Muskie Fishing
Casting- 7’ to 8′ medium-heavy baitcasting rod/reel combo with 50lb line. Use a fast action rod and a high speed reel with braided line.
Trolling- 6’ to 7’ medium-heavy baitcasting rod & large capacity reel combo with 50lb line braided line such as Power Pro works well.
Lures and Tackle
- Deep diving crankbaits such as Believer, Depth Raider, Super Shad Rap, X-Rap Magnum in a variety of sizes and colors.
- Shallow minnow plugs like the Bagley 8” Bang-o-lure and Rapalas jointed and floater in various colors and sizes.
- Jerkbaits such as a 6-8 inch Suick in sucker or black color pattern, Bagley B-Flat, Fudally Reef Hawg in natural colors.
- Larger spoons, including Len Thompson Five of Diamonds and Eppinger Red/White Dardevil and Husky-Devle.
- Spinnerbaits in white, black and chartreuse, Indiana and Colorado blades.
- Top water lures such as Top Raider, Suick Ciscoe Kid 700 Topper and Mud Puppy, white, silver or frog are top color choices.
- Various in-line Mepps spinners including Aglia # 5, Giant Killer Bucktail, Tandem Musky Killer; silver or gold blades on bright days, orange and chartreuse blades on overcast days; natural color bucktail skirts in white, black or black/white combo.
- Assortment of Berkley Gulp or Powerbait soft plastic shad, flukes & twister tails best plastic colors are white, pearl and chartreuse.
- 12-18 inch steel leaders with quality snaps such as Berkley Cross Lok
- Polarized fishing glasses, planer boards, needle nose pliers, large landing net or cradle, measuring tape, and camera.
