Open Water Exodus - Musky Versus Dog - Don't Text And Fish
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Open Water Exodus
During our Musky Insider Pro live Q&A session last week, guides Steve Herbeck and Josh Borovsky discussed where the muskies are at in their seasonal progression. If you’re an Insider Pro Member and didn’t see it live, be sure to check out the recording in the member portal.
There’s lots of timely info in there including pink day predictions for July. If you’re not a member yet, and want in, be sure to get your name on the wait list. We are planning to let some people on the waitlist in sometime in August.
Both Josh and Steve shared they were starting to see less fish in the open water and numbers of ‘skies are slidin’ up on and/or suspending close to structure.
We just listened to this interview with guide and Musky Insider Pro Instructor Kevin Cochran on the Paul Bunyan Country Outdoors podcast and it sounds like he is seeing the exact same thing in his neck of the woods.
“We were finding fish over open water . . . deep basin stuff. But, now it seems like a lot of those fish have exited and they’re now on traditional musky spots.”
So if the open water on your lake starts to look like a ghost town. You know what to do.
It’s always good to remember that some lakes (especially cisco based ones) can see a lot of back and forth movement between structure and the open water throughout the summer.
So don’t be afraid to keep checkin’ the basin if the structure seems unusually void of fish.
By the way, Kevin touches on on some other hot topics including how the DNR’s current management plan is affecting our fisheries.
“So essentially they say the muskies only use the water 12 feet and under so that’s how they stock the lakes. Which is pretty ludicrous if you consider that the majority of my fish this year have came out over at least 40 feet of water.”
Don’t Text and Fish
We’ve all heard it. Don't text and drive. Looks like we should add don't text while musky fishing to that list!
In musky fishing we have a saying… “They always know whose line to bite, and when.”
It’s downright spooky how muskies seem to know when you’re off guard. Luckily this story has a happy ending.
That’s Matt Vavrock’s dad gettin’ his PB while taking a little text break. We love the look of astonishment on his face once the fish hits the bag. 😂 You can watch the full clip on Matt’s YouTube channel.
Who’s Huntin’ Who?
We came across this video from Pierre Desjardin showing a curious musky comin’ over to check out his dog in ultra shallow water.
Pierre said in early spring they usually see 2-3 muskies swimmin’ together around their dock during the spawning season. But, it’s also pretty common to see them throughout the summer in 3-6 feet of water.
He thinks this one was especially unique.
“It was while everyone was in and out of the water and around the dock.”
Pierre thinks that the musky was attracted by the dog’s steps in the shallows while bobbing for rocks. But, once the dog spotted it, the hunter became the hunted!
We love that he added the Jaws theme for the audio in this clip.
It brings back memories of the old In-Fisherman video where a woman is screaming at them from her dock that a musky ate her dog, and they glance down at their bucktails and ask . . .
This Week's Mashup:
Mashup time!
#1 – We can’t get enough of this triple nickel’s slow-mo head shake. The black-and-white makes it even more dramatic.
That’s Georgian Bay guide Jamie Tyson livin’ out the moment we all hope for.
#2 – Bucktails and July go together like peanut butter and jelly. Check out these cool lookin’ Marvin 88’s available at Taps and Tackle. 👀
#3 – Dereck Reilley sent us this beauty of a sunset shot. He's got some nice boat lighting going on there too. 👍
#4 – Northern Lights Musky in The Sky
Bill Buchholz used his imagination and saw more than just the aurora borealis in the sky. Do you see it?
QUICK HITTERS:
– Monster Minnow Baits for Muskies w/ Musky Mastery (video)
– Chasing Unicorns w/ Thorne Bros (video)
– “The Cult” musky short documentary w/ Jody Marler (video)
– Thousands of tiger muskies released into Jordanelle Reservoir in Utah (link)
– Musky Days Happening in Nevis, MN 7/19-7/20 (link)
THIS WEEK'S MONSTER MUSKIES:
Jack Messervey has been catchin’ some banker tankers from shore lately. Check out this this 51+” PB he got on an after dark solo mission.
Big smiles and even bigger hooksets were on the docket when this cruise missile struck Kyle Waterworth’s medussa on the splash down while fishing with Dan Ness in western Minnesota.
Joe Gibson was reminded why he makes the annual trip to Lake St. Clair when this 52 inch beast hit the bag.
Martin Bérubé got this tall sided jumbo jet while testing out the new Blue Water Baits Show Stopper 11 available exclusively at Ezoko Pike and Musky Shop.
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