Pressured Musky Tips – Wandering 'skie – Big Fish Pics
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Catch More 'Skies on Pressured Lakes
If you're a musky-head that enjoys reading 3,000 word articles, make sure to check this one out from In-Fish field editor Cory Schmidt. It's chock-full of insights on fishing Ontario waters and features legends like Dick Pearson, Doug Johnson and others. (click to read)
Here's a quick taste before you curl up by the fire and binge-read the whole thing.
Dick Pearson on rusty crayfish:
"On Lake of the Woods, you can’t step near any shoreline without observing shells, claws, or live rusty crayfish ... There’s almost no cabbage left, particularly in the Northwest Angle. As the vegetation has disappeared, muskies have redistributed among less habitat. You see more anglers concentrated on fewer, high percentage spots—mostly rock.
"What’s most alarming is I think the crayfish are eliminating a lot of spawning habitat. We’re seeing fewer and fewer small muskies every year.”
Doug Johnson on LOTW's changing habitat:
"When weeds were so prevalent, you’d never catch a muskie off a fallen tree. Now that the cabbage is gone, certain trees have become key spots that seem to hold a muskie or two every time you visit it."
Gord Pyzer on a crazy, ridiculous musky trip:
"The best day-and-a-half of muskie fishing I’ve ever experienced was with guide Jon Bondy a few years ago. In 15 hours we hooked 15 muskies and put 11 in the boat with 4 over 40 pounds."
Jeremy Smith on Suicks/Super Shads:
"There’s something magic about an extra-buoyant bait in vegetation. The deal is purposefully hanging the bait in cover and getting it to back up and out. When so many other anglers are burning bucktails and topwaters right over the tops, I can get right down to the fish in those 6- to 10-foot depths where the best cabbage takes root."
Now that I've spoiled 211 words for ya, make sure to read the full article on the In-Fish website for the other 2,789.
Musky Baits for Non-Esox
Have you ever actually TARGETED other species with a musky lure??
And pike don't count... 😂
Seems like most of the bass/walleyes that bite while we're musky fishing are of the plus-sized variety = big fish looking for big meals.
This video from Toby Kvalevog and Chris Whitney of Leisure Outdoor Adventures is the perfect example:
They were using forward-facing sonar and 10" Posseidons to snipe big marks.
And some of the those marks ended up being giant walleye like this crazy 31.25 inch Leech Lake bruiser:
The question is whether or not this is something that's somewhat repeatable. West Coast bass anglers use big swimbaits to target giant bass, we've even heard some walleye guys out west (think Columbia River) doing the same deal.
Just goes to show you that big fish like big meals.... but of course us musky-heads have known that for a LONG time!
The Wanderer
This Iowa 'skie has traversed throughout East Okoboji Lake sooo much that the state DNR has nicknamed her "The Wanderer":
You can click here to read the full Steve Weisman writeup, but to sum it up, the Iowa DNR has been following this 47-inch, 21 year old musky for quite some time.... and she's a real mover:
"For this study, the DNR strategically placed 19 acoustic receivers throughout the Okoboji chain (most were in East and West Okoboji) that “listen” for fish that have been fitted with acoustic tags that are constantly emitting a unique code that can only be heard by the acoustic receivers. Once a fish is “heard” by the receiver, it records the exact date and time the fish swam by.
"Perhaps the greatest muskie wanderer was tag #57715.... She had been stocked as a yearling in 2002. Data collected over the years, shows she had been captured by DNR nets seven times between 2010-2022 and spawned during at least four of those years.
"All total, she had 36,282 detections and was detected on all but five days of the study!"
Steve also listed a BUNCH of details on the fish's exact movements – too much info to share here, so check out the article if you're interested.
This Week's Mashup:
Mashup time!
#1 – Amazing casting shot of Doug Wegner launchin' a Double Dawg with the sun just above the tree line. Killer capture by Darcy Bacha 📸
#2 – Rear window graphic = Level 10! (📸: @flasch_af)
#3 – Great release shot from Leech Lake guide Philip Bauerly:
#4 – Don't send this to your favorite fishin' buddy.... 😂
QUICK HITTERS:
– LSC Musky Strategies With Mark Kornosky & Todays Angler (video)
– Dialing in a musky pattern w/ Doug Wegner (video)
– Fall musky fishing w/ Mayhem’s 10k casts (video)
– Northern WI fall musky fishing w/ Burnin 8s (video)
– “Catch & Release” w/ Jim Saric (video)
– Great Lake musky fishing w/ Keyes Outdoors (video)
THIS WEEK'S MONSTER MUSKIES:
Really cool shot from Andy Schiera, hoisting a big gal outta the net.
Congrats to Mason Vanlaanen on boating his first 50+ incher, hooking her at boatside after sundown:
Gorgeous Minnesota 'skie from Livin' the Dream Guide Service. Anyone else ready for summertime musky chasin??
Wanna be featured in Musky Insider? Send in your recent trophy musky photos by replying to this email. You might just see your pic in next week's newsletter. 🤙
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