Overlooked Fall Patterns - 13 Year Old Wins Tourney - Muskies For The People

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Overlooked Fall Patterns

A few days ago, Josh Borovsky and Matt Seifert did a live Q&A session for our Musky Insider PRO members and they did not hold back on the juicy deets.

The session started off with a “finger on the pulse” report about what the fish are doing and what’s working right now. Matt covered how to game plan your day when conditions are less than ideal and what strategies work well to stack the odds in your favor.

Next, they tackled strategies for turnover and late fall. One of the golden nuggets that came up in this conversation was that both of them had individually identified and taken advantage of the same seldom talked about pattern that happens on many lakes in fall.

Here’s a few tips from Josh on how to take advantage of this bite:

"Some lakes with good populations of frogs have extensive areas of shallow wetlands or marshes adjacent to them which make great frog habitat. You can find these lakes by studying maps and/or using Google Earth."

"As the days grow shorter and the temps fall, a migration of frogs moving from these areas to the main lake happens. "

"The calendar period when this occurs can vary depending on your geographic area and species of frog. In my area, I start watching for it once we start getting frosts and below freezing temps at night."

"Some of the lakes I target for this bite actually have a road that runs between them and the adjacent marsh/wetland area. So it’s pretty easy to tell when it’s happening. You’ll see tons of frogs crossing the road, and some parts of the road actually get greasy from all the frogs getting run over."

"While the road creates a bit of a hazard for the frogs, one of the reasons they cross in those areas is because they are flat and gradually sloping areas allowing them to move back and forth."

"That’s another thing I look for to narrow down where the frogs (and muskies) will be. I target the section of lake bordering the frog habitat but then look at the topography of it, in search of these flatter land bridges."

"The muskies will often be parked extremely shallow and tight to shore in these specific areas. We have caught them on a variety of presentations over the years including bucktails, topwaters, gliders,  SS Shads, and even by dragging a jig "

"Keep your eyes peeled, when fishing these areas. If the water is clear enough you will visually see the muskies. Sometimes they will actually be facing shore waiting for the next frog to make the leap of faith!"

There was a ton of great info covered in this Q&A session with Matt and Josh geared toward helping you catch more muskies in the coming weeks. If you’re an Insider PRO member and missed the live version, be sure to login to the member portal and check out the recording. If you're not an Insider PRO member yet and would like to be, makes sure to get your name on our waitlist. We plan to add some new members from the waitlist soon! 

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13-Year-Old Wins Crystal Cup

It’s always a thrill to catch a musky in the figure-8. But imagine this scenario . . .

You’re a 13 years old and fishing in a musky tournament.

On your very first cast of the tournament, you look down and see a giant musky following your lure.

It turns away. You fire another cast out, and here she comes again. She’s hot! 🔥 Your knees are knocking, but you try to stay calm and focus on doing the biggest widest figure-8 possible. WHAM! She smashes the bait, you bury the hooks, and boatside chaos ensues. You hold on for dear life, as your dad aims for the center of the white thrashing water and scoops the giant ‘skie.

That’s how it all went down for Nicolas Marcil and his dad Jean-Francois during the Muskies Canada Montreal Crystal Cup on October 5th.

The 51.5” Ottawa River beast was the biggest of the event and won the cup! 🏆

Congrats on the fish Nico! 👊That’s one heck of a way to get your first fish over 50! Welcome to the club.

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Muskies For The People

Back in one of our July issues, we shared our discovery of a band called “Muskies.”

Well, they just released a new song and video called “For the People” and check out these lyrics . . .

MUSKIES are for the people
We’ll help you out
We’ll fight the evil
We’ve got our ways
And it’s all legal
MUSKIES for the people!

Not gonna lie, sounds like a “Stock More Muskies” anthem to us. 🤔 But, hey we might be a little biased! 🤷‍♂️😂

This band likes to add the weird factor into their videos as well. We’re not sure if this guy lost a bet or what. But, he’s definitely bringin’ back some high school “swirly” memories for those of us who were unfortunate enough to attend a high school with this hazing ritual.

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This Week's Mashup:

Mashup time!

#1 – Is the instagram photo worth more than the fish? This does a good job of showing what many of us think when we see some of those “perfect” photos on the socials. 🤦‍♂️ #keepfishwet

#2 – This Musky pillar luminary is as cool as the other side of the pillow.

#3 – Taps and Tackle Co. just got a new shipment of custom colored dussa’s in. Just in time for the fall bite! Get ‘em while you can.

#4 – With water temps finally dropping, this how all the sucker soakers are feelin’ right about now. 

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QUICK HITTERS:

– Brad and Jeff discuss Fall Fishing Tactics and Trolling Tips (link) w/ Back Lash Podcast

– Crushin’ it in Canada (Musky Fishing) (video) w/ Pete Maina Professional Muskie Angler

– Fall Summertime Shield Lake Muskies (video) w/ Devoted Outdoors

– Hayward Muskies - Full Episode (video) w/ John Gillespie’s Woods and Water

– EPIC Early Fall Figure-8 Musky! Muskie Tips for Cooling Water (video) w/ Musky Master

– TOUGH MUSKY FISHING? Win with confidence baits & confidence spots!!! (video) w/ 54 or bust