Fishing Michigan

Been talking so much lately about Perch,  it made me think of how we use them in the Upper for bait for Pike and Muskie.  Which for some reason made me think of minnow baits, which led me to the fall bite.  Don’t worry, I am still trying to follow my own logic sometimes.

Fall is when I really switch over my baits to the larger minnow type lures.  Large Rap Floaters, Shad Raps, Ernies and Lil’ Ernies, Grandma’s of all sizes, Believers….etc.  The waters are cooling off, and it seems like the slow n’ steady approach of a minnow lure catches more fish this time of the year.

Its feeding time for these big fish, time to put on the winter fat for what could be a long cold winter.  I know, I don’t believe that global warming garbage either.  All idicators point to a very cold winter, hopefully with lots of ice.  Can you tell I am thinking ice fishing already????

So these big ol’ fish are looking for easy meals, sometimes BIG easy meals.  With the colder temps at night, and even though these fish are cold water fish,  they don’t feel expending a whole lot of energy to get their meals.  Do not be hesitant about throwing some mid-sized muskie lures while fishing for pike.  Two years ago, one of my 37 inchers came on a 9 inch Suick (Jerkbait).

Jerkbaits, and even topwater baits are also good choices this time of the year. Love the XL Jitterbug for topwater baits.  Suicks and Cisco’s are good jerkbaits to use as well.

Locally you can head for Lake Hudson for some nice muskie, or now that all the jet ski or personal watercraft are off of Devil’s Lake (Manitou Beach) there are some pretty healthy northerns to be had over there as well!

Well this is the first blog in a while, not sure how I picked up the flu last week,  but here goes.

When fall comes around the corner,  the big fish are starting to bite.  Looking for their winter stores of nutrition, the fish really turn on. When hitting a new lake, there are certain areas that an angler can key on that will more than likely hold fish.

Look for inlets and outlets in the lake.  Current attracts the bigger fish because of the cooling effect and oxygen levels.  Its also stirs things up, which brings in bait to feed, and drawing in the big fish.

Look for points that either drop off or have small flats before the bottom plunges down.  Not sure if you can make out the difference in the water shades, but this point had a nice drop.

Also, be aware of any changes in the weather patterns.  A sudden front coming can make a big difference in the mood of the fish.

If you follow some simple indicators,  chances are you can find nice fish too.  Have no idea why this pic came out so small, but you get the idea.

One of the best things to do when trying a new lake for the first time is to get a paper map and study its contours for possible areas for big pike and muskie.  You don’t  really have to switch gear to fish for both at the same time.  Pike will attack anything and almost all the time, while muskie do not necessarily need a 10 or 24 inch bait to get them to bite.

Next best way to get to know a lake is to troll around, get your lines wet and watch your fishfinder for quick changes in the lake bottom.  If your boat is equipped with GPS or you have a handheld device, start marking potential spots to come back to and cast.  If you have neither, pick up some bouys to drop down, don’t want to spend money, or a lot of it, tie up some milk jugs with a 4 oz lead weight,  if its windy double it up to an 8 oz.

Going to try and sneak in topics when I can this month, it just got a bit busier around here.  So, this is about something I really enjoy doing, spending time with my father, and of course fishing.

While we were recently up north at the cabin, we went chasing toothy critters.  I love to go pike and muskie fishing, it goes back to when I was a kid, when the “old” guys would leave camp and come back with 40 inch Northerns from Lake Michigan’s Big Bay de Noc.  I still enjoy the taste of pike to this day, but the ski’s get returned to the water.

In this case, we had trolled around the lake checking out drop-offs and points, shorelines and pads, stumps and flats…you get the idea.  We settled on this small bay around 8 or 9 foot in depth near an outlet stream.  I put on a small Mepps Musky Killer for dad and started to get my Premier rod rigged with a hairpin style muskie spinner.  First cast and he starts rubbing it in, and somehow that quarter as a kid for first fish, became 10 bucks!!!  I blame Granholm and inflation  

Anyhoo, what came back to the boat was the is beautifully colored Tiger Muskie.  So I tell dad to hold it up so I can get a picture, course he starts off by holding it belly forward so I all I have is a white streak.  Even though this fish was only 30 inches, the greens were almost emerald in its markings.  Just a work of art.

Just for those who haven’t heard of a Tiger Muskie before, it is a cross breed between Northern Pike and Muskie.  Usually done in a hatchery, but it does rarely occur in the wild.  The reason why it is so rare is that the breeding habits and requirements are different between the species.

One of the things I like about heading North is try out new things for chasing Pike and Muskie.  This year I concentrated a lot on plastics.  I worked swimbaits, large twister tails with lead head jigs and gave the standard Slug-Go a try.  No luck on the slugs, did ok on the large 8 inch chartruse/glitter twister tail, but think I struck gold on this brown swimbait.  Had several bites, replaced some tails, and glued some more back together.

While you retrieve spinnerbaits at all speeds depending on the mood of the fish, it had already begun to cool off in the UP while I was there, with one night clicking in at 39 degrees, prime feeding time.  I tried it fast, I tried it as a jerkbait, and the slow constant action of the paddle tail coming back to the boat worked the best.  Not sure what it was about this color versus the chartruse and blue shiner version, but think it closely resembled it’s most common prey, the suckers in the area.

The first pic is while fighting the fish, and trying to balance the camera.  Its a one man job in the rowboat on the lake.  The second pic is of the fish finally tuckered out, and a decent shot of the baits tail.

Cool weather, we need some more of it!  Hunters crave it as one of the factors to triggering the rut during dear season, when the bucks loose all sense,  and only have lust on their minds.  The same colder weather can be calling to the pike and muskie angler.  While its not THAT primal urge that turns on these fish, none the less,  hunger and the outlook of a long cold winter make the members of the esox family extremely active.

Recently I had a long talk with a good friend of mine in Minnesota.  He has a couple of long deserved days off coming up starting tomorrow.  Minnesota is famed for its muskie fishing, and the conversation centered on fall strategies for landing these monsters.

All lakes are different and the make-up of its structure is critical in determining how you plan to locate and land a muskie.  What can be said of the ski, more often than not, can be applied to the northern.  Apply these fall characteristics of the fish to the lake  you are on, and there is a good chance you will be able to hook up.

Colder weather means that the fish will come up in the water column.  Notice I didn’t say the fish would be shallow.  Although true during mid-day while sunning themselves,  this idea just doesn’t apply to shallow water.  Fish can be running shallow in 40 foot of water during the fall, being only 10 ft below the surface.

Morning bites can find pike and muskie roaming (patrolling shallow) the shallow flats and edges in a lake’s coastline.  They are looking for larger minnows and panfish before they head off to the safety of the weedbeds for the day.  Work some of the jerkbaits,  and topwaters to locate these critters.

Mid-morning, the big fish can be found on the weed edges, either on the shallow or deep side.  Waiting to ambush,  they lurk within the beds.  Spinnerbaits, cranks and jerks are good choies.

Noon, the fish could be anywhere.  In the shallows perhaps sunning themselves and taking advantage of the sun’s warming rays.  Over deep water doing the same thing, from five foot to the surface.  Suspended over a sunken hump or flat.  A good map before you begin fishing will help you key in on good areas to target.  A wounded looking bait can be the ticket here.  Cranks and jerks would be the first method to try.  Also, a fast moving spinner could make them strike out of sheer annoyance.

As the day progresses, reverse these keys.  As night approaches you will find yourself doing the same things as you did in the early morning.  An early night bite, although you will catch pike, is often more productive when targeting muskie.

Trolling will either be your main method or serve as a time to take a break from casting.  Use the same areas as  you would be casting in,  work the edges and breaks.  Go over those humps and the outer areas of the flats.  A bait moving at three and four, perhaps five miles an hour is more than enough to trigger these fish into a strike.  You do not have to tone it down too much for northerns, but starting out at 2, 3 and 4 mph can be more productive.