WI Musky Fishing

[Cooter]

With the musky season open statewide now its time for some esox chat! I made it out on Wissota for the first time last night after the rain and managed a big fat goose egg. Couple other guys boated fish, a 37 and 33. In general the fishing has been slow from the reports I've heard. People are moving fish but getting them to eat has been tough. Shouldn't be long though! Good luck and feel free to post any reports or stories here.

[Nick Kuhn]

Saw some action from little guys last weekend on small double bladed bucktails. I hope to get quite a few casts in this weekend but who knows if things will pan out that way.

[Nick Kuhn]

You were right Cooter; there are no fish in that lake, only a couple of minnows A lot of action on bucktails (Sneaky Pete and Showgirls). Besides the 2 pictured we had 3 other follows and 1 strike we know was a muskie. Also had several other strikes of unknown species, and got 2 pike. Didn't look like there was a bad spot on the lake. All the fish (even last week on other lakes) though were hanging around points, bottlenecks, and turns. Basically anywhere that food would have to pass moving from A to B.

And if you can tell me what is going on in this image more power to you. To the left is a weedbed, that's fairly easy. To the right it appears to be littered with rocks, sticks, humps, and holes. Didn't use the SI much but it doesn't look like there's much bare bottom out there.

[Cooter]

Nice, glad you found some fish. I don't know what to make of the SI pic, maybe post it in the open water forum and see what others have to say. I'll be back on Wissota both Wed and Thurs, then Holcombe on Sat.

[Nick Kuhn]

As I've only been able to use it a few times on the water I really can't ID most things quite yet. There's either something or there's nothing, and it'll be much more productive to fish where there's something.

Probably won't be able to fish for a couple weeks here. I might sneak out next Sunday if I'm lucky. I probably will be throwing bigger stuff next time around. The action is nice but it's time to get some size as well.

[Cooter]

Made it out last night and got a 46 early in the evening and then a 36 later. Another 34 caught by a different guy. Lots of wind. Overall from what I've heard fishing has been ok. Thinking a couple days of stable weather might help? Never know with those fish.

[Nick Kuhn]

Hard to say. None of the days I've fished this year have I looked out the window and said "this is good fishing weather." But they have to eat sometime. Most of my activity strangely has been during the afternoon hours, and towards low-light they seem to shut down. I'm still mostly hearing reports that sightings have been really good but actual strikes are down. I haven't experienced this, as 75% of the fish I've seen made some attempt at hitting the lure (albeit some weren't very good ones).

I think our next target is Trego Lake. Never fished it before and not sure when we'll get to it, but I plan on dragging a crawler while casting for the big ones. Who knows what will be caught.

[Cooter]

Here's the 46 from Wed:

[DonBo]

Nice one Cooter. How'd he taste?

[Cooter]

Can't eat muskies, they are highly poisonous.

[goldie11]

Im heading to grindstone with my dad this coming weekend to go walleye fishing and i hope to get some musky fishing in. just wondering if guys have any reports for grindstone and what lures/presentations to try out there. ive had an extremely hard time on Grindstone due to the clear water and am just looking for some pointers.

thanks

[Nick Kuhn]

Clear water I try to get the lures a lot deeper in the water column if possible during the daytime. Night fishing might be a better option. I think trolling is legal on Grindstone so trolling cranks might be a good bet.

[goldie11]

would you think a more natural color would be better for cranks?

[Cooter]

Slow last night on Wissota, only one small fish caught for 16 guys. I'll be up on Holcombe for the weekend. Lots of current on the local rivers with all the rain - the Eau Claire was borderline fishable the past few days.

[Cooter]

Very tough weekend on Holcombe - 77 guys fishing early Sat until Sun noon and only about 16 fish. Wissota wasn't any better. Wondering if with the weather last week/this weekend it was slow most places? Back to Wissota Wednesday.

[outdoor ran]

Cooter, I'm looking for a wtd type lure that will hook fish, any ideas? I've been using a gaint jackpot for a few years now and it sure gets the muskys excited. I've probably had over 50 blow ups on that thing and can't hook them, they just push so much water that the bait just goes flying. Finally hooked a big one last Sat. to only lose it 5 seconds later. Its a fun lure to throw but i've about given up on it.

[Cooter]

In general find a heavier wtd bait - the Jackpots are about the lightest out on the market. They make a havana jack that is a bit longer but an ounce heavier. Other options: Mania's The Doc, Musky Buster Phat Boy/Daddy, Weagle(Suick makes now I believe), Lee Lure Fish Stick, Water Moccasin(made by Safari Tackle?). Check out the surface lure section of Rollie & Helen's HSOforum.

Otherwise try working the Jackpot a bit slower with longer side-to-side pulls with just a bit of a pause betweeen. Also be as consistent with the action as you can. This will help, but you might not get as many hits - more than likely its a guarantee you won't but you have a better chance of hooking up when you do. I had a bud that worked a jackpot very fast, had that baby really working hard and popping out of the water. He got plenty of hits but never boated one.

Side note that the Mania Doc is a plastic lure, as is the Salmo Maas Marauder - in theory they should hook up better than wood since they are a harder material and less of a chance for a fish to bury its teeth in the lure. I haven't fished wtd baits enough to have any opinion on that though.

Great idea would be to post a question in the Musky forum - you'll probably get more and better replies there. Plenty of those guys are much better musky sticks than I am.

[Nick Kuhn]

I haven't hooked anything with either a jackpot or a doc so don't feel so bad. The Doc definitely rides a lot lower (sometimes even submerges completely), but most blowups the fish never really even grabs the bait.

[Cooter]

I had a good night on Wissota - my partner got a 39.5 about half a dozen casts into it. Later I got my first ever tiger at 40.5, natural fish to boot! Scored again with a 36. Few other guys got fish there and on Old Abe. Heading to southern WI to fish with a bud there over the weekend. Topwaters and blades are getting the majority of fish.

[Cooter]

Got the pic!

[Nick Kuhn]

So does that only count for half the points in league?

[DonBo]

Glad you finally had a good night. Nice fish!

[Cooter]

If you ask me it should count as double points! Here's the 36, note we got a tag in that one before it went back - we forgot on the other two.

[Nick Kuhn]

What's the tagging for and where are you doing it? I'll keep my eyes open for any tagged fish this summer.

[Cooter]

The tagging is for Wissota only, main purpose is to try to keep tabs on the Leech strain we've been stocking but also comes in handy for the standard WI strain. We've got fish that have been caught 4 different times out there.