WI Musky Fishing

[Nick Kuhn]

Well made it out for a few hours both Saturday and Sunday. As anticipated Saturday was the better of the days. Caught quite a few pike and a short muskie, and moved a few larger fish, all on soft-tail jerkbaits. Did have one fish hit trolling a crank, tough to tell the size but I lost it just after putting the boat in neutral. Tried most of the afternoon Sunday and only had one small fish miss a bucktail boatside. Tried trolling cranks over breaks and cribs, thinking the fish went deeper after the storm. Picked up about a 30" pike doing that.

I even went to a bigger bait and the size of my fish is still trending smaller. Pretty soon my baits will be larger than the fish if this keeps up.

This fish had a big head and a small body. Odd because this lake has tons of forage. Over a crib in about 18' of water.

[Cooter]

Slow last night, we had about 18 guys out and only a 32 and a 30. Gorgeous weather, poor fishing.

[Nick Kuhn]

Tried for ~5 hours last night and didn't see a fish. Couple pike on large bucktails, but otherwise it was the dead sea.

[trimbelle22]

wish i could join the conversation guys, but i haven't been out since opener! hopefully in the coming weeks i will have something to report...at least maybe get out on some metro lakes from shore if nothing else.

[DonBo]

A good friend and crew, four boats, fished Yellow Lake in Burnett County all last week. Between them they raised two fish. Two. All week. I guess you could say Yellow is not going very stong right now.

[Nick Kuhn]

Was out Saturday for 6 hours and didn't move a thing. Talked to other guys at the landing and none of them raised a fish either. Sounds like it's been tough region-wide lately.

[Nick Kuhn]

Got a 32" on a jerkbait in the light rain Saturday. Lightning chased us off not too long after that but did have some pike hit as well. Sunday didn't see a fish, but got a decent 30" pike on a 7" crankbait (not sure what it's called, but bass would only hit rattling baits so I threw on my loudest rattle). Otherwise very very slow. Storm washed out some sand alongside the boat launch so be careful going in and out of area lakes.

[Cooter]

We were gonna float a top secret river Sat but the water was moving way too fast. Spent an hour on a lake, saw nothing and got chased off by skeeters.

[Nick Kuhn]

I'm thinking of hitting Fireside Saturday. Never been there but I hear rumors that catfish lurk there in fair numbers. Should I bring some crawlers to drag around while casting?

[Cooter]

Fireside is where we got chased off by skeeters - did you have any luck there? Indeed there are some dandy channel kitties in there as its connected to the Chipp R.

[Nick Kuhn]

Well my brother couldn't make it and that was his lake pick so we'll hit it next time when he can join. So Saturday we went to Wapogasset, got their just after the bass tourney ended (all the boats had been pulled but most were still at the landing). Managed a healthy fish on a jerkbait. Sunday hit another area lake, had one chase a double 10 around the 8 a few times but it wouldn't eat. Had another strike a jerkbait and all I have to show for it is a squirrely burt that's missing an inch and a half of tail. Both those looked mid 30's.

Not a huge fish but at least it's a step in the right direction. Healthy and natural fish too (the first stocked fish wouldn't be this big yet).

[Nick Kuhn]

Well Cooter we did make it out there Saturday. Started out throwing a double 10, had one chase it around the 8 long enough it could have counted the strands of flashabou, but never opened it's mouth. Switched up to a jerkbait and caught a 30" pike in pretty short order. Boated a 34 1/2" muskie about 50 yards further down. Had 2 more strikes at the jerkbait but I didn't hook either (ironic that I missed one of them because I wasn't paying full attention as I was answering a nearby fisherman if we had seen any). Towards sunset we had 5 more strikes, all on topwaters, and failed to hook all of them. Lot's of action, but everything we saw was under 40". Did see a fisherman throw one a stringer that was questionable as to the legality. As far as I could see they didn't even bother to measure.

Sunday hit a lake closer to home and didn't see a thing. Thought it might be a good day with all the overcast but that wasn't the case at all.

[tgruenke]

Just a quick update. Landed a thick 30i ncher trolling for walleyes on Sunday.Using a new Lindy Shadling It was overcast and ealry in the morning beforet he ehat came.. At first I thought I was stuck on a log until it started moving. We were on Holcombe.

[Cooter]

Well done tgruenke! Are you getting a feel for the lake now? Any pics?

[Nick Kuhn]

Better luck than I had, didn't see a ski all weekend (hopefully I don't go 0 for August like I did last year). Was out Saturday on a nearby lake trying areas that had produced earlier, and nothing was to be found there. Used the side imaging to locate a number of fish near the bottom at about 20' on the drop-offs. Trolled and casted the drop-offs for quite some time and only had one pike (~ 28") on a crankbait to show for it.

Sunday went to Shell. Didn't see a muskie in quite a few hours of casting. Picked up some fish with the side imaging deep near the weedlines, but couldn't move anything there. Picked up a pair of decent pike (29" and 30") on a jerkbait over weeds. The 30" I didn't even hook, he just clamped down with the fluoro leader in his mouth and let me drag him in by pulling the bait against the side of his head. The leader held up quite well considering I literally dragged him in by his teeth. Was so slow by the end of the day I ended up trying for some smallies (and I hardly ever set the big rod down). Did get a few of those banging cranks into rocks, but nothing big.

Water temps were surprisingly in the mid 70's despite how warm it felt. There wasn't any wind Sunday, as Shell was glass calm (but the rec. boaters still felt they needed to be right on top of the fisherman

[tgruenke]

The musky I caught and a few others that I saw caught were all caught in a the area east and a little noth of the island by Big Swedes. It appears to be like a plateau off of the east side of the channel where it it ranges betweed 5-10 feet some spots are even 3. We saw a few other muskies get caught in this same area. As far as learning the lake I am no expert but we have found new spots each time and that keeps thing exciting.

[Cooter]

We had about 8 boats on Wissota last night and zero fish caught. Lots of water going through there right now.

[Cooter]

Last night was full of opportunities that most couldn't capitalize on - myself included. Fish were seen and lost on just about everything: bucktails, topwater, jerkbaits. Hooks just didn't seem to be very sticky last night. Water temps were back down in the mid to upper 70s vs low 80s last week.

With water levels getting somewhat back to normal I'm gonna try to do some river fishing Sat morning.

[Nick Kuhn]

Good to hear the fish were active. Hoping to return to action this weekend, as I don't think any more of my friends are planning on moving halfway around the world.

[Nick Kuhn]

Tough weekend for us, didn't see a fish. Managed about a 9" bass on a 10" bait (must've thought it could pick the curly tail off). Found about a bazillion panfish on dropoffs with the electronics and smaller baits could get pike and bass casting in from where fish were marked (and only where fish were marked) but no muskies to report. The Indianhead tourney was going on as well and it looks like they had pretty poor luck as well.

[Nick Kuhn]

Well after quite a few weeks of very slow action I put a new PB in the boat, 47". Didn't like the looks of the all too familiar clear blue skies after lots of rain, so I twitched a jerkbait about as slow as you can move it. Crushed it at the boat

Water was cool and very high. One boat on our lake was sunk next to it's dock. Lots of docks nearly under water. Water clarity was normal on other lakes, but was at least a foot clearer on our lake.

[Cooter]

Nice fish and congrats on the PB!

[Nick Kuhn]

Good day on the water today. All on weighted jerkbaits. Also missed two good hits. My dad missed a pretty good sized fish on double blades as well. Fishing just over the top of coontail where it met the grassy stuff. Very different colors on the muskies was interesting.

34"

39.5"

40.5"

[ole matty]

Awesome lookin Muskie there nick!!! I want to fish with you! Haha

I have a questions anybody know if any baits shop In Polk county sell big suckers? Going plan on fishing Polk co lakes on fri and sat. Hopingto drag some meats as well.

[Nick Kuhn]

I know Gen's Bait & Sports Shop on Highway 46 on the north side of Amery used to, but I haven't been in since the owner passed away (a quick search reveals it may be called Lucky Baits LLC now). To be honest not even sure if the place is still open or not. Otherwise Apple River Sports, Deer Lake Sports, and St. Croix Outdoors (all along highway 8) might have some. I'd give those a call too.