Fall Muskies Relating to Cisco Spawn

[The Kidd]

Any experts out there care to give their input on how to use the Cisco spawn to target later fall (shallow) muskies? I guess I'm mainly wondering when you would target shallow vs Deep in the fall. Late fall you typically hear about "deep trolling", yet it seems to take pretty cold water to get the ciscoes in shallow. Obviously this changes from lake to lake, but

A) What water temps bring ciscoes in to spawn?

When does this usually occur (Late Oct? Early Nov?)

C) Is this more of a night bite?

D) Besides deep dropoffs, what type of structure do spawning ciscoes prefer on the shallow side of that deep dropoff(rock, rubble, sand)?

[AWH]

There are better experts than me when it comes to ciscoes. But they start to spawn when water temps hit the low 40s. 42 is about the magic temp that I've heard most often. I'm generally seeing water temps hit this mark in early November on the lakes that I fish most often. From what I've heard, I believe they move into the shallows after dark. I've never tried night fishing this time of year. But if you're looking for a shallow, ciscoe related bite, after dark may be the way to go.

Aaron

[Random guy]

Many Lakes are differant for the Cisco spawn. If my memory serves me I believe the spawn will occur with water temps between 40 and 50 degrees. On the bigger MN lakes this movement of Musky chow seems to occur from Mid to late October,like I said each lake is different due to size, depth etc. I will look for rocky structure adjacent to deeper basins in the main body of a lake. A good way to find the spawning Ciscos is to troll along the structure looking for huge schools of fish on the breakline, this will give you a idea of how they are setting up. If there is a wind blowing into that strucure for any period of time you can bet they will be stacked in there and don't forget to check the backside of the structure (say a mid lake hump) for what I call blow over bait. I can't really say it is or isn't a night bite, if the prey is present the predator will be near by day or night. It is just a matter of finding a active fish. Plus fishing on a October night is brutal. I'm a wimp so I go for the dawn dusk bite.

[buzzin for bass]

This may be a little off the topic, but I'll use this question as a follow-up. When fishing the huge pods of ciscos in the late fall like previously explained, should one try to "match the hatch" or is it a better idea to throw something that looks different (i.e. a perch crank or a black bucktail through a school of ciscos)? I ask this mainly because I'm imagining my cisco crankbait being drug through hundreds or maybe even thousands of ciscos and wondering why the musky would ever choose to bite my bait instead of one of many bait fish in the area.

[RK]

Hiya,

Not an expert, but...

Generally speaking ciscos spawn over gravel or rock/gravel mix when water temps hit the low 40s to high 30s - really, right before ice up. Can be late Oct. to mid November, or maybe even later - depends on the year and the lake. There's also some evidence that some ciscos spawn over open water.

A lot of the good fall bite is related more to pre-spawn cisco behavior - staging near spawning areas - than it is actual spawning. Primary breaklines along basin edges, narrows and neckdowns, places that concentrate staging ciscos are all good during the staging period.

The full moon also seems to be a significant factor in cisco spawning, if it coincides with the right range of water temps. Ciscos spawn at night, but their spawning areas are still good during the day. I suppose there are some ciscos still around, plus there will often be suckers up in the sand/gravel eating the cisco spawn. You can fish at night too, but man is it cold and miserable. As for finding spawning areas, the best thing to do is find likely-looking areas, and then just go look on a still day. You'll see suckers and sometimes perch, and chomped up ciscos. You'll also see muskies. Sometimes lots of them. They seem to hang out shallow even when the ciscos move off. Finding spawning areas is a time-consuming deal sometimes, but once you find them, they're good year after year. Some areas can be amazingly good. There are a couple cisco spawning areas I have no trouble anchoring on and fancasting in the fall. I like white spinnerbaits, although a friend does equally well on black. Beleive it or not, I also use topwaters a lot if it's calm. Generally quiet topwaters like walk the dog baits or subtle prop baits like Topper Stoppers. Never done very well on loud tail spinning baits real late. Also topwaters seem to be better during mid-day - 10 am to 3 pm sort of deal.

As far as making your bait stand out in all the ciscos - even if it's a perfect color imitation of a cisco, it'll still stand out. It moves different, sounds different, etc. But fairly erratic baits do seem to do well, as much because they trigger fish well as anything else probably. For casting hard baits, gliders, oil filled Jakes, Triple-Ds and Bull Dawgs are all things I do like in the fall.

Cheers,

RK

[The Kidd]

Thanks to all for the responses...