Fall fishing basics?

[TurnUpTheFishing]

I got to say this is my first year putting in a good chunk of time musky fishing and have very little to show for my efforts. I fish bass mostly and can usually figure out a pattern for them but when it comes to muskies I feel like Im just taking a shot in the dark. Ill get to my question. What are some basics one should think of when fishing muskies in the fall? Do fish relate to shallow or deep water more? Should I be fishing slower or burning my baits?

Thanks for any help

[MJBo]

Maybe this is just my frustration speaking , but I think for the most part it doesn't make a darn bit of difference what you do right now. THere are fish shallow to 1ft. THere are fish on the weed edges and as always there are fish deep and in open water. I think that right now you can put just about any bait anywhere in the lake and if the fish are in a mood to commit suicide you'll get one or two and if they've got lock jaw you probably won't. Keep in mind i'm on a 5 day streak without boating a fish....... I have called up some shallow and thats where I'll be starting today.....

[MLmusky]

Here are some basics for you... Fish weeds till they turn bronw, if the weeds are green they should hold fish.. Once they turn bronw, they may still hold some fish, but start looking to new areas.. If the lake has rock piles this would be a good place to begin.. If you have a lake that turns over, expects the days around turnover to be very difficult to catch fish.. Than start targetting fish in deeper water, generally this consists of either trolling or vertical jigging..

Right now you should find fish... Caught one on a deeper weedbed on Saturday.. Than found fish very shallow on Sunday and boated a couple.. Fish were shallow and VERY agressive... Change up till you fnd something that works.. I.E. if you fish bulldawgs over deeper weededges and do not see a follow after 2 hours, switch to shallow water and burning bucktails, or try to find suspended fish, keep changing up till you find what the fish want...

[big musk411]

I would suggest covering alot of water. Finding active muskies is not an easy task, it will take some time. I am kind of lazy, so I do alot of trolling. I troll fast, with the lure not far back from the boat. I like to burn bucktails in the shallow weeds and work cranks off the weed edges. Last time I was out I picked up a fish on the weedline trolling a crank on about the fifth pass over the same spot. Cover alot of water and you will be rewarded. Fishing should get considerably better in the next month and stay good as long as you can stand the cold.

[MJBo]

Fish were going on sunday? I heard they were on the move yesterday too. Course I fished fri sunset and sat sunset and it was the dead sea..For me anyway.

Maybe we should get a report board going?

[MLmusky]

We did not see a follow on Friday night, we did see one fish caught after dark.. Came back on the same spot around 4:00am and caught a fish on that spot.. Fish were very active on Sunday ( I assume because of low overcast days) Same weather conditions yesterday, I would have loved to have made it out...

[RK]

Hiya -

If you can consistently catch bass this time of year, you know pretty much everything you need to know to catch muskies. Their fall patterns are very very similar, I think.

In early fall you do see a lot of fish moving shallow under good conditions. It's a great topwater/bucktail bite. It can be shallow weeds if they've stayed green, or shallow rocks, rushes, or even just sand. Just look for areas that are adjacent to summer spots where fish will likely travel to as weedbeds die back. If weather conditions turn sour (like they did up north this weekend) it can push fish back off onto the breaks. I look for remaining green weeds, deeper rocks, inside turns, etc. Fish jerkbaits, plastics, twitch cranks, slow roll spinnerbaits...etc. Trolling jerkbaits is a great way to cover water, and hardly anyone does it anymore for some reason...

If I'm not sure where to start, I generally start shallow because you can fish faster and find out in a hurry if they're up shallow or not. If the shallows dump out, move back off to the breaks or to the thickest remaining weeds you can find on the flats themselves.

Later on, after turnover, you can still find fish shallow - sometimes VERY shallow - but deeper breaks get more focus for me. It's all about food. Find where the forage is and you'll find fish. If there are ciscoes in the system see if you can figure out where they stage before spawn, or just generally look for 'life' along breaks and inside turns. Trolling is a good way to cover water when you're in search mode.

Like I said though - put your 'bass hat' on once in a while and think about where they'd be in the same conditions. Muskies are more like bass than most people credit them for...

cheers,

Rob Kimm

[markkstanley]

Exactly as RK said. If I don't catch some bass in 30 min casting my favorite spinnerbaits I know I am fishing the wrong depth and I adjust. This applies to Metro lakes where ciscoes etc don't exist. Bass and muskies are preying on the same baitfish.

[TurnUpTheFishing]

RK, great post and good thing to find since Ive been doing just as you said, fishing 'skis similiar to how I would fish bass under the same conditions. One thing Im curious about though is do muskies get sluggish with the cool weather/water? I know with bass you have to work a bit slower with jigs, slow roll spinners or suspending cranks should I work similiarly for muskie or will they stay more aggressive well into the fall?