muskie fishing

[walleyemaster]

i havn't been muskie fishing in my life so Im just woundering whats the best lake in the DL area for muskie fishing and what lures are you using any info would be great.

[Dr. Walleye]

I'll offer up a few opinions, realize they are just opinions or suggestions, someone else may have other ideas. People have different favorite lures or ones they have confidence in. First, I can not speak to the lakes, I've fished Detroit only one weekend, last year. I believe the two main muskie lakes are Detroit and Pelican, although I believe other lakes have some muskies, such as Melissa and Sallie.

As for lures, first question is how often do you think you might chase muskies? If you want to get into it, get some good equipment. (Well, get good rod and reel no matter how often you plan on fishing muskies) Get at least one muskie rod, several companies make good rods, such as St Croix, Loomis, Shimano, Gander Mountain. How much do you want to spend is a factor in all these choices. Also, get a good baitcast reel to go with it, such as by Abu Garcia. Ask at Scheels or Gander Mountain for suggestions. You want good line, such as Power Pro or Spiderwire, 80 lb test is a common choice. And then a good leader, again something beefy.

As for lures, you could do worse than just throw bucktails all the time. I would suggest starting out to throw a lot of bucktails. There are many good ones on the market, such as Harassers, Mepps, Bucher, Blue Fox musky buck. (many many more) Bucktails are relatively easy to throw and retrieve, and they catch muskies. Another category of lures is topwaters, such as prop baits like topraiders, top walker, awakers. These are also relatively easy to cast and retrieve. Another type of topwater is the walk the dog style, such as jackpots, maas marauders, docs. Another category of baits is the crankbait, such as grandmas, jakes, rapalas, believers. These can be cast and worked in many different ways, and trolled. Another type of bait is the jerkbait or glidebait, which includes things like suicks, reef hawgs, mantas.

Overall, I would suggest starting with bucktails, and some jerkbaits, reef hawgs are good. I would get some topwaters, and a crankbait or two. Basically, a few baits from each lure style. Also, the bulldog is an excellent lure. It's a question of how much you want to spend, as there are hundreds, if not thousands, of different muskie lures. I've only touched on a few. Be careful! After you have a follow or two, or especially when you land a decent muskie, you'll have the fever! It can easily become an obsession. You;ll go, "walleyes, I don't need no stinking walleyes!" Good luck. PS, fall is an excellent time to get out there. And surf the internet and perhaps subscribe to a magazine, such as Esox Angler or Musky Hunter. A Rollie and Helens catelog will give you a good idea of the lure choices available.

[shae1986]

I've been muskie fishing about a half a dozen times this year on Big Detroit and the information that Dr. Walleye gave you is very accuarate, the only thing i do disagree with, and it is my opinion, is that when you are getting no action on the bucktails, or any lure, switch it up. Different colors or different lures can mean a big difference.

Another importatnt factor to consider is time of day when you are fishing. For a rookie, and i wish i would have done this my first year, is to go out at the more prime times, that being EARLY in the morning or in the late afternoon and fish until either the sun goes down or afterward.

Now am i a sorce that knows all about muskie fishing, NO, there is so much to learn and the best way is trial and error. I have boated 1 muskie this year but have seen so many follows that i got the fever, even though i do go and chase the eyes around too.

Good luck on your muskie adventure and let us know how you do.

A. Shae

[cliffy]

I have been fishing muskies for the last few years..and have spent a ton of time on Big DL. That would be my "local" lake of choice. The lake is really easy to fish....mostly drop off weed lines..etc.

If you are quite comfortable using a bait-caster reel..then a bucktail is a good choice. If your not so comfortable using a bucktail, then I would pick a suspended bait..maybe a suick style or minnow bait. The reason being the fact the lake is so full of weeds...if you are prone to getting backlashes...your bucktail would spend a lot of time snagging weeds while you worked on the mess. If you use a suspended, floating or top water, life could me much easier. If you are fishing in the eve..you cant go wrong throwing a top-water bait after dark.

Good luck.

[fisherdog19]

I too, have fished Big Detroit many, many times for muskies. Like Cliffy said, it is a relatively easy lake to fish, set up in 16-20 fow off a break and cast into shallower water. There is that type of structure all over the lake. The water has cooled down quite a bit so I wouldn't be afraid to fish shallow on a sunny day or look for patches of weeds or sand flats free of vegetation in 3-5 fow. I have caught my 3 biggest in less that 5 fow. My bucktail color of choice would be silver blade w/ black hair, and my color of choice for topwater would be black as well. Don't be afraid to fish topwater in the middle of the day, you may be pleasantly suprised. Slow rolling or bumping spinner baits off weeds is another good method this time of year. I have also had good luck trolling them in 10-12 fow off weedlines. Think about it, lets say you troll by a muskie that's in the weeds in 8 fow and your baits in 12 fow about 12 feet away, whats twelve feet to a 4 foot long fish, just a flick of the tail. Don't buy in to the early/late bite, I've read that these monsters feed about every 4-6 hours depending on water temp. I have had my best luck between 11-2pm throwing bucktails in 6 fow or less. Whatever you decide to do, just have fun, you may catch one on your first outing, I did. Actually, I caught 3 on my first .

[Havin' Fun]

Once the water cools off some more, perhaps late September or October, go get some big cranks(perch or shad color) and start trollin'. However, I prefer to crank up the speed to 3-4 mph. Hold on for dear life!!!!!!!! or have good rod holders!

[ScottND]

And if it feels like your pulling a weed...SET THE HOOK! I just lost one at the boat today because I didn't . Same place and time (6:45 am) as the one that followed yesterday and chased my figure 8 but forgot to open it's mouth. This one was a fatty too!