Tim Anderson Report 8/4/2007

[Tim_Anderson]

It has been kind of a goofy year for musky fishing on Mille Lacs....certainly nothing like last year, making it difficult to put together a pattern or anything that you can rely on with any consistency. Most of the hard core musky fishing friends I have, as well as other guides have been saying the same thing.....fish seem to be all over the lake now. Catch one one day and then get blanked for several days. Night bite goes at times, but not really with consistency. Feeding windows are VERY short, often at first dark and only lasting for a half hour or one fish. Doesn't seem like you can really depend on the full moon, dark moon, or weather fronts. We're seeing plenty of fish, but getting them to bite is another matter. Everyone's puzzled by it.

With the recent hot weather, and water temps reaching into the low 80's, I have been limiting myself to mostly night fishing. The last few nights, I have been finding surface temps at 72 to 75, which is really helping. And best of all, the fish have been cooperating this week, almost to the point where you could call it a "reliable pattern."

In the last three days, we have boated a 47, lost a high forties fish right at the boat, and then tagged a 53 x 23. All these fish were water released without photos, and they swam away immediately without issue. Last night, I caught another giant, measuring 53 1/4 by 23. We netted the fish in less than 60 seconds, when it was still full of vim and vigor! I measured it, pulled it out for a few quick photos, and again released it quickly and successfully.

I can't stress enough right now the importance of laying off during the day, and either trying to focus your efforts at night, or just bag it all together until the water temps cool down and hold there. Depending on how quickly you net the fish (ie: if the fight was long and hard), it may be the case that you need to make the decision to not photograph the fish. As an example, I caught a 53 incher two nights ago, and happened to be fishing by myself. I would have loved to get pictures of that fish, but I knew that after a long battle, it would be risky to have the fish out of the water for very long at all. I settled for good measurements and left it at that. It gave me peace of mind to see that fish kick off immediately, before I could even get a decent shot of it swimming away. Nice to not have to wonder about that fish, and have it nagging on me whether or not it made it. And I have to trust....there will be others, right?

All fish have been caught on the typical night baits.... double bladed bucktails like the cowgirl, DC-10, and mojo XXX. No surprises there. Catch one, release it really fast, get fishing again in the same spot, and you might catch one or two more. They often seem to be in "packs", and like I say, the feeding windows are really short.

Good luck to everyone chasing muskies. If I can help anyone out with a guide trip, please give me a call at 218-232-6067.

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[pitchn]

Thanks for a honest and detailed Muskie fishing post...

[MuskieSlayer]

Thanks for the report. I've had the same experience as you this year.

What a hog!!!

[Shack]

Nice detailed fishing report. No one could find any reason to start bashing this thread. Ya never know.

Nice fish as well!