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Hang 'em High
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Hang ‘em High!

Get your lures high up in the water column to score on early summer muskies.

The morning of the 2006 Eagle River Professional Musky Tournament Trail Qualifier began with a severe thunderstorm, and it doused the entire tournament field with heavy rain right at take off time.  Undeterred, my partner David Foor and I dodged lightning bolts and dealt with the pelting rain drops that actually hurt our faces as we headed out quickly to our first fishing destination.  David and I both were confident in this location because of what our pre-fishing efforts and my electronics had shown us.  It was mid June and the muskies were in a post spawn pattern this time of year.  This given area was loaded with heavy baitfish concentrations located high up in the water column over thirty or forty feet of water, and hungry muskies were not far behind.  I dropped the trolling motor and we started to fan cast out lures out into oblivion, as there was absolutely no “structure” to be found out where we were fishing, other than baitfish.  After about twenty minutes of casting, deep concentration, and minimal conversation, I heard Dave holler “Fish!” and saw his rod load up deeply on a real nice musky.  He fought the fish for about a minute, and suddenly his line went slack.  His Bulldawg came back to my boat bent up into a horseshoe shape and we had lost that fish.  Needless to say, we were disappointed but we remained focused on this pattern and confident, and by 11:00am that first morning, we boated two nice muskies that allowed us to finish in sixth place in the Mercury Marine Summer Challenge.  Both fish ate standard Bulldawgs by Musky Innovations and had we not lost that first musky, we would have finished a few places higher in the event.  Our key to a successful tournament that year was relying on our electronics and having the utmost confidence in the shallow suspended pattern as well as sticking to our game plan.   

Post Spawn muskies can be a funny fish to figure out, indeed.  Sometimes, you can do nothing wrong as an angler, and you can find active shallow water fish on obvious structures like emerging weed beds, main lake points or inside turns of points, or in the shallow sand flats aggressively chasing forage.  There are other times when it seems like the muskies have just disappeared, and you simply cannot buy a strike or follow from the same structures mentioned above.  What often happens, especially on Gizzard Shad or Cisco based fisheries, is that the muskies have simply slid out over deep water, yet they remain high up in the water column, often no more than five to seven feet down.  The slim layer of warmer surface water attracts much of the high protein forage the muskies are seeking, and in big numbers.  Here in Ohio, it is not uncommon to see these massive shad schools roaming around a foot or two under the surface over the main lake basin in late spring.  These same muskies and baitfish will often suspend in the mouths of spawning bays adjacent to the main lake basin rather than out in the middle of a given lake and this is usually where I begin my efforts.  Seagulls often tip off the baitfish locations here, and loons do the same in the North Country.  It truly pays off to be observant and key on these signs to shorten your search.  This particular fishing pattern can occur as early as late April in the southern reservoirs to early to mid June in the northern states like Minnesota and Wisconsin.  

My previous experience of fishing larger, deep lakes of northern Wisconsin solidified this early summer suspended pattern for me, and I have applied the same tactics to my local shad based reservoirs here in Ohio with great success.  I regularly fished the Rollie and Helen’s Spring Shootout musky tournament with my friend Mark Gostisha of Land O’ Lakes, Wisconsin back in the late nineties up to 2002.  Year in and year out; we could consistently find early summer muskies suspended over fifty feet of water yet only five to seven feet down.  The lakes we fished primarily in the events were Lake Minocqua and Lake Kawaguesaga.  In most of northern Wisconsin, you cannot motor troll on any of the lakes, so we casted to these fish.  One of our top producing lures we used to move or catch fish during these events was bucktails.  Not many anglers often consider grabbing a bucktail spinner for their first choice when casting over deep water, but through trial and error, I found this was one of most consistent offerings to these suspended early summer muskies.  Other great lure choices for us in this situation were weighted Suick jerk baits, Squirkos, ten inch Sand Cats by Big Fork Lures, and standard size Bulldawgs or Heli-Dawgs by Musky Innovations.  One other advantage of casting to these suspended muskies is that you do not spook many of these shallow fish as you might do when cruising through with your outboard motor or kicker motor running.  Here in Ohio, I will occasionally troll for these shallow suspended muskies, and I almost always use planer boards for this scenario to spread the lines as muskies will kick out to a given side as you drive overhead.  My favorite trolling lures for this pattern include the Shallow Invaders by Musky Innovations, jointed Reef Diggers, the hot new Kraves by Musky Armor, and jointed full sized Depthraiders.  I run them all on relatively short lines, varying from ten feet to fifty feet back, depending on the buoyancy of the given lure.  Offshore planer boards are very helpful, especially in calm water situations.  The boards will swing your lure offering away from the boat and help you run multiple lines.  I use the OR-18 heavy duty releases to modify my Offshore boards, so that the boards will not pop off my lines in big waves or while fighting a musky.  Remember, when trolling for these shallow muskies, they will typically not show up on your electronics.  You simply have to have the confidence that the fish are there and set your lines accordingly.  Your electronics will show you the baitfish schools near the surface which should solidify your confidence in this pattern.  The 2008 PMTT Qualifier Event at Lake Shelbyville in Illinois was won by anglers utilizing this exact same shallow trolling pattern over deeper water, and I watched four fish get caught all around us during the event by teams doing this exact same method.  David and I ran a combination of Depthraiders and Shallow Invaders on short lines, but we didn’t have the “L” factor (luck) going at this particular tournament.  We were in the right areas and doing the same things and our electronics told us the bait fish were high up in the water column, yet we just couldn’t buy a strike.  

On Memorial Day weekend in 2008, I guided Peter Oakes of Centerville, Ohio to the largest musky of his life using this same short line trolling pattern over deep water.  That particular Sunday was unusually hot and humid for that time of year, and all we could muster in the morning was a few lazy follows.  There was no wind to speak of, and the pleasure boat traffic was heavy due to the holiday weekend and great weather.  As I headed to another spot near lunch time, I noticed that the shad forage base had climbed up very high in the water column, and I commented to Peter that we would take a quick break to grab a sandwich and a soda, and try some open water trolling while we ate.   As Pete and his partner unpacked their lunches, I set out two Shallow Invaders.  I ran a crappie colored one at thirty-five feet of line, and a fire tiger colored one at fifty feet, which enabled me to run my lures in the five to eight foot zone where the majority of the gizzard shad forage was.  We had only trolled for about fifteen minutes and I worked my up towards a main lake point that has a history of producing big fish on the lake.  I followed the contour of the lake bottom around the point, staying in water no shallower than thirty feet deep, when suddenly my inside rod immediately loaded up and my line counter reel screamed loudly.  My first thought as I reached for the rod in the holder was that I was hung up on a deep treetop, but as I pulled the rod out, I felt several big headshakes on the end of the line.  I hollered “Fish!” and handed the rod to Peter.  As he leaned back into the musky, she came up to the surface and showed us herself briefly with three to four violent headshakes before sounding again.  When I netted the robust forty-four inch fish, I was simply amazed at her girth in proportion to her length.  We shot some quick pictures and quickly released her after careful measurements, and Pete had Lax Taxidermy do a beautiful replica mount of his great catch.   The key here was reading the electronics, and reacting to the vast amount of shallow forage over deep water.  Casting wasn’t producing, so we changed things up and scored.   When trolling in any situation, my preferred rod choice is the St. Croix PGT80MM model, because this rod offers the perfect balance of graphite and fiberglass to handle the shock of hooking a big musky on short lines.  I have used these rods since their inception and they have performed flawlessly over the years for me.   I match these rods up with Diawa line counter reels filled with eighty pound Vicious Braid line, and I back my drags off just a bit due to the lower stretch qualities of braided lines.  I find that when trolling braided lines as compared to mono, I get a much better read and feel of what my lures are doing down below and this set up tells me if I picked up weeds or leaf clutter more effectively.  Also, when strikes occur, the no stretch line simply buries the hooks home.         

Proper Lure Retrieve is Key!

When casting to shallow suspended muskies, it is imperative that you vary up your retrieve on most of your lures to trigger more strikes.  For example, if you are using a Bucher straight model Depthraider, you can actually almost “walk the dog” with the lure if you use a series of violent twitches and pauses during your retrieve.  Start out by pitching your crank bait out about ten feet away, and experimenting until you find the right retrieve style to give you the most action.  This can be a bit more tiring, but you will catch more muskies this way than if you simply cast out the Depthraider and reeled it straight in.  When I am using the ever popular Bulldawgs, a “pull, pause”, pull, and pause” retrieve works the best for me.  What’s really cool about many of the strikes on these Bulldawgs is that they often feel like somebody simply cut your line with a knife.  If this happens and suddenly you feel no weight, drill the hooks home hard!  What is happening is the muskies are coming up fast from below or behind, and violently overtaking the lure during the retrieve.  A high speed reel can be an advantage when using Bulldawgs because these types of reels tend to pick up slack line better during your retrieve, which enables you to react to musky strikes better and get better hook sets.  Also, the newer Heli-Dawgs come equipped with a Colorado blade on top of the lure for added flash and vibration and are very effective over open water.  One small modification I make to these Heli-Dawgs is to replace the existing crane swivel that attaches the blade to the lure with a high quality Spro ball bearing swivel for improved blade performance and better vibration.  Jerk baits offer the same erratic action out here, which is why they are very effective during this shallow, suspended pattern.  I prefer weighted jerk baits like Mantas, Sand Cats, Squirkos or Sledges, and work them aggressively to trigger active muskies.  Under certain conditions, these same suspended muskies will nail top water lures like Topraiders or Jackpots, especially if you get a warming trend for several days, and you have calmer conditions in the morning or evening hours.  Talk about an “outside the box” pattern!  It sure takes a lot of fortitude to throw a Jackpot over forty-five feet of water and no weed beds closer than a quarter mile away!  However, it works, especially in this late spring, early summer time of year.  With my bucktails, I typically use a regular retrieve, and I experiment with blade colors and styles until I find what the muskies prefer.  I have had great success with the double tens, such as the DC-10’s by Llungen Lures and the well-known Double Cowgirls.  Make long bomb casts over these vast areas and cover a lot of water using a medium fast retrieve and you will score.  I have also caught a number of fish using willow bladed bucktails like the Bucher Willowbuck, as these baits throw off a little different style of vibration and they do not have quite the same lift, which allows you to fish these bucktails a little deeper (yet keeping relatively shallow) in the water column.  I always add a plastic trailer to these Willowbucks to add more appeal, contrast and profile.  If I am throwing a black and nickel colored Willowbuck, I will add a white trailer for example to maximize the color contrast to catch a fish’s attention better.  On my larger bladed bucktails, I usually do not add a trailer at all, but the Esox Edge Hawg Hooker series double ten bucktails already come with a plastic trailer as a standard accessory.  My favorite rod for throwing these larger bucktails is the St. Croix Legend Tournament Series LTM86HF “Sling Blade” model, which launches the larger bucktails with ease and enables me to perform deep figure eights with minimal effort.  Another effective lure that seems to work best with a straight “do nothing” retrieve over open water is the Storm Kickin’ Minnow.  Although very inexpensive, this lure will catch a lot of muskies for you, and runs relatively shallow in the water column.  I modify and improve these lures by putting better quality Spro split rings (size six) on them with 3/0 Gamakatsu 4X treble hooks and this quality combination is foolproof for trophy muskies. 

As in any casting situation, it is absolutely critical that you execute a proper figure eight technique at boat side.  Many of your fish over deep water will seemingly come out of nowhere to blast your lure, and you will miss fish if you are not utilizing a good figure eight after each and every cast.  Anyone who fishes the shad based fisheries in northern Indiana will regularly tell you exactly the same thing.  A good number of their catches on Webster, Tippecanoe, or the Barbee Chain occur during a properly executed figure eight during the month of May when this suspended pattern is firmly entrenched over the open water basins of these lakes.

If you are not moving many fish up in shallow water during the first part of the season, head out to deeper water to search for active muskies.  These open water fish are typically quite aggressive in nature and they do not get near the same angling pressure as the muskies that are lying up in shallower haunts.  Watch your electronics carefully for schools of shallow baitfish, and the muskies will usually be close by.  The key is to cover as much water as possible by either trolling, or making long bomb casts in all directions over open water around these schools of baitfish.  A good number of these early season suspended fish will hang out in the middle of large bays that hold prime spawning habitat in the back of the bays, recuperating after going through the rigors of the spawn earlier in the spring.  Believe in what your electronics tells you and fish accordingly.   Having the utmost of confidence in your fishing game plan will always put more muskies in the net each season.

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