Beat the Late Summer Dog Days! Try Night Fishing for Big Muskies!
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The late August sunset was breathtaking as the warm wind began to settle down and the Vilas County lake approached the cover of darkness. Numerous boats were headed to the landing, and I told my close friend and fishing partner, Coach Kip Cramer, that the fun was about to begin. When darkness fell, we had the entire lake to ourselves! The muskie action was slow during daylight hours, as we had mustered only three follows prior to dark. I told Kip not to worry, as the weather conditions this particular evening were absolutely perfect for nighttime muskies. We put all of our rods and gear away except one rod each, and a few lures apiece. I motored to a favorite deep weed edge, and instructed Kip to tie on a large tandem black and nickel bucktail. I opted for my favorite after dark weapon, a jointed crankbait.

We began easing along the weed edge, listening to the pre-season Packer game against the Cleveland Browns, when suddenly my boat rocked, and I heard Coach grunt as he buried the hooks home. "I got one!!" he hollered, and his rod doubled as the big muskie headed for deeper water. The fact that the boat was clean and well organized allowed Coach to fight the fish properly and safely. I grabbed the Frabill net, and slid it under a beautiful 44 1/2 inch musky that was one of the heaviest of that size class I had ever seen. "Touchdown!" I exclaimed, and high-fived Coach Kramer while the fish waited patiently in the net. We snapped a couple of quick pictures and released the 25 pounder back to grow some more. Once again, night fishing paid off big time in the dog days of August!!

I guide in Vilas and Oneida Counties, and spend a lot of time on our area lakes. I am amazed at how few musky anglers take advantage of this opportunity that frankly is way underfished. Many prominent musky pros have written excellent articles on the effectiveness of night fishing for musky, but very few anglers have dedicated themselves to trying it. The prime time for night fishing muskies here in northern Wisconsin is from mid-July through early September, however, muskies can be caught in June or even into October on occassion. Since our lakes are in an area with lots of cabins and resorts, boating pressure is at its peak during this time frame, and the muskies adapt and begin to feed heavily under the cover of darkness. I often will not launch my boat until about an hour before dark. I also choose larger lakes with clear water, heavy day time boat traffic, and a proven history of producing big muskies.

I recommend that you bring one to two rods tops per angler, a high quality comfortable head lamp, and plenty of tools for catch and release purposes that you want to put in a place you can locate them quickly in the dark. I only have four to five lures that I use to help keep the boat clean and well organized. As far as musky location is concerned, I usually fish deep weed edges relating to points or mid-lake bars, especially the inside turns of these structual elements. Any established deep coontail or cabbage weed edge has the potential to hold nighttime muskies. Position your boat parallel to the edge and make short casts to the weedline, with the angler in the front of the boat using a deep diving jointed crankbait to probe the edge of the weeds. The angler(s) in the back of the boat should use a large black bucktail and cast over the weed tops, or a noisy topwater lure like a Topraider will work well, too. I use glow tape on all of my bucktails I throw after dark to better enable me to do a proper boatside figure-8 manuever. Creepers can be deadly too, especially on those flat, muggy late August nights when there is not even a ripple on the surface.

Much has been previously written about night fishing for muskies, yet many anglers are not taking advantage of the great fishing our area has to offer after dark. When the dog days of summer arrive, clean out your boat, break out the headlamps and head to your favorite trophy musky lake and have fun! Please practice proper catch and release to perpetuate musky fishing here in the great Northwoods!

Early Season Bass Fishing: A Northwoods Gem!

The waters around Eagle River, Phelps, Sayner, Conover, and Land O' Lakes are famous for the excellent walleye and musky fishing opportunities. The Smallmouth and Largemouth Bass fisheries in Vilas County are largely ignored by many anglers. I am here to tell you that the bass fishing in these areas is simply phenomenal! This article is intended to promote our wonderful bass fishery here in Vilas County and teach you how to catch them consistently in May and June.

Smallmouths:

My favorite bass species is the Smallmouth hands down! Their fighting ability is outstanding, often highlighted by frequent jumps and powerful downward pulls during the battle. Let's take a look at location and presentation for May and June Smallies. Our fishing opener here in Northern Wisconsin is always the first weekend in May. Bass season is open at this time, but it is strictly catch and release only until the third week of June. These regulations are designed to protect the spawning females from over harvest by anglers. We are blessed with an abundance of quality trophy Smallmouth lakes to choose from in a relatively small area. Let's take a look at tactics and location of Smallmouth Bass for the May opener.

When opening day arrives, most lakes are usually in the mid-fifties for water temperature. This is a little cool for the bass to migrate in heavily to shoreline areas yet. My best tactic for these per-spawn fish is to fish just outside known spawning haunts and cast rattle baits such as Rattle Traps, Rattlin' Raps, and other deeper running crankbaits. I key on depths of six to ten feet of water. These pre-spawn fish often travel in large schools as they stage in these mid-depth areas before the water temps climb to the sixties. Work these deeper hard bottom edge areas with slowly retrieved crankbaits, as you strive to locate the most active fish. When a school of fish is located and you have caught three or four fish on cranks, switch rods and grab a 3 inch natural colored tube and cast that into the school for the more neutral bass that passed up the crankbait. This one-two punch is dynamite for pre-spawn bass on opening weekend with a normal ice-out.

As spring progresses, the water temperatures in the shallows begin to heat up with the increased daylight and air temperatures. This solar heating effect draws the bass into the shallows like a magnet. Remember that the mid-day hours are tops this time of year rather than the early and late periods in the day. Why? Because all fish species are positively affected by solar warmth. Their metabolism is increased, causing them to be a lot more active. This is why, if your schedule permits, you should concentrate on the middle of the day as much as possible. Now, favorite shallow water locations for Smallmouths include sand, gravel, or a mix of both. The key is hard bottom. They prefer to build their nests on these firmer bottom types. If there are any fallen logs or concrete blocks or similar structure mixed in, then you have the ideal habitat to locate these shallow water fish.

I typically scout out these areas with a combination of my polarized sunglasses (which are critical to your success, I might add) and speed lures such as shallow running crank baits or spinner baits. I am always fishing clear water, which is typical of the best Smallmouth lakes in the area, so I can always tell when the shallow fish are present. I prefer Northland Reed Runner spinner baits, especially with tandem Colorado blades, in colors like chartreuse and white, with gold blades, all chartreuse, or white with silver blades. Preferred cranks include shallow running Shad Raps, or Rattlin' Rogues. If you pick off some active fish in these areas, then once again come back through with tubes in pumpkin pepper, watermelon, or smoke colors and you will catch a lot more fish. I once again want to stress the importance of using the right size tube here. I prefer and use a three-inch tube rather than the typical Largemouth tubes that are fatter and usually four inches long. The Smallmouths really show a preference for these smaller, finesse type lures. My favorite tube is made by Joe Bucher Tackle, and is called the Pro Finesse Tube (I helped design it when I worked for Bucher Tackle Co.). The colors and size of these tubes are simply deadly here in the Eagle River area. Other lures that are good for shallow Smallmouths are three-inch reapers and curly tail grubs on a 1/16th or 1/8th ounce black jig head. Colors for these offerings include chartreuse, smoke with red flake, black, and pumpkin pepper. These type of lures are more finesse in nature, and work great on pressured fish, during cold fronts, or after you have caught a bunch of aggressive bass on spinner baits or cranks.

When the fish actually start spawning, the best lure options based on my experience seem to be the finesse offerings. My top lure choices would be the reaper/jig head combos, 4 inch finesse worm/jig head combos, or even the 3 inch twister tail on a 1/16th of 1/8th ounce jig. A very important thing to point out regarding these shallow bass is the importance of stealth as you approach these spawning areas. The clear water combined with minimal depth can cause the big females to become ultra spooky, so this is where the quality polarized glasses again become critical, and slow deliberate boat control is an absolute must. When a bedded fish is spotted, cast your lure past the bed and slowly work it towards the fish. Very often, the fish will charge out of the bed to grab the lure. Other times, the bass will be extremely finicky and fussy. Here is where you need to hone your technique for triggering these fish into striking. My favorite method is to drag the lure right into the center of the bed, and let it sit there. Sometimes it might take three to four minutes until the bass picks up the lure. Other times, you will find out that you need to repeatedly drop the lure into the bed to aggravate the bass into striking. This might take ten to twelve attempts, but this can be very exciting if the fish you are working is a twenty-inch female! Now, it is also important to note that proper catch and release techniques are vital during this spawning time to ensure that the bass are released immediately so they can swim right back to their nests. This will ensure quality bass fishing for years to come.

As the spawning period winds down, the big females move out of the shallows to recuperate. The males will aggressively defend the nests, and will take a wide variety of lure offerings. You can use cranks, tubes, jig/reaper or jig/worm combos, or even top water lures. By this time of year, the water temps have progressed to the lower sixty degrees range, and these remaining fish are very active. A very fun and effective technique is to fish the shallows with spinner baits or top water lures such as Chug Bugs or Zara Spooks. Top water Smallie action is exciting and can be fast and furious at times. You can come back through these same areas and use a crank bait or a tube and catch additional bass that missed your top water lures.

Northern Wisconsin bass fishing offers opportunities for all ages! Here, the author's son, Matthew Dietz, poses with a chunky largemouth he caught on a spinner bait.

Largemouths:

Northern Wisconsin has some very impressive Largemouth Bass, if you know where to look! Fish up to twenty-three inches are very possible, with the average trophy fish hovering around the nineteen to twenty inch size. Many of our best Largemouth Bass lakes are known as "pothole" lakes, or lakes smaller than 150 acres. These smaller lakes are typically shallow, weedy lakes with lots of fallen trees and other shoreline structure. This makes for ideal Largemouth habitat, and we are lucky to have a lot of these lakes available in this region. We also have some larger lakes that produce some exceptional Largemouth, even though muskellunge are the primary predators in those lakes.

Largemouth Bass, like the Smallmouth, are attracted to warming water temperatures each spring. Largemouths will roam the shallows seeking warm water prior to the spawn. These fish are susceptible to tube jigs slowly pumped through the water, or slow rolled spinner baits. Warm, sunny days are best for these pre-spawn Largemouths. Also, it is critical to pay attention to surface temperatures this time of year. Often a two to three degree increase in surface temperatures will draw large numbers of bass into a concentrated area, which makes for fast and furious fishing action! Wind can blow warmer surface water into a particular bay, or it could be a northern bay with southerly exposure that captures more solar warmth. These little details often can make a huge difference to your success on the water. These pre-spawn Largemouths can also be caught on crank baits, particularly rattle type cranks such as Rattle Traps, etc.

As the spring progresses, the Largemouths move into their spawning areas. These are typically areas that have a softer bottom, mixed with some sand. Bull rushes, shallow fallen timber areas, or Lily Pad areas are favored spawning haunts. Now is the time to tie on your favorite spinner bait, and fan cast your lure over the top of the emerging reeds or pads, or around the timber. Largemouths will come out of the cover to strike your lure. I recommend Northland Reed Runner spinner baits in chartreuse and white skirts, with either gold blades or chartreuse blades for spring time Largemouths. Bedded Largemouth Bass can be ultra finicky! My best weapon for these fussy bass still remains the little three inch reaper with either a 1/16th ounce jig or simply a split shot in front of a Texas rigged reaper. If you are fishing heavy cover, utilize a Charlie Brewer Slider Head and again rig the reaper Texas style. This presentation is awesome on these shallow bass in snag filled areas. My best overall color is still black, although black neon and chartreuse will take their share of fish. As the spawning period winds down, the bass will migrate to inside weed edges and docks and piers. On sunny days, pier fishing can be absolutely outstanding! These bass are drawn to these docks because of the natural cover and shade they provide, as well as the smaller minnows that hang around them.

 ***June 2009***

Outdoors Articles & Tips

Eliminate Any Weak Links In Your Tackle Arsenal To Boat More Muskies

A strong southwest wind made for a good chop on the water as my friend Dan and I fished a particular isolated weed bed one August afternoon. We were casting lures to the fringes of these weeds with good success, as Dan had boated two fish over forty inches already on bucktails and I had accounted for a 46 incher on a Shallowraider. All was going well, when suddenly Dan set the hooks deep into yet another fish. As I scrambled to retrieve the net, Dan's line went slack, and his fish was gone. Perplexed, we both stood in silence as he reeled in the line. Much to my surprise, his leader had failed right where the crimp was located. In other words, the crimp actually failed on the leader, costing him a third quality fish that day. What if that fish had been a forty pounder? The weak link in his tackle arsenal was exposed, and I gently recommended to him to switch to non-crimped leaders from that day on. Big muskies always have a definite knack of finding soft spots in your particular tackle set- up.

This article is designed to discuss potential weak spots in your tackle system and I am offering suggestions to improve your tackle to avoid any mishaps in the future. I will cover one end of your rod and reel rig to the other, and point out important areas that can fail in the moment of truth.

Lures - Make sure you purchase quality lures from proven manufacturers. Look for through wire construction if possible on your jerkbaits and other hard lures, and for solid wire construction on any bucktails you own. Also, an often overlooked component on a given lure is the quality of hooks present. I have seen big fish lost by hooks that both broke during the battle or simply straightened out. I personally use and recommend VMC 4x or 5x strong hooks for all of your lures. These hooks are incredibly strong and sharpen very well. It is imperative that you thoroughly sharpen every hook right out of the package, and after each time you catch a fish. Razor sharp strong hooks will eliminate a lot of lost fish, period! Make sure your lures have strong split rings, and if they don't, replace them with the premium split rings on the market manufactured by Bucher and Wolverine. Big muskies will open up a cheaper split ring, and it is important not to overlook this seemingly small item.

Leaders - There are numerous manufacturers of musky leaders on the market. Many produce top notch products, and yet others produce a liability. I am a borderline fanatic on my leader selection. I never purchase leaders with crimps on them, since crimps can and will fail. As pointed out in the beginning of this article, a hard battle by a musky is often all it takes to expose a poorly crimped leader. I personally buy leaders made by Bucher Tackle, since these hand tied leaders are proven not to fail at the moment of truth. I am somewhat biased since I worked for that company for six and one half years. However, I can honestly say the neither myself, or anyone else I know, has ever had one of Joe's leaders fail them! I have seen and heard of horror stories about crimped leaders coming apart.

Unfortunately, all of the titanium leaders I am aware of are crimped, so I will never try them. This doesn't mean that they are all bad of course, but one runs the risk of having one with a poor crimp on it. I know that it would be my luck to have a defective crimp on my leader when the biggest fish of my life strikes, so I simply avoid that possibility all together! Another product I personally won't use is Fluorocarbon leaders. Many of you will argue that these are the best things since sliced bread, but I know a prominent guide friend of mine who had a huge fish inhale his crankbait at boatside and bit through his 100 lb. test like a warm knife through butter. They won't do that with steel. Leaders are an important cog in your arsenal. Make a wise choice when purchasing them, and don't skimp when it comes to quality! After all, you are investing literally hundreds of dollars in your rod and reel and lure purchases.

Fishing Line - Much has been written over the years about what lines are best for muskies. Well, I must say that the advent of the super braids revolutionized muskie angling as we know it! I strongly recommend quality super lines such as the new Vicious Braid. This no stretch super braid absolutely excels in it's hook setting qualities and castability. It's overall strength and durability is amazing, and you will find you won't be changing line nearly as often. Some other excellent super braid brands are Power Pro and Cortland Spectron. I always run the 80 pound or 100 pound Vicious Braid on most of my reels, although occasionally I will use the 50 lb. test for fishing plastics in the spring. I also use the green color for it's camouflage qualities.  Make sure you rig your reels with a minimum of 50 lb. test in the super braids, and at least 50 pound test in monofilament. I personally believe that muskies aren't particularly line shy (with the exception of a bright white line in clear water) and I want to have the added insurance policy when a huge fish hits my lure!

Reels - There are many quality reels on the market today. Abu Garcia, Shimano, and Diawa all offer great products. I use Garcia reels, and have had great luck with them regarding durability and dependability. I think the most important factors on any given fishing reel are the quality of the drag, and the gear ratio offered on the particular model. Reels are another item that I strongly recommend you do not take the cheapest road when it comes time to make a purchase. If anything, put a few more dollars towards your reel than the rod you match it with. Down the road, you will be glad you did, since a quality reel will give you years of reliable service. Another important factor is reel maintenance. Always back off your drags at the end of each season to avoid damaging your drag washers! It is very easy to overlook this step, and if you have ever hooked a thirty pound musky at boatside, you will be glad your drag works properly. Make sure to lubricate your reels several times a season for optimum performance. I also prefer line counter reels for trolling. These great inventions allow you pinpoint accuracy to keep your lures in the strike zone at all times. Otherwise it's usually just a guessing game. Successful trolling tactics require precision. Line counter reels are very precise! Lastly, if you are fishing with super lines, be sure to use a monofilament backing to avoid slippage of the super braid on your spool.

Rods - Once again, you as the consumer are given many options when it comes to quality musky rods. Many more rod models are offered today than there were just ten years ago! I use rods made by St. Croix, because of their long history of great actions and impeccable quality of the blanks. They offer several different price points for the consumer, as do other manufacturers such as Shimano, Falcon, All Star, and Fenwick. A quality graphite rod will enable you to cast a lure all day with minimal effort, and will hold up during a heated battle with a toothy behemoth. There are many different actions and rod lengths offered, and choose your model based upon what lures you use mostly, etc. As with any graphite rod, do not abuse your blanks by slamming them down on the floor of the boat, or smacking them against the side of the boat. This will increase the odds of creating a weak spot in the blank. If this occurs, when the rod loads up during a hook up with a musky, there is a very good chance the blank could fail and you will be left with the short end of the stick!!! (And it's not funny!! )

Though this is the last part of the chain of items that lie between you and Jaws, it is just as important as the rest. Scrutinize your entire set up during the off season and be 100% confident when it's time to set the hooks! I hope these suggestions shed some light on the importance of paying attention to detail. After all, we all spend countless hours in pursuit of the muskellunge. Let's make sure we land them after they strike! Good luck this coming season!

First Ice Walleyes in the Deep Sand Grass   ***March 2009***

 ***FEB.2009***

Mighty Muskies of the Susquehanna: A Fantastic Yet Fragile Resource

Tom Dietz, the Hard Lines Manager of the Williamsport Gander Mountain located in Pennsdale, is extremely passionate about musky fishing. He grew up in Wisconsin, and got hooked on fishing for the mighty Muskellunge some fifteen years ago. He has fished Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, New York, West Virginia, Ontario, Canada and most recently Pennsylvania in pursuit of the King of Freshwater. Since moving to Muncy last April, Dietz is very impressed with the local musky fishery, most notably the Susquehanna River. He has fished both branches of the river, and likes them both equally as well. "These two branches are different, in regards to fish locations and water clarity, but they both harbor excellent quantities of muskellunge", Dietz says. "The two river branches contain both excellent quantity and quality of muskies, and the variety of fishing structure is outstanding".

The muskellunge, or musky, is the official State Fish of Wisconsin. There are hundreds of lakes across the Badger state that harbor good populations of muskies, and this is where Dietz learned to fish for them and hone his musky angling skills. He was a professional fishing guide in the famous Eagle River area of Wisconsin, and fished a number of musky tournaments over the years, including the Professional Musky Tournament Trail prior to working for Gander Mountain. During this time, Dietz also ran a major musky lure manufacturing company called Joe Bucher Tackle Company for seven years. While with that company, he worked closely with one of the most famous of all musky anglers, Joe Bucher. "I was already a dedicated musky fisherman when Joe hired me to run his tackle company, but Joe brought my knowledge and tactics of pursuing this great game fish to a whole new level". Dietz was also a regular guest host on the television show "Fishing With Joe Bucher" which airs on the Outdoor Channel and he has had several feature articles published in Musky Hunter Magazine, the largest publication dedicated to the pursuit of musky fishing.

Prior to moving to the Williamsport area, Dietz had heard rumors about big muskies in the river after doing some online homework and reading a few local fishing reports. Dietz then met a new friend from Unityville, Herb Bloxsom, last May at Gander Mountain. "Herb and I were talking one day in the fishing department of the store, and I told him I was an avid musky fisherman. He said he was too, and our friendship was instantly born. He told me he would contact me in early July, since that is when he typically does well on the Susquehanna. On our first outing on the river together, I caught a forty-two inch fish and a thirty-four inch musky within about ten minutes. I also had a very large musky follow my jerk bait right to the boat. I could see immediately that the Susquehanna River was a special place." Also in early July, Dietz caught and released three muskies in one morning on top water lures, including his largest Pennsylvania musky ever, a robust forty-eight inch fish that weighed a little over thirty pounds. Dietz and Bloxsum, who also works at Gander Mountain in their fishing department, fish avidly together on their days off. Between them, they have boated a good number of muskies together this year on the river. Herb caught his largest musky ever fishing the Susquehanna in October. She was forty-nine inches long and had an incredible twenty-four inch girth! They have fished other area musky waters together, such as Cowanesque Lake, Hills Creek Lake, Rose Valley Lake, and Lake Chautauqua in New York. "Our other area lakes like Cowanesque and Rose Valley have some nice muskies present, but do not have anywhere near the numbers of fish the Susquehanna holds", Dietz says.

Dietz also met another fanatic musky fisherman named Ed Powell, from Lairdsville, PA. Ed is a frequent customer at Gander Mountain, and is very passionate about musky fishing and bass fishing. Ed was gracious enough to introduce Tom to the North Branch of the Susquehanna River recently, and on their very first outing together, they caught and released three nice muskies together up to forty-two and one half inches in a span of four hours.

When musky fishing the Susquehanna River, Dietz recommends using bucktail spinners and noisy top water lures in the summer months for casting, and using crank baits for trolling. In the late summer period through late fall, he switches to jerk baits and crank baits for casting, as well as crank baits for trolling applications. In the winter months when water temperatures dip below forty degrees, slow moving jerk baits or jig/reaper combinations work best since the very cold water temperatures slow down the muskie's metabolism and make them less aggressive. "I use quality wire leaders on all of my lures", Dietz adds. He also strongly recommends sharpening your hooks properly prior to hitting the water. "When you purchase any brand new musky lure, the hooks are never sharp enough out of the package. Get a flat file hook sharpener, and carefully sharpen each hook so with little pressure, they stick in your thumbnail. Then you know your hooks are ready for battle." He also recommends using a high quality musky net to minimize stress to the big fish while being unhooked, and to properly handle a fish that might exceed forty inches in size. "The inexpensive smaller landing nets really split and damage the fins on muskies and remove much of their protective slime layer during the netting process. I use a larger musky net, in particular the Power Catch Big Game Series made by Frabill, because the special treated net bag doesn't split the tail fins or remove the slime layer, and the hooks do not get tangled up in the rubber coated net bag." Dietz says the larger nets make landing a trophy musky a sure thing rather than a "let's hope we can get her in there" proposition.

Once the fish has been landed, he strongly encourages catch and release on all of the muskies. "If you want to mount one of these magnificent fish, you can get excellent graphite reproductions that look identical to the real thing. All you need is the length and girth measurements prior to the release of the musky, plus a good color picture, and the taxidermists have everything they need. I am getting a reproduction of the forty-eight inch fish I caught with a twenty-three inch girth this past July. It was so exciting easing her back into the water to grow some more, and know that I have the chance to now let her exceed the magical fifty inch benchmark for trophy muskellunge in the future."

"A typical 32 inch musky is around five years old", Dietz says. "As the muskies grow in size, especially when they exceed forty inches, their growth rates slow down dramatically. A fish that is in the upper forty inch range or fifty inches long is at least a fifteen year old fish, sometimes even twenty years old". Many local area anglers keep muskies either to eat, or because they are avid bass fishermen, and are afraid that the muskies are eating all of their bass. Dietz points out the falseness of this common belief. "Like my friend Herb says, Muskies will eat no more bass than a bass will eat of themselves."

"Herb is exactly right, because muskies prefer to eat suckers and small carp, and they will eat the occasional walleye, but they prefer soft-rayed forage fish like suckers. The healthy population of suckers in the Susquehanna is responsible for the nice girth and healthy condition of the muskies in the river." Dietz also points out the importance of catch and release. "Muskies may be big, but they are very fragile and because they are the top predator in the food chain, they live in comparatively low numbers. Because there is no regular stocking program occurring on the river, it is imperative that anglers release these fish to allow them to grow to trophy size." He also recommends carrying a good camera to take a few snap shots prior to releasing the fish back to the river.

Dietz knows of at least nine muskies killed in a small stretch of the Susquehanna River he fishes regularly this summer alone, with most of these fish not even exceeding forty inches. Muskies less than forty inches haven't even reached maturity yet. "Those kind of harvest rates are very alarming, especially coming from Wisconsin, where over ninety percent of all muskies caught are released each year", he said. "If you want a better tasting fish to eat, keep the walleyes or panfish rather than the muskies." Dietz says he doesn't want to come across like a purist at all, but stresses that the special local population of muskies here in the Susquehanna could easily be threatened by over harvest, since they are not stocked on any kind of regular basis.

For more information on musky fishing and the importance of practicing proper catch and release methods, Dietz recommends logging on to www.MI50.com since they are the closest chapter of Muskies Inc. in the east central Pennsylvania area. Muskies Inc. is dedicated to educating anglers through the sharing of information, and education of proper fish handling procedures and release methods. Dietz also has his own fishing web site at www.tomdietz.com. His personal web site has an up to date local fishing report board and numerous articles on musky fishing to educate anglers who visit the site. He can also be reached via an email link on his web site or by stopping into Gander Mountain. Tom will always be willing to talk about muskies or musky fishing!

Outdoors Articles & Tips         ***Jan.2009***

Muskies Aren't The Bad Guy!

The late September morning dawned clear and cool on Caesar's Creek Lake. My good friend and fishing partner, David Foor and I headed out from the boat landing and motored to a favorite wooded shoreline. Easing down the trolling motor, we began methodically fan casting the fallen timber with bucktail spinners and small twitch baits like the Bucher Baby Shallowraiders. I approached a small secondary point with submerged stumps present, and fired a cast close to shore in between two sunken stumps. The bucktail traveled about two feet underwater prior to being engulfed by thirty-seven inches of hard fighting musky! After a brief, but violent battle, the musky was netted, photographed and released to grow to a larger size. Within minutes while fishing the same shoreline stretch, I felt my boat rock and heard Dave grunt as he set the hooks home into a feisty thirty-four inch musky! He was twitching a Baby Shallowraider and the musky shot out from under a fallen tree and nailed his lure. The neat thing about this day is that we weren't fishing Eagle River, Wisconsin but rather within the suburbs of Dayton, Ohio.

The muskellunge (Esox masquinongy) is one of North America's most prized game fish species. It is often called "The King of Freshwater" by many anglers. The name muskellunge comes from the Ojibwe word maashkinoozhe, meaning "ugly pike," by way of French masque allongé (modified from the Ojibwe word), "long mask." They prey upon anything small enough to fit inside their mouths, from other fish, crayfish and frogs, to ducklings, snakes, muskrats and other small hapless mammals. Adult muskellunge actually prefer soft-rayed fish such as suckers and gizzard shad as their preferred prey. Their bill-shaped mouths are large with many sharp teeth; muskies engulf their prey head-first, sometimes in a single gulp. Although the animals are capable of swallowing something up to forty-five percent of their total length, selection must be made carefully. Muskellunge are sometimes found dead with their last meal lodged down their throats, apparently having drowned.

The muskellunge, or musky, is a native species in Ohio and is found in both major drainage basins of the state. Historically, it was abundant in the bays and tributaries of Lake Erie and in many streams in the Ohio River drainage. Currently, it is also found in several popular fishing lakes around the state including Clear Fork, Caesar's Creek, Salt Fork, Alum Creek, Piedmont and Leesville Lakes, among others. A common misconception amongst non-musky anglers is that this species often ruins the fishing for other targeted fish species in a given lake, such as walleyes and saugers, crappies, etc. The purpose of this article is to educate anyone who shares this belief, and eliminate many of the myths that surround this unique game fish species.

I have been fortunate to fish for muskies across the United States and Canada for the past eighteen years. I have pursued them in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia and Kentucky. I have also fished Lake of the Woods in Ontario regularly. During my musky fishing excursions, I have witnessed non-musky anglers catch muskies and kill them on occasion. They would state "These darn muskies are eating all of my walleyes!" This common fear is caused by the large size and nature of fresh water's largest predator. It is true that muskies will grab an occasional walleye or bass, but they truly prefer soft-rayed species like gizzard shad and suckers. Typically muskies will grab a struggling walleye, sauger or bass because it appears to be a dying or wounded fish, and muskies are creatures of opportunity. This appears to be an easy meal for them and it is why they will grab the fish battling on the end of an angler's line. Numerous studies done by Departments of Natural Resources in states like Wisconsin prove that the favorite forage of muskies are non-game fish species.

Most musky population goals in Wisconsin target a population of 0.30 to 0.50 adult fish per acre. Walleye populations are usually at three or more adult fish per acre. A recent graduate thesis project done in Wisconsin examined the food habitats of Wisconsin Muskellunge (Burrie 1997). Thirty-four musky lakes where sampled over a four year period, with 1,092 muskellunge (eight to forty-six inches in length) examined. Only six walleye (0.9% of the diet items) were found in all the samples. It is far more likely walleye, cannibalizing walleye, has a bigger effect on the walleye population than then minimal amount of walleye eaten by musky." I thoroughly agree with this study and I have always said that an adult musky will eat no more bass, walleye, and sauger than adult bass, walleye, and sauger will eat of their own. All of these species mentioned are predators, and all of them will eat what they can catch, regardless if it means they are eating one of their own. The bottom line here is that a number of scientific studies have shown that muskellunge aren't always the "Bad Guy" they are thought to be on a given body of water. What prompted me to write this piece is because of a scenario that occurred this past summer here at Caesar's Creek Lake, located near Dayton. The ODNR has stocked this popular lake with advanced musky fingerlings since 1998, and the fish are now thriving and have been reported to up to forty-two inches in length. I am certain there are a few bigger ones present. I fished this impoundment a number of times this past season and personally caught a good number of muskies between thirty and thirty-seven inches long. There were some local bass fishermen this past summer who declared war on these newcomers and I saw two muskies floating dead with their throats and gills cut. These local bass anglers fish this lake regularly each week and some of these anglers have the same misconceptions that I mentioned above. They are afraid the muskies will ruin the bass and saugeye populations in the lake, and that is simply not true.

I ask all anglers who read this article to educate themselves and their angling friends who might harbor this wrong belief that muskies overtake a given lake. The muskellunge is a unique species, and they are exceptional fighters. We are extremely lucky to have the support of the ODNR to maintain and create excellent musky fisheries here in Ohio. Elmer Heyob is a friend of mine, and works for the ODNR and is instrumental in managing the muskellunge program in the state. Many surrounding states would love to have the musky fishing opportunities we have, and we need to respect this great game fish and not kill them for selfish reasons. If you are a non-musky angler and catch a musky while bass fishing or saugeye and decide not to keep it, please release it unharmed back to the lake. They are not known for their exceptional eating quality like walleye and perch are, and most musky anglers always practice catch and release to enjoy their hard fighting ability another day. Muskies are the state fish of my home state of Wisconsin, and deservedly so. Muskies are a magnificent game fish species. They have the right to reside in Ohio waters since they are a native species to our waters. Get out and try your luck fishing for them, because once you catch one, you will be hooked!

Tom Dietz is the Store Manager of the Gander Mountain store located in Huber Heights, Ohio. He is a Professional Musky Angler and Educator and he can be reached by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . He also has his own web site at www.tomdietz.com.

Mid-Summer Musky Tactics

It was a picture perfect June morning as I eased my boat into one of Caesar’s Creek Lake’s numerous timbered coves with my two guide clients, Heather and Kelly Stevens.   They had won this fishing trip with me by winning the donated day on the water I had given to the Leukemia/Lymphoma Foundation for a major fund raiser event grand prize last year.   They were both eager to try musky fishing, and neither of them had ever caught a fish the size of a typical muskellunge.  Because of the time of year, I kept the boat in deeper water rather than casting the shorelines, and we keyed in on deep standing timber as our primary structural element.  We tied on jointed Bucher Depthraider crank baits and began fan casting the deep woody cover, of which some of the trees still stood in 38 feet of water.  A quick glance to my electronics showed lots of gizzard shad present amongst these deep trees.  After roughly ten minutes of fishing, I was looking over my shoulder when I felt a musky crush my Depthraider halfway through the retrieve.  I instinctively pounded home the hooks and after a good tussle and some great jumps near the boat, a chunky thirty-eight inch musky was soon swimming around in my landing net and was promptly released after a quick photo.   Shortly thereafter, I had another strike, and I immediately felt head shakes after I set the hooks home, and this is usually a sign of a nicer musky.  After another great battle, the fat forty-five inch Caesar’s musky was posing for pictures prior to release.  Heather and Kelly were absolutely thrilled at seeing these beautiful fish up close, and I could tell that they were eager to catch one themselves!   We eased my boat through the trees further back into the cove, and I felt my boat rock on the hook set, and Heather yelled, "I got one!"  Soon a feisty thirty-five inch musky came rocketing out of the water with her crank bait "T-Boned" in its mouth, and before long, Heather was posing for the camera with a huge smile on her face!  Three muskies boated and released in less than three hours, all caught by casting, and all caught over deep water.  A special fourth fish came later in the day, but will we cover this exciting event later in this article.

I have often talked about the small windows of opportunity for casting for Ohio muskies at my seminars each winter, and I see this holding true year after year.  What I am referring to here is the peak times each year to fish the shorelines with traditional casting lures such as jerk baits, buck tails, and spinner baits to catch these fish.  Typically in the state of Ohio these small windows occur in April through early June in the Spring period, and September through November in the Fall period.  During the rest of the summer months our surface water temperatures raise up over eighty degrees and the fish migrate away from the shore line cover and move more to open water and deeper water to escape the summer heat.  This period typically demands a trolling approach to cover water most effectively and get the lures down to the depths where the muskies are.   This shallow water casting window typically wanes in early June in our state, and anglers must adjust their game plan accordingly to locate and catch muskies more consistently in mid to late June.   I am going to recommend some tips and tactics to pursue these fish via casting and trolling and hopefully this will put more muskies into your net this year.

If you prefer to catch your muskies by casting for them as I do, concentrate your efforts on deep weed edges on lakes like Clear Fork, Salt Fork, Alum Creek, or Leesville.   Weed edges that drop off into deep water are the best, particularly if they coincide with a main lake point.  Muskies will move up and position themselves to feed on these spots during the early and late time periods each day, or just before an incoming thunderstorm or other major weather change.    Cast deep diving crank baits parallel to the deeper weed edge, and have your fishing partner cast a buck tail spinner or jerk bait over the tops of the deeper weeds.  As the days become hotter in mid to late June, you can also catch these same fish after dark.  I recommend that you bring one to two rods tops per angler, a high quality comfortable head lamp, and plenty of tools for catch and release purposes that you want to put in a place you can locate them quickly in the dark. I only have four to five lures that I use to help keep the boat clean and well organized. As far as musky location is concerned, I usually fish deep weed edges relating to points or mid-lake humps, especially the inside turns of these structural elements. Any established deep weed edge has the potential to hold night time muskies. Once again, position your boat parallel to the edge and make short casts to the weed line, with the angler in the front of the boat using deep diving jointed crank bait to probe the edge of the weeds. The angler(s) in the back of the boat should use a large black buck tail and cast over the weed tops, or a noisy top water lure like a Bucher Topraider will work well, too. I use glow tape on all of my buck tails I throw after dark to better enable me to do a proper boat side figure-8 maneuver.  Another great tactic for these same lakes is to cast heavy swim baits like the Bulldawg by Musky Innovations over deeper water adjacent to these same main lake points, keeping your boat positioned in water over twenty feet deep and working around these areas starting from one inside turn on the point and working around the point itself, and finally finishing the other inside turn present on the other side of the main lake point.  Many muskies will suspend over deeper water in these areas and can be caught with these deeper running swim baits or deep diving crank baits. 

On my home water of Caesar’s Creek Reservoir, deep wood cover (standing timber) is my primary casting area due to a general lack of weed cover throughout the lake.  I attack the flooded old timber in the deep coves found in many areas of the lake, and cast crank baits and heavier spinner baits or buck tails in and around the tree tops.  These mid to late June muskies will hold ten to twelve feet down over water as deep as forty feet deep and utilize the woody cover as ambush sites for gizzard shad in these coves.  These same fish can also be caught early and late in the day using noisy surface baits.   You need to fish the wood cover aggressively, and it is quite common to snag your lures occasionally in these areas.  It is imperative that you carry a quality lure retriever with you, and if you free up two musky lures with it, it is paid for.  These deep wood muskies will hold tight to the timber, so bumping a tree now or then with your offering will help trigger strikes.  I also want to emphasize the importance of the properly executed figure eight maneuver when fishing these deep timber areas.  These fish will often follow below the lure and you might not even see them with the naked eye as your lure approaches the boat, but by utilizing the figure eight technique, you can catch additional muskies you might not even knew where there.  

As the weather becomes hotter in late June, many of the muskies will head out to suspend over deep water at the thermocline and they will spend all of the mid to late summer period there until the water cools down again in the Fall.  The thermocline is the transition layer between the mixed layer at the surface and the deep water layer. The definitions of these layers are based on temperature. The mixed layer is near the surface where the temperature is roughly that of surface water. In the thermocline, the temperature decreases rapidly from the mixed layer temperature to the much colder deep water temperature.  The mixed layer and the deep water layer are relatively uniform in temperature, while the thermocline represents the transition zone between the two.  Muskies will hold right on this transition zone for maximum comfort during the hot summer months.  The best way to catch these fish consistently is to troll deep diving crankbaits and cover a lot of water.  I usually run my boat at speeds between 3.4 miles per hour and 4.2 miles per hour and I try to keep my lures at depths between ten and fourteen feet down.  Remember, you can always get by running your lures a little to shallow when trolling, but if you make the mistake and let out too much line, you will miss catching a lot of fish each year.  A musky will always come up for a lure, but never go down for a lure, so try to keep your lures in that key depth zone at all times.  I run eight foot trolling rods made by St. Croix, and I run eighty pound braided line on line counter reels, so I am usually running anywhere from forty-five to sixty feet of line to stay in the proper depths.  Another important factor when trolling is to use your electronics to key on large concentrations of gizzard shad.  Since this is the number one food source for Buckeye muskies,  it should be no surprise that the muskies out in open water will be close by this readily acceptable food source.

On the same day I opened up this article with, where I had caught the four muskies with Heather and Kelly Stevens, I decided to key on the open water trolling opportunity as the day grew hotter and boat traffic increased.  I took us out into fifty four feet of water and my electronics showed strong concentrations of shad ten to twelve feet down.  I ran two Depthraiders out, one at fifty feet and one at fifty-eight feet of line.  We trolled for approximately twenty minutes and I was re-setting one of my lines and was about to clip on my planer board when suddenly the line was literally ripped out of my hand.  Heather was holding the rod and my drag started to scream, and she promptly handed the rod to her husband, Kelly.   The fish stayed deep and fought really hard, and as it neared the boat, I could tell by the bend in the rod we had a really good one hooked up.  All of a sudden, forty-nine inches of musky broached near the back of the boat and gave us a good look at her while she was violently shaking her head to try to free the crank bait firmly lodged in her mouth!  Kelly stayed calm and we eased her into the net, and numerous high fives were passed around.  After a few great pictures and measurements, we released her to fight another day and hopefully break the coveted fifty inch barrier next season.  

Whether you like to cast or troll to catch your muskies,  the month of June can be outstanding here in Ohio.  You need to tweak your locations and lure selections accordingly based on the musky locations and you can catch plenty of fish each year.    Use your electronics to key on the shad forage, and you should be well on your way to boating more fish.  Sharpen your hooks right out of the package, and always re-sharpen after each fish caught or snag, as this one simple but often overlooked factor will give you more fish pictures on your camera each season! 

Tom Dietz is the Store Manager of Gander Mountain in Huber Heights, and he operates Tom Dietz Outdoors, a musky guide service keying on Caesar’s Creek, Alum Creek, and Clear Fork lakes in Ohio.  Check out his web site at www.tomdietz.com.