Muskie Report 11-28

Muskie fishing in the Three Lakes and Eagle River area over the last week has been very good. I have been catching muskies in the 34 to 40 inch class daily and even having some multiple fish outings despite the cold water temperatures, which are ranging anywhere from 35 to 38 degrees. Winds have been primarily out of the west at 5-10 mph. Many of our smaller lakes have just about frozen over and even some of the launches on the larger lakes are locked up, but overall most of the lakes are still open right now so if you are looking to finish the 2011 season off strong there is still hope!!!

I have been taking muskies on both artificial lures and live bait so as always be sure to utilize both strategies. Lures that run deep and stay deep throughout the retrieve are getting the most action - regular and magnum size bull dawgs have been producing the best in natural sucker / cisco patterns.

All of the muskies I have taken over the last 7 days have been deep – in 25 to over 30 feet of water. The bait clouds have been hunkered down close to the bottom too so running your quick-strike rigged suckers a bit deeper might be a good idea. Steep-breaking shorelines with irregular “mogul-like” bottom contours have been producing well. Sometimes the muskies are holding in the deeper holes and other times they have been holding on the slightly shallower “bluff” areas. Overall I feel that the muskies have been deep and holding away from traditional shoreline structure but this pattern may change tomorrow morning so be sure to cover a variety of structure types before dialing in.

Good luck and safety to all!

Chas Martin

http://www.muskymastery.com