2010 Fall Muskie Trolling Report w/photos
The 2010 Fall fishing season was strange in many ways. A very harsh cold front rolled through and hung over the area for a couple of weeks in September, which brought the feel of an earlier end to the season. We experienced water temps in the middle 50s in late September and it appeared some early trolling success might greet those out there pulling baits around before the “normal” end of the period that casting is more productive than trolling. The first week of October had the water temps staying fairly steady before a heat wave hit and pushed temps back up into the low 60s for a period of time. A couple of “pre-season” trolling runs produced a couple of fish the last weekend of September and the first weekend of October, but it was certainly nothing to brag about in terms of fish activity. The Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend (Columbus Day Weekend in the US) is typically the weekend I target to begin trolling so with that in mind, I had planned 3 days of fishing with the holiday adding a bonus day to the weekend. The weekend started with water temps in mid 50’s. By the end of the day on Sunday, with the 3rd day of hot & sunny weather and temps in the 80’s, the water temps climbed to 63 in some areas we were fishing. We did manage 4 muskies on the Saturday, with a couple other hits that didn’t hook up. With the extreme rise in temps, we were pleased with those results, but didn’t expect it to continue. That turned out to be the case with hard fishing only producing 1 fish the next day. We didn’t have any guests trolling during the week leading up to the weekend of October 16, but the muskie hunters were around pretty steady starting Oct 16 through to the end of the month.
The rest of the fall played out about as well as anyone could hope for. There was a slow, steady decline in water temps and reasonable weather well into November again, as was the case in 2009. The toughest part of the fall was having to give up the chase with water temps still in the low 40’s; which is absolutely prime for fish activity. We did well fishing last November with water temps down into the 39 degree range (and still could have fished a few more days last year) so I was very bummed to have to put the Pooh boat into the shed for the winter, but that was the way it had to be.
Muskies Caught: 57 (this includes 2 fish caught in Hinch’s Pro-V during the half day I jumped in with him)
Days Fished: 18 full days, 5 half days
Muskies lost during the fight: 5
Hits that didn’t hook up - too many to remember!
Size Distributions
Sub 30”: 6
31.5” – <35”: 4
35” - <40”: 15
40” - <45”: 19
45” - 46”: 6 (45”, 45.5”, 46”, 46”, 46”, 46")
48” – 49.5”: 6 (48”, 48.5”, 48.5”, 49”, 49.5”, 49.5")
50”+: 1 (51.5")
Thoughts on Numbers and Size
The numbers of fish were down slightly this year, but the number of bigger fish was up. I think this was a trade I would typically be ok with in futures years. I still don’t have enough data to call say whether or not this was a fantastic year, above average or whatever the case may be. Personally, both size and numbers were excellent and I would probably be happy to have these results in any given year. The only thing I will be left wondering is if whether or not the last 4 days of the year, in which i fished solo with one bait in the water) could have been more productive with 2-3 baits in the water. Conditions were prime and the fish has been snapping, but I couldn’t make much happen with 1 rod going. I only managed 2 muskies in those 4 days and had 2 other rips that didn’t result in hook ups. Despite experimenting with rod position ( middle, outside, inside) while solo, I couldn’t get any kind of pattern going and was left frustrated with the end of the season despite a great run leading up to the last 4 days, which had the pooh boat fishing for 10 days starting October 29 (2 of which were half days) and landing 35 fish.
Best Day EVER
A 9 fish day was the highlight of the fall. In order, the fish were: 40”, 41”, 39.5”, 40”, 40.5”, 38.5”, 49.5”, 32”, 51.5”. The big fish was the capper on an amazing day with my good friend “the Captain.” Before landing the big girl, a fish that looked very big had hit and did some aerial acrobatics before falling off (or letting go.) Another fish hit and fell off on the point of the run we were making before making a u-turn and coming through again. The 2nd pass did not produce any action, but it was the end of the day and we decided we might as well run it one more time before giving up. Somewhat further down the line from where the nice fish hit the first time, the outside rod bent over again and it came right up and did some more fun stuff at the surface as the previous fish did. Before she was safely in the Beckman, she did a spectacular dolphin porpoise jump, clearing the water completely with the bait in her mouth. After letting her go and enjoying the moment as the sun went down, ‘The Captain” remarked that he was positive that was the same fish. I would certainly defer to his opinion on this and we concluded it was likely the fish didn’t ever get a hook the first time and in an aggressive feeding mood, it pounced again without thought of the circumstances. An 8 fish day (with a 49.5” in the mix) would have been a record as it was, but it sure stung thinking there was a chance to make it 9 with a biggie. Getting another shot like that was rare and made it that much sweeter.
The One That Got Away
We had another one on that we’ll think about for about as long as we fish for these things. My good buddy Mark T was holding the rod on the outside to structure when it doubled over. He claimed he was hung up, but I informed him there was no way he could be hung up in 20 feet of water with a 10 inch Jake. Seconds later, in a very excited/shocked tone...he exclaimed it was a HEAVY fish. Mark was going to hand it off to his son so Jake could do battle with the beast, but I asked for a moment to back the boat away from shore as I was drifting into the rock wall in the excitement created by a huge strike in deep water. Mark said he could feel the power of the fish head shaking and hanging deep, but then it fell off and we were left to wonder what might have been. I firmly believe that would have been the biggest fish of the fall. For the 3rd fall in a row, the potential biggie fell off. However, it was relatively early in terms of the time I had left to fish and was hopeful we would have a few more chances to get some nice fish.
Surface Temps
We caught fish as high as 58.9 degrees during the October heat wave and the last fish was caught with a surface temp of 42.3 degrees.
Structure/Depth
Rock structure was easily the most prevalent for the fish we caught this fall. Rock walls, rock rubble shorelines, reefs, and rock points produced nearly all of the fish in 2010. The target depth was still 10 feet on average. I did notice many, many instances where a fish would hit right on top of a GPS waypoint or icon that was marked from a previous run through an area. After a fish would hit, be landed and then released, we’d usually make a u-turn or run through the area one more time so it was easy to see where the GPS track would veer off and very often this fall it was right on the edge of a shallow spot, spine, hump, shelf etc. Waypoints/icons can be anywhere from less than a foot where dangerous hazards were found or 4-5 feet to mark a hump we would want to slide right over the edge of in case a fish was holding on the break. This only reinforced (to me anyway) the importance of using your electronics to help you. Some of my first experiences trolling, I remember my mentor, Bazil, hitting “icon” twice on his GPS whenever he came onto or over a shallow spot. After having that firmly drilled into me, I have made it a habit to mark shallow humps on shorelines, points, etc and I firmly believe this helped land more fish; particularly this past fall. I’ve been trying to convince some of my buddies (Hello Bean Counter and Hinch) to use their fancy electronics as more than just depth finders and lake maps. I think maybe I got though to them a bit this year, but we’ll see about that!
Lures/Colours
10” Jakes – 35 fish
14” Jakes – 4 fish
9” Grandmas – 3 fish
10” Jointed Believers – 2 fish
9” Kraves – 13 fish
After Doug J’s success with the Krave in the fall of 2009, I had to try one of these things and purchased a couple of the Muskie Expo in St Paul in April. The lure produced immediately and became a go-to lure all fall. I used 3 different Kraves for those 13 fish and have no doubt one bait could have caught all of them if one hadn’t met an early demise on what is now called “Krave Point” in honour of a bait we lost too soon, and a second bait that was donated to a new friend after catching a big fish on it. The Blue Shad pattern was the Krave that caught all the muskies. Nicknamed “Big Blue”, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd versions each did well. Big Blue 1 caught 4 fish up to 46”. Big Blue 2 managed 6 fish (including 48 and 49 inchers) before being retired young. Big Blue 3 is currently in the line-up and got itself up to 3 (up to46”) in a half day of work. Not only was this bait a good action bait, but it attracted big fish as well. I highly recommend picking 2 up if you don’t have one in your box yet. Other hot lures again were the Rainbow Trout pattern with 8 fish between 2 baits and a couple of baits from the new colour patterns for 2010; Metallic Black & Gold (aka Goldilocks) with 8 fish and Chartreuse Darter with 7 fish (6 on the 10” version and 1 on the 14” version.)
Rod Position related to Structure
Inside: 21
Middle: 12
Outside: 18
Middle/Inside: 4
Middle/Outside: 2
Middle/Inside and Middle/Outside denote rod positions on days when 4 rods were in the water. Middle position was used and caught 2 fish on days with less than 3 people as experiments leaving outside and/or inside without a rod. The biggest fish (45 inches and bigger) hit in all positions; no pattern could be determined in relation to bigger fish and specific rod position related to structure.
How much line do you have out?
This was a very common question with many people new to the idea of trolling for muskies. My ideal set-ups this fall were 45 feet inside and 55 outside. With a 3rd rod running over the motor, I set it typically at 30 feet. I ran it a bit shorter with a believer over the middle. With 4 rods, I stuck with 45/55 for inside/outside with 10 inch Jakes. The middle/inside rod was usually a Krave set at 30 feet. The middle/outside rod was typically a 14” jake or a Grandma (9”/13”) and was set at 40 feet (or 37 with a big Grandma.) I was actually quite surprised at the low number of tangles when running 4 rods for the first time over a period of 3 days. As long as you kept the u-turns nice and wide and didn’t get other turns too tight, the baits pulled pretty true. I believe the 96” beam of the Pooh boat, and 8’6”-9” rods helped keep them spread nicely as well.
Equipment
I had several new pieces of equipment to break in and try this fall. The best addition to the line-up was an unexpected one. I received a custom Thorne Bros 9 foot trolling rod built on a St Croix blank as a surprise birthday gift this fall. I would likely have never considered getting one of these for myself, but after using it, I can’t imagine anyone trolling without one. I was able to fight fish that were 48.5”, 49.5”, and 51.5” on the custom rod and it was truly amazing the way it loaded up and absorbed the huge head shakes and power runs of those big fish. Also, watching it pull baits, especially the bigger, harder pulling baits was something to see.
Other new rods I had were a trio of the Fenwick Elite Tech, 2-piece 8’6” trolling sticks. I had these running before I received the Thorne custom rod and was quite impressed with them as an upgrade over the Gander Mountain rods I had been running previously. They loaded much better than the gander rods and had a good combination of backbone and tip flex that pulled baits very well and handled nice fish with ease. These rods are certainly nowhere near the class of the Thorne custom rod, but at $100 retail, the Fenwick 2-piece trolling rod is an economical choice that will serve you very well if you want to upgrade.
I picked up a Garcia 7000 line counter and was impressed enough to plan to pick up two more next fall. The 2 new Garcia 6500 line counters performed well also, but they have a push button release which can be a little difficult when you get hung up, as we often do. I used them mostly away from the inside position and without the snag issue, these reels performed well.
I spooled all these new reels with 80# Spiderwire Ultra-cast Invisibraid and was very happy with the results. With backing on the spool, I loaded up these reels and then repacked them tight with a crankbait on them. This line holds very little water and did not fray like other braided lines I have seen. I would highly recommend this line if you are looking for a new super braid next season.
Ram rod holders. Added two small hand rails to attach rail mounted Ram rod holders as 3rd and 4th rod holders and was very pleased with the way they performed. Down-east are still number one for me, but the Rams would be my choice if Down-east were no longer available. They don’t look like they should hold up, but after glowing reports from a couple of serious trollers that have used them for years, I have no worries using them anytime I need to.
Other Cool Stuff
We hooked a fish over 59 feet of water! We’d hooked and released a northern coming off a steep rock wall near deep water and were making a big u-turn to make another pass along the wall when a rod went off in the open water well before we got back to the wall. As “The Captain” reached down turn the Suzuki, he mentioned the sonar was reading 50 feet. HOLY CRAP!! The fish was in the upper 30’s range, but was pretty cool to find one out in the deep water. “The Captain” explained that there are always fish travelling in the upper 15 feet of the water column so that fish has to be in travel mode. Neat stuff.
We had 2 double headers this fall, but neither one was muskie/muskie. They were both northern/muskie, with the muskies being in the 40 inch range each time. The first double header was a northern that hit, and then as I was burning my bait back to the bait, the 40 inch muskie slammed it on the retrieve and I had my hands full. That brings my career double header total to 4, but still don’t have a muskie/muskie DH to my credit.
Two times this fall, a fish hit a bait, but didn’t get hooked and then came back and hit the same bait again within 10-15 seconds and was landed. The second time was with a 49 incher! Both times, it was the Krave that enticed the fish to hit again after it didn’t get a good grip on it the first time around.
The Pooh boat saw 6 anglers get their first ever muskies trolling in 2010. With several new muskie anglers, personal bests were those first fish and then some were beat again for a total of 11 personal bests in the fall. Personally, my best ever day with the 9 fish total, 4 of which I caught; including the 49.5 and 51.5 inchers. It was the first 50 inch class fish in my boat since the fall of 2006 and my 3rd fish ever in that true trophy class of muskie.
The morning bite was almost non-existant. There were very, very few fish caught before 11 am, not even fewer caught before 10am. I guess I can’t harass the Lehman Crew for staying up late and not getting out fishing before 11am for awhile. I know some of our guests picked up some fish early in the morning, but the Pooh boat wasn’t very successful early despite being fishing by 8am most of the full days on the water.
We caught a porker of a walleye! It was 25 inches long and almost as wide. I bet the darn thing weighed 7-8 pounds. I can’t wait to get the pictures off Ed’s camera and have a look at that beast again. It was the first walleye I ever witnessed hit a trolling bait.
Big Pike are alive and well in LOTW. One day in particular, we boated 10 pike (to go with 3 muskies.) During the fall I was teased off and on for being Mr Pike, a pike fisherman, not having any muskie baits (only pike baits), fibbing about baits being good muskie lures because they would only catch pike some days. There really are a huge number of upper 30 inch pike around everywhere. We didn’t measure anything that made 40 inches this fall, but had a large number of 36-38 inchers and a couple 39 inchers.
Not-so-cool Stuff
I got awfully damn lucky when a boneheaded decision led only to another trip to the skeg doctor. I was in an area a bit unfamiliar to me because I was trying to navigate a 20-25 MPH wind and decided to go around one more point before stopped to look at the map before continuing on. Well, I didn’t quite make it around the point because a piece of Canadian Shield (well marked on the map by the way) came up and bit my skeg rather roughly. Fortunately, the skeg was the only casualty of the collision and we were able to spend the day fishing. I sent it in for a repaid, which was a good idea, since I found another spine on a reef that is less than a foot under and put a scrape the 2nd newly rebuilt skeg I had this past year. Be careful out there boys and girls. It can happen to anyone at anytime. I was lucky, next time I doubt I will be.
Skunked 3 days this fall. One day with 3 of us in the boat and the other 2 while fishing solo. Each day there was at least one fish that hit, but didn’t get hooked.
Other Thoughts
I still think holding your rod as much as possible will produce more fish over an extended period of time. Mark T was holding and pumping his rod most of the half day we were fishing and his rod on the outside most of the time got 6 of the 7 strikes (5 pike, 1 muskie landed and the big one that got away.) Hmmmmmmmm. Interesting. Some of our guests that hold their rods almost all day, every day all week seem to catch more fish on average than the rest of us and I think this might be one of the many reasons that that is the case.
I tried to avoid the wind again for the most part and it didn’t seem to hurt again. You can still work current and areas getting hit by wind or wind related wave action without bouncing around in 3 footers all day. Yes, I know I will have to work wind someday and give it a good effort, but so far I’m resisting.
Special Thanks to:
Dick Moore – Moore’s Lures (hooks, leaders, baits, etc.)
Bob S – Justencase Tackle Boxes (the best muskie tackle boxes in the world.)
Mark S – Pure Fishing (Fenwick Rods, Abu Garcia Reels, Spiderwire.)
Darren Blattner (The best skeg doctor in the district)
Ralph, Bruce, John, Luke, Edwin, Chantele, Kaitlyn, Jerry, and Dean for spending time with me in the Pooh boat.
Hinch – For inviting me to fish in the Pro-V and for leaving me speechless for a minute, which is hard a hard thing to do.
The Captain – for suggesting we fish that one spot that produced 49.5 and 48.5 inchers, and spending as many days as you could in the Pooh boat with me.
Bean Counter – For getting a rod tip replaced the day I ordered the last 4 Blue Shad Kraves from Thorne Bros and having a sense of humor about it when the guy said he just sold the last 4 to someone this morning! You know I would have gave you one if Hinch wouldn’t have found a couple elsewhere.
Final Thoughts
It’s hard to express how much I enjoy chasing muskies. The moment I pulled my bait out of the water for the last time, I was looking forward to making my first cast next year when muskie season opens again and thinking about whether or not we’ll have another good year of trolling when October and November comes around. I think back to barely 5-6 years ago when the last thing I wanted to do was fish. Now it’s something I live and breathe and dream about when I’m not doing it.
It was strange not bumping into my friend Jack a few times or 6 out on the water this fall. It wasn’t the same knowing Jack wasn’t going to be out there. We miss you, Jack. We caught some nice ones and let them go, we let them all go.
Thanks for reviewing the fall with me. It was a great ride.
Pics to follow shortly.
