Musky Report - July 29th

[Medford Fisher]

Finally.....70 degree water temps!!! We finally got over 70 degrees starting at the end of the week and boy did the fish respond well. On Friday, I went to a new lake a couple hours before my buddy got off of work just to check out where the baitfish were and find some potential spots. After finding where the baitfish were concentrated, I decided to do some rowtrolling before my friend got there. Only the 2nd pass into my first solo rowtrolling experience, the clicker went crazy on my shallow "propwash" bait. I grabbed the rod and instantly felt big ol' headshakes. After a great fight, I netted what would be my best fish of the year so far. I would put it at 47-48" with a nice body on it. It hit a Grandma lure not too far back from the boat.
When I finally got everything back ready for fishing, my friend was at the dock waiting for me. 10 minutes into rowtrolling, we got chased off the water by a passing storm that we had to wait 15 minutes for. After the storm, we started casting and I nailed a fish a little under 40" on a Curly Sue, had another nip the Sue and follow in, and my friend had a smaller one grab his Cowgirl in the 8 but it shook the hooks.
Saturday, we went back out to the same lake and had no clue what was in store for us. My buddy lost a mid-30's on the 8 with a Curly Sue and about an hour later, I watched a monster eat my Curly Sue a ways out from the boat. After one of the best fights I've had with a fish, I netted what would be my personal best for the year and biggest musky out of Wisconsin I've caught. At 49.5" it was great to finally get my hands on a fish like that in northern WI. Shortly after, I got a low 30's, my friend got an upper 30's, and I lost a fat, mid 40" fish when it jumped and shook the hooks. All in all, it was a great weekend!!!
The fishing the past two days has been rather slow with somewhat of a coldfront coming through. Between yesteray and today, we had 7 follows but only managed 2 smaller 'skis.
We've been fishing mainly clear waters and trying to stay away from other fishermen and boat traffic. Believe it or not, there are still lakes where you don't see other musky fishermen every day.
If you're coming to the area or live in the area, our action has been on Curly Sues (soft plastics) and big bucktails - mostly double 10's. Fishing deeper weeds and weed edges has been the key for us; however, I have heard from several people that they're seeing quite a few fish holding in very shallow water.
Good luck to everyone...catch a pig and let's see some pics/hear your stories about them.
-Jake Bucki

P.S. The release pic is of the one I got rowtrolling by myself; it was the only way I could take any pics without having the fish out of the water for a longer time. The big one is the 49.5" and the others are of some fish we've caught recently in Vilas/Oneida.

[Mr Musky]

Congrats Jake!

Awesome Job on a new lake to boot! Thanks for the great detailed report and great pics! Hopefully I can contribute a decent report after next week is over.


Craig