It seems like only yesterday that football season was just beginning,
and in the seeming blink of an eye, we find ourselves mid-October. The
king of freshwater has been busy of late as the warm weather definitely
scattered the muskies for a short period of time. While there was a
solid shallow bite during the “heat wave”, the fish have quickly
been sliding back to deeper water and more traditional autumn haunts.
Where present, deep weed edges, breaklines, and current breaks with
proximity to deeper water are all holding fish. From looking at the
forecast, the impending cold weather will mean shallower rocky areas
should soon start becoming musky magnets in the early morning and
evening, as they hold and release heat from the sun. Jerkbaits such as
Phantom Softails and Bulldawgs have been solid musky producers lately,
while casting and twitching large minnow baits such as 9” Tyrant
Shallow Czar’s has also been effective. Not to be overlooked quite
yet, double-ten style bucktails are also still moving and catching nice
muskies for us. Working these style lures such as the Mepps H210 in
silver/black or gold/brown on a slow-medium retrieve has been the best
bet; be sure and figure-eight as plenty of strikes are still occurring
boatside.

It has been an excellent autumn overall for utilizing live bait for
musky fishing. Suckers rigged on quick-strike rigs such as Fuzzy’s
Clip N Go, and either placed below slip bobbers or suspended over the
side of the boat while casting, have been catching muskies for us on a
steady basis. The great thing about quick-strike rigs is that using
them when live bait fishing for muskies exponentially increases the
chance of successfully releasing a fish to fight another day, and also
helps ensure a higher hooking percentage. Fuzzy’s Clip N Go is
attached through the sucker’s nasal passage, but does not require the
use of rubber bands such as on similar rigs – it’s quick, easy, and
effective.

Residents of the local walleye population have been greedily consuming
live bait with a marble-eye staple, the jig, the weapon of choice in
recent days. A Mister Twister multi-colored jig head in lime/chartreuse
or orange/chartreuse and tipped with a large or extra-large fathead
minnow has been our most consistent producer of walleyes recently. Deep
water, a relative term depending on where you’re fishing locally, has
been key to locating daytime walleyes. Hard-bottomed humps and fingers,
and deep holes and pools are some of the main locations holding good
numbers of fish. Don’t be surprised to catch a mixed bag of
smallmouth bass, crappies, and channel catfish in many of the same
locations as the walleyes.

While the bulk of the attention by autumn anglers is generally directed
towards walleye and muskies, crappies remain available for those still
looking to score on papermouths. Despite the recent Indian summer
conditions, crappies remain concentrated in good numbers, and continue
suspending in schools over deeper holes and out off of sharp breaks.
This is a time of year when good Humminbird electronics can be worth
their weight in gold as identifying areas holding fish prior to wetting
a line can save hours of fruitless time. Crappies typically school in
vertical columns; as such, look for this when watching your locator.
Once crappies have been located, we been using slip-bobbers and
dead-sticks rigged with small to medium fathead minnows tipped on
chartreuse or white Mister Twister Lightnin’ Bugs in 1/16 or 1/8 ounce
sizes (depending on the depth and current conditions) as they have been
working very well.

Tight lines,