PDA

View Full Version : The Muskie Bite In Eagle River



Ranger Rick
07-13-2009, 09:40 AM
The high water temperatures are not going to make it this year, due to the cool summer weather. Even without the numbers of tourists using the waters we normally see during July, the muskies are biting best during the night. There is no secret to night fishing, fish the same spots, the same depths as you would as during the day. As far as bait choice, use any bait you like as long as it is not erratic. A bait that darts side to side will cause missed strikes. Examples, Hellhound, Manta, Jack Pot, etc. Use a straight retrieve for best action. I like to use surface baits the two hours just before and until dark. A surface bait can "tip" a fish over the edge in low light condition. But at dark I take off the surface bait and prefer baits that stay underwater.

We were night fishing Tuesday nite, there was a cool breeze from the Northwest that had a 'bite' to the air. Air temperature was 51 degrees when we headed in. We fished until 11:30 pm. and the 3 of us saw no muskie but boated a nice walleye on a Big Game lure.
On Wednesday nite the wind was from the Northeast but unbelievably warmer than the nite before. In 4 hours we had a fish follow a Topraider then turn off at the boat, a 50 inch class fish aggressively swung at a jackpot and half the fish flopped over allowing us to see the fish and we finally caught a 43 incher on a bulldawg. That fish was caught at 10;10 pm.
The moral of the story is,,,,,,,if you want to be fishing the high percentage time right now, the night bite is it.

I won't be out for about 10 days here in Eagle River because I have to go to our Big Narrows Muskie School on LOTW's next week. I will let you all know how that bite turns out. Stay tuned.

Good luck,

"Ranger" Rick Krueger