Musky Report 06/02/10

Musky season in our neck of the woods has thankfully come and gone - and from the looks of the musky fishing traffic this past weekend, I wasn't the only one needing an Esox fix! Opening day found water temperatures very much above average for Memorial Day weekend, due to the early spring and recent hot temperatures. Weed growth in our area, where available, is very much accelerated and is close to mid-summer form. The musky activity has been good of late with the right presentations, with fish really showing a preference for rubber baits. Both solid rubber lures such as Suzy Suckers and Curly Sue's or DeLONG Killer Eels and Flying Witches as well as "hybrids" like the Squirrley Burt and Super Stalker have all been moving and catching fish for us since the opener last Saturday.

The most active fish seem to have been relating to either the deepest weed or wood cover available or have been hanging ultra-shallow such as on the sand bars, especially during the low-light hours. The muskies, and random bonus big pike, have been responding to retrieves that impart a stop-and-go or irregular cadence much more so than a straight retrieve. While not a lot of action has been occuring boatside, at least as of yet, it's always imperative to incorporate a figure-eight after each and every cast; we did have a bruiser show up deep and late that would have been undetectable without the ol' eight.

On a side note, a congrats to one of my guests for the day, Mr. Jeff Bergstrom, for landing the 1st legal musky of the season in my boat, 1 hour and 13 minutes after we started fishing the opener.

Tight lines,