CAUTION: HOT FISHING - Report 6/29/10

Muskie fishing in the Three Lakes and Eagle River area has been so good I don’t even know where to start! If you’re been on edge about planning a fishing trip my advice to you would be to quit your job and head north as soon as possible. Records are being set as the PMTT event on the Eagle River chain this last weekend CPR’ed over 70 muskies and overall the 2010 season is shaping up to be one of the best yet! Over the last 2 weeks we have had many 2 and even 3 legal muskie days on the water with a good amount of fish in the 40 inch range being taken. What’s the ticket for success lately? Again it is tough to say because we have caught muskies off almost every possible type of structure and at all times of the day including at night.

Fishing weed flats and edges in water 5 to 12 feet deep with bucktails, small crankbaits and bull dawgs has been very effective. We have also been catching a lot of muskies suspended but in relation to structure. This has been a very good technique to try when the weed bite shuts off or when faced with less than ideal fishing conditions. This morning’s musky trip with John and Sophia was no exception to the old rule of going deep during tough conditions as John boated the second largest muskies of his life, a beautiful 40 incher, that hit a bull dawg over 30 feet of water. This fish was suspended in relation to schools of baitfish in the area and was probably only about 10 to 12 feet below the surface. We also had 3 more follows to the boat including one that aggressively followed a lure covered in weeds but we could not get her to strike. Winds were out of the N-NW at 10 mph, air temps in the 50-60 degree range and conditions were partly cloudy but mostly sunny. Water surface temps are around 70-74 degrees. Congratulations John on an awesome muskie!!!

This evening I was out for walleye and panfish and I found the fish biting in and around the weed edge in 5 to 10 feet of water. Getting right into the weeds was necessary to trigger strikes. Using a 1/16th oz jig tipped with either a half leech or night crawler worked best. The perch were very aggressive but the walleye seemed a little more difficult to get and as Jason mentioned in an earlier post they were hitting very lightly.

Look for fishing to continue to improve as we head into the weekend as favorable weather is predicted.

Good luck and fish hard!

Chas Martin
http://www.muskymastery.com