Broken Reel Point - Musky Report 7/29/10

It was a beautiful mid-summer afternoon in Eagle River with water surface temps hovering around 74 to 75 degrees and a nice NW breeze blowing at 10 mph. The baitfish were stacked on the primary break lines near a couple key shorelines making our job a little bit easier as Scott and Colleen set out with me to catch a musky. We had them “dialed in!” Before we started our assault we went over some basic concepts and techniques including the ingredients in a quality hookset which I have found many anglers struggle with. Between 4:30pm – 7:30pm we had only 3 follows and a short strike to show for our efforts but I was optimistic for what might lie ahead as the sun began to set.

Scott and Colleen were getting hungry and they were planning on getting off the water a little earlier than usual with dinner reservations but I told them we had to go a little further and at least fish a spot in front of the particular shore station. “I can almost promise you there is going to be an active fish holding in front of that shore station at some time tonight!” I said this as we moved in closer toward the spot because over the last few days I had seen heavy baitfish surface activity in the area. No sooner had the words come out of my mouth when I heard the sharp “whip” of Scott’s rod as he set the hook! There was so much power and force in that hookset I thought maybe a fighter jet had just flown by in the distance! As I began to move the boat out toward deeper water I yelled to Scott, “Keep the rod tip up! Keep reeling!” “I can’t” he said!!! “What do you mean you can’t reel???” Then, as the musky jumped in the background, Scott quickly showed me his new reel. The handle was smashed inward at about a 90 degree angle toward the spool making it impossible to retrieve any line. I had never seen anything like this before and to make matters worse… there was an angry musky on the end of his line. Instinctively I grabbed Scott’s line with my hands and started to hand-pull the musky toward the boat which resulted in a nice cut on my finger as the musky took a dive. Scott took the line and started to hand-battle the musky to the boat as I got the net. After a few power runs and another jump we got Scott’s biggest musky to date in the net, a 35 incher! The fish was released healthy to fight another day and a new spot on the lake had been named: Broken Reel Point. It was a musky battle I will surely never forget!

Musky fishing in the Three Lakes and Eagle River area has been very consistent and there have been at least two techniques that have been the best when conditions are tough. The first technique, and one probably responsible for most muskies in my boat so far this season, is fishing the “deep” weed edge. Throwing deep diving crankbaits and bull dawgs parallel to the weed edge and probing the edge at different depths. This has been an excellent way to find and catch muskies. We have also caught them by casting our lures in and stopping them before they go all the way into the weeds. The second technique that has lead to consistent success on the water has been fishing suspended. Most of the suspended muskies have been holding out deeper but in relation to some type of structure such as a submerged hump or reef. Fish for these muskies the same way you normally do but instead of targeting weeds you are targeting schools of suspended baitfish.

Good luck and fish hard!

Chas Martin

http://www.muskymastery.com