Muskie Opener & Full Moon of July

The week started out very cool, rainy and constant east winds every day. The fish were not in the bays and we weren't seeing many. We caught at least one fish every day but we really had to mix it up. Jim Murphy (guide from Leech Lake) was up with me and we covered a lot of different spots and tossed out a lot of different options to try and contact more/bigger fish. Even resorted to trolling and caught our first on that way on the first afternoon out. We split our time between Crow Lake and Whitefish Bay on Lake of the Woods. Again, caught fish each day but we put on a lot of miles and didn't see much. Murph had to head back on Wed as he had a guide trip on Thurs--and right on cue, "Murphy's Law" came into play. Murph left Wed morning, the weather changed on Wed and Thursday was warm, sunny and no wind. In a nutshell, it was perfect! The fish also thought so and I went 5 for 9 losing one on a jig and 3 on a fly. 46" was the biggest but I learned a lot about fly hooks and what you should be using and what you shouldn't!!! I did boat one on a fly, two on jigs and two on Musky Buster bucktails. I also got a 20-1/4" smallie on the muskie fly. The rest of the week the weather was much more cooperative and the fish fell into more of a normal pattern. Ended up with 16 fish for the week. As for lake trout, went out for a half hour one morning and lost two and caught two jigging 3/4oz Sebile Vibratos. That is all the time I spent fishing for them and got my limit!

As for the full moon of July, for the first time in 4 years we are having a normal summer! The fish are where they are supposed to be and in classic patterns. Summer peak is now! It is as easy as throw bucktails--cover water--catch fish!!! #9 Llungen-tails (fast/cover water) and Double Cowgirls (slow/disect a spot) have been the ticket. This was a short trip and still boated as many fish in a half a week as I did for the full week of opener. However, once again my big fish was a 46"er. At least this one was really fat and put on a really impressive whitewater show. Come to think of it, all but a skinny 45" were unusually heavy and very angry. Whether you caught them casting or trolling, the first thing most of them wanted to do was come to the surface and make a splash. Oh yeah, trolling. GAME ON!!! It has been 3 or 4 years since we have gotten a good, warm, "normal' year and we finally got one and the fish are lovin' it!!! Had one night where I boated 3 in less than an hour. 10" deep Slammers caught everything for us. This was the first time really running the new Church TX-44 'super' planer board and I am impressed with how they run and how easy it is to remove them when fighting a fish. If everything holds up, the August full moon up at Muskie Bay could be scarry as this is usually the best night fishing of the year (HINT--BOOK NOW!!!). Although, I don't think you could beat what a couple of our Thorne Bros customers did while I was there this last trip. I am really sorry that I don't remember their names (I am horrible with names but really good at remembering faces) but it was a father/son that this was their second trip up. They came up last year to learn the lake, liked what they saw and came back this year--and kicked the muskies square in the butt! I don't know how many they caught total, but they got 2-48", 2-49" and a 50". Best part is the son got the 50" the last night they were there. Said they came to the lake and fished the patterns they did because of a seminar I did at the store 3 years ago. Guess I need to practice what I preach a little more!!! As for lake trout, I didn't see as many good marks or pods of baitfish on my depthfinder so I didn't fish for them much. I am sure if I would have done more trolling I would have done better as trolling usually outperforms jigging when it is hard to mark them. I did lose one and boated a 33"er on a 3/4oz Sebile Vibrato while fishing over a pile of shiners north of Chase Point. I let this big, fat female go so she could make some more little lakers this fall.
Brett Erickson
www.thornebros.com