Musky Opener Tactics

Here are some tactics that we have used in previous years to put fish in the boat during musky opener....

I usually try to look for the lakes that are warmer than the rest. Typically Little Wolf Lake near Cass Lake has produced a number of nice fish for us during the first week of the season. It has a maximum depth of 24 feet and tends to warm up very quickly. We usually try to find the newly emergent weed growth and concentrate there. There are some very nice cabbage beds on the resort side of the lake. Spend some time and mark out all the pockets of weeds and go back and fish them. The fish dont seem to mind that you just drove a boat over their haunts. On numerous occassions we have caught fish within minutes of marking spots. We usually do well throwing regular size Bulldawgs and small bucktails. Also topwater, especially the Weagle, has produced some of our largest fish from there. There are naturally occuring tiger muskies in this lake and we have been fortunate to catch some over the last 5 years. You usually don't see any tigers in this area. In fact, this is the only area lake that I have heard of tigers coming from. I attribute this to the small size of the lake and the similiar spawning areas. Another lake that we have done well on is Elk Lake in Itasca State Park. It is a very clear lake that has a wilderness feeling to it. It is located in a park and shoreline development is nonexistent. It is a small lake that is around 300 acres and has a max. depth of over 100 feet. Elk can be a great casting or trolling lake during opener. Both of these lake are great early season choices and the results are very rewarding if you just have to cast baits during opener.

Another tactic that we use to put fish in the boat early season is trolling. I am not talking about trolling the breakline or weed egdes. I concentrate on trolling open water. We have done well in previous years trolling some of the largest waters in the area over the deepwater basins. Cass and Pike Bay are two bodies of water that we have used this tactic to put multiple fish in the boat during the first two weeks of the season. Open water trolling can be frustrating and at times just plain confusing. If you don't know what to look for or can't stand trolling for long periods of time then I would suggest that you don't troll. Instead, focus more on casting some of the smaller lakes. Some days we will spend 16-20 hours straight trolling and if you think trolling is boring then you are not doing it correctly. It takes alot of patience and an open mind to troll. Trolling can be a very fun and effective way to fish early season especially when you hear the rod clicker going off!

After the spawn many of the females stage over open water to recooperate and feed on tulibees and whitefish. If the baitfish are not there it doesn't always mean that the muskies are not. The shallows do not typically have weeds in some of the larger lakes during this time of year and you will rarely see fish up shallow if the water temps are in the mid 50's and there is minimal weed growth for them to relate to. The only exception to the rule is if the fish are still spawning during opener. Last year we had the latest ice-out I have ever seen and the fish were still spawning during the opener. This year is not the case.

I do have some dates that are open the first two weeks of opener and if you are interested in becoming a better more efficient fisherman during the opener give me a call.

Kevin,

I am thinking about fishing Elk on Saturday. Do you ever fish it early in the year around opener??? We got some fish outta there early last year, so I am hoping for similar results.

Any tips??? We threw a lot of twitch and cranks at them early last year.

Thanks,

Marc

Locate the thickest weeds and mark them on your GPS. Go back and cast these areas and if you are not seeing any fish then move out to deeper water and troll.
Casting Baits:
Magnum dawgs
Weagles
Smaller bucktails
Rabid Squirrel Spinnerbaits

Trolling Baits:
14in Jakes
13in Believers
10in Believers
Deep Diver Slammers
Kawalski Wileys

Hey Kevin,
Thanks for some of the opener tactics I'm thinking about hittin both those
lakes since I'll be up in Park Rapids for an extended weekend. We'll propably
fish Mantrap also and try some dawgs and small bucktails,jerkbaits and since it's a fullmoon we might try some night fishing. At the Little Wolf Resort how
much does it cost too launch your boat????

It was eight dolllars

Yeah it is around $8-$10 if I remember correctly. Not exactly sure where we will be probably Elk.