I have spent three days fishing for Muskies on French over the past week. I have noticed a few things that might help you Muskie anglers out there. Of the two fish that I have boated (38 1/2 in and 40 in) over the three days they both came on Storm Thundersticks (Cisco Color) in approximately 15 to 20 feet of water. The water is very dirty (algee bloom) and normally when this happens out on French I tend to longline troll. This is a personal preference because I hate not being able to see followers. Another great thing about trolling is that you can cover so much more water and a lot more depths. I have seen two other muskies boated by other anglers over the past week both looked to be just short of 40 in. One angler was casting the long point/bar that comes out on the southwest side and the other was trolling the long point that comes out on the southeast side. The casting angler was using what looked to be a Bionic Bucktail in firetiger type color and I didn’t catch what the color of the lure the other angler was using who was trolling but I did noticed that it was a Rapala style Minnow CrankBait. Suggestions for improved Muskie success, I would say downsize on lures and start burning back bucktails in high percentage areas of the lake during early morning and late afternoon and if you get out during the middle of the day try trolling deep diving cranks in the deeper water. Also take notice of wear the wind is crashing into certain areas of the lake. I truly believe that this is were you want to concentrate your efforts. Both of my fish have come in these areas where the most wind was. Yes, it truly does suck fighting the wind all day but I think that this is your best bet for putting a hawg in your boat. Trolling speeds that have produced for me have been anywhere between 1.8 mph and 2.5 mph. The water is very warm 78 to 80 degrees and the bite seems to be decent. So get out there and give it whirl! Good Luck!
August 1, 2003 at 2:52 am
#1292100
