Muskie Nuts… A Place to Call Our Own

Since we really don’t have a forum dedicated to the ins and outs of Ski chasing, I figure I would formally invite all of you to start talking Lunge in the Tournament HQ.

Since I invited you all I guess I will start what I hope to be a bunch of threads about our favorite fish.

If you could pick your one trip of a lifetime, to any lake, anywhere in North America, where would you go to fish Muskies. I already have mine, Bob has been there once. It is well off the beaten path and no one really knows about it as there is only one access, and a water hanger for a float plane. It is up near Red Lake Ontario, 12 hour drive from the Cities. Bob fished it with his very pregnant wife about 4 years ago, out of a dingy. I am digging for pictures now, but that is where I would go!

I am with you on this one! Looking back on this trip I am not sure how I got the wife to make a 12 hour drive and then fish out of a small 12ft boat for 3 full days, and when I say full, I am talking from sun up to sun down. The wife is a trooper. Best trip of my life! 3-days= 68 follows and 7 fish boated with the Warden taking top honors. Not bad for being 7 months Prego

Hey Bob, would this be a river system that has a documented 57lb, 55lb, and a 51lb…….A system that holds “multiple 40lb fish” with “lots” of 30lbs fish?

St. Lawrence River would probably be my 1st choice after seeing the amount of 57″-60+” fish that come out of there every year.

Do you guys think the trolling patterns they use on other Great Lakes would work on Superior. I know that they mainly are trolling large tributaries into the lakes, and Superior doesn’t really have any close to home other than the St. Louis. I have always wanted to try Superior for Muskies, and I finally have a boat I feel moderately comfortable doing it in. Do you think it is worth it?

I spent most of my youth within walking distance of the lake. We were up the shore about 90 miles from Duluth. I would assume you could try trolling around the Duluth area although I bet it would be tough to target muskies. You’ll probably catch way more salmon and lake trout than skis. Maybe they like the sand along Park Point like they like the sand on Mille Lacs??? Could be worth a try.

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Do you guys think the trolling patterns they use on other Great Lakes would work on Superior.

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Superior is nothing like the eastern great lakes. For example, Presque Isle Bay in Pennsylvania near Erie PA compares more closely to shallow lakes in the central regions of the state here.. large areas of cabbage weeds as far as the eye can see. Its a warm water, aged fishery compared to Lake Superior(colder deep water, lack of vegitation).

The trolling tecniques they use out there would be very effective here. Those guys arent playing around trolling for muskies. It is by far the #1 presentation that is used arcoss PA, NY, etc. I learned a lot while living out there. I also learned that 10 fish days were very regular. Most of the inland lakes in PA are restricted to 10 hp motors. These guys would troll at full throttle with their 10 hp motors which averaged from 8-12 mph. Spoons and Minnow lures that would run(perfectly tuned) was the lures of choice pulled with very stiff rods and 100# line. 2 rods per angler is allowed in PA.

It came down to trolling large lures as fast as possible without hooking into the weeds, hitting bottom, or having your lure break the surface.

I cant recall the gentalmens name anymore I learned from. He was the head of Muskies Inc in that area.

Although muskies are Sissy’s.. they can sure smack a fast moving lure without a problem!

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Hey Bob, would this be a river system that has a documented 57lb, 55lb, and a 51lb…….A system that holds “multiple 40lb fish” with “lots” of 30lbs fish?

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No it is not a river system, but I have been on that many years ago. This is a lake, with a ton of rocks and islands. I guess that would describe almost every lake in Canada I can’t seem to located the photo of my wife, but Kooty saw it when we were drinking beers a week ago! I will keep diggin for it.

Wow 8-12 mph!!! That is truckin’. I believe it though, considering an Esox coming out of a “S” strike position can achieve a burst speed of over 30 mph.

I guess if you think about it, it makes sense. They are capable of high speed strikes. I have heard 30 and 40 mph both.. I dont know which to believe, not sure I really care, but its fast.

A bait moving that quick is going to give very little chance to think about it. A very fast moving bait is more likely to create an impulse strike. The faster that bait moves, the less time a fish has to decide if it wants to take it or not. My guess is, most the time if a fish is spending the energy to take a bait moving 10mph.. its probably going to take a swipe at it before it loses opportunity for that meal.

We all know a fish can swim circles around our bait no matter how fast we reel it in. That doesnt mean faster is always better in casting applications.. It just means they are faster than our reeling.

Got that old photo

Thanks for the nice article. It is very useful.

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I live my life in colour and see in soundMake sure you are heard!

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I am with you on this one! Looking back on this trip I am not sure how I got the wife to make a 12 hour drive and then fish out of a small 12ft boat for 3 full days, and when I say full, I am talking from sun up to sun down. The wife is a trooper. Best trip of my life! 3-days= 68 follows and 7 fish boated with the Warden taking top honors. Not bad for being 7 months Prego <img src=”http://www.in-depthangling.com/forum/images/graemlins/bow.gif&#8221; alt=”” />

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Awesome story!!