Summer Mille Lacs muskie

Winter-net has set in.

Where does everybody think the Muskie’s go in the summer months? I hear and read a lot of reports when the guys start trolling and casting the North shore in the late summer. I’ve never really heard of where they are moving in from. Are they out in the deep water in the middle of the lake? Do people target them or is it the incidental ones caught by Walleye guys we hear about?

Seems strange that the Muskie guys don’t chase them hard all summer………..or maybe, it’s just a well kept secret I don’t know about.

Opinions you would care to share?

With a decent population of Tulibees, my guess is that they’re out there…somewhere…..suspended and following the baitfish around. And they probably don’t have to work too hard to fill up so the bite window is small.

From Muskie opener to September I have seen guys trolling in the basin. Most of the time on or near some of the larger mud flats. Look for the only pontoon on the mudflats or a guy in a 90s Stratos.

Two years on Muskie opener we were fishing a tournament and catching tons of 12-14″ Walleyes on a mud flat. I had a Muskie pick one up about half way up. We almost landed the beast, but she let go by the boat.

I know Muskie fisherman who only cast, so they wait until Fall when the fish focus on specific spots.

Muskie guy’s do chase them all summer, just not that many muskie guy’s out there anymore. It’s a walleye lake, you know? Oh, but it’s the best bass lake in the country too. That’s what they’re after.

There are those that focus on that north shore sand drop because they do seem to concentrate there. My hypothesis is that they do roam the vast open water but with low numbers would be like finding a needle in a haystack. They’re likely out there, but might take days to come across one. They do concentrate in more predictable areas than the open water abyss.

I’m sure they are in many other areas of the lake…why wouldn’t they be? All the way around. Just few if any looking for them. Perhaps that’s why when the few that are caught are pushing or exceeding 50 lbs.

Lucky lady from last June, north shore…

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ClownColor wrote:

I’m far from a musky guy but I’ve seen tons of muskys hanging in very shallow waters during July. I have to boat thru some shallow weeds to get to the dock and I see them basking in around 4’ all the time…i thought that was normal????

They’ll eat out in the open water, then come up shallow to find warmer water. That raises their metabolism and helps them digest their dinner. I’ve seen a lot of shallow Muskies in the summer that absolutely will not respond to anything you throw at them, because they’re already full. Still very cool to see them.

SR

Is that your daughter Andy or just a random pick? That’s a great fish.
DT

deertracker wrote:

Is that your daughter Andy or just a random pick? That’s a great fish.
DT

No, not my daughter…but somebody’s daughter. Not just a random pick either really. There are some catches that stay on the “down low” I hear about but this one was in the news. Estimated at about 57 lbs. Good story about it in the Strib, if you care to see it?

http://www.startribune.com/minnesota-woman-s-first-muskie-nearly-breaks-state-record/433805143/

Was out fishing the flats for eyes last year, had two fish around 50″ come up to the boat after walleyes. They weren’t really chasing them, seemed like more curiosity than anything. Both times I was tossing the fish back over and saw the musky lazily swimming away, didn’t even take a look at the eyes when they were released. I’ve only spent a day or two fishing for them up there, always say I’m going to spend more time doing it, but never get around to it!

A lot of muskie anglers will choose not to target muskies in the dog days just to avoid the extra stress of fighting a fish in warm water. Tough for them to recover, higher mortality rates, doesn’t really go very well with the cpr mentality.

Dusty Gesinger wrote:

A lot of muskie anglers will choose not to target <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>muskies in the dog days just to avoid the extra stress of fighting a fish in warm water. Tough for them to recover, higher mortality rates, doesn’t really go very well with the cpr mentality.

I know many musky guys that do the same.