Now that football season is in full swing many anglers find themselves spending Monday nights kicking-back, relaxing, and deservingly having a cold brew…However, anyone who enjoys having his or her line tugged should definitely consider picking up a rod and heading out to their local fishing holes this time of year, because the action can be furious, particularly for that fish we all covet; Esox masquinongy.
As a testament to the extent of the fall “bite” my bud Aroz and I have landed eight nice muskies, all from the Wisconsin River, and all have been caught from shore at night within the last week.
Several patterns have started to appear. To begin with, speed is definitely a triggering factor as of late. I’ve read countless articles that conclude that “slow-and-steady” seems to be the best technique for night fishing. Now I’m not saying this technique doesn’t work, because anglers much better than myself have proved that it does produce. I’m just saying that it has it’s own time and place; just like burning baits in the dark occupies a unique niche in the every angler’s arsenal.
The technique used to trigger these nice fish involved fast retrieves and erratic directional changes near shore. It is definitely important to note that we try to change the direction of the bait directly above or possibly a few feet before the break-line, and this shows that even while fishing from shore it is important to understand the dynamics of the underwater environment.
In addition to challenging the status quo when it comes to speed in the dark, we are also relatively convinced that color plays a pivotal role in fish catching ability at night. And I’m not just talking about a dark color’s ability to silhouette at night. We have had great success on a variety of colors: yellows, greens, chartreuses, and shades of orange in addition to the staple contrast colors such as black or white. Once again, it appears that experimentation is the key.
Now for some closing notes on shore fishing muskies at night: A good quality headlamp such as a Petzl is imperative for safety especially as fall fishing is usually cold fishing, and cold hands are easy to hook. Have all release implements (tape, hook cutters, camera, etc.) organized and ready to go, because this probably causes more problems for anglers than anything else while night fishing. Lastly, Make sure to bring a comparably obsessed friend along to help pass the time through friendly competition, but more importantly to cover water efficiently and to take some truly phenomenal pictures to show your football-watching friends in the morning
