I have been out on White Bear a couple of times the last 2 weeks trying to entice a muskie…I have had a couple of nice fish follow (low 40’s), but they were very lazy follows…We have been seeing those fish on the deep weedlines on the south shore casting large crankbaits…I will be out there again next week for the new moon, does anyone have any suggestions on how to find some more aggressive fish in White Bear? Thanks!
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thanks guys…i have caught a number of fish out of Bald Eagle over the past few years, but the is something about the lure of a really big fish that brings me back to White Bear…i will let you know how i do…
Honest opinion:
I would try burning a bucktail at those fish. I’m talking “burning” highspeed. Have you tried that? Trigger a reaction bite?
Gary…very funny you say that, i just read an article about that last week and that was going to be my gameplan…I think that burning bucktails just might get a reaction…thanks
Burning fast is the ticket as of lately…. Here’s a couple from tonight..
First one is a 50 second one 35!
NICE FISH!
Very Nice! 
I tried burning but with no success last wed…also tried trolling spinnerbaits at about 3.5-4.0 mph…I will give it another go this week sometime, maybe on Bald Eagle this time…may I ask, how deep of water were you fishing in?
Over the tops of weeds in 6-10 FOW.
Schrump;
Where you getting a pretty good response on the burning? Or were the two you caught all you saw?
Schrump:
Did you get those beauties on White Bear? Also, as a rookie, when you guys refer to “burning” it accross the top, is that as fast as you can reel it in or just at a good controlled rate? Thanks for the help!
By the way we were on WBL last night for about 2 hours, I got a 11″ bass and 1 sunny, pretty slow fishing, but it was nice to be alone on the lake.
Burning is a high speed retrieve. No finese whatsoever.
The point of the technique is to create a reaction strike. Not giving the fish any time to think about it.
The reason for burning is due to high pressure waters, where the fish has seen everything in the book (typical of Mille Lacs and metro lakes, as well as many other common muskie waters).
It also should be applied when the water temps are high, because the fish are at the most aggresive level due to higher water temps equate to a higher metablolism. Same applies to every species of fish. Also, the weather and barometer plays a roll in this.
So, to answer your question, you don’t want to smoke the bucktail at screaming speeds where it is silly and wears you out fast. You want to burn the bucktail at a moderately high speed of retrieval. The theory is to keep the bucktail in the upper column of the water, high above the weeds. The fish can’t see the lure, nor has time or room to strike a burning bucktail deep in the weeds. The point is to “pull the fish out and cause a reaction strike”. Similar to burning rattle traps above weed beds for large mouth bass.
You don’t have to just burn bucktails either. Cranks work very well on this!
Does this make sense?
When you hear people saying that fish are following but not biting, this is the time to burn bucktails!
You have to stick with it too. You are going to miss a couple of fish, where they zip out of the weeds, take a swipe and disappear back into the weeds again. BUT, when the right fish comes along, you will hook up! She is going to torpedo in on your hair and crush it with authority!
I’ve also noticed over the years this technique seems to work best in adverse weather conditions..Before, during, and after storms especially. And like Gary said great tecnique for highly pressured lakes.
congrats on the 50″
how much do you think she weighed?
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