Last night I left the lake trolling with no report of ice. This morning I awoke to a phone call from a friend who was breaking 150 yards of ice at the landing. I can honestly say that the 2013 open water season is almost done for us on the iron range. Water temps were in the 35 degree range yesterday so I can only imagine lakes will be completely locked within the week.
This late fall pattern has been pretty hit or miss for my boat. Usually it’s a lights out bite this time of year but the general word around the lake is talk of an off year. This does not mean that all my efforts have gone unrewarded though. Hard work and persistence was the most important tool to cracking these fish in the last days of open water.
Another key to contacting these fish was to do a good figure8 no matter what. It seemed that a lot of the bites came from deep below the boat and would appear seemingly out of nowhere. Statistically, a lot of these fish in my report were caught boatside on a well executed figure 8.
2013 musky season has been a year of highs and lows. I have been truly blessed be able to fish all summer and share my passion for Lake vermilion. I would like to thank all my friends, clients, and anybody else who has supported me this year. I can’t wait for next musky season and all the excitement to come.
Here are a few nice northern pike that we landed using the same rubber casting technique I explained in my report. Even a nice pike is in the running for a big piece of rubber!!
Nice Job AJ! You’ve had a pretty good year up there. Congrats buddy!