Every Muskie fishing fanatic has their own way of fishing. If you are new to Muskie fishing or are looking to add a bit more technique to your previous knowledge, then we welcome you to read our tips. Please always remember that Muskie exhibit different behavior on different lakes. Depth, visibility, structure, types of feeder-fish and weeds are usually the main factors.

On Wabigoon Lake and Dinorwic Lake the Muskie are feeding like crazy all the time. There is no difference between summer and fall feeding habits. They attack and eat anything that moves. The difference between summer and fall is the weeds and that is really what dictates the methods and lures you use to fish with.

Summer:

In the summer the Muskie are in the weeds, whether its stands of Wild Rice, Pickerel Weed, Lilly Pads or patches of Muskie Cabbage. Casting with lures that are highly visible and make lots of noise always work but when working the weeds you want to use single-hook lures so you are not taking weeds off your line every cast. Low weed lures also makes it easier to navigate between patches of weeds for a longer retrieval, which means more fish. Spinnerbaits, large Johnson Silver Minnows and large single-hook Daredevles with the weedless bar are great for heavy weed cover. If the weeds are not up to the surface and you have a foot or two of water to play in then shallow running crank-baits and jerk-baits work great. The Muskie will be sitting on bottom and will shoot straight up at the lure. In the summer not all the Muskie are in the weeds. They will roam the shoreline looking for schools of Walleye, Smallmouth, Perch and Crappie. If you are fishing for these fish and they all of a sudden stop feeding that usually means a big Muskie or Pike has moved into the area and that's when you start casting some Muskie baits.

When the water starts to cool down the weeds start to die. As the weeds decompose they absorb oxygen and release small amounts of sulfate, which the Muskie do not like. When the water cools Muskie either move out to the edge of the weeds or go out into open water and start to roam for better hunting grounds. You will still catch Muskie casting into the weeds but a better approach is to troll along the outside of the weed-lines and give more attention to shoals, islands, mouth of feeder-streams and narrows between islands. This time of year the Muskie also seem a little claustrophobic and tend to be attracted to areas that face the open lake. Going into a back bay with islands out front, which are blocking access to the main lake, is usually slow for Muskie in the fall.

Late Fall:

Traditionally many Muskie hunters troll really fast or retrieve their baits really fast. In late fall when the water gets really cold the Muskie are still feeding but become a little lethargic and tend to hit slower baits and smaller baits. In the summer and fall trolling with the bigger Muskie plugs at higher speeds works fine. In late fall when the water is really cold, try trolling or retrieving your bait a little slower and use smaller baits.