The beginning of fall has been the story of ups and downs for my boat. Up in the sense of catching fish, but down in the sense of motor luck. Fishing has began to shift into a cooling pattern and the muskies are relating to spots a bit different than the summer stuff. That is why it is important to begin to try new areas this time of year as fish are transitioning and a new pattern emerges. Fish random shorelines, neck downs, and even going farther around known spots to key on fish moving around and roaming. This has been very important as of late with the fall weather in the air.
Another thing that has mattered is paying attention to moon phases and being on a large aggressive fish when they are more vulnerable to bite. I know almost any good musky angler will say this over and over, but i’m just stressing what i have noticed flipping through picture times in my camera. It was a full moon this past week and we saw plenty of big fish up shallow, yet the only monsters chasing baits were by the light of the moon.
The trees and cooling water temps are a clear sign of fall for me, and this means spend time in the boat to make your season pay off! Prepare your boat for the weather and conditions to set up for better success and longer days on the water. Toss out the bug spray and throw in an extra jacket; its time to tie into a fish of a lifetime. On a recent outing, I was met with cold windy conditions early in the morning. Being prepared with extra gear and rubber gloves to keep the water off my hands, I was able to beat the elements and catch my new best musky.
Another outing with clients on a Saturday resulted in a 4 new personal best’s and could have only gotten better, if storms had not kicked us off the lake early. Since my jeep was blown up i decided to get dropped off for a few days at the lake and camp. I guess my reasoning was it’s better to be stranded at the lake than at home, right? So i set out at 11pm in the dark and rain to set up camp for the night. Reaching camp with a wet tent, sleeping bag, and food, I curled up and cozied into bed as much as i could. This is where the story picks up from the last paragraph… I awoke to a very cold and cloudy sunrise on the horizon. I set out to a shallow rock pile and casted my favorite and sharpest cowgirl to the crown. A few casts into the morning I was met with a 50 inch musky who was ultra aggressive. Onto a quick pattern I quickly went to my best fish i had seen the day before hoping she had the same attitude. Not more than 10 minutes after the 50 i was landing a new personal best musky at 54.25 inches and an estimated 40 pounds. This will go down as a week to remember for highs and lows. More so for the high of catching and releasing my very own LIVING LEGEND!