Professional Muskie Fishing Tactics

Where are the Muskie?

Muskie like weeds and will go deep into the weeds but generally they patrol the outside of weed-beds or at least close enough to the edge that they can ambush Walleyes and other fish. You will also find them around structure like deep humps, rocky points, off wild rice beds, shoals and around small islands. You will also find them around points leading into shallow weedy bays but not way back into the weeds. Muskie like structure that Pike and Walleyes like but they like structure that faces the open lake and in places where they have quick access to the large open parts of the lake. You can almost say Muskie are claustrophobic. As a result, most Muskie hunters troll along the shore and stay between structure and the open lake or on the outside of the weeds.

The diagram to the right shows the general behavior of Muskie. Muskie will still going into the thick weeds like Pike but generally they like to face the open water and have their prey trapped between them and the shore.

Trolling Speed

Muskie hunters find success trolling faster than they would for Walleye but there is a limit. A good Walleye speed is around 1.5 miles per hour. Many people fishing for Muskie will troll as fast as 10 miles per hour but the prime speed is between 4 and 6 miles per hour. You will catch Muskie trolling really fast and sometimes the really big Muskie hit the faster baits but trolling at a slower speed enables you to catch Muskie of all sizes.

Size of Lures

Traditional folklore also tells people new to Muskie fishing that you have to use really big lures. The truth is Muskie will hit any size lure. Tons of big Muskie get caught on little jigs used by people who are Walleye fishing. People trolling with both small, medium, and big lures catch Muskie. The size of the lure should be based on the amount of weeds in the area or the depth you want to fish at. Our Muskie lake is mainly clear water and not choked with weeds unless you go into the backs of bays so you can use bigger lures if you want. At the same time, being a clear lake, smaller lures have higher visibility thus you do not have to use big lures. The choice is up to you as it really does not matter. Muskie on our lake are hungry and hit everything.

The most important aspect of deep water Muskie fishing is letting out line to get to the bottom.

With open water, try trolling with bigger lures. The most popular big trolling lures for Muskie are J-ll Jointed Rapalas, J-13 Deeper Jointed Rapalas, Ziggy Lures, Willy Lures, Wiley Lures, Swimwizz, Believers, Large Mepps Bucktails, Lucky Strike Wooden Muskie Plugs, Hedon Muskie Plugs, large spinner baits, or long shallow-running Rapalas. Perch-color and Fire-Tiger are good during the day and red seems to be good in the evening. There are many different colors and some fishermen find unique color combinations that work well. In a lake with a high Smallmouth Bass population, try using brown or green colored lures.

When in weeds it’s better to use smaller lures. 4 or 5 inch Original Floating Rapalas (the skinny ones) or Thundersticks work well. The jointed J-11 Rapalas are also an excellent lure and seem to catch Muskie of any size. Spinner baits can be very affective as well.