Muskies to the bitter end

Muskie season on inland waters runs through Sunday, Dec. 1

Late fall muskies can be a feast or famine affair. On the one hand, fish are fairly predictable, and location narrows to a few key types of areas. Weighing against that? Feeding windows are equally narrow. Miss those opportunities, and you’ll mostly catch a chill.

Working against you too are sometimes brutal conditions. Wind and cold will test the endurance of angler and equipment. Reels freeze up, ice fills your guides. Stuff just…breaks.

But the rewards can be worth it. Big fish are accessible more in late fall than any other season, and they’re at their heaviest all year. It’s a fine shot at big fish.

First things first. Be safe.

Everything’s harder when you’re bundled up and wearing clunky boots. Declutter your boat, and stow anything that can trip you, snag on clothing, or otherwise get in the way. Tripping over a wayward tackle box might be an embarrassing pratfall in July. In November it can be deadly. Make sure your boat is in working order and batteries are charged and in good shape. Lakes get pretty empty in November, and getting stranded on an empty lake as the sun sets and temperature plummets isn’t a good feeling. Take it from me. Finally, wear a lifejacket. Wear it. Self-inflating PDFs are light, comfortable and don’t get in the way. Don’t have one? Get one. When you need it, the small cost will seem a bargain.

Where? My late friend Jack Burns had a simple rule for finding late fall muskies: Always be “facin’ the basin.” Major pieces of structure adjacent to main lake basin areas are key in fall. Main lake points and large inside turns where deep water cuts into large flats that hold fish in summer are two prime examples of fall locations. I pay particular attention to pinch points – neck-down areas where muskies and prey species leaving summer habitat or on seasonal migrations travel through constricted areas, such as the mouths of large bays, or channels between lake basins. If there’s current in those areas, so much the better. I tend to prefer shoreline-connected areas in late fall, but large main lake reefs can be productive as well.

Finally, look for any remaining green weeds. Deep weed edges along points or inside turns that remain green can be dynamite in fall, and for whatever reason, the same areas often have green weeds year after year, so they’re worth seeking out.

A lot of the location puzzle in late fall can be about prey species, especially when ciscoes are available. On lakes with cisco, main lake edges and points where pre-spawn ciscoes run breaklines as they stage to spawn can be fantastic. Look for anything prowling muskies can use to set up and ambush pre-spawn ciscoes.

My approach to fishing late fall muskies is simple. Find likely areas, and stay on them. During midsummer, I have no problem jitterbugging around the lake covering water. In late fall though, days are short, and periods of fish activity shorter yet. Every minute you spend up on plane racing around the lake from spot to spot is a minute you don’t have a lure in the water. Time is precious, and the later into fall you go, the less time there is. Often, the only activity you may get is between 10 a.m. and 2 or perhaps 3 p.m. – bankers hours.

So keep your line wet. In the days before Spot Lock, if I was confident enough that I was in the right spot, I would anchor and fan cast. I know a very, very good Leech Lake muskie guide who will fish one spot all day, because he knows fish will eventually show up to feed. His track record says he’s right.

Presentation options narrow too in late fall. Big rubber baits like Magnum Bull Dawgs or Red October tubes swum, jigged or twitched are popular options in frigid water, and I have a lot of confidence in tubes personally. Classic techniques like glide baits or twitching a big minnow bait have their place too. An option overlooked by many, but one I have supreme confidence in, is a single spin spinnerbait crept along the bottom. Bites on slow rolled spinnerbaits can be amazingly subtle – like a walleye grabbing a jig and minnow.

Especially when I’m camped on a small area, I will have a pair of rods rigged, and rotate through a small selection of different presentations, switching out every half hour or so. Whether that approach is actually giving fish different options, or just keeping me busy while I wait out a fish I have no idea. But it works.

Live bait is another option, and if you have a partner, one person casting while the other soaks a sucker is a great combo. Absolutely use quick strike rigs! YouTube has lots of good how-to videos.

The main theme for late fall muskies, whether it’s location or presentation, boils down to simplicity and persistence. From post-turnover on, it’s an approach that works until the season closes or lures start bouncing off the ice – whichever comes first.