October Musky Fishing Tips
In this video Jeff Van Remortel with WDH Guide Service gives some insight into how to catch musky in October
How to work a Suick Video
Fall is a great time to throw a Suick so in this video Jeff Hanson gives you a great idea on how to be successful with this bait.
Get a jump start on Spring with Steve Genson
Early season muskies can be a challenge, but can still produce some of the best fishing of the year. Here are a couple tips to get you started chasing some early season esox. Choose your water wisely. Find the warm water. Think erratic.
I usually start my season on darker water and smaller lakes. These types of systems typically get fired up faster which makes them a good choice for starting your season. Darker water lakes will generally warm up faster making the muskies spawn sooner and start feeding sooner. Now this is a general rule! There are years when the clear water and larger systems can get going good by the opener. This is especially true in warmer than normal springs.
Finding the warmest water can be very important. I am always paying attention to my temp gauge this time of year. Even a couple degree difference can be significant in finding actively feeding muskies. No matter what type of system you choose to fish pay attention to finding the warmest water. Shallow bays, shallow flats, northern exposed shorelines, and anywhere streams, creeks, or rivers are entering can be slightly warmer. Spend lots of time in these areas.
In general I throw a lot of erratic lures during early season. Muskies can often be lethargic this time of year, especially following the spawn. Try to trigger reaction strikes by throwing smaller jerk baits, glide baits, and twitch baits. Some of my favorites for starting the season include Squirrelly hellhounds, Hellpuppies, 6” Phantom Softtails, and 5” Slammers. Just remember to work these baits erratically with lots of pauses. Once the water warms to the mid 60’s we start to mix in some Rabid Squirrel and Jack Rabbit spinners, TopRaiders and Fat Bastards, and bigger rubber like Magnum Bulldawgs. Good luck this season and get started early!!
To learn more about Steve Genson and his Guide Service click HERE.
To listen to Steve on the Back Lash Podcast click HERE.
Back Lash Musky Fishing Podcast
We've been a little absent from updating this section of our website. We want to use this space for musky fishing news, reports, and cool stuff showing up on the website. If you want to learn to catch more musky check out Back Lash Podcast. We've teamed up with with the crew from Musky Mayhem Tackle to bring you a musky related podcast Wednesday morning. Subscribe to the podcast on Pod Bean, iTunes (Apple Podcasts), Google Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Spotify, Stitcher, and Overcast. Use this link to find it on Pod Bean --> https://backlashpodcast.podbean.com
Suick Lures make for a great Labor Day
This week on YouTube we spend the weekend chasing musky in Northern Wisconsin. The 10" Weighted Copper Carp Suick fools a few fish along with the Regular Bulldawg from Musky Innovations. Subscribe to our channel for more videos.
A little bit about what we plan to do for YouTube for this season
I'll let the video do the work so here it goes...
Great new Crank from Leo Lures
Here is a great new trolling or casting option from Leo Lures. The MoJoe Shad has a great shimmy to really drive the big musky crazy. Available in 17 color options. Check them out HERE and view the video below.
New Products from Drifter Tackle
We are always trying to expand our lineup and give musky anglers what they need and want to help put more and bigger fish in the net. We recently add a few new products and colors from Drifter Tackle to the website. Now available in exclusive Team Rhino Outdoors custom colors are the 10" Straight Believers, 10" Hell Hounds, 12" Super Believers, and 9" Super Believers. We also added new colors in the 20" Squirrely Jake and 12" Super Stalker. Those are all great products to help you have more success musky fishing this fall. Good Luck on the water.
Kevin Pischke talks on and off the water tips
We asked Kevin Pischke with Lay in a Line Guide Service (1) What is something you do off the water to help catch more fish? and (2) When your on the water and not contacting muskies what is 1 change you'll make. Below you'll the answers to these questions.
If you’re not contacting fish on the water what’s the one adjustment you make?
Boat position:
Where are the fish in relationship to the area / structure you are fishing? If it’s a spot that regularly holds and produces fish I’ll change my boat position before I do anything else. Has something like wind, current, sun, clouds, bait location or boat traffic caused them to change their position? Do I need to work the deepest edge off of a weed bed because high blue skis have pushed them deep? Do I need to cast parallel to a weed edge or rock bar because a wind driven current has them positioned in a different direction nosed into the current? Do I need to get up tight in the weeds or on a bar because heavy boat pressure has pushed fish into the areas? Maybe it’s as simple as the fish have seen baits being retrieved in the same manner all day and by working it deep to shallow versus shallow to deep is the simple change that will initiate a strike.
What is something you do off the water to help you succeed
Maintain and organize fishing records.
I keep detailed records of my fishing and on my off time I will compile that data to track day to day fishing and also trends and results drawn out over a season. This can also be taken a step further to compare trends over several seasons. This helps you fine tune your fishing efforts to specific weather, season, and regional patterns. A good example would be tracking a change in fish behavior for a season with slow warming water temperatures that inhibited weed growth on a body of water that fish are heavily weed related because of a lack of other types of structure. A simpler day to day example of records would be how a certain direction wind affects the fish on a specific body of water.
Phil Schweik talks on and off the water tips
We asked Phil Schweik with Hooksetters Guide Service (1) What is something you do off the water to help catch more fish? and (2) When your on the water and not contacting muskies what is 1 change you'll make. Below you'll the answers to these questions.
#1 I work with several other tournament anglers and the guides that are on our Hooksetters staff and we share information as to what is working and what is not working to help each other become more successful when we are on the water. We share information as to what lures or baits are working, locations where we are catching fish, water temperature, current flow rate, water level, and other different conditions that are pertinent to us catching fish. I also read a lot. 😄
#2. My first adjustment if I am not catching fish is changing locations . I'm a firm believer in the fact that the fish are always biting somewhere, you just have to find them. Secondly would be changing my presentation