2017 Pep Talk and Lure List

[Scott McKee]

A good portion of what you are about to read I’ve written before.  When you’ve churned out as many fishing reports, articles, forum posts and so-ons as I have over the years, it becomes increasingly difficult to come up with new shtick.  Should you have the patience to endure my rambling repetitions, I hope you are able to glean a bit or two of information which will help you land a musky this season.  Good luck this year and good luck getting through my long-winded recollections and recommendations.

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Be diverse in your approach.  Have the combos and lures to effectively troll, cast and jig.  You never know what presentations the muskies will respond to, so be ready to hit them with everything and anything.  You don’t need a hoard of lures in every color under the sun, but you need to be able to fish fast and  slow, and from the bottom of the water column to the top.

One of the best weekends my boat ever had in the harbor was opening weekend of 2003.  The boat released  five muskies, more specifically Mark Reichert released them all.  I was just tobacco chewing, M&M only trail mix eating net man, but musky fishing is a team sport and despite my ineptness getting bit, it is still a weekend I am proud of.

We always fished the harbor opening day back then.  We started trolling deep off the embayments.  Mark caught a 42” on a Triple D just 90-minutes into the season.  He had never used the lure before, but he let out line until it hit in 15 feet and then ran the lure at that depth when we moved out to 25’.  Three hours later and just after adding a tail-gunned lure, he landed a 48” trolling a 10” jointed Believer 125 back on the shallow eye.  At first light we switched to casting and Mark caught a 34” on a Manta glider.  When we stopped moving fish we switched back to a deep spread.  No bites.  We switched back to casting and moved a few fish in the North side, but we couldn’t get them to snap.  I like to troll fast back through areas where fish followed.  Sometimes a little speed is all a musky needs to commit.  We did this and Mark scored a 41” in 10 feet of water short-lining the same Triple D he landed the 42” trolling deeper earlier in the day.

The next day Mark popped a 51.5”.  (The kid was hot, in fact that opening week he caught seven fish in the harbor including a warrior 47” male casting a Blitzen Shad.)  A 48” opening night is a great start (I believe the fish finished second in our opening day tournament to one of the MacSwan’ beasts Jon would seemingly catch every time he went out), but because we were ready and willing to try different techniques and depths, Mark had himself a day to remember.

Be ready to troll, cast, and jig.  Don’t get locked into one presentation and don’t limit yourself to deep or shallow.  Running and gunning keeps you fresh and alert and makes for a much more interesting day on the water.  I think a lot of us fish longer opening day as our anticipation and excitement are overflowing.  Don’t wait for a strike to occur opening weekend.  Go and make your strikes happen.

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Time on the water is king.  I’ve printed this before, but I’ll print it again.  If you have the time, can transform into a nocturnal animal or vampire and are hell bent on catching muskies like I was when I started, here’s a great opening week schedule:

Get out at midnight opening day and fish until about 9AM.

Go home and sleep.

Get back on the water around 7PM and fish until 9AM.

Go home and sleep.

Repeat until you can’t take it anymore or have to return to reality. 

When I was younger I use to see how long I could fish opening day (now I hit it for a few hours in the morning and then go to work).  Starting at midnight on Saturday I would cast and troll until very early sometime Sunday morning.  I would generally stop when I started seeing lights in the Harbor where I knew there weren’t any lights (true story).  Bleary-eyed and half-crazed, I would tie off to the transient dock in the Small Boat Harbor and crash for a few hours (I was usually woken by a passerby asking his buddy, “is he dead,”) and then return to casting for a few hours until I was ready to collapse.  Dumb.  Go home, force yourself to sleep, get back out and hit it again hard.  You’ll be a better angler the fresher you are.  I find this to be truer in the heat.

Fish when you can fish, but try to do so during at least one low or no light period (dawn, dusk or night).

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Let’s have a little fun and talk lures.  I don’t have the resources for all of the wicked (both in appearance and price) basement baits available today.  I enjoy looking at them when Jojo gets his daily order, but I tend to stick to my Old Guard.  The baits listed are in order of my preference early in the season.

Deep Trolling (15 feet and deeper)

Harbor: Legend Perchbaits, 10” Believers, Depth Raiders

River: Mr. Toothy’s, Depth Raiders, 10” Believers

Shallow Trolling (15 and shallower)

Harbor and River: Wiley Musky Kings, 10” jointed Believers (shallow eye), Beaver Spinnerbaits, Depth Raiders, 10” Jakes.

If you want to fish lures intended for trolling deeper in shallow water, simply let less line out and/or angle your rod tips high.

If you want to fish shallow lures deep, snap a Jojo ball on to your leader.

Casting Shallow

Black bucktails with silver blades (go big or go small, just start fast), Wiley Musky Kings, Depth Raiders, Spinnerbaits.

I am going to feature two new lures opening week this year.  One is a rubber, paddle-tailed, gooey plastic thingy called a Poseidon made by Chaos that looks like a mortal lock fish catcher.  The other is new to me, but well established in Niagara musky fishing history; the Pikie Minnow.  I’ve never caught a fish on a Pikie, but thanks to my stubbornness and Mark Maghran’s generosity you can bet your backside I am going to this year.  Hopefully sooner than later.

In case you are interested, here's what I'm rolling with on my whip...

Are you jumping on someone else’s boat?  Here’s a list of lures that will fit into a Plano 3730 and will be more than enough to fish the harbor or river effectively:

1. Perchbait (trolled deep or casting off the edge)

2. Mr. Toothy Deep Diver

3. 10” Jointed Believer (deep or shallow or crawled as a surface bait)

4. 5” jointed Wiley Musky King

5. Depth Raider (trolled deep, short-lined shallow or cast off the weed edge)

6. glider-style jerkbait

7. Black and silver double 10 (cast or speed trolled)

8. A 2 to 3 ounce spinnerbait (cast or speed trolled)

9. 6-ounce Jojo Ball

10. A few jig heads with trailer hooks and as many ROB tubes and gooey things as you can pack in the rest of the utility box.

Don’t forget a few extra leaders and hooks, a head lamp, sunglasses, a hat, gas money, appropriate clothing, food and drinks.

Boom, go fish.

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If you fish hard when the sun is blazing, don’t forget to stay hydrated.  I once fished an oppressively hot August day year’s back with Jojo and I didn’t drink as much water as I should have.  We spent almost 20 hours casting and jigging.  When I arrived at the bar afterward (this is before I stopped crushing my liver) I went straight to the bathroom as I realized I hadn’t relieved myself all day.  My urine was dark orange and about as thick as marmalade and it had the aroma you might associate with a herd of port-o-johns somewhere in Death Valley in need of a tragically neglected servicing.  I was shot for days afterward.

Apply sunscreen.  I like the aerosol versions as they are easy to apply and provide excellent coverage without mucking up my hands.  Apply some before you leave the house and reapply as you sweat throughout your trip.  I have peeled my entire neck and forehead in the past because I was too dumb to put on the goo.  I bet I’ll pay for that in the years to come.

Drink water or sports drinks and put on sun screen to keep yourself whizzing and protected.

If you feel overheated, wrap a few ices cubes in a bandana and tie the bandana around your neck.  The cooling effect is incredible.  Here’s a gem of wisdom: Wear a hat, and sunglasses are a real good idea.  (Now aren’t you thankful for my keen insight?)

If you have a lousy ticker keep a few aspirins on board in case your heart decides to quit early.

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As I mentioned earlier, I like M&M only trail mix, but I bet actual trail mix might be better for you.  If you want to fish long hours, bring some vaguely nutritious food (NO BANANAS, NEVER BANANAS) with you in a cooler with ice, loaded with non-alcoholic beverages.  Tony drinks warm water all day when we go to Nipissing.  As God as my witness I am repulsed every time he takes a sip.  What the hell is wrong with you, Scime!?

Looking to get bit opening week?  Try…

…trolling the harbor.  Focus your attention on the drops off the embayment, the ends of all the walls, the gap mouths, both sides of the Black Rock Canal, the Buffalo River, the Coast Guard wall, the channel out and in from the north gap and the inside of the long walls.  If you strike out, try a little shallower, short-line your lures or switch to a shallow program and jack your speed up to 5+MPH.

…staggering your spread when trolling deep.  You don’t have to always be on the bottom to get chomped in the harbor (or the river for that matter).

…”S”ing when trolling.  Zigzag and make Crazy Ivan’s (90-degree turns).  Your inside lures will stall and your outside lures will accelerate.  If you are speed trolling and an outside rod fires it will be a rip you won’t soon forget.

… casting the embayments.  My boats best success has come on bucktails, jerkbaits, shallow diving crank or flat-sided minnow baits jerked erratically and jerk-ripping tubes rigged for casting.  Think quickly with your bucktails and gliders for your jerks.  Start at the drop and work your way shallower.  Don’t hesitate to cast at night.  This really holds true for the harbor.

… jigging the river in the usual spots – the Triangle, Lunge Lane, in front of the Patch, etc – with the usual toys, i.e. Red October Baits Monster, Ninja and Boo Tubes, Storm Wildeye Swim Shads and Bondy Baits.

… trolling the river, bottom bouncing lures.  Think Mr. Toothy, Depth Raiders, Perchbaits or any lure that will get to the bottom in 17 plus feet of water.

… trolling shallow in the river with spinnerbaits and shallow diving lures like Wiley’s.

… casting weeds in the river with bucktails, shallow diving cranks and gooey plastic things.

--- fishing as a team when casting.  One angler throws shallow and one deeper.  Switch up roles.  Stay positive.  “Boat” fish are just as cool as “my” fish.

 

Here’s a few quick hitters:

• Fish like eddies.  Identify them and pound them.
• If you want to catch large muskies you must fish where big muskies live.
• Tune your lures.  An out of tune lure spells doom for a spread (especially a deep spread) and will bleed you of fishing time.  If you can’t easily untangle a dead spread, cut lines and re-tie.
• Don’t give up on a wet lure.  Motion equals life.  Always L or figure 8 at the end of each cast.  Give a quick jerk to your lures when you are reeling in trolled lines and be ready to L or 8 them as well.  You never know when the buggers are going to bite.
• Unless I am pulling a three or four rod spread (or it’s really, really cold out), I hold my rod in the river while trolling.  First and foremost, it is cool to feel the strike which can sometimes feel like your lure stalls or goes backward for just a second.  Secondly, you’ll know right away if you’ve caught floating weeds or moss.  Thirdly, you can dodge floating weeds with your rod tip.  Fourthly, you can impart action by jerking the rod and decrease or increase the depth the lure is running by accordingly raising or lowering the rod tip.
• More time on the water equals more muskies.  Remember this tip.  This is the number one way to become a better musky angler.  You can read every musky article ever printed, but there is no replacement for time spent on the water.
• There is no excuse for dull hooks.  Obsess about keeping your hooks sharp.  When you lose a fish what is the first thing you do after you scream, swear, throw a fit (or all three at once)?  I bet you check your hooks.  Check them before you lose the fish.  There is no excuse for dull hooks other than your own laziness and stupidity.  I know I have to work hard for most of my fish, the last thing I want to happen is to lose a fish to dull hooks.  Keep your hook points like needles.
• Rusty hooks break; replace them.
• Black is back, all in, we’re gonna win.  Check it out, yeah y’all, come on, here we go again. Turn it up!  Bring the noise. – Public Enemy 
• (Translation: Black is always a good color; even an entire spread of black lures.  Speed trolling works well when other presentations fade.  Rattles or big blades are good.  Who would have thought Chuck D knew so much about musky fishing?)
• “T” the hooks on all of your hard-bodied lures. 
• Small hooks drop fish and they excel at dropping big fish.  On the advice of Tony Scime and Tom Page I bump the size of my Depth Raider hooks from the standard three, 3/0’s to 2 (front and back hanger) 5/0’s.  For Mr. Toothy deep divers, I bump the hooks to 7/0’s.  The first thing I check when inspecting a new lure is the hooks.   Are they large enough for to be comfortable should a beast smash the lure? 
• The rear hook on Believers and Swim Wizz’s does not clear the tail of the lure.  I add two additional split rings or a swivel so the rear hook clears the tail.  This will result in more hook-ups and fewer lost fish.  Many of the muskies I catch on Believers are on just the rear hook.  Without extending the rear hook, I would probably not catch these fish.
• I keep my drags cranked down when casting and loose enough so I can pull out line with just a little effort when trolling.
• A cracked rod tip or guide will shred your line in no time.  Rod tips and guides should be checked at least once a year.  If you notice a large section of your line is suddenly frayed, the most likely culprit is a cracked tip or guide.
• Single strand stainless steel leaders aren’t bullet proof.  A kinked leader is a weak leader.  If your leader becomes kinked, replace it immediately.  I keep a cache of trolling, casting, jigging and jerk bait leaders on board.  Two minutes to tie a new knot is a lot better than killing a musky or losing an expensive lure.  Never get lazy with your musky equipment, especially your link to them.  Muskies, and especially big muskies, will always exploit your weakest link.  It is not that hard to guarantee your presentations don’t have any weak spots.  Killing a musky is shameful to me.  Don’t let it happen because you skimped on line or terminal tackle.
• “You lose one, you rig one” (QUINT from Jaws.)  Keep extra leaders and replacement hooks on hand.  When you catch a musky quite often something clicked, either with the weather, moon, etc..  Feeding windows can be small time periods.  You need to get your baits back in the water as quickly as possible.  Extra leaders and replacement hooks allow you to do this swiftly should a fish kink your leader or if you have to cut hooks.  A great pair of split ring pliers is worth its weight in gold when the muskies are snapping.
• Land muskies quickly.  A dedicated musky angler should be fishing with strong everything: Line, leaders, rods and reels.  Take the fight to the fish and get them to the boat and released fast.  Have you ever shown a musky picture to a novice or non-angler?  I’d bet one of the questions you were asked was, “did you eat it?”  I’d also bet you were asked, “how long did it take to land?”  I’ve been asked both of these questions a lot and most people are shocked when I tell them, “about 30 seconds”, to the latter question.  (I sometimes answer the former with, “muskies are poisonous.”)  There is no room in musky fishing for “playing” fish.  Horse them in and get rid of them faster.  Landing muskies quickly also gives the fish less time to throw your lures.
• Be aware of small weather changes.  Even a slight switch in wind direction might mean the fish are going to turn on.  Keep an eye on your favorite weather app and try to be on a historically proven spot or revisit a follow for these predicted switches.
• If you psych yourself into believing your next musky will be your biggest and your equipment is ready in case it is, you’re way ahead of the curve.  You never know when your monster will strike, always be ready in case it does.
• One or two pictures of a big fish out of water are more than enough.  If you want to shoot a ton of pictures, do so while you are releasing the fish.  Marc Arena, the owner of Red October Baits and arguably the best musky angler I know, releases plenty of big fish without taking a picture at all.  He believes he remembers them better without an image.  I think he has something there.  Some of my most vivid musky memories have come from fish I’ve lost at the side of the boat or not taken a picture of altogether.
• For you who have never popped a big musky, if you are lucky enough to catch a big momma, try to stay calm.  A few deep breaths can help in controlling the inevitable shakes your knees and hands might develop. 
• Never bring a netted musky into the boat.
• Keep the fish’s head under water for the entire unhooking process.
• Cut hooks.
• Celebrate after the musky swims away.
• Each of us has different levels of release experience.  Do the very best job you can releasing every musky.  Our naturally reproducing fish need to be handled with extra special care.  The less time a fish is out of the water, the higher the chances it will survive the event.

Good luck, be safe, and I’ll see you on the water.  Avengers assemble.  GO Team Venture.

[Scott McKee]

Bonus tip: The best opportunity to score a decent fish on a top water lure is opening week in the harbor. Former member Don Foit caught a handful of fish over the years chucking Top Raiders in the weeds at night. If nothing else is working, try the surface. Worse case, I'd bet you pop a big smallie. If I was a rapper I think I'd call myself Big Smallie, by the way.