iFish Lake St. Clair

Author: Robert Phillips

Most anglers think big when hunting lunker muskie, but if you want to catch more muskie think smaller baits and tackle. I caught my biggest muskie while fishing walleye with a plastic worm in September. More often than can be coincidental people catch a muskie while fishing other species. Most anglers look to heavy tackle, large baits and trolling as the way to catch muskies. Personally I become bored or just tired of trolling all the time.

Now one of my most successful tactics used especially in the fall is used for fishing large walleye and at the same time muskies. I use medium size tackle and large walleye baits especially jigs. Fishing weed lines, drop offs and shoals as you would for walleyes will also attract as many muskies as walleyes. The first time I realised this I did have some success for large walleyes and had just caught and released a nice 7 pounder that was followed to the boat by a large muskie.

The only change I made was to make sure I was using wire leads and good stong swivels. Using 6 inch plastics worked just fine and the result was a fun great day of fishing. In all the two of us caught and released 9 walleyes from 5 to 8 pounds plus 5 muskies all in the 15 to 20 pound range. Although not the lunker; that most muskie hunters look for. But it proved to me that the muskie can be caught on lighter tackle and smaller baits.

Conventional thinking tells us that in the fall; the remaining muskie, are large, therefore bigger is better. However, my experience is that smaller baits are often the perfect morsel for that elusive muskie.

Equipment And Presentation

When I say smaller baits I am referring to large or oversized walleyes jigs. As mentioned this approach evolved on a body of water with a large population of large walleye. Now using the idea that big baits means big fish or walleye. I began tossing 5 to 6 inch plastic shad-bodied jigs along weed lines. I landed a number of big walleye, but to my surprise, the muskie were also going for the same bait. The big plastic jigs became an important part of my muskie fishing arsenal. All large plastics work just fine.

Colour seems less important than creating a real flash. Two-toned baits, mainly dark and light combinations, create more flash when drawn through the water. Adding some metal flake also ads that extra flash. Just experiment and you will find a combination that will work for you and get that strike you want.

Generally I use ball-head or stand-up-head jigs with medium gauge wire hooks. It’s surprising how well a single hook can handle even a large muskie. Often you will hook the fish in the gristly flesh in the corner of the mouth. Jigs also make landing and releasing muskie easier; there are then no large treble hooks flopping around to damage the fish or you. Deeply hooked fish can be released by clipping off the hook with pliers.

Single strand wire leaders seem to work best especially along weed beds. I use a hay-wire- twist to attach the wire to the jig head at one end and a small swivel at the other. Watch for kinks in the wire, but these leaders are more weedless than the standard models because of the snaps and swivels.

I prefer a medium action 6-foot spinning rod and a reel spooled with 12 to 14 pound test monofilament. A medium-heavy bait-casting outfit also does the trick, in both cases make sure the drag is working properly.

Even if you prefer the conventional approach, keep a lighter outfit close at hand for when muskie follow, but don’t hit, or they strike short. Using lighter tackle and a jig is also a good approach when there are two of you fishing muskie. One angler throws conventioinal baits, and the other throwing jigs. Then you are always ready to react to follows and misses.

Vary the speed of your retrieve when jigging up muskie. I have had luck in late fall, by using violent rip-jigging motion. It’s tiring, but effective. Experiment and you will find something that works for you.

When battling a muskie on light tackle, be careful not to fight it to exhaustion, thereby increasing the chance of delayed death if you plan on catch and release. Ideally, you should release a fish by simply grasping the single hook with a pair of needle nosed pliers, while it’s in the water at the side of the boat. Cut off the hook if the fish is hooked deeply. Muskie fisheries are a fragile resource, so do your best to release that muskie no worse for wear. Now next season that muskie will be ready to fight another day and make that day a great day for another angler.

About the Author:

Rob Phillips has been an avid Canadian angler for over 50 years. Fishing Canada provides solid advice for walleye, bass, pike, muskie, a variety of trout, arctic char bass and more. Idea’s on when and where to go on your next trip to Canada. Ice fishing tips. Delicious fish recipes also!

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/sports-and-fitness-articles/muskie-fishing-tips-jigging-fall-muskies-54962.html

Author: Thomas Henricks

People living around the Western Basin of Lake Erie, the Detroit River and Lake St Clair area are “arguably” situated in the heart of the best freshwater fishing in the world. It’s is difficult to surpass the smallmouth bass fishing in this great region with all it’s rocky shoreline, open water reefs and islands and great spawning areas. The yellow perch population has made a significant turnaround in the past 5 years.

Now we get to the really good stuff. The walleye fishing in Western Lake Erie lays claim to huge numbers of walleyes and several year classes are currently represented. This signifies a better chance to maintain breeding year classes in the future. To the un-educated, a day of fishing that produces big boxes of all large fish, may seem a good thing. However to the knowledgeable fisherman that is alarming. Big fish are immensely satisfying to catch, but if you aren’t seeing small fish, the future of the species is in danger. Fortunately recent years have given up good numbers of young fish that speak well for a few years at least.

The walleye run in the Detroit River during spring warming is kind to the fisherman that masters it and starts the fishing for the year with large numbers of walleyes ranging from behemoth monsters during the early part of the season to large numbers of yearling fish in late April and May. The key to this game is conquering wind and current. Boat control is KEY to success. When you learn to manage your boat so the perfect vertical jigging is possible, a number of baits will spur the fish into action. Nearly of equal importance is water clarity. It is extremely difficult to pull fish from dirty water. The angler should search out the cleanest water of the day and work it to find and catch fish. This water color is generally most affected by wind direction and wind strength. Typically one side of the river will be clean and one side will be dirty. On days when the water is crystal clear everywhere in the Detroit River, prepare for a fun day.

Walleye fishing in the main part of Western Lake Erie really picks up steam about Mid June, although weather conditions determine the speed and direction of the movements of the large schools of post spawn walleye. In General these large schools move out of the spawning areas of the south and west part of the basin. They move north in large schools and they turn east when nearing the Canadian shallows. They prefer to nose into the current so extended winds in any particular direction do influence the speed and movement of these schools. For a great day by one of the most knowledgeable and successful walleye fishermen on western Lake Erie, you might contact John Sims who has operated Chante Charters out of Kingsville Ontario for a zillion years.

We aren’t finished yet with the good news. Musky fishing in Lake St. Clair is rated at the top of the pile worldwide. Numbers are very good and many big fish are caught by the good anglers on nearly a daily basis. If you want a good day fishing and you want to fish with a charter captain that understands these fish, contact Bob Devine who operates Chartertalk Fishing Guide Service.

Let’s finish this up with arguably the most addictive fishing we have the opportunity to experience. For several years running now, deeper waters east of Point Pelee have offered us simply unbeatable rainbow trout fishing. These fish are exciting to catch and available in large numbers generally beginning to crank on good about mid July. Methods of fishing range from wire line, downriggers and using dipsy divers. Fish will even be taken utilizing planer boards and crankbaits. They feed heavily on baitfish. Look for a big school of baitfish and then work that school. You will catch fish when the fish are on and you work the bait fish.

Well this scratches the surface of the fishing available in the Wheatley to Windsor fishing zone. Much more can be said and usually is.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/fishing-articles/best-freshwater-fishing-in-the-world-376303.html

About the Author:

For more info on Fishing Lake Erie and Detroit River Walleye please visit http://www.tomsvirtualmall.com/ or http://www.improvement-centers.com/

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