shallow clear water musky

[Rizzo]

So I head out early Saturday to try and get some musky fishing in before the dreaded "family reunion" that afternoon. Turns out it doesn't get light so early anymore! We got to the launch and she was still pitch black out. Hey, better early than late though. The rain was the real annoying part...I had checked the forecast and watched every conceivable weather network numerous times and was told 0% chance of rain...I cursed the weatherman as we raced away from the launch as I got soaked with my rain gear back at home. Turns out extra pfd's do work as an umbrella though. We were trying out an area of the Trent severn system that I had never fished before. My partner for the day, Alvin(some of you met at Lakair 2006) had some experience on this body of water. He has fished a couple of bass tournaments there, and each year has seen some muskies. One year he thought they hit a shoal with the trolling motor, went to check it out and a musky was head-butting the prop trying to make a meal out of it. We tried some rocky points, bluff shorelines and some deep weed edges that produced a couple of bass and hammerhandle pike. Alvin, bass-fanatic that he is, wanted to check in some weedy back bays. I have no problem with that...except when we get there the water is crystal clear. In my head (and perhaps I said it aloud) I'm thinking we're nuts. We're talking 2-3 feet of water, good weeds, but clear as crystal. Why in the world would anything but sunfish be in here? I mention to Alvin I have never had success in the shallows when the water is this clear...he claims that it has worked for him before. Thinking he's a big liar, I snap on a bucktail to work what water is available. I've got zero confidence in this spot, but fire a few casts out anyways. Not too long in, Alvin has a strike and claims he's hooked a big bass. From my better vantage point up on the platform, I see the profile and the beautiful silver colour and know that this is no bass, but clearly a musky. Seconds later the fish flies through the air, coming down with a huge splash and startling the cottagers a few feet away on their dock. I believe the comment they made was something about never swimming again. Here's Alvin giving his best Lew impersonation.

 

 

After a quick photo op the fish was released. It was really neat to release the fish in such shallow clear water and watch it swim away. We didn't measure the fish (much to Alvin's dismay as it was his personal best) because the tapemeasure wasn't readily available. Naturally here is everyone's favorite...the release shot.

 

 

For me, that was a first, seeing a musky caught in such clear shallow water. Don't think I'll give up on my usual spots of rock/weed drop-offs, saddles and points, but I may not give up so easily anymore on areas that I don't think will hold a fish! Anyone else have a similar experience where you catch something in the last place you'd expect?

[motv8tr]

Wow, that's a beauty! I gather you didn't catch anything Glad you were able to figure out how to post the pictures

 

Maureen

[fishindevil]

Nice fish !!!!!!! well done,great report.. .cool pics as well....congrats on his PB....cheers

[bassboy]

Nice fish....and nice reaction from the cottagers too

 

WTG!!!

 

Bill

[Rizzo]

pretty sure the cottagers were as shocked as me that a fish like that was lurking in the shallows

[fatherof3]

great report and nice fish.goes to show that you never know till you try

[addict]

nice ski.i caught my biggest ski in gin clear water less than 3ft deep.

[Toronto_Angler]

Great story and fish!

[Joey]

What a great story Rog. That fish is awesome.

 

Never would have thought that it would be in those conditions either. I guess you just never know eh!

 

Great pics.

 

Joey

[ccmtcanada]

Wow...great story...I guess you just never know what may be lurking in such shallow waters! I hear you about the rain....went to Cameron Lake with fishnsled and bly...we didn't believe the weatherman though and brought our rain gear just in case....and glad we did!!

 

Great pic!!

[OhioFisherman]

LOL them stupid fish drove me nuts, never where they were supposed to be, and what is with them eating small lures? A lot of my hook ups came in shallow water, 2-4 feet in the lilies next to a near shore dock post while bass fishing. 20-30 pounds of fish running thru the slop with lighter line didn`t work for me. LOL but I managed to lose them anywhere. They are built to get in shallow.

[Guest mistyriver1]

Great read. Nice looking ski. I wouldn't have thought that would be a musky hangout but I guess you never know.

 

Really like that release shot, you can really see how clear the water is.

[lew]

Good to see you learned a new trick this weekend Roger, and congrats to Alvin on his PB, that's a real purdy musky !!

 

Don't be so surprised though that you found a musky in such shallow, clear water, as they frequent those spots quite often and are sometimes very willing to grab a bait that's run across their nose. If there's some weeds & rock, it makes things even better.

 

It's not a good idea to target them in the summer when the shallow water temps are high, but now that the temps are dropping into the 60's, the pickings can be very good. I once came on a spot with 7 muskies sitting shoulder to shoulder in 24" of water. I think that now that the temps are dropping a bit, they like the shallows as the water is often warmer there, but that's only my own opinion.

 

If you want some REAL fun, head back to that same spot after dark and work the entire shoreline with a BIG, slow cranked spinnerbait.......you may be VERY happy you did.

 

Here's another one that came from 30" of gin clear water

 

Edited September 10, 2007 by lew

[bigcreekdad]

Sometimes you just never know......nice fish.

[Rizzo]

It's not a good idea to target them in the summer

 

good point Lew. I really thought at best we'd find a hammerhandle pike or largemouth bass in there. Fortunately we were using heavy equipment and were able to land her reasonably quickly. It was morning (10 am) and the shallows were just starting to heat up again after cooling down overnight. Fish was lightly hooked which didn't hurt either. Luckily, a lot of factors were on our side to help with a (hopefully) succesful release. Fish swam away after about 10 seconds of reviving...and watching it swim away was one of the best parts!

[lew]

Sorry Roger, I think you misunderstood my meaning.

 

The waters have cooled down now, so I think it's perfectly alright to target muskies in the skinny water, and I was referring to it being a bad idea when the shallows are in the 80's.

 

I never was very good at splainin myself

[Guest Johnny Bass]

Nice Musky! I take it it was caught using bass lures? Apparently Musky like to bask in the clear water shallows on sunny days. I think it also increases their metabolism when they have been heavily feeding.

[Handlebarz]

very nice fish to put in the boat from the shallows gotta love the release