October muskie trip

[Fisherpete]

It has been an amazing summer and early fall of muskie fishing for me, but in years past, October and November is when I typically start to struggle. My summer patterns just don't seem to be as effective as the water cools, and the lake turns over. This week, Patrick and I headed to his cottage for 3 days, hoping to break the fall curse. We arrived around noon on Thursday, and the lake was rough. Overcast is good, light rain no problem, but 25-30k winds are not much fun. Water temps were at 54F. We headed out anyway, and settled into a small bay sheltered by an island. 3 casts and 5 minutes of trolling later, I felt a light tap on the end of my line... was that a hit? Dead weight for 5 seconds... then finally a headshake, and a good one! A short fight later, the ice was broken by this fattie... 43.5".

 

 

 

We were pumped! We started thinking that the fall feedbag must be in full effect... this will be a banner trip... etc... etc... LOL. We fished hard, and braved all my usual spots, even if it meant getting pounded by the waves at times. All my best spots produced nothing, so we moved onto some secondary areas, and a few hours later, Patrick had his first of the trip, not a big one by any means, but scrappy and nice markings.

 

 

Shortly after that, Pat got into another little fella.

 

 

With the light failing, and us soaked to the bone and sore from getting bounced around all afternoon, we packed it in. Not a bad start, three skis in the boat, and one was a nice one.

Friday morning. We awoke to another grey sky... and even worse winds. 30k+, and gusts over 50. Argghhhh... here we go again. 10 hours on the water pounding away produced one lone fish, a decent ski for me that we didn't measure, but was probably 36" or so. Water temps had dropped to 49F in some areas of the lake... 52F in others.

 

 

 

Let me tell you, I slept like a baby on Friday night. I was exhausted from battling the elements for two straight days. Saturday's forecast looked better, although the winds were still 20k. We slept in a bit, and were on the water by 11am. The lake was suprisingly busy for mid-October, and we even saw jet-skiers and windsurfers out there! The lake was much more fishable today, and we were able to cover a ton of water, but we struggled again. I caught the lone fish of the day, which is my best pike of the season at 33.5", and a slight upgrade for our team in the OFC tourney by 2.5".

 

 

 

We had a good time overall, and had some great home-cooked meals in the mornings and evenings thanks to Pat's dad and stepmom... got to listen to the Leafs improve to 4-0 too...

 

But the quest for the 50" continues!

[irishfield]

Great stuff Pete!!!!!

[tb4me]

Awesome..Thanks for sharing..That first fish was fat..wow!

[Guest Johnny Bass]

Agreed! That first fish looks like it has been putting on the feedbag bigtime! Good luck on the 50 but either take a trip to Lake St.clair, French River or Georgian bay or your chances will be slim!

[Whitemikeca]

Great report. Nice looking fish there. I am heading upto pigeon tomorrow so hopefully I can get my own post up!

 

Thanks for the report!

[splashhopper]

[Joey]

That's great Pete. Too bad the wind and weather didn't cooperate for you a bit more, but you made out pretty good anyhow.

 

Joey

[Gregoire]

Nice report. Way to brave the elements to boat some decent ski's.

[cram]

Nice fish man. That first one looks mean.

 

Also, only you would think catching a *few* muskies is slow fishing :-)

Edited October 18, 2010 by cram

[scuro2]

I've only ever been skunked on the two fall trips I did so that looks pretty good from my vantage point.

[Rod Caster]

Strong winds are a very annoying element to battle. I commend you for sticking with it and getting good results. At least you've improved over past oct-now months.

[muskeybugged]

Way to battle through and get yourself something to show for it...That first one is a cow!!!!

[solopaddler]

Looks like a pretty darn good trip to me. It's likely only going to bet better too.

[spinnerbaitking]

Great Report that sure is one fatty

Richard

[corvette1]

awesome skis and gator

[Spiel]

Hot Damn!

[bigbuck]

Nice!!!