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"Trolling for Summer Suspended Muskies"
By Danny Wade
By the time you read this
article we will be entering or soon to enter the summer trolling season.
The summer trolling scheme differs from that of my earlier season
trolling tactics in that by mid summer we are targeting open water
suspended fish.
The term “suspending” refers to Muskies holding
at a given depth range in open water under roaming bait fish schools.
When fishing suspended Muskies bottom structure isn’t the primary
consideration, it’s where the baitfish are. Muskies
typically like to “suspend” just under these schools of shad although
you can mark them anywhere in the vicinity of these roaming baitfish.
I try to target my summer trolling efforts in what I refer to as
the 8’-12’ zone. You will find most of your summer
bait fish schools in this range. Many of the Muskies
entering this depth range or residing there are likely to be catchable
at some period of the day. The primary reasons these
predators are there is to feed on this abundant forage.
These predacious Water Wolves as well as the baitfish themselves,
are also enjoying a preferred water temperature at that particular depth
as well.
Trolling too deep is the most common mistake summer
trollers make. The majority of my guide clients are
struggling Muskie fisherman that need some help or just want to improve
upon their current successes. This tendency of
trolling too deep, meaning below the 12’ level, seems to be the most
common down fall. I concentrate on those 8-12’ fish
catching depths and take plenty of Muskies all summer long.
In the 2000 season we took 100 Salt Fork Muskies out of my boat.
At the time of the writing of this article we have taken 49 so
far this season.
Now does that mean there are no Muskies below 12’?
Of course not! Certainly there are and fairly
frequently BUT when a Muskie enters that 8-12 zone, that fish becomes a
more catchable Muskie because it’s there for one reason, to feed.
Muskies holding at 14-18’ can be caught but not easily.
There are usually few baitfish in the summer at those levels in
Ohio reservoirs until the late “dog days” of summer and by then Muskie
fishing across our state is in slow motion, typically speaking.
So whether you short line deep divers close to the
boat, long line baits at 90’ or run baits behind planer boards, the KEY
is to keep your baits in that “8-12’ Zone” for maximum production.
Someone once told me that a Muskie doesn’t have eyes in its
belly. How very true. If you
examine where a Muskies eyes are positioned on it’s head, you don’t have
to be a rocket scientist to figure out that a Muskie tends to attack
from below. Those peepers were put there to ambush prey lurking just
above the Muskie A Muskie may come up out of deeper
water to feed or hit a bait but will rarely go down to hit one when
trolling. I’ve noticed that if I run my baits just
over top of suspended Muskies I’m far more productive than if I’m
running at or below them.
So this summer concentrate your trolling efforts on
“the 8-12’ zone” and watch your catch rates increase!
Have a great summer and catch a bunch of big ones!
See you on the lake!
Danny Wade
The Muskie Tutor Guide Services Salt Fork Lake
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