Jim Munday with a dark water Musky
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Jim Munday with a dark water Musky |
Many good Musky lakes boast of clear water and abundant weeds. And I'll venture to say that these are many people's first choice in a Musky lake. Personally, I sometimes prefer lakes with dark water and wood in it. Not muddy water, but stained water. There are several reasons for this: One, unlike some of the clear-water lakes where the best bite on a sunny day might be at the crack of dawn or near sunset, the bite on a dark water lake can be good all day long. So go ahead and sleep in a little if you want, they'll still be biting when you get out there a little later. Two, the weeds and fish that relate to them in clear water lakes are seasonal in their growth and locations. Wood, however, is pretty consistently in the same place all year long! Also, fish in darker water don't seem to be 'spooked' as easily as those in clear water. While they may not always be as big as some of the clear water Skis, they can be particularly hard fighters.
Lakes like Red Lake, Ontario are an example of dark water that is generally referred to as 'tea-stained', but others are darker yet. One of my favorite dark water lakes might be best described as 'root-beer' colored. Though the water is as dark as cola even at its clearest time of year, you can still see fairly well 3'-4' into the water.
Another notable advantage of darker water lakes is the faster warming water in Spring. With Muskies preferring water temperatures of 68-72 degrees, these lakes can be among the first for good action in the Spring.
OK, enough of the dark water accolades already. Let's talk about fishing in them for a while. Are there some lures that might be better producers than others in dark water? Perhaps, for me there are two features of which one or both will usually be present in lures I choose for this type of lake: those having bright colors or noise making features.
When I say color, it may mean the paint on the lure or it may mean the blades on a bucktail. If you prefer to call the blades "flash" rather than color, so be it. For paint colors, I've had the most consistent success with fluorescent orange and shades of yellow or chartreuse. For blades, the copper or brass colored ones seem to draw the most attention. Musky in this lake are as moody as any other and may ignore these colors when they're being finicky. So, I do throw others from time to time. They are still my 'go-to' colors that I have the most confidence in and the ones that have boated the most Muskies for us in the darker water.
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| ; Colorful or noisy lures are best |
What about the noise making features? You might immediately think of a buzz-bait or topwaters with props when you think of noise making lures, and they are. But also consider that what makes 'noise' to a fish is anything that vibrates and moves water. You can get that from the blades of a bucktail, or the props of a topwater lure. You can also get that from working a Suick hard or by putting some hard snaps into your favorite jerk bait's retrieve. Whether it's vibrating or snapping or rotating it's making noise, and therefore attracting a fish to come and take a look when they might not see it without being called in a little closer in this darker water. I personally believe that what a fish sees is the final aspect in choosing to hit a lure or not. Noise and an erratic retrieve can just invite them in close enough to take a look at what you're offering.
I'm not saying that's there's never a time when the fish in darker water won't prefer a subtle presentation or a black paint job. I am just saying that my experience has been that noisy and colorful baits seem to help Muskies locate a lure a little quicker in the dark water.
If you're a believer in being religious about doing figure 8's before taking your lure back out of the water (and I am), then I'd say be more so in dark water. Whether from hits that have come off of figure 8's or Suckers hanging off the edge of the boat, I've rarely actually seen the fish before they hit in this type of water. You just never know when you've got a follow just out of sight.
Now let's discuss wood factor. Are some lures better than others for throwing in the wood? Obviously that depends on water depth, whether the wood is 'emergent' or submerged and how deep, and so on. I throw many of the same baits in the wood that I do in the weeds. , but the retrieve may differ. If you've got a lake that has both lay-downs and standing timber as well as some good-sized stump fields, life is good and you've got options. I enjoy throwing topwaters or my favorite twitch bait at the lay downs and stumps along the shoreline just like I was Bass fishing. You need to be accurate with your casts, or you'll spend your time heading in after snagged lures, and that's usually the end of fishing there for a while. If you find that the treble hooks of a typical bucktail get snagged in the wood too often, consider using a type with a single up-turned hook like a Wisher lure. We've picked up Musky in some really skinny water, two feet or less and all day long if it's a bit overcast.
Shorelines tend to be our morning/evening spots, but if it's mid-day and you're starting to break out the sunscreen, you may want to consider moving out into the standing timber or over a stump field. If you've ever fished over a stump field, you know it's easy to find yourself feeling like you're casting lures to open water for no good reason, but your confidence to trust the depth finder and stay out there will grow after you've put a fish in the boat. I think of stump fields as the snack bar of the lake. It's where the food chain is doing its thing. The minnows are feeding off of the algae growth on the wood. The Perch and Bass are feeding off of them, and guess who else is coming to dinner? Yep, the Esox gang. You just might find that it's a fun way to fish, as you can literally cast in about any direction and it's all good water.
It's just simple mathematics that if you throw enough lures you will snag up now and then when fishing in the wood. That's just the way it is, so a lure retriever is a plus. Even if you are without one with a little boat maneuvering and a few good yanks we've been able to free lures the vast majority of the time. The only lure type that I just won't use in the wood are those like a Bull Dawg. They're heavy and sink fast, and seem to snag up hard. Bull Dawg type lures can in wood as well, if you begin your retrieve almost before they hit the water and reel in faster than normally would be the case. In my opinion however, they are not the best tool for the job.
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| ; Fall is an enjoyable time on the water |
If you add live bait to arsenal in the Fall, dark water 'woody' lakes like these can be dynamite for using a Sucker on a Quickstrike rig and slow trolling over the top of a stump field. Just be sure to keep your line 'short', so that you're not constantly snagging on the treetops. A few of those hang-ups will shorten the life of your Suckers. We usually let out just enough line to get the Sucker out of sight which typically means four to five feet or less. As mentioned earlier, in these lakes the good Spring spots and Fall spots are not so very different, because the wood location doesn't change throughout the season. The fish are still relating to it when they're on the prowl. But the added beauty of Fall time fishing is being able to hang a Sucker out of rod holder while you troll across a stump field doing some fan casting. Many times a fish that you'd never even knew had been following a lure back to your boat but won't hit the lure, will take the easy meal of a Sucker on a Quickstrike rig.
The bottom line here is, if you've always limited yourself to clear water Musky lakes and to just fishing the weeds or flats, you just may find the experience of fishing dark water and wood to be a lot more productive and enjoyable than you've imagined. Give it a try sometime and let us all know how you do!
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Last updated on ...May 8, 2010