Hi all,

 

Oh, you thought I was going to write one?  Sorry- not trained for that request.  This is actually a request to the board.  We have so many great informative threads on BR and I'd like another.  I'm really curious about muskies.  I have them in some of the lakes around me and lots of guys fish for them (trolling, casting, hardbaits, soft baits, flies).  I catch a couple incidentally every year on bass lures, but not the bigs.  Given the success that @T-Billy has had this year and the experience that he and others here on the board have ( @Further North, @gim, etc), I'd love to know about musky behavior through the year, where to look for them, what they eat (in nature and on a line), etc.  For instance, with bass we have a pretty decent idea where they are through the year whether it is winter, prespawn/spawn, post spawn, etc.  They relate to structure and cover in certain ways.  Depending on the time of year you can have a pretty good idea of the depth range to find fish.  What about muskies?  How do they relate to cover/structure through the year?  Are they cruisers or sit tight fish?  Bottom focused or high in the column?

 

I have no gear or inclination to chase them here.  I just really curious about all of the above and thought others might be too.

 

thanks,

rick

 

I have been targeting them since 2000, both pure strain and hybrid.  Over the years, it's gotten progressively much much harder to catch one because the state has drastically reduced the stocking of them.  There's also other reasons such as FFS pressure, tournaments, etc.  Our season is only open from mid June to Dec 1, we can only use one line, and cannot use live bait other than a sucker minnow from a licensed bait shop.  My experience is in natural lakes.  Not reservoirs or rivers.  @T-Billy and @Further North will have to help you there.

 

They are solitary predators and prefer soft-rayed prey instead of prey with spines, if possible.  Lakes with tulibee/cisco grow the biggest, heaviest versions because this diet is loaded with fat and protein.  These prey fish spawn in early November here and they do it over shallow rocks.  That's often when the largest fish of the season are caught, including the current state record.  They will certainly eat other prey though given the chance.

 

Since I cannot target them prior to mid June, I cannot really say where or what they are doing before they spawn.

 

After the spawn, most of them head to the basin to recover.  This is where FFS has taken over.  Don't like this one bit.

 

Some fish move on to shallower structure, points, weed beds, etc after spawning recovery.  Those are the fish that I am targeting most of the season with artificial moving lures.  When the water gets warm in midsummer, they will be looking for relief from that just like bass are, usually in the form of deeper water.  Many will often move back to shallower haunts in the fall after the water cools down again.  Night time fishing is often effective too at certain times of the season.

 

Hope that helps, since you aren't planning to fish for them I won't get into that part.

2 hours ago, gim said:

Since I cannot target them prior to mid June, I cannot really say where or what they are doing before they spawn

In our lakes they're doing the same thing from November through March. They're following the shad schools around and gorging themselves. Find the big shad schools, and you'll find muskie. Post spawn, the seasonal movements you described above are spot on in my experience. 

The winter time here our lakes are usually covered in sheets of snow and ice.  My assumption is that they are very inactive.  People target pike through the ice with tip ups and sucker minnows, but rarely catch a muskie while doing it.

 

Spearing pike is also allowed here in the winter through the ice, but it has dying participation.  Spearing is not legal on designated muskie lakes.

3 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

What about muskies?  How do they relate to cover/structure through the year?  Are they cruisers or sit tight fish?  Bottom focused or high in the column

They're gonna be where whatever they're eating is. Roaming open water chasing shad schools when the water's cold. Cruising the tree tops when the crappie are there spawning, which is shortly after the muskie spawn. Many will be in the weeds all summer eating bass, gills, perch, and crappie, but some, especially the big girls, will spend the summer in open water. 

 The fish in the weeds will sometimes stay in the same areas for weeks as long as there's food there. The open water fish cruise much more. Generally the fish on or near bottom are inactive, and the fish higher in the water column are up there to eat.

 That's pretty much how it works in our OH lakes anyway.

19 minutes ago, gim said:

The winter time here our lakes are usually covered in sheets of snow and ice.  My assumption is that they are very inactive.

That may well be. Your fish feed on bigger bait than ours for the most part, and need to feed less often as a result.

Bass follow food, so do Muskies... Often times, Muskies are in the same places you would find Largemouth, on typical weedy Largemouth Bass type lakes anyway... They just tend to hold the more premium pieces of structure...

 

LOT of variables, Muskie waters vary to a large degree... Some are ultra deep and clear, some are shallower and weedier with a tannin stain, etc... 

 

Southern Shad type Muskie fisheries are vastly different than many Northern fisheries as well, so many variables...

 

If you truly want to make contact with a Muskie, go Bass fishing on Muskie waters... Pay attention to where you move fish... Fish something like a spinnerbait so if they eat, you likely won't lose them to a bite off... 

 

You don't need to fish massive stuff either, especially early in the year, Bass sized baits can be best. I fly fish for them, pretty much 100% of the time, it's a massive grind, but great when it all comes together... Be prepared to go days between fish, unless you are on some of the highly stocked Southern stuff, even then you can go days lol 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can't add a lot to what's already been said, except that in rivers - if they are eating - they are  going to be where the feeding opportunities are, acting like any other fish in a river system.

That means heads and tailouts of pools, mostly.

Eddies along the banks are prime spots.

Behind any object that acts as a current break.

Gear for me, with conventional equipment is mostly heavy bass rods.  I only own one "musky" rod, and it seldom gets used.  My top three baits over time are a #5 Mepps, the one oz. Doctor Spoon and a Strike King Smokin' Rooster soft plastic.  The latter isn't sold any more, but I have a huge stash of them (hundreds) and my own mold.

I don't troll or use bait so I can't help there at all.

Fly fishing for muskies is a thing in and of itself.  It's gt little to do with other forms of fly fishing; you don't want delicate, subtle presentations and distance and power casting matter.

10 through 12 wt. rods are the rods to use, though a good, stout 8 wt. can work - in the hands of an experienced and "expert" musky fly angler.  Reels need to balance the rod.  Big fly rods get heavy when you make hundreds of casts a day, and an out of balance rod/reel rig will wear you down fast, plus be more likely to tear up shoulders and elbows.  IMO, any advice that says to get one of the big, heavy reels like the Reddington Behemoth is terrible...unless the rod is really heavy and needs that kind of big, heavy counterweight.

There's considerable difference between a musky fly rod and "regular" fly rod, even one used for saltwater.  The flies are much bigger, and as already noted and angler is making hundreds of casts a day.  The rods really need a different power curve to do that well.

The rods need to be stout enough to get the fish to net ASAP.  Muskies (and pike) do not tolerate long fights well, and the warmer the water is, the more this matters.  They are at least as delicate as trout in this way, and we cut off our musky fishing when water temps get above 75°.  There's debate about this in the musky fishing community, and while I don't preach about it like some do, I feel it's irresponsible to target them when water temps are above 75°.

"Use enough rod" is a thing, and so is "Use enough net."  Big nets are a must.

Other boat tools that are a must: long (think 12") needle nose pliers, a good jaw spreader, and a good hook cutter have to be in the boat.

Oddly enough, the best musky fly rods in the world are not terribly expensive, at least when compared to what a lot of people think regarding fly rods.  All of them are (as of right now) less than $500.

Bigger flies that move water, and get attention are the go-tos...and by "bigger" I mean 8" and up.  Sinking lines of various types (I fish topwater on an intermediate sinking line) are the way to go.  There's little use for a floating line in musky fly fishing. 

Hook sets with fly gear need to be strip sets.  Trout sets will loose fish.

Fly leaders for musky and pike are simple and easy - none of the more complicated set ups used for more conventional fly fishing are needed.  2' - 3' of heavy mono to a foot of wire work great.  As noted above, subtlety isn't a thing.  I use a perfection loop to connect the mono to the fly line - I don't trust the advice to cut off the loops and use a nail knot to connect to the cly line after losing two very good fish when a nail knot pulled the coating off the core of a flay line...and 3rd try to use a nail knot failed the same way when I tested it.  I tie in a clip at the end of the wire to make changing flies easier, and to conserve wire.

Wire leaders kick fluorocarbon leaders' butts.  I've never seen wire fail, and I've seen at least a dozen failures with fluorocarbon - most of those from anglers trying to go too light with 50# to try to preserve some of the action of the fly/lure.  Watching the line go slack on a potential fish of a lifetime because someone decided to go to light is a bad feeling.  By the time fluorocarbon is heavy enough (80# - 100#) to give an angler some confidence that it can't get cut, they're so stiff that most of a lure/fly's action is lost, particularly is any kind of strip/pause, or jerk/pause retrieve is being used.

On 12/11/2025 at 6:24 AM, Goby said:

If you truly want to make contact with a Muskie, go Bass fishing on Muskie waters... Pay attention to where you move fish... Fish something like a spinnerbait so if they eat, you likely won't lose them to a bite off... 

 

...or better yet, tie a foot of tieable wire into your main line.  Almost all of my bass rigs are set up this way, all the time, with finesse type presentations being the exception. 25# wire does not, in my experience, spook bass an reaction type baits.

9 hours ago, Goby said:

unless you are on some of the highly stocked Southern stuff, even then you can go days lol 

Don't I know it!!! They tend to make me feel bad about myself in April and October. 😂