NumenOn the Water
Date: October 21, 2017
Body of Water: Lake St. Clair (LSC)
Boat: Numenon
With: Alone
Target: Muskellunge
Time: 7:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Conditions: Pretty nice; southerly winds generally 10-12 mph; warming to 70 degrees F; green, slightly chalky water at 60-62 degrees F
After a restless night (too excited to sleep? Perhaps there will be more to share on this, later), I arrived at the ramp too early! Instead of my usual routinized rush, I took my time preparing tackle and heading down the channel. As I cleared the last marker, there was plenty of light for me to assess conditions, and I headed north into Anchor Bay.
Lines were set at 7:58 AM, but I trolled all the way north past Grass Island in about 7 to 11 feet of water with nothing happening. I marked a couple of isolated weed-beds in 8 or 9 feet along the way, and after an unsuccessful first hour of trolling, I returned to these to cast over a couple of these beds west of Grass Island. I chose to throw a Swedish Pig Shad for the most part, but no Esox revealed themselves.
I could see quite a collection of boats working the North Channel (these were mostly perch and walleye guys, but a least a couple of boats were clearly throwing Big Rubber for muskies), and so I chose to do the same. I set up on visible weed beds on the south side of the mouth of the North Channel in 6 to 8 feet of water. This area had provided the heaviest pike a couple of weeks prior, and conditions were still favorable. I switched from a Hot Pike Pig Shad to a more sedate, Motor-Oil Pike version, and I got hit! I swung and missed. I knew it was a fish, but I was in contact with weeds, too, and I started to doubt myself. Perhaps it was just weeds; but closer inspection of the lure body showed multiple clean cuts into the rubber; it had been an Esox!
I continued to throw this bait with renewed confidence, and shortly thereafter, a small muskie followed the bait to the boat. It had no interest on my Figure 8, though, and glided away, under the boat.
After a period of no further action, and having revisited both spots a couple of times with different baits, I decided to explore new water; I drove the North Channel past it's confluence with the main river channel. I stopped and threw baits at a few current seems and weed beds, but this was mostly about learning the lay of the land. Let's just say, there seems to be access to an unlimited amount and variety of water on this lake!
A bit past Noon, I returned to the Baltimore Channel, east of Grass Island. I decided to invest the time casting this area, specifically the deeper water of the channel itself and the weed beds and edges alongside the channel. I had another small muskie follow a Windell's Harasser bucktail, but this fish, too, faded away without interest in eating.
Soon I crossed paths with a local muskie guide. I reported my two follows and a bump; he reported two eaters. He said the fish were there, and I noted his rods, all equipped with Big Rubber. I chose to switch out my modest Pig Shad for a regular-sized Medussa in walleye coloration. But after another hour here without raising a fish (the guide took another, small muskie a couple of hundred yards behind me), I relocated to the mouth of the North Channel. I was running out of time (and energy!) and I figured the deeper water there, adjacent to the weeds on the channel edge, certainly continued to hold some potential.
The problem with fishing the channel itself is boat traffic and the resultant wakes. It's also a truism that a muskie will show itself when one is least prepared, and so of course the final and biggest muskie of the day appeared behind my Medussa at a moment when I was more concerned about simply holding on and staying in the boat, as compared to the mechanics of a Figure 8. I blew it; this fish, too, disappeared without biting, even though it seemed to be pretty "hot." It wasn't a big muskie (less than three feet), but it would have been a welcome catch, especially at this point of a long day!
I spent my remaining time in this same area, revisiting waypoints of fish encounters. One can't ask for more than 3 or 4 chances in a day, and I didn't get any more!
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| Sunrise on Lake St. Clair; Saturday, October 21, 2017 |
Lines were set at 7:58 AM, but I trolled all the way north past Grass Island in about 7 to 11 feet of water with nothing happening. I marked a couple of isolated weed-beds in 8 or 9 feet along the way, and after an unsuccessful first hour of trolling, I returned to these to cast over a couple of these beds west of Grass Island. I chose to throw a Swedish Pig Shad for the most part, but no Esox revealed themselves.
I could see quite a collection of boats working the North Channel (these were mostly perch and walleye guys, but a least a couple of boats were clearly throwing Big Rubber for muskies), and so I chose to do the same. I set up on visible weed beds on the south side of the mouth of the North Channel in 6 to 8 feet of water. This area had provided the heaviest pike a couple of weeks prior, and conditions were still favorable. I switched from a Hot Pike Pig Shad to a more sedate, Motor-Oil Pike version, and I got hit! I swung and missed. I knew it was a fish, but I was in contact with weeds, too, and I started to doubt myself. Perhaps it was just weeds; but closer inspection of the lure body showed multiple clean cuts into the rubber; it had been an Esox!
I continued to throw this bait with renewed confidence, and shortly thereafter, a small muskie followed the bait to the boat. It had no interest on my Figure 8, though, and glided away, under the boat.
After a period of no further action, and having revisited both spots a couple of times with different baits, I decided to explore new water; I drove the North Channel past it's confluence with the main river channel. I stopped and threw baits at a few current seems and weed beds, but this was mostly about learning the lay of the land. Let's just say, there seems to be access to an unlimited amount and variety of water on this lake!
A bit past Noon, I returned to the Baltimore Channel, east of Grass Island. I decided to invest the time casting this area, specifically the deeper water of the channel itself and the weed beds and edges alongside the channel. I had another small muskie follow a Windell's Harasser bucktail, but this fish, too, faded away without interest in eating.
Soon I crossed paths with a local muskie guide. I reported my two follows and a bump; he reported two eaters. He said the fish were there, and I noted his rods, all equipped with Big Rubber. I chose to switch out my modest Pig Shad for a regular-sized Medussa in walleye coloration. But after another hour here without raising a fish (the guide took another, small muskie a couple of hundred yards behind me), I relocated to the mouth of the North Channel. I was running out of time (and energy!) and I figured the deeper water there, adjacent to the weeds on the channel edge, certainly continued to hold some potential.
The problem with fishing the channel itself is boat traffic and the resultant wakes. It's also a truism that a muskie will show itself when one is least prepared, and so of course the final and biggest muskie of the day appeared behind my Medussa at a moment when I was more concerned about simply holding on and staying in the boat, as compared to the mechanics of a Figure 8. I blew it; this fish, too, disappeared without biting, even though it seemed to be pretty "hot." It wasn't a big muskie (less than three feet), but it would have been a welcome catch, especially at this point of a long day!
I spent my remaining time in this same area, revisiting waypoints of fish encounters. One can't ask for more than 3 or 4 chances in a day, and I didn't get any more!
What do I have to say about this?
The consensus certainly seems to be that one needs to throw Big Rubber for consistent action for worthwhile muskies on this lake, especially in the fall. It's a tough lesson for me to accept, but maybe I am learning. And I did find a few fish this day, so perhaps I am, slowly, getting better at this.
But that sunrise! Clearly, I only experienced it on this day because I'd chosen to go fishing. That is gift enough from the sport for any given day. There will be more fish; but there will surely be a whole lot else along the way, too.
The consensus certainly seems to be that one needs to throw Big Rubber for consistent action for worthwhile muskies on this lake, especially in the fall. It's a tough lesson for me to accept, but maybe I am learning. And I did find a few fish this day, so perhaps I am, slowly, getting better at this.
But that sunrise! Clearly, I only experienced it on this day because I'd chosen to go fishing. That is gift enough from the sport for any given day. There will be more fish; but there will surely be a whole lot else along the way, too.
