Fishing-Headquarters Magazine

Fishing-Headquarters.com | September/ October/ November, 2011 �

Photograph by Andrew Ragas

The leaves of autumn signify that a change in seasons is underway. As the days grow shorter and colder, foliage turns more spectacular. This shot was taken during a Wisconsin musky float down the Flambeau River in September, 2010

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Fishing-Headquarters.com | September/ October/ November, 2011 �

Fishing-Headquarters MagazineVolume 1. Issue 6September, October, November, 2011Fall Super Issue

About the Fishing-Headquarters

The Fishing-Headquarters began as a small homepage featuring a collection of photos and YouTube fishing videos. It even featured a small contingency of misfits and rebellious anglers who were tired of the internet elitism and racism expressed by other websites towards specific groups of anglers and species of freshwater gamefish.

Formally established in January 2007, the FHQ was created for like-minded anglers to share the wealth of information, and enjoy the beauty in diverse fishing. This greatness as we presently know it is multi-species fishing.

Designed and created by posessed and gravely obsessed angler, Andrew Ragas, the website has grown to a large world audience. Our basis as an online media platform is to drop the ego, and catch anything that swims and has fins.

All fish are created as equals. Only to be pursued as opposites.

Important Biz Stuff

http://www.fishing-headquarters.cominfo@fishing-headquarters.comtelephone - 708. 256. 2201

Questions or Comments, and if interested in contributing or sponsoring, please contact Andrew Ragas at:[email protected]

Magazine layout and design by Ragas Mediahttp://www.ragasmedia.com

• Smallmouth Spectacles with the X-Rap . . . . 11

• The Brown Beasts of Fall . . . . . . . . . . . 27

• America’s River Monsters: Alligator Gar . . . 39

• The Effects of Fall for Muskies . . . . . . . . . . . 55

• Muskies on the Fly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

• Midnight Madness for River Walleyes . . . . 87

• The Craze for Custom Crankbaits . . . . . . . 101

• Fisherman’s Review: GoPro HD Hero . . . 111

C O V E R S T O R YPictured on the Issue-6 cover is Fishing-Headquar-ters blogger, contributor, and monster fish expert, David Graham.

Before this publication came out, David traveled south to Texas and Arkansas where he fished for North America’s largest species of freshwater fish, the alligator gar. The fish pictured is only an 80 pounder, but a specimen weighing over 140 pounds was caught and released.

Read about David’s epic catch and his wild river monster adventure by turning to page 39.


I S S U E 6 F E A T U R E D W R I T E R S A N D C O N T R I B U T O R S

Fishing-Headquarters Issue-6 Hard to believe that it has already been a full year since our online magazine began in November, 2010. When you’re out fishing several times a month like we are, it’s hard to realize that time is being forgotten about, and how it can be taken for granted. Time really flies when fishing.

Over the course of the last year we’ve come to learn that publishing this magazine is never a guarantee. This is a fact because our success as a publication is based on the availablility of our writers and contributors, and designers included. Put-ting something like this consistently together for a full year is difficult to do, but worthwhile in the end.

To open our second season, the next issue will be #7, our winter edition, which will focus heavily on ice fishing, ideas for 2012 trips and destinations, and gear & tackle. It should be a great refresher and relaxer for all during the cold winter months.

If you enjoyed our first season, you will love everything that’s in store for 2012. Thank you for reading our sixth issue of Fishing-Headquarters Magazine. We sincerely hope that you enjoy immersing yourselves deeply into the writings and photographs. Each Issue 6 contributor has brought his own unique story to share with all.

Andrew RagasEditor In-Chief, Designer, and Owner.

2011 Issue ReleasesRemaining Schedule

• Issue 7: December 1, 2011

Drew Price David Graham Todd Wendorf

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Copyright © 2011 Fishing-Headquarters.All rights reserved. The usage of articles, excerpts, photographs, and any reproduction of this material is strictly prohibited.

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I S S U E 6 F E A T U R E D W R I T E R S A N D C O N T R I B U T O R S

Bryan Blazek

Special Contributors

• Collin Venn

Contributed Photographs

• Matt Coppolino • Tom Harris • Kenny Lookingbill• Jacob Saylor• Collin Venn• Frank Weilnhammer

Issue 6 Editorial Staff

• Paul Ragas

Layout and Design By

• Ragas Media Designs

Sponsors and Advertising Partners

• Bearpaw’s Handpoured Baits• CB’s Hawg Sauce• Cortland Line• Go-Pro Camera• Heartland Outdoors• MC Custom Rods Inc.• Quantum Fishing• Ragas Media Designs • Sims Spinners Inc. • Stankx Bait Company• Time on the Water Outdoors

Andrew RagasAdam Glickman

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N E W S A N D N O T E W O R T H Y T O P I C S .

Smallmouth Bass on the Fly Wisconsin River, Oneida County

GoPro Introduces NEW Flotation Accessory for its HD Hero Line of Cameras.

AWESOME Deals For Fishermen By Our Designers.

Quantum’s Generation EXO Rods and Reels.

Ragas Media, a Chicago-based design & production company that designs websites including Fishing-Headquarters and this magazine, is taking on new clients for the upcoming fall and winter months. Clients include fishermen, tackle companies, businesses and more. Rates are excellently affordable and quality is second to none. Visit them online. http://www.ragasmedia.com

GoPro, the world’s leading activity camera company, introduced new accessories for its HD Hero Cameras. Newly released is the Floaty Backdoor ($14.99). Easy to spot flotation backdoor lets your HD HERO camera float in water. Industrial strength 3M adhesive backing attaches the floaty directly to the HD HERO waterhousing backdoor. A spare HD HERO waterhousing backdoor is included. http://www.goprocamera.com

Cortland Precision Platinum Fly Lines. Cortland has brought a new fly line to its alreaxy extensive lineup. Pre-cision Platinum features a longer head, extended rear taper, and larger diameter running line giving anglers maximum line control, both in the air and on the water. Built with a low memory jacket that stays supple in cold water but doesn’t wilt in summer heat. Floating line is vailable in 3 to 8wt sizes, and offers a rocket 2 taper. http://www.cortlandline.com

Welcome to Generation EXO, where addition is achieved by subtrac-tion. At this year’s I-CAST show held in Las Vegas in July, Quantum introduced a new concept to fishing reels: Where a simple exoskel-etal design sheds excess weight without sacrificing strength and performance. Available this fall in spinning and baitcasting models for $249 (baitcast) and $199 (spinning).http://www.quantumfishing.com


http://www.quantumfishing.com

Fishing-Headquarters.com | September/ October/ November, 2011 Fishing-Headquarters | Page 6

S O L U N A R C A L E N D A R

September 2011

October 2011

This fishing forecast is based on solar and lunar influences that cycle daily. The chart shows each hour of the day. For instance the hours with the higher rating, and days shaded the darkest have a greater combination of solar and lunar influence and thus indicate the best times to fish. This chart is a general recommendation and all data has been compiled by Weather & Wildlife.

NOTE: Due to limited space November 2011 calendar has been omitted.


L E A D I N G O F F .

Fishing-Headquarters.com | September/ October/ November, 2011 � Fishing-Headquarters |


Fall leads to shorter days, longer nights, and more brilliant sunsets than the seasons before. Don’t miss out on your chance for the best fishing of the year as another round of winter approaches.



L E A D I N G O F F .

Photograph by Frank Weilnhammer



Got Wake?



SMALLMOUTH SPECTACLES The Rapala X-Rap, one of the best lures ever developed for smallmouth bass fishing, slashes its way to big fish during the summer to fall transitional period.

By Andrew Ragas

Photographs by Andrew Ragas



SMALLMOUTH


X - R A P S M A L L M O U T H B A S S

By: Andrew RagasEditor In-Chief [email protected]

The long and warm dog days of summer morph into the shorter, cooler and crisp days of ear-ly fall. Water temperatures on lakes that were once warm at 75 degrees begin to gradually plummet into the cool 60 degree range, triggering a transitional period feeding binge for all species of fish.

Summertime recreational boat traffic and fishing pressure subsides, leaving many lakes open to anglers who are after some of the finest ac-

tion of the season. This time of the year is one of my favorites for load-ing up on smallmouth bass. My fa-vorite way to take advantage of this period is by fishing with suspending jerkbaits such as the Rapala X-Rap.

Nicknamed as the “small-mouth spectacular” by my friends and me, the X-Rap is an extreme action slash bait that was released in 2004. When Rapala introduced the X-Rap, they not only brought a great new lure to fishermen, but they introduced an entirely new fishing system that revolutionized the way anglers fish jerkbaits. The versatil-ity of the X-Rap allows an angler to impart several different motions and actions in a single retrieve, and it triggers strikes when most other baits fall short. Of the dozens of baits and lure choices I can try for smallmouth bass, nothing rivals the effectiveness of an X-Rap.

Smallmouth bass are peculiar predators, notorious for exhibiting curious behavior towards their en-vironments and surroundings. At times they will sneak up to check out and sniff a lure. Sometimes they

will completely ignore everything altogether. While other times, they will smash and crush moving baits and anything in sight. Anglers who are passionate about smallmouth bass fishing live for these magi-cal moments when schools of fish transform into attack mode and feed on anything in sight.

For anglers who are as curious as smallmouth bass are, there are a few different factors that elicit this aggressive fish behavior. First, the days grow shorter and sunlight pen-etration decreases. This leads small-mouths to abandon their main lake deep water summertime locations, moving into shallower water where more food sources are present in areas with sunlight. Second, colder water temperatures make small-mouths switch their food preferenc-es from crayfish to baitfish, which requires aggressive feeding. Lastly, water temperatures begin to cool. Water temperatures that gradually fall from the 70’s into the 50’s trig-gers aggressive feeding for all spe-cies of fish. This is a sign for small-mouths that winter is on its way and

Fishing-Headquarters.com | September/ October/ November, 2011 Fishing Headquarters |

X-Rap smallmouths are best fished around shallow structure when water temper-atures are in the range of 56 to 70 degrees. They are peculiar predators, notori-ous for exhibiting curious behavior towards their environments and surroundings.


Fishing-Headquarters.com | September/ October/ November, 2011 Fishing Headquarters | Page 14

forage species will no longer be in abundance. With the conditions and seasons changing, smallmouths re-alize it’s time for them to eat.

During the summer to fall tran-sitional period, there are two ways to go about and catch smallmouth bass with X-Raps. I like to fish for structured fish and suspended fish.

Structure Smallies

X-Rap smallmouths are best fished around shallow structure when water temperatures are in the range of 56 to 70 degrees. At mid-day, when sunlight peaks, small-mouth bass can be found in their classic summer locations. Fish dis-perse and feed heavily on both cray-fish and structure-oriented baitfish

in relatively shallow water on main-lake structures such as rock bars, points, and drop-offs in depths of 6 to 15 feet. In addition, fish may even be in the extreme shallows feeding near downed wood cover and piers.

Smallmouth bass that are situ-ated in shallow and mid-depth rang-es are known to be most aggressive, and clearly exhibit their competi-tive nature. These fish tend to am-bush and feed in groups of up to half a dozen fish. When hooked, it is a common occurrence to have fol-lowers trailing behind, attempting to steal the bait. Structure oriented smallmouths are the fish I prefer targeting most often. When they’re aggressively feeding and showing interest in the X-Rap it’s a guaran-teed bite.

When smallmouths are located in the shallows, and can be seen in the water feeding and traveling in their packs, the best way to fish an X-Rap is to be as aggressive as pos-sible. I make long casts so as not to spook the fish, and use erratic re-trieves with frequent jerks. Fish will usually strike on the pause.

I have observed that when fish are located near structure, they will make frequent trips into shallower or deeper water if necessary. There-fore, it is important to make adjust-ments along the way in terms of boat positioning and casting angles. I’ve had some of my best and most epic days of X-Rap structure fishing dur-ing windy conditions by following the windblown shorelines. Howev-er, if fish are showing signs of ag-

Copperhead



Fishing-Headquarters.com | September/ October/ November, 2011 � Fishing Headquarters |

gression then they can be caught in nearly all conditions.

Suspended Smallies

In the autumn, usually when water temperatures drop to below 58 degrees, majority of the smallmouth will begin suspending off structure in lakes where they aren’t feeding predominantly on forage species in shallow water. Most of my fish-ing for suspended smallmouths oc-curs in depths ranging from 15 to 40 feet.

On most of my good small-mouth lakes, I focus on the same main-lake structures that fish have

been using for most of the summer. A long shallow sand point that ex-tends out into deeper water and has rocks and boulders lined along the bottom near the drop-off is a per-fect example. One of the best places anyone can begin fishing for sus-penders are breaks that drop quickly into deep water.

Finding suspended fish can be difficult, but using the right tools simplifies the process. The best way I locate smallmouths is by using my boat’s electronics and frequently scanning the water column. Besides electronics, another good method to finding fish is observing the water as the sight of surfacing baitfish sig-

nifies the nearby presence of small-mouths.

Usually smallmouths will be in groups, hovering beneath schools of baitfish and ambushing them from unsuspecting angles. In this situa-tion my favorite way to fish the X-Rap is to make long casts in the di-rection of the baitfish. The retrieve will often be painfully slow, with long pauses allowing for the lure to fall at the depths baitfish are sus-pended. The occasional jerk with the long pause portrays an injured minnow within the school, which often triggers smallmouths into bit-ing.

Structure Smallies

When smallmouths are located in the shallows, and can be seen in the water feeding and traveling in their packs, the best way to fish an X-Rap is to be as aggressive as possible. I make long casts so as not to spook the fish, and use erratic retrieves with frequent jerks. Fish will usually strike on the pause.

Illustration by Ragas Media


Fishing-Headquarters.com | September/ October/ November, 2011 � Fishing Headquarters | Page 16

Suspended Smallies

Techniques

Due to its slender profile and strong construction, the X-Rap is built for accurate, long distance casting. The X-Rap incorporates a long-cast design, enabling weights to shift during the cast. Its weight-forward design is a benefit because it allows anglers to cover vast amounts of water quickly, making it an effective search bait.

The key characteristic of the X-Rap is that it can be fished in any type of manner and according to the moods and feeding patterns of the fish. This correlates with the retrieve of the X-Rap and the way it is fished as it involves a lot of mix-

ing and matching according to the behavior of the fish.

My success with the X-Rap is always dictated by the activity and aggression levels of the fish. For in-stance, on days when smallmouths are active and striking everything in sight, I prefer retrieving the X-Rap with an erratic hard wrist twitch-ing and rod ripping motion. In this situation the rod tip is pointed down towards the water and I employ a rapid erratic rip-pull-rip motion through the water. After a series of 3 to 5 rips, I allow the lure to pause for a second before resuming the motions again. Another tactic that works well is the sweep retrieve. This is similar to the hard twitching

retrieve but instead of rapid erratic jerks I use longer, more powerful jerks with slightly longer pauses.

On some days there are occa-sions where smallmouths are in neg-ative moods. These scenarios occur during cold fronts, early mornings when daily water temperatures are at their coldest, and on calm sunny afternoons. In these situations I sig-nificantly slow down my rate of re-trieve by making long casts coupled with long pauses. Sometimes dead sticking the X-Rap is required to elicit strikes from smallmouths. It is important to note that this style of retrieve works well in other adverse conditions such as when fish are

In the autumn, usually when water temperatures drop to below 58 degrees, majority of the smallmouth will begin suspend-ing off structure in lakes where they aren’t feeding predominantly on forage species in shallow water. Most of my fishing for suspended smallmouths occurs in depths ranging from 15 to 40 feet.

Illustration by Ragas Media


Fishing-Headquarters.com | September/ October/ November, 2011 Fishing Headquarters |


suspending in open water. There are many other great

methods for fishing the X-Rap. However, the best retrieve is one where the angler can be creative and form an aggressive retrieve that is based according to the behavior of the fish.

In addition to retrieve, another important factor leading to success is that this style of fishing is very vi-sual. The majority of my strikes are often seen in the water through the aid of polarized sunglasses. Hav-ing a keen eye on the suspending jerkbait being retrieved through the water and reacting quickly to small-mouths when they are seen ambush-ing the lure leads to increased catch rates.

Gear and Color Styles

In order to successfully fish X-Raps, spinning rods with a lot of power and sensitivity are important. One of the big questions I’m often asked by anglers is whether to use braided lines or easy casting copo-lymers. According to Rapala’s web-site and some known tournament anglers, X-Raps are suggested to be fished with braided superlines due to their strength and abilities to cast for longer distances. Although these are good characteristics, braided lines are poor for fishing an extreme ac-tion slashbait like the X-Rap. They are bad at absorbing shock from the powerful hook sets needed, and they impair the lure’s action during the

retrieve by a significant amount. In addition, they float which is a poor characteristic for a bait that is fished best while suspended. With all that being said, I recommend easy cast-ing copolymers.

I very rarely use baitcasting equipment with X-Raps because it impairs casting distance and action. For all of my X-Rap fishing, I pre-fer using 7 foot medium or medium heavy fast action spinning rods with size 30 reels. The rods must have a strong backbone and a lot of sensi-tivity for maximizing the bait’s ac-tion and feeling any subtle strikes from fish. The rod I exclusively use for this style of fishing is a 7 foot Quantum Tour Edition that is paired up with a size 30 Quantum Catalyst.


This style of fishing is very visual. The majority of my strikes are often seen in the water through the aid of polarized sun-glasses. Having a keen eye on the suspending jerkbait being retrieved through the water and reacting quickly to small-mouths when they are seen ambushing the lure leads to increased catch rates.


Fishing-Headquarters.com | September/ October/ November, 2011 Fishing Headquarters | Page 18

Structure Colors

Suspended Colors

Hot Head

Clown

Glass Ghost

Perch

Moss Back Shiner

Moss Chartreuse Shiner




This reel is the perfect size for long accurate casts because it holds up to 200 yards of either 8 lb. P-Line Evolution or Cortland Endurance. Both are easy casting and abrasion-resistant copolymer lines.

One last question facing an-glers are sizes and color styles. I typically fish with the XR8 which is a ¼ oz. lure at over 3 inches long that reaches depths of 3 to 5 feet on the average retrieve. This is a good all-around size for catching both numbers and sizes of fish. I use it year-round. In addition, I sometimes increase the size to a 4 inch XR10, but I only do this in late fall when bigger smallmouths are present.

As far as color styles are con-cerned, the X-Rap is available in 19 different colors. Since smallmouths often feed by sight, I’ve had my best success using the brightest, most ob-noxious colors that I can get away with. My favorite is “Hot Head,” a fluorescent orange/yellow color combination that drives the fish wild. Other noteworthy colors that I have had excellent success with are “Rusty Crawdad”, “Clown”, “Cop-perhead”, and “Moss Chartreuse Shad”. These bright colors are typi-cally used in depths shallower than 15 feet, especially when fish are on structure.

Traditional wisdom suggests

that these bright colors should only be used in waters with reduced clar-ity. Unfortunately I break the rules of the bass fishing color barrier. Over the years I’ve learned that these bright colors have little effect on the fish in lakes with the clear-est water clarity. The erratic action of the retrieve along with its bright color actually attracts fish from a distance and entices them into strik-ing more often than using something that looks more natural and matches the hatch. The only situation where I would use naturalistic colors is when fishing for suspended small-mouths later in the fall, and espe-cially when it’s entirely a baitfish

For all of my X-Rap fishing, I prefer using 7 foot medium or medium heavy fast action spinning rods with size 30 reels. The rods must have a strong backbone and a lot of sensitivity for maximizing the bait’s action and feeling any subtle strikes from fish.



Fishing-Headquarters.com | September/ October/ November, 2011 � Fishing-Headquarters | Page 20

bite. Preferred colors for suspended smallmouths are “Moss Black Shin-er”, “Glass Ghost”, “Olive Green”, and “Perch”.

I’m often told by anglers that fishing with the X-Rap requires lit-tle skill, and the bait will catch fish regardless of color and retrieve be-ing used. I’ve fished head-to-head against others by utilizing differ-ent color schemes and retrieves, yet casting at the same angles, and I have always come out on top by outfishing them. When fishing the X-Rap, presentation is everything, and the way you approach the fish and adapt to their behaviors and in-terests truly makes a difference be-tween success or failure.

In summer of 2005, I tied on my first ever X-Rap. In recent years I have been able to experience this phenomenon of fast action small-mouth bass fishing on almost ev-ery lake I fish. Nowadays, I always keep a rod tied up with a size-8 X-Rap so that I can take advantage of these feeding periods during the summer to fall transition. With all this success and the possibilities for big fish, who wouldn’t want to do the same?





My success with the X-Rap is always dictated by the activity and aggression levels of the fish. For instance, on days when smallmouths are active and striking everything in sight, I prefer retrieving the X-Rap with an erratic hard wrist twitching and rod ripping motion. In this situation the rod tip is pointed down towards the water and I employ a rapid erratic rip-pull-rip motion through the water. After a series of 3 to 5 rips, I allow the lure to pause for a second before resuming the motions again.




Traditional wisdom suggests that bright colors should only be used in waters with reduced clarity. Unfor-tunately I break the rules of the bass fishing color barrier. Over the years I’ve learned that bright colored X-Raps have little effect on the fish in lakes with the clearest water clarity. The erratic action of the retrieve along with its bright pattern actually attracts fish from a distance and entices them into striking more often than using something that looks more natural and matches the hatch.

The next time you tie on an X-Rap, I suggest you do the same as your results will often look like this.


Photograph by Joe Bucher

B R O W N T R O U T


Brown BeastsTHE

OF FALL



Brown BeastsTHE

OF FALL

By Todd Wendorf & Collin Venn

Photograph by Tom Harris



By: Todd WendorfFishing-Headquarters Contributor

B R O W N T R O U T

As the fall leaves turn beautiful shades of brown, orange, and yellow, fish of the same colors begin to invade the shorelines and tributaries of Lake Michigan. After spending the summer in the areas of the lake only reached in a good sized boat, the “brown beasts of fall” are well within reach of every angler by the early days of October.

The two strains of brown trout that are prevalent throughout Lake Michigan are the Seeforellen and German browns. Their spawning migrations begin as soon as king salmon are concluding theirs. As a result, by the time the browns get into the marinas and tributaries along the coast lines, the water is filled with spawn and decaying salmon. Every-thing in the ecosystem feeds off of the eggs and carcasses of the now spent salmon.

We’d like to share with you two distinct approaches to catch-ing fall-run browns: Fishing spawn under floats, and fishing hard baits, including spoons, plastics, crank baits, lipless cranks, and others. In doing so, we will also provide you

with play-by-play narratives of two monster fish we caught last fall in the same spot using two totally dif-ferent methods.

Fishing fall-run browns with spawn is both simple and complex. It’s really not much different than soaking a worm under a bobber for panfish. You simply hook a thumb nail sized spawn sack on a #6 octo-pus hook (I prefer Gamakatsu), add a float and a few sinkers and you’re all set to go! Stay as small as possi-ble with each component to reduce the amount of resistance fish feel when tasting and eating the bait. I fish with 10 lb test monofilament main line and a 24” 12 lb fluorocar-bon leader, all attached to a 3500 to 4000 series reel (with at least 7 ball bearings) and a 10 ft. 6 in. St. Croix Wild River steelhead rod.

The river system is filled with spawn from salmon that have com-pleted their spawning cycle. Salmon spawn is obviously a targeted food source during the early stages of fall. Later, as the salmon spawn de-

teriorates and disappears, browns will turn to the spawn of other brown trout that have also moved into the system to drop their eggs. As such, when targeting browns you’re usually best off using brown trout spawn sacks. Sacks can be fished fresh or cured. Curing with a product like Pautzke’s BorX O Fire keeps spawn firm and colorful. It also adds a scent attractant (krill) into the water. You’ll find that cured sacks won’t milk out nearly as fast as fresh ones, allowing you to use them for a longer period of time be-fore changing.

Locating Browns is somewhat difficult in that you usually can’t sight-fish them like you can spring-run steelhead. The tendency of the fish to spend much of their time in the deeper areas of marinas and rivers and the fact that the water is often murkier in the fall make this all but impossible. However, if you remember one simple principle, you can often locate migrating browns. Look for current.

Locating Browns is somewhat difficult in that you usually can’t sight-fish them like you can spring-run steelhead.

Photograph by Collin Venn



Photograph by Todd Wendorf



B R O W N T R O U T

The Current FactorCurrent usually means rivers, but not always. Marinas are often times filled with current. Some of the water movement may be created by the river that passes nearby. Some by lake tides, and some by wind. Other forms to look for that is absolutely key to marina fishing are aeration pumps and culverts. These pumps and culverts often trick the browns into thinking they’re headed upstream when in fact they’re being funneled into a small area that is very fishable.

“The morning of October 17, 2010 started out rather slow. After a two hour drive, and arriving at the marina by 6:00 a.m., I waited two hours for my first bite of the day. After a 5 minute battle an estimated 15 lb. king salmon made one more violent run and snapped my leader. The fact that the dark, male salmon was lost didn’t really bother me as I got a good fight out of it and would have released it anyway. Unfortu-nately, that was the last bite for the next 4 hours.

About the time I was about to pack things up and move to another location I saw what appeared to be a small school of dark bodied fish

moving along the edge of a set of boat slips and headed in my direc-tion. It was quite obvious the fish had one thing in mind; the current being produced by the pump located to my right. The fish moved under the dock closest to me and out of sight. I knew they were under there … just didn’t know exactly where. Like a steelheader fishing a run, I repeatedly tossed my float toward the pump and allowed it to float parallel to the dock the fish had to be under. Within about 5 minutes an average sized brown darted out, grabbed the sack, and broke me off on a dock post, all in one swift mo-tion.

As I was retying my float rig I saw numerous fish swim out from

under the dock and then back in. I let them settle down and then tossed my float toward the pump. Near the end of the drift the float went down again. I set the hook with the long rod and the fish immediately rolled and headed to deeper water at the end of the slip. After a 10 minute fight my new friend Damien landed what we both figured to be a nice king, only to be shocked at the 23” girth of a 31”, 20.5 lb. female brown trout.”

Todd Wendorf

Fishing fall-run browns with spawn is both simple and complex. It’s really not much different than soaking a worm under a bobber for panfish. You simply hook a thumb nail sized spawn sack on a #6 octopus hook (I prefer Gamakatsu), add a float and a few sinkers and you’re all set to go!



Photograph by Tom Harris

“Coincidently one month after Todd caught his giant, I got my shot at one and I took it. The day started out slow with only a few fish caught between a few anglers accompany-ing me. As one of my partners was leaving he called me and said he had just seen the two biggest brown trout he’s ever seen swimming near the aeration pumps. These hap-pened to be the same pump Todd’s 20 pounder came from. I took his advice and decide to investigate.

Here I was, practically on tip toes trying to avoid spooking any potential fish. As I crept closer I didn’t see anything. “Man I’m too late, they’re already gone”, I thought. “Oh well, I might as well make a few casts anyway”. I made a few short pitches around the pump with a small jig. Nothing. Nada. At this point I decided to head back to-wards my friends. I took about ten steps back and I saw them. Two of the biggest brown trout I’ve ever seen in my life. My heart was racing. I pitched my lure in front of them, pop, pop, pop. The jig swam in front of their noses and not even a sniff. I

made another cast and this time it came up short. My line bumped into one of the fish and … poof, they dis-appeared.

I sank down on the pier. “There it was Collin, your chance and you messed it up.” I kicked myself for it. Just as I started walking away I saw them again. “Here it is now … this is your last shot make it happen”. I casted my Little Cleo back towards them, jigged it twice, and just as my lure got to within striking distance the larger of the two turned on it. He’s got it! I set the hook and im-mediately knew this wasn’t your ev-eryday brownie … this was heavy! I couldn’t even turn it as it continued on its way like nothing really hap-pened. The fish was clearly upset and was surrounded by pilings and docks. I yelled to my friend, “Grab the scoop and hurry … you’ve got to see this thing before it breaks me off”. At that point I was convinced I was going to lose it so I was just taking in the moment.

My friend came running up and his jaw dropped as soon as he saw it. Now it’s game time! Let’s get this thing in the net. The fish began digging underneath the pier and I

this thing in the net. The fish began digging underneath the pier and I did my best to muscle it out using every inch of my 10 ft. rod for le-verage. It was brought in closer and Joe seized his chance. Elbow deep in the water he went. It’s in the net!

My friend laid passed out on the pier, chest down, hanging half way over the edge of the pier with both hands on the net. The monster brown was obviously way too large for that net, and I stood there with my jaw on the pier at the sight of the thing. Then reality hit when Joe yelled, “What are you doing? Help me get this thing on the pier. I can’t lift it by myself!” I helped him with the net and there, in front of me, was a 43” monster of a brown trout.

I knew right away I wanted to release the fish. Every second count-ed as we had to get this guy back in the water. We took a few pictures, then released what was undoubt-edly the fish of a lifetime back to his home.”

Collin Venn


B R O W N T R O U TTypically in late fall we’re fish-

ing with spawn as mentioned, but we also find success casting lures. Crankbaits really shine this time of year. Thundersticks, Husky Jerks, and X-Raps are some fine choices and what I keep my boxes stocked with. When you’re fishing baits like the Husky Jerk, you’re going to want to make long casts and re-ally work the bait back hard on most days. Don’t be shy. Rip the bait 6 ft. then come to a dead stop and repeat the process.

Often times, brown trout will try to rip the rod out of your hands. On bright sunny days, small minnow type baits like the orginal Rapala just casted out and slowly cranked back in are worth using. Don’t com-pletely forget about spoons either as they can really have their days. This time of year it’s the smaller spoons that usually do the damage. Spoons at 2/5 oz. to ¼ oz. are typically on the menu but we downsize to 1/8 oz. some days. Colors can matter too, but it’s never a bad thing if it has some chartreuse on it.

When casting cranks this time of year we’re using a 10 ft. me-dium /light action rod and a 2500 series Shimano reel spooled with 8 lb. monofilament. The longer rod gives me the ability to work the lure more and it also helps in setting the hook when the fish hits at the end of the cast. It works wonders when jig fishing as well. Jigs and plastics can be killer. Small panfish sized jigs all the way to 4 in. Gulp Min-nows work. You typically fish jigs one of two ways. The first, and most obvious, is to cast it out and slowly pop it back in. Another is to attach

Rapala Husky Jerk

Rapala X-Rap

Rapala Jointed

X-Rap Shad

a small bobber a few feet above the jig to suspend it as you work it back in. This allows you to move the jig as slow as needed to provoke a hit from a hungry brown trout. On days when they’re finicky, a slow presen-tation is a killer!

Unlike salmon, brown trout do not die after laying their eggs. They

can live for many years. We’ve seen with two world record fish in the last few years come out of Lake Michi-gan. Releasing these fish today will allow this world class fishery to continue to flourish and will allow more fishermen to enjoy their op-portunity to battle one of the brown beasts of fall.




Todd Wendorf grew up in Northern Wisconsin and now calls McFarland, WI home. He is an avid bass fisher-man who specializes in shore fishing, wading, float tubing, and kayak fishing. When not chasing Large-mouth he focuses on Steelhead and Brown Trout in Southeastern Wisconsin harbors and tributaries.

Read more about Todd’s fishing by visiting him online at:

http://needtofishmore.blogspot.com/

Photograph by Todd Wendorf


F R O G F I S H I N G 1 0 1 .

the ALLIGATOR GARA Trash-to-Trophy Renaissance With North America’s Largest Freshwater Sportfish.

the ALLIGATOR GARA Trash-to-Trophy Renaissance With North America’s Largest Freshwater Sportfish.

By David Graham

Photograph by David Graham


A L L I G A T O R G A R

By: David GrahamFishing-Headquarters Contributor

It can’t be overstated – to the enthusiastic angler, landing the biggest representative of a species is always better. Nonetheless the largest freshwater fish in North America is arguably its most mys-terious fish. Virtually any average American, whether or not they fish recreationally, can easily identify bass or ‘bream’; and most realize that a fish with whiskers is prob-ably a catfish.

One of the most awesome, ter-

rifying looking freshwater predators on the planet happens to thrive in a particular area of the United States, and has gone largely unnoticed by even seasoned anglers. This fish can reach more than 8 feet in length and in excess of 300 pounds, with a bill full of sharp teeth and eyes like black saucers. This amazing fish – the alligator gar –is North Amer-ica’s largest freshwater fish, largely found in East Texas and the gulf ‘plains’ area of Louisiana.

I enjoyed a fishing trip to East Texas in 2010 in search of one of these giants. Although I encoun-tered a number of smaller, fifty pound specimens, the gargantuan trophies I had hoped for eluded me. Most frustrating, though, was the response I received from my South Carolina friends who, upon view-ing my photos, declared I could not have fished these out of any Ameri-can waters!

Among most American an-glers, a “large fish” means a ten-pound bass, a fifty-inch muskie or a big, fat catfish; the alligator gar is

a fish that could leisurely snap all of these in half with one powerful slam of its toothy bill. Without question, the alligator gar is the heavyweight champion of North American fresh-water fish; on the global scale of freshwater giants, it represents team USA. The alligator gar has held its position as North America’s heavy-weight champion since the age of the Dinosaurs. Fossil records have revealed that this fish has dominated our waterways for over 100 million years.

Alligator Gar History

The alligator gar is the largest of the gar family. Like the long-nose, shortnose, spotted, and Florida gar, it is easily distinguished by its toothy bill and tough ganoid scales which provide an armor like suit encasing a sturdy, muscular frame. The alligator gar stands distinctly apart from its smaller counterparts by its sheer size, growing more than 4 times as large as the longnose gar which is the second largest species



of gar. It is also the only gar species sporting two rows of teeth lining its broad bill. Larger alligator gar are olive green in color, transition-ing to a pearl or white colored belly. They may present vague mottling; younger specimens reveal more vis-ible spots on the rear portion of their bodies. In addition, they also pres-ent the broadest heads of the gars. Reports of 15 foot long, 500-pound specimens are not uncommon, but there is little legitimacy to these claims. The build and daunting ap-pearance of this fish has cast them into a villainous light; they are fre-quently rumored to have attacked and perhaps killed human beings, although there is not a single docu-mented case of this.

Even an extremely large al-ligator gar remains predominantly an opportunistic feeder. It sustains its enormous size via a very slow metabolism; it feeds primarily upon dead or dying fish, or slower mov-ing species. However, it possesses uncanny speed and athleticism de-spite its size, and is fully capable of torpedoing into schools of large shad or true bass. Upon first glance,

one can’t help imagining an alliga-tor gar indiscriminately consuming anything in its path, including small children! Its appearance is deceiv-ing, though – this gar has a very low metabolism and can go without eat-ing for weeks on end. The alligator gar has falsely been accused of eat-ing its own body weight in game fish species by ignorant anglers looking to rationalize for their own inability to capture the fish they desire.

Southern Misconceptions

The alligator gar once populat-ed a large cross section of the South Eastern United States. They have been found as far North as West Cen-tral Illinois and as Far East as South Carolina through Florida. The alli-gator gar is currently diminishing in number and its range has retracted almost exclusively to East Texas and Louisiana. Although it can be found in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mis-sissippi, and the surrounding South Central region of the United States, healthy populations of truly massive alligator gar are exceedingly rare and almost exclusive to East Texas,

most notably the Trinity River. There are several explana-

tions for the dramatic decline of this magnificent gar over the past century. Habitat destruction, dams and overharvesting have all played a significant role in the decline in alligator gar. They are also a popu-lar target for bow hunters, and due to their tremendous size they pres-ent a large, easy target and therefore present little ‘sport’ in terms of a shooting target. In years past, su-perstition, ignorance and outdated laws made it illegal to return al-ligator gar to the water. Efforts to eradicate them entirely were made to ‘protect’ people as well as more traditionally desired species of fish. It takes over 10 years for alligator gar to reach sexual maturity. This makes them particularly vulnerable to environmental changes and the intentional culling by sport fisher-men, commercial fishermen, and bow hunters alike.

Today, the alligator gar is re-emerging in number and size. Many states have adopted a 1 fish per day





limit, and restocking programs have been successful in areas where these fish were thought to have been ex-tinct. Alligator gar have also be-come increasingly popular with North American fishermen as well as overseas anglers.

River Monster Quest

This past June I had the great fortune to return to East Texas for another opportunity to capture a tru-ly magnificent alligator gar. One of the greatest challenges of catch-ing a large specimen is supplying yourself with bait sufficiently large to entice them. On day 1 of the trip I visited a small Oklahoma pond I frequented as a child, and where I knew we could stock up on numer-ous common carp. Carp fishing has always been a favorite hobby

of mine; I consider them to be a very formidable freshwater species by hook and line. It was an eerie feeling, knowing that three and four pound carp were being harvested as bait for something much larger. We spent a few hours capturing com-mon carp with bread crust, keeping just enough to use as bait, and enter-taining ourselves with a few catch, photo, release candidates. Once we had sufficient carp for several days on the Trinity River, we headed southward.

Our first destination was the Livingston Dam, just below Texas’s Lake Livingston. It was there that my brother Travis and I had spotted some of the largest alligator gar, in great numbers, during our 2010 trip. The general area of the dam offered outstanding fishing for other species including white, striped and yellow

bass; freshwater drum, channel cat-fish, common carp, smallmouth buf-falo, and longnose gar. This year however, the catch was quite differ-ent. We observed several small al-ligator gar rolling at the surface, but it seemed there were no ‘giants’ in the area. We fished for two days without a single fish before heading North on the Trinity River.

The stretch of Trinity 15 some miles north of Lake Livingston pro-vided better, though not consistent, action. We set up at several bends for hours at a time where we saw alligator gar rolling in decent num-bers, though no ‘monsters’ were to be found. To maximize our chances of landing them, we would fish five rods at a time. Each rod, a sturdy 8-foot boat rod with large spinning reels spooled with 150 lb. Power Pro braid, was established along the


The alligator gar is the largest of the gar family. Like the longnose, shortnose, spotted, and Florida gar, it is easily distin-guished by its toothy bill and tough ganoid scales which provide an armor like suit encasing a sturdy, muscular frame.



Photographs by David Graham




muddy shores of the Trinity, resting on electronic bite alarms. These bite alarms are triggered when the line feeds through a groove at the head of the bite alarm. With drags set loose, as soon as fish took the bait, the line would feed out triggering a high frequency alarm audible up to a 100-yard distance. Each line was rigged with a sliding float, a 5-foot, 150 lb. steel leader, and either dou-ble J-Hooks or a large treble hook baited with a chunk of carp.

We frequently sat and waited, hours on end, as fish surfaced tan-talizingly close to our floats, never tripping our alarms. Other times, though, the bites came almost in-stantly. Tending to a rod with a running fish requires concentration and patience. The Trinity River waters have little to no visibility

and run thick with mud. It is virtu-ally impossible to ascertain whether the fish on your line is an 8-foot behemoth, or a runt. Generally, an alligator gar takes the bait and may carry it over a hundred yards down-stream before swallowing it. They often settle on bends or sit in areas where the water has eddied, perhaps to swallow the bait in the relative calm there. Alligator gar are very patient feeders, and will take their time working the bait down. Gen-erally, once they had turn and begin moving upstream it is time to set the hook. The entire process may take more than ten minutes.

The Trinity River is almost as unique as the massive fish that re-side in its murky waters; there is something almost alien about it. In spite of the dead timber, the trash,

and the broken tattered shoreline, it has a stark, yet peaceful beauty.

During our time on the river we encountered numerous white tail deer, birds of prey, reptiles, amphib-ians, cattle, and even a large group of wild pigs crossing the river. The sunsets along the river were particu-larly vivid in color and beauty. It almost made the lack of fish well worth the wait.

In three days on the Trinity River we caught several smaller al-ligator gar ranging from 15 to ap-proximately 40 pounds. I had a gut-wrenching feeling that I might have to leave Texas without having caught a large alligator gar. During the 4 total days we spent at differ-ent stretches of the Trinity, we could almost have thought that truly mas-sive alligator gar no longer existed.


With only one day left before my return flight to South Carolina, my brother and I decided to explore a stretch of the Red River which a local angler had tipped us off about. The Red River, which splits Oklahoma and Texas, has a healthy popula-tion of alligator gar although the Trinity River is better known for the beasts.




No sooner had the words left my mouth, one of the alarms started screaming! This fish wasn’t playing; this was not an investigative nibble, it grabbed the bait with the clear intention of keeping it. Seconds passed by but felt like minutes as I knew I must wait to engage the fish that I was certain would be the fish of my lifetime. After the fish made its pass down stream and completed the turn back against the current I engaged the fish with a sturdy hookset.

The fight was on! The incredible fish went airborne repeatedly in an effort to evade capture. I kept on my toes from start to finish, expecting disaster of some sort to strike during the 20 minute battle. The fish was brought to shore several times only to have it retreat to the safety of the deeper channel. Eventually the massive fish succumbed to exhaus-tion and my brother was able to literally wrestle it to shore. It ultimately measured in at 81 inches and an estimated 140 pounds.




From Trinity to the Red

With only one day left before my return flight to South Carolina, my brother and I decided to explore a stretch of the Red River which a local angler had tipped us off about. The Red River, which splits Okla-homa and Texas, has a healthy pop-ulation of alligator gar although the Trinity River is better known for the beasts. Nevertheless we decided to try out the Red River; the stretch we chose required extensive twists and turns down dirt roads and un-marked paths which lead to a dirt lot beside a largely dried up stretch of river. The area we were in felt far from civilization yet somehow “just right” for the prey we sought. The river was so dried up that using a boat was nearly impossible. We dragged a canoe full of fishing gear nearly 100 yards across dried sandy riverbed to a deeper channel and be-gan to head downstream.

For the first few hundred yards of our paddle, the river seemed void of any life form. Like the Trin-ity River, the water was murky and nearly stagnant. However, the Red River did not appear to have any baitfish, vegetation, timber, or any-thing that would sustain any sort of base for a living ecosystem. Pes-simistic after four days of working hard for scarce bites, we paddled on. As we approached the bend in the river we intended to work, we were instantly rewarded with large signs of life! Packed into a very concentrated area of river along a deep hole adjacent to a rocky wall, countless gigantic alligator gar be-gan to roll around our canoe. I knew this would be the place we would capture our giant.

The stretch of river was so remote, so secluded, and so jam packed with massive alligator gar, I would venture to say it is one of the last remaining such areas in ex-

istence. We set up along the muddy banks as quickly as we could. It was difficult to gather our senses and concentrate on setting up the bite alarms and organizing our gear while massive fish well over 100 pounds were surfacing everywhere around us. I was enthralled by the sight of 7 foot long fish in a freshwa-ter river in North America. It was a surreal thing to encounter – after all, this was not the Amazon, Africa or Thailand – this was a North Ameri-can, freshwater river system teem-ing with unimaginable numbers of fish as big as me!

Almost immediately after get-ting all of our baits in the water and getting set up, I received a phone call from the man who told me about the location. He had stopped up river from us and had a big fish on the line. Excited to finally at least see a large alligator gar with my own eyes, I sprinted up river along the shore to his location. At first

I am certain that the alligator gar is the pinnacle of freshwater fishing in the United States outside of perhaps the white sturgeon, and after having achieved a dream of mine more than 10 years in the making I can’t help but look towards future endeavors on other waters. The alligator gar is, without doubt, the quintessential freshwater predator.



glance, it was the most amazing thing I had ever seen!

Eager to capture a giant of my own, I sprinted back to where my baits were set up. Motivated by how quickly and easily a large gar had already been brought it, I was re-energized with optimism. As the hours passed however, my frustra-tion increased. Giant fish contin-ued to roll as the sun began to drop. Although we had one brief run on the bite alarms and were catching longnose gar on our medium weight rods, the big bites just were not coming. Struck by the thought that my trip was nearly over and I had yet to land ‘the big one’, I looked at my brother and colorfully voiced my frustrations and doubts.

No sooner had the words left my mouth, one of the alarms started screaming! This fish wasn’t play-ing; this was not an investigative nibble, it grabbed the bait with the clear intention of keeping it. Sec-onds passed by but felt like minutes as I knew I must wait to engage

the fish that I was certain would be the fish of my lifetime. After the fish made its pass down stream and completed the turn back against the current I engaged the fish with a sturdy hookset. Upon my thrust against the pressure of the fish the rod scarcely moved past parallel as though to be pulling against an immovable object. Almost imme-diately after tying into the fish, I witnessed a nearly 7 foot long sea serpent of a gar propel its self out of the water in a violent tail walk.

The fight was on! The incred-ible fish went airborne repeatedly in an effort to evade capture. I kept on my toes from start to finish, expect-ing disaster of some sort to strike during the 20 minute battle. The fish was brought to shore several times only to have it retreat to the safety of the deeper channel. Even-tually the massive fish succumbed to exhaustion and my brother was able to literally wrestle it to shore. It ultimately measured in at 81 inches and an estimated 140 pounds.

I am certain that the alligator gar is the pinnacle of freshwater fishing in the United States outside of perhaps the white sturgeon, and after having achieved a dream of mine more than 10 years in the mak-ing I can’t help but look towards future endeavors on other waters. The alligator gar is, without doubt, the quintessential freshwater preda-tor. In my humble opinion this is the single most impressive finned creature in North American wa-ters. The experiences I have had as an angler have helped make me the person I am today, but the ex-perience of seeing, touching, and feeling a truly massive alligator gar has been far beyond anything else I have encountered during my years as an angler.




“The stretch of river was so remote, so secluded, and so jam packed with massive alligator gar, I would venture to say it is one of the last remaining such areas in ex-istence. We set up along the muddy banks as quickly as we could. It was difficult to gather our senses and concentrate on setting up the bite alarms and organiz-ing our gear while massive fish well over 100 pounds were surfacing everywhere around us. I was enthralled by the sight of 7 foot long fish in a freshwater river in North America. It was a surreal thing to encounter – after all, this was not the Amazon, Africa or Thailand – this was a North American, freshwater river system teeming with unimaginable numbers of fish as big as me!”



A non-species specific approach to angling by David Graham.

David Graham, an extreme multi-species angler and featured columnist for Fishing-Headquarters Magazine, joins the FHQ.com Writers Network with his very own blog.

http://www.fishing-headquarters.com/boundlesspursuit/

Boundless Pursuit



F A L L M U S K Y E F F E C T S

Muskies

Photograph by Adam Glickman



The Effects of FallMuskies

A discussion of the fall season and its impact on musky fishing in various environments.

By Adam Glickman




By: Adam GlickmanFishing-Headquarters Contributor

Fall is the most productive time of the season to fish muskies in the upper mid-west, both for num-bers of fish and large individuals. The calendar year is broken down into four seasons, fall being a single and whole season. However, as a musky fisherman I break fall down further into three separate seasons that span the months of September, October, and November: early fall, fall transition, and late fall. These

four seasons have distinct and sepa-rate conditions that affect my de-cisions concerning which type of waters I will fish, how I will pattern muskies in those waters, and what presentations I will use.

The Progression of Fall

Early fall in the upper mid-west starts at the beginning of Sep-tember or late August depending on weather and latitude. At this time, the water is just starting to cool off as the heat of summer subsides. The days may still get very hot, but the cool nights have allowed water tem-peratures to drop back a few degrees from stressfully warm conditions at or above 80 F. Muskies that had been largely inactive invade forage rich structure and make up for lost time and opportunities for caloric consumption. I have found that the magic temperature for this surge in feeding is 76 F. If summer water temperatures never reached higher than 80 F, then said bite will likely

never occur. Conversely, the lon-ger the duration of stressful summer water temperatures, the better the cool down bite will be. Latitude, type of water body, and summer weather will be the key determining factors of water temperature during this period.

The fall transition begins when lakes that stratify undergo fall turn-over and bodies of water that do not stratify cool to the low 50’s F, and turn to cool water environ-ments. Turnover occurs when the upper layer of stratified lakes cools to the temperature of the middle layer (thermocline) and mix. Next, when the temperature of those com-bined layers reach the temperature of the lower layer, they mix as well. Turnover usually occurs as surface temperatures reach 50 F sometime in late September through late Oc-tober, depending on latitude and weather conditions. Visually, turn-over can give the lake a cloudy ap-pearance, as the mixing of the lay-ers often stirs up debris. Turnover is

Fall is the most productive time of the season to fish muskies in the upper mid-west, both for numbers of fish and large individuals. The calendar year is broken down into four seasons, fall being a single and whole season.



marked by poor fishing, caused by instability. Turnover usually lasts 1-3 weeks, and completes when the lake is uniform from top to bottom in both temperature and dissolved oxygen. Rivers, streams, very shal-low lakes, some wind-swept lakes, and reservoirs with high water flow do not stratify and therefore do not undergo turnover. Lakes that do stratify undergo turnover at differ-ent times.

The late fall period runs from after the fall transition period until total ice up on lakes and until rivers drop to and below 36 F. The late fall bite begins in mid to late Octo-ber and runs to the end of Novem-ber give or take a week. The most consistent action is experienced at water 40-50 F, and the best big fish potential is seen from 39-46 F. These temperatures are well below what is considered the peak activity level for muskies, but nonetheless they feed more during the late fall period than at any other time of the year.

Presentations

The three fall periods cover water temperatures from 76-37 F. Therefore, almost all types of pre-sentations and tactics will have their time and place, but matching the presentation and tactic to the specific set of given conditions will allow the greatest success rate. At warmer water temperatures during early fall, summertime tactics will still produce and often are the most effective. However, as the water cools, more standard fall fare be-comes the norm. Traditional jerk-baits, crankbaits, and live bait will shine; but modern soft plastic lures also make excellent cool water pre-sentations.

Jerkbaits are my favorite lures to use in any season, but especial-ly during fall. Jerkbaits have been considered go to fall artificial lures for decades, and for good reason. They have erratic action, that when combined with a pause, proves deadly on muskies that are willing to strike, but need that extra trig-ger to tease them into it. Jerkbaits fall into two main categories, glid-ers and divers. I use both, and with

proper weighting my jerkbaits will run .5-40’ deep, so I can fish any-where in the water column there may be hungry fall muskies. I use Manta Hang 10’s for all of my shal-low structural needs. The Manta has a wide consistent glide. It runs .5-2’ below the surface, and works very well around shallow structure. The Mr. Automatic is a great glider for working deeper structure. It runs 4-10’ deep with longer pauses, and glides well. It is not quite as smooth on the glide as the Manta, but it is still very good. For deeper applica-tions I like the Bobbie Bait, which is a classic dive/rise style jerkbait. I weight them with lead for four different styles: slow rise, perfect neutral, slow sink, and fast sink. At various weights, they will run 8-40’ deep.

Crankbaits are excellent for deep water applications, both cast-ing and trolling. Floating crankbaits work well for working the 8-18’ zone. Sinking crankbaits are a little less common than floating models,

Photographs by Adam Glickman



F A L L M U S K Y E F F E C T Sbut they are excellent for cold wa-ter applications when fishing deep and slow becomes a must. Sink-ing crankbaits work the 15-35’ zone with ease. When it comes to sink-ing crankbaits in cold water, straight models usually produce more action than jointed models. Depth Raider Countdowns from Joe Bucher Out-doors and Shark 2-Speed Count-down Crankbaits from River Run Tackle are both good running sturdy lures. Trolling applications for fall muskies are limitless, and when used at the right place and time are very effective.

Live bait presentations are an-other staple of fall musky fishing that are as old as the sport itself. However, techniques for using live bait for muskies have evolved over the years into modern precision tac-tics designed to work specific depth zones and structure, ensure lon-gevity and action of live bait, and to capture muskies efficiently and without injury. I use live suckers 15-18” long. Any shorter and they don’t get as much attention. Any longer and it becomes harder to get hooks into the muskies. Suckers delicately rigged with 2 or 3 strate-gically placed hooks allow for high hooking percentages on hook sets performed shortly after the musky takes the sucker.

Rigging the sucker for proper action when slowly trolled is done either by a rubber band run through the sucker’s nostrils, a wire clip run through the nostrils, or a single hook placed very lightly through the front lower lip. Treble hooks on the rig are placed lightly just under ¼-1/2” of skin after the scales on that spot

River Run Tackle Manta

Mr. Automatic Glider

Bucher Tackle Depth Raider

Bobbie Bait

Red October Musky Tube



have been scraped free. I use a 7/0 single hook through the lip, a 2/0 treble hook on the back in front of the dorsal fin, and another 2/0 treble hook on the back in front of the tail. I put my hooks through the back instead of the sides to make them more snag resistant so I can work them closer to structure. Off the rear treble hook, I run a light wire arm, a small ball bearing swivel, a short length of elastic band, and a flasher blade to kick behind the sucker as it swims for extra trigger. The sucker should break free from the rig very easily to ensure proper hook ups. It should be so lightly hooked that it needs to be placed in the water by hand and picked up out of the wa-ter by hand as well. Lifting it by the rig, line, or rod should cause the sucker to break free and fall off.

For depth control and proper slow trolling (.1-.3 mph), I always work each sucker under a 5 oz. salmon stalker slip bobber with a 4 oz. egg sinker. The elongated bob-ber keeps it from dragging in the wa-ter and sliding down the line when trolled slowly. The large weight keeps the sucker in the depth zone I want and right near the musky hold-ing structure I am working. The weight keeps suckers struggling in one place, which is very tantalizing, but also keeps them from tangling in structure in most cases. Many muskies in fall are very hungry, but somewhat neutral. I have watched rigged suckers with lighter weight escape muskies that I think would have bit. The musky just didn’t want to work that hard. Precision is the name of the game In the last decade, large musky specific soft plastic lures have been developed and marketed with tremendous success, and for good reason. They catch lots of muskies and big fish as well. These

lures come in many sizes, shapes, styles, and weights. They are most effective for working all but the shallowest structure, as even the lighter models sink a little too fast. One problem with many of these lures (even the more popular ones) is that they are not all that durable and often poorly made as their man-ufacture is frequently outsourced to China. However, Red October Baits out of Buffalo, New York has come up with a great solution to this prob-

lem. They make large tubes and twisted tubes that have excellent ac-tion, great colors, and interchange-able hardware. When the plastic is shot, the hardware can be removed and put into a new plastic at mini-mal cost, just like similar lures for any other species. No more $30 lures ruined when the tail falls off after the first hour of casting.


Live bait presentations are another staple of fall musky fishing that are as old as the sport itself. However, techniques for using live bait for muskies have evolved over the years into modern precision tactics designed to work specific depth zones and structure, ensure longevity and action of live bait, and to capture muskies efficiently and without injury.




N A T U R A L L A K E S

Natural Lakes

In early fall, natural lakes that come on the best are those that reached water temperatures of 80 F or greater during the summer. For instance the lakes in my neighbor-hood west of Minneapolis, Minne-sota almost always fall into this cat-egory, which makes them very tough from the middle of July through mid August. However, as the nights start to cool in late August and early September the muskies invade the shallows to feed as they reach more tolerable temperatures. Fishing is often tremendous at this time, and picking apart key areas of shallow structure pays big dividends. Shal-low gliding jerkbaits and topwater lures are amazing at this time. They have excellent triggering ability and hang up little in the shallow cover. Live bait will work at this time, but will not reach its peak strike pro-ducing potential until later in the season. Also, higher water temper-atures make it tricky to keep baits

alive long enough to get eaten. An-other factor that draws the muskies in is that these lakes have huge panfish populations that also come into the shallow milfoil as the water cools. Muskies love targeting these vast schools when large populations are present.

Most inland natural lakes strat-ify during summer, and thus expe-rience turnover during the fall tran-sition period. Fishing is generally poor during turnover, but because of climate differences and physical characteristics of individual lakes, each lake experiences turnover at different times. For instance, the further north a lake is, the cooler the weather will be, and the sooner it will cool and experience turnover. If a lake is smaller, it has less vol-ume at its given temperature than a larger lake in the same climate zone, and will cool faster because the outside temperature affects it at a greater rate. Just as a smaller lake warms more quickly in the spring, they cool more quickly in

the fall. Smaller lakes usually expe-rience turnover before larger lakes in the same climate zone. Learn-ing to judge when individual lakes will undergo turnover allows me to avoid them when they do, as action is usually poor. If I want to fish a natural lake during the first part of fall transition, I find those that are pre-turnover. During the last part of fall transition, I look for those that already have. If I must fish a lake that is experiencing turnover (for a tournament or otherwise), I can of-ten find active muskies in very shal-low areas that are seeking refuge from the turbulent instability of the process. Topwaters and any other very shallow running presentations work well for such fish.

I consider the late fall and post-turnover period on natural lakes to be one and the same. The late fall period is usually the most produc-tive time to fish natural lakes. Good early fall action can rival good late fall action in many ways, but late fall usually reigns supreme on all

The late fall period is usually the most productive time to fish natural lakes. Good early fall action can rival good late fall action in many ways, but late fall usually reigns supreme on all natural lakes for big musky action. The big girls experience a physiological need to feed and the boating traffic and fishing pressure that puts them down is the lowest of all season.



natural lakes for big musky action. The big girls experience a physio-logical need to feed and the boating traffic and fishing pressure that puts them down is the lowest it will be all season. Water temperatures ex-perienced during late fall are usually 50-36 F. Presentations that maintain tantalizing action at a slow rate of forward progress are the most effec-tive. For instance I work a Manta Hang 10 with very fast long glides that run almost perpendicular to the path of the retrieve, and I pause it 2-6 seconds in between glides. The speed of the lure when it moves is very fast, but it moves forward very slow. It teases the muskies to the extreme, but gives them lots of time to approach and strike.

The late fall period is the time when I pay very close attention to the type of lake I am fishing and the type of muskies I am fishing for. If I am targeting muskies in northern Wisconsin on deep clear lakes, I am hitting water 15-40’ deep because those muskies tend to work deep structure and forage in late fall. However, if I am fishing for Leech

Lake strain muskies in southern Minnesota, I am fishing 2-16’ deep because that type of musky usually uses shallow structure all the way through freeze up, working whatev-er forage is present. It is just their nature to do so. I have watched them herding, ambushing, and slashing through schools of crappies on a 3’ weed edge at 40 F. Ten years ago, I would never have thought I would witness such a thing, but that just proves the value of experience.

In late fall, the type of forage muskies are using in natural lakes will dictate their location and hab-its. It is tough to classify an en-tire natural lake by its forage base, because most natural lakes have at least two different and substan-tial types of forage. For instance, I will not classify lakes as “sucker” or “cisco” lakes. Lakes with lots of ciscoes usually have a large popula-tion of white suckers, and inevita-bly certain segments of the musky population will chase either or both. Lakes with no ciscoes will often have lots of suckers, but these lakes will also have strong populations of

carp and gamefish, such as panfish and walleyes that muskies target at times. Successful anglers take into account every type of forage a lake has to offer its muskies. Over-looking a forage source that many muskies are targeting can make for poor times on the water.

Muskies that target ciscoes are tough customers most of the year. Ciscoes are pelagic and therefore roam in schools over vast open wa-ter lake basins in search of plankton and small invertebrates. Muskies base their movements in relation to these schools and predicting and/or locating any of this activity can be very tricky. However, in late fall just before freeze up, ciscoes roam close to their spawning areas and become easier for anglers to locate. Ciscoes spawn near 40 F on main lake shore-lines and off shore structure with a sand and gravel bottom that is clean and free of debris. These areas must be directly adjacent to deeper water to give the ciscoes easy access to both their spawning structure and




F A L L M U S K Y E F F E C T Sdeep water refuge. Usually, they spawn towards the top of a steep breakline. Spawning often takes place around a full moon.

Cisco schools stay very close to these areas for 1-2 weeks in late November and muskies often work them very heavily. Muskies that feed on them all season are al-

ready in the area, and other muskies that did not often move in as well to take advantage of the short term vulnerability. At close proximity to shore, the ciscoes eliminate at least one direction of their own escape. Normally, they can flee 360 degrees from muskies when their schools are rushed, but now the muskies can herd them against the very struc-ture they will use to spawn, pinning them in and making them much easier prey. Working presentations right along this structure in antici-pation of these movements can lead to excellent days on the water and

huge musky encounters. Often the biggest muskies in the lake are those that target ciscoes.

I like to use weighted Bobbie Baits, Mr. Automatic gliders, sink-ing crankbaits, large soft plastics, and live suckers in these areas. Both trolling and casting presentations can be effective, but I think casting

lures and position fishing live bait allows for the closest proximity of presentations to structure which is the key to triggering strikes. Put-ting presentations directly in the kill zone when the frenzy is on will lead to the greatest success. These fren-zies are extremely brief in duration and very sporadic in occurrence, so relentless persistence is crucial on the part of the angler to be in the right place at the right time. I find these schools of forage using my electronics, decide which adjacent structure they are using, and work those areas for long periods of time.

If the forage is there, chances are the muskies will be there too, but it can take a little time for them to make their move.

Lakes in the upper Midwest that have no ciscoes usually have sucker, carp, panfish, and/or walleye forage bases. In northern Wisconsin, these species tend to roam deep structure in small schools. Deep in this case is completely relative. In a shallow lake, deep might mean 6-10’, in a deep lake it might mean 20-40’. Fishing deep running presentations precisely around deep structure will produce the best. The name of the game in cold water is always pre-cision. Good looking presentations in the right zone will get bit. I like slow trolling suckers with my elec-tric motor while casting weighted bobbies, sinking cranks, or large soft plastics. I run one sucker 3-5’ above the top of the structure 15-20 yards behind the boat for a boat shy monster, one sucker 1-2’ above the structure 5-10’ behind the boat, and one sucker right beneath the cast-ing anglers half way off the bottom for active followers. Of course, this can only be done where motor trolling is legal. If motor trolling is prohibited, this can be done by row-ing. Boat control and closely tend-ed sucker lines are critical, so team work is a must. One person needs to be running the electric motor or oars at all times. With use of the electric motor, the boat control per-son can make some casts depending on the difficulty of boat control. If rowing, the oarsman won’t be able to cast. At least one more person is necessary to be the sucker wrangler, which can also turn into a hectic job




with active suckers and tangling snaggy structure. A third angler to always have an artificial in the water is always nice to keep follows com-ing in. If I am fishing alone, I fish lakes where trolling is legal, and if conditions are right (usually mean-ing not too much wind), I can work two suckers and cast an artificial.

In southern Minnesota where I live, the lakes I fish have mostly carp, walleye, bullhead and panfish as the muskies’ forage base. However, as mentioned before, these Leech Lake strain muskies mostly relate to the weed edge which is almost always dense well defined milfoil. They are there all fall, eating whatever is present. Depending on clarity, the edge may be in 3-18’ of water, so whatever presentations work the edge well usually do well. Often, muskies are very high on the edge, but as the water gets very cold they may drop to the bottom of the edge a bit. Water temperature dictates my presentation speed, and if the water is warmer a wide array of baits will work. However, as the water cools, slow baits with lots of trigger and live suckers work the best. When targeting shallow water, topwaters and shallow gliders are my favorite. In deep water, I go to soft plastics and weighted bobbies. Once the water drops below 55 F, I start using suckers. Since it is a shallow weed edge bite, I fish them 15-25 yards behind the boat where muskies feel more comfortable striking them. I work them 2-3’ shallower than the depth of the base of the weedline, so from 1-15’ from the bottom of the bobber to the snout of the sucker. Watching muskies tear after suckers in shallow water is a real treat.





F L O W A G E S

Flowages

Most reservoirs in the upper Midwest that contain muskies are in Wisconsin. These are mostly low land reservoirs and are referred to as “flowages.” These flowages range in size from under 50 acres to over 20,000 acres. They fish much like natural lakes, especially the larger ones. Most flowages have a for-age base of suckers, carp, panfish, and/or walleye; but a few have cis-coes as well. Flowages typically have stained water that looks like tea, root beer, or coffee in appear-ance. Stained water still has good visibility as long as it is not murky, but the dark nature of the water keeps most of the musky action in the 4-20’ zone. In large flowages,

main lake structure such as islands, reefs, points, narrows, and current hold muskies; especially if they are near old river and creek channels. In these areas; rocks, wood, and live vegetation concentrate the most muskies. I target these muskies the same way I would in natural lakes. Small flowages fish differently. Most are narrow and fish much like slow stretches of rivers. Look for log jams, fallen trees, rock piles, steep banks, channel edges, current-ed areas, and any remaining vegeta-tion to be holding muskies. Small flowages that are part of larger river systems are my favorites to fish in fall, because as water temperatures drop, muskies that spent the sum-mer up in the river often move into the flowage in anticipation of win-

ter. This influx of muskies increases the population density and thus for-age competition as well. The larger the influx, the larger the increase in aggression, and the better the ac-tion will be. Multiple fish days are very possible. I like to drag suckers while working artificial lures. Wind usually isn’t too much of a problem on small flowages so multiple lines and precise boat control become much less of a hassle. I have had 5 suckers eaten in less than an hour on multiple occasions on small flowag-es. Another benefit of small flow-ages is that they do not stratify and therefore have a stable bite while other lakes in the area are turning over.

Photograph courtesy Wisconsinlakes.com

Lowland flowages such as the Turtle-Flambeau Flowage in Iron County,Wisconsin, tend to receive an influx of muskies from their river systems dur-ing the fall months.




In large flowages, main lake structure such as islands, reefs, points, narrows, and current hold muskies; especially if they are near old river and creek chan-nels. In these areas; rocks, wood, and live vegetation concentrate the most muskies. I target these muskies the same way I would in natural lakes.


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R I V E R S

Rivers

Musky rivers in the upper Mid-west are some of my favorite wa-ters to fish. They have prehistoric musky populations that still thrive today and see much less pressure than those in more accessible waters. River muskies are less prone to the negative effects of cold fronts and high skies, but summer often brings instability to rivers in the form of torrential rains. Such instability makes finding good action spotty at best, but during fall the weather and river conditions usually stabilize, and combined with cooling water temperatures, action can be fantas-tic. Of course, rivers do not stratify and are great options to fish during October while area lakes are turn-ing over. Turnover on lakes can be tricky to judge, so rivers are great for those who don’t want to worry about it.

In small and medium sized rivers, the water continues to cool as fall progresses and muskies and

their forage begin to move towards wintering areas. These rivers are mostly swift and shallow (under 6’ deep) and a wintering area is any large deep slower pool, which can be very far and few between. Muskies may have to migrate long distances to reach these areas. They migrate through less than ideal ar-eas using deeper cuts and any struc-ture they can find to lessen their ex-posure along the way. They can be found and caught from these areas, but covering ground is the name of the game. Places where they rest a bit in their travels are below rapids that will take considerable energy to traverse. They may hole up in a current break waiting to make their move. Of course, a nice meal for an extra boost wouldn’t hurt, and in these areas muskies are vulnerable to a well made presentation.

By late October or early No-vember, water temperatures are in the low 50’s F and muskies are pret-ty much settled into their wintering areas. Most of these areas that I

have found are used year after year, and the muskies in them are fairly concentrated, hungry, and aggres-sive. My favorite lures for targeting these fish are Manta Hang 10’s for working out the upper water col-umn and weighted Bobbie Baits for working a little deeper. I use Bob-bies that have a very slow rise and no heavier for the same reason that I don’t use soft plastics much. I want to be able to pause my deep running lures and have them rise out of the heavy structure that is common in rivers. If the water is deeper than 16’ (which is rare), sinking lures will work out the depths nicely and hang up much less than if they are used shallower. Live suckers under bobbers are also very effective in these holes. If the current is slow enough working suckers is fairly easy, if the area has some fast spots a little practice will be needed for proper presentation control. I keep them at half the depth of the water being fished. This will keep them in the strike zone, but will also keep

River muskies are less prone to the negative effects of cold fronts and high skies, but summer often brings instability to riv-ers in the form of torrential rains. Such instability makes finding good action spotty at best, but during fall the weather and river conditions usually stabilize, and combined with cooling water temperatures, action can be fantastic.



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them just above snags along the bottom. I also like to anchor at the upstream end of the hole and drift them naturally down stream with the current, paying out just enough line to keep up with the current flow, creating a natural drift.

The musky season will usu-ally end before these holes are fro-zen over. Action will be excellent until water temps reach about 40 F. Colder than that, and action will slow a bit, however the potential for a very large musky is still great. Below 40 F, presentations must be made very slow and deliberate to trigger strikes. Action will get very tough below 36 or 37 F.

Large rivers are much slower and deeper and fish more like lakes than rivers in my opinion. Large rivers in the upper mid-west with musky populations are also much rarer than small and medium sized musky rivers. During early fall, muskies are often holding around the same shallow weedy points that held them during summer. As the water cools, they often abandon these areas to chase forage in the

vast depths, where trollers usually have the best action. Muskies fol-low migratory forage and station around schools of forage preparing to hold for winter. The muskies can be tough to find in these vast environments, but big fish can be caught once they are located and patterned.

Feeling the Effect

I always find it humorous when somebody makes the statement, “It’s a good fall lake.” I can’t think of a musky water that isn’t good in the fall. Fall in the upper mid-west is by far the most productive time to fish muskies. Also, the two great-est annoyances to the musky angler (insects and recreational traffic), have both died off. Timing is ev-erything in fall. Finding waters that are on and avoiding those that are off is critical for success. I waste no time finding water that is on. If I find a bite that is poor, I move to different water immediately. At any one time during fall, there are many waters across Minnesota and Wis-

consin with musky populations that are going nuts. Days are short in the fall and the season will be over far too soon.





“In late fall, the type of forage muskies are using in natural lakes will dictate their location and habits. It is tough to classify an entire natural lake by its forage base, because most natural lakes have at least two different and substantial types of forage. For instance, I will not classify lakes as “sucker” or “cisco” lakes. Lakes with lots of ciscoes usually have a large population of white suckers, and inevitably certain segments of the musky population will chase either or both. Lakes with no ciscoes will often have lots of suckers, but these lakes will also have strong populations of carp and gamefish, such as panfish and wall-eyes that muskies target at times. Successful anglers take into account every type of forage a lake has to offer its muskies. Overlooking a forage source that many muskies are targeting can make for poor times on the water.”

- Adam Glickman




Adam’s Honest MuskyAdam Glickman, 30, has musky fished since 12. Born and raised in Northern WI, but currently residing west of Minneapolis in MN, he fishes heavily in WI and MN, and travels the country in search of quality fisheries whenever he can. Adam is a field editor with MUSKIE Magazine, and has put hundreds of muskies in the bottom of the net.

Visit Adam’s website dedicated to musky fishing information, education, and multimedia at:

http://www.honestmusky.com



MUSKIES

On The FlyP A R T O N E O F A T W O P A R T I N T R O D U C T O R Y S E R I E S B Y D R E W P R I C E .



MUSKIES

On The FlyP A R T O N E O F A T W O P A R T I N T R O D U C T O R Y S E R I E S B Y D R E W P R I C E .

Photograph by Drew Price



M U S K I E S O N T H E F L Y




By: Drew PriceFishing-Headquarters Contributor

For most anglers the word musky (or muskie) conjures up im-ages. Huge aquatic assassins that can eat almost anything but can be very difficult to catch. The fish of 10,000 casts is often said. What if there were a means of angling that helped cut that number down con-siderably?

I have found that a fly rod can be a very effective tool to catch these water wolves. One of my best friends used hardware for muskies until a few years ago. Now he strict-ly fly fishes for them. Perhaps the best endorsement for the use of the long rod on ‘lunge comes from Brad Bohen, owner and head guide of Musky Country Outfitters who says, “Fly rods are flat out deadly in the right hands.” He should know- his guide service landed 161 muskies on the fly last year and he estimates that there will be over 300 boated this year (they are close to half-way at this point in 2011).

Becoming a successful musky fly angler doesn’t happen over-night however. It takes time to de-velop those skills to routinely boat muskies. Let’s get in to what it takes…

Basic Equipment

The most important starting place is basic equipment. What you will want to look into is a good bal-anced 10 weight outfit. There are plenty of excellent rods on the mar-ket and there are now a few pike and musky specific sticks on the market such as the Pike Saber. One of the key elements is to get a fairly light-weight rod that isn’t going to tire you out casting all day, because you will be casting all day. Fast action is probably the best action to choose. Flies will be large and often need to be cast good distances. And the rod also needs to be able to throw mul-tiple lines with ease.

Muskie Reels

Combine your rod with a de-cent reel that balances well with the rod you are using. This will help keep the outfit from tiring you out. A good reel doesn’t have to be any-thing overly fancy, but a good drag is a very nice feature to have. Large and medium arbor reels are excel-lent choices to help pick up line faster too. One helpful suggestion with reels is to not load them to the max with backing. Muskies don’t tend to run too far or too fast so you can get away with using 200 yards of backing instead of 300, especial-ly with the new gel spun backing. You will find that having that extra space in the spool will make it much easier to put line on your reel during a fight.

Fly Lines

There are a wide variety of fly lines on the market right now and many will serve the musky bug chucker well. Fly line choice is heavily dependent upon the time of year and type of fly you will be using. Floating lines are excellent

choices for topwater flies and are also great for some streamer ap-plications as well. I highly recom-mend overlining a rod with a line weight one heavier than the rod or using one of the new specialty lines that are intentionally over the line weight grain size. One example of this is Rio’s Outbound and Out-bound short lines. These lines make throwing a larger and or heavier fly much more pleasant. They also help to get the distance you need.

Intermediate, sink tip and sinking lines are really the best bet when fishing streamers. Getting the fly down to the fish and keeping it there makes a huge difference when you are chasing muskies. A variety of these lines will serve the purpose well. It can also require tweaking to suit your needs. Bohen points out, “I cut every tip I get down to suit my needs...to match the rod and the fly and the water I intend to fish. Gen-erally I take about 5’-6’ off most standard tips...in the range of 18’-24’ being left and what I work with using my standard 9’ 10wt rod.” For most situations his recommendation is the use of an intermediate line. I would agree that if you have to have one line an intermediate would be the first choice, but to be a versatile angler multiple lines will make a huge difference. The perfect musky line has yet to be designed however. Brad Bohen claims, “I’ll say that I think most fly line manufactures have a ways to go in making a good musky fly line...the durability needs to improve as does the manageabil-ity of the running lines.”

Casting Methods

No matter what rod/reel/line combination you have and use, be




sure you know how to use it prop-erly! Practice casting both distance and accuracy to have your best days on the water. If you want to play the game well you had best put in time using your equipment. If you are a novice fly caster time with a cast-ing instructor that knows big flies and heavy gear is worth its weight in gold. Learn to double haul if you can’t already or get help to improve your current double haul. I promise you that if you do not put any time into casting you will not be as suc-cessful as you would like to be and your muscles will hurt you far more at the end of the day (they will hurt if you are casting well too). Remem-

ber to practice in all conditions- be ready for anything. If you only practice on sunny, windless days and you get on the water in wind and rain you won’t be ready for it. Once again, Brad puts it best, “Time on the water with a 10 weight will bring out the best caster in you.”

Line Management

Since you will be making long casts, line management becomes an issue. There may be times you can get out and wade which will make this simpler, but much of the time you will be in a boat. In Bohen’s words, “In the musky on the fly

game you strip back to the boat and actually bring the fly line to lead-er butt connection into the tip top guide on nearly every cast.” That leaves a bunch of line on the deck to shoot out each and every cast. A key element to line management is to make sure that your casing area is free of anything that can catch a fly line. When I am out I insist that anglers keep the area around their feet clear of everything- including water bottles, flies, fly boxes, tools, etc. Not only will this help ensure good casting potential but it will also prevent some of these objects from being sent into the drink. Even with your best efforts you will end




up with tangles in your running lines. Welcome to the musky on the fly game.

Leaders

Leaders tend to be pretty sub-jective to angler preference. When I am fishing with a floating line using topwater flies I use tapered leaders in the 12 to 20lb class. Often I put on a sinking leader to fish streamers with a floating line. A few sinking leaders are worth having in your bag of tricks. They are great for stream-ers and also for Dahlberg Divers and poppers. They give a bigger pop or deeper diver to a topwater fly. A short leader of less than 4 feet is your best bet on the end of an in-

termediate or sinking line. Longer leaders have a tendency to cause the fly to float from the end of a sinking line, especially if you use nylon tip-pet. I am partial to using fluorocar-bon tippet most of the time. Fluoro sinks, is less visible, and most im-portantly, is very abrasion resistant. Depending on what size muskies I expect to encounter I will use any-where from 15 to 30 lb tippet. Other folks like heavier tippet in the 40 or 50 lb. range.

One of the most critical com-ponents in the terminal tackle of a musky set up is the bite guard. It seems that every musky angler has his or her own personal preference for this. Brad Bohen and his guides use 18” 60 or 80 lb fluorocarbon

bites pre-tied to flies that have a perfection loop on the end. He uses this to form a loop to loop connec-tion with his leader. He can quickly change flies with this set up but he does admit that they will get the oc-casional bite off with this set up. I am a wire man myself. I use 40 or 60lb tie-able wire most of the time, although I will use lighter for float-ing flies. I have not had any bite offs with the wire but I will say that I do have to change the wire multiple times in a day of hard fishing. Wire does have a tendency to pig- tail, most notably when tugged hard on a snag. No matter what material you make your wire bite out of, check




it often and if it seems like it could be compromised in any manner, change it. Big muskies don’t come to your fly every day and make sure your equipment is up to the task.

Some fly anglers will debate other terminal tackle and whether it should be used for fly fishing. I of-ten use a good swivel of 50 or 80lb between my tippet and bite guard. I do this for two reasons: it makes tying knots simpler and faster and it helps prevent line twist in the fly line. There are anglers that will argue that it adds weight or causes hing-ing in the leader. Personally neither of these situations has been an is-sue for me. If you feel that they are, don’t use a swivel. Another piece of terminal tackle that some folks

like, my buddy Marty Sienkiewycz included, is a snap or other device to make fly changes easier. He re-cently started using a clip called a Stringease “Fastach multi-use clip” with great success. I haven’t tried it yet personally, but a day of watch-ing him fish one this summer has me curious enough to try it. No matter what other terminal tackle you use be sure to get good quality compo-nents. There is nothing worse than getting into a big fish and loosing it because of a 5 cent swivel.

Proper Knot Tying

There are a number of knots that are very useful to learn for fly fishing for muskies. The Perfection

Loop is what you want for loop-to-loop systems. An Albright Knot is one of the best ways to tie tippet di-rectly to either wire or fluorocarbon bite tippet. I use a Trilene Knot to tie tippet to swivels but with heavy tie-able wire or fluorocarbon I will use a Clinch Knot. Perhaps one of the most important knots to know to tie on a fly in wire or fluoro is the Non-Slip Mono Loop Knot. When tied properly this knot gives excel-lent strength and supplies a loop that imparts action to the fly.

A critical element to any of these knots is to know how to tie them well. Don’t head out on your first musky trip with a knot book, new leader material and hope for the best. It won’t end well. Spend


Intermediate, sink tip and sinking lines are really the best bet when fishing streamers. Getting the fly down to the fish and keeping it there makes a huge difference when you are chasing muskies. A variety of these lines will serve the purpose well. It can also require tweaking to suit your needs.



the time that it takes to learn how to tie these knots correctly so they seat well and hold up to abuse. When you are on the water, don’t be afraid to really reef on them to make sure they hold up to the abuse you can give them. I guarantee what you do does not compare to the hurt that a big ‘skie will put on it. Once again, if it doesn’t seem right to you then replace the knot. It is not worth los-ing a fish over.

Tools & Accessories

There are other items that can make your life much nicer on the water. I never leave on any kind of fishing trip without a good pair of pliers that have blades that can cut

both tippet and wire. They might be expensive, but they are worth their weight in gold. I carry two sets of jaw spreaders in my bag to make it safer to get flies back. Classic jaw spreaders work well, but round the edges of the jaws with a file to less-en any potential damage to the fish. This year I found Tyrant Tackle’s jaw spreaders which are a lot safer for the fish and I really prefer them. No matter what kind you carry, bring a spare. Once a fish starts go-ing bonkers they are likely to end up on the bottom of the lake or river you are fishing. Another tool I have found useful for both retrieving flies and handling fish is a Boga-Grip. Definitely a safe way to maintain control of a bigger fish but be sure

not to lift a musky or pike out of the water vertically with one. Muskies are long fish and lifting them verti-cally can cause damage to their in-ternal organs.

I always make sure I have a couple of hook hone devices with me: a diamond file and a standard file. Standard files are great to really give a quick sharpen and a diamond file will give you that fine edge that can really get into a muskies mouth quick. I use the thumbnail rule with my flies- if it can stick into my thumbnail with ease then it can stick a musky! The final piece of equip-ment that I consider critical is a camera. You are going to work hard for a trophy musky and you should have the evidence to prove you got



I have found that a fly rod can be a very effective tool to catch these water wolves. One of my best friends used hardware for muskies until a few years ago. Now he strictly fly fishes for them. Becoming a successful musky fly angler doesn’t happen overnight however. It takes time to develop those skills to routinely boat muskies.


one.You may have noticed that I did

not mention using a net. In a word- don’t! Standard nets are no good for fish like pike and muskies. They fold them unnaturally and have a tendency to slough off a lot of their protective slime. That would be fine if you were to keep one, but if you are like me you will want to release your fish unharmed to get bigger and make more muskies. Remember that a musky over 40” is most likely a female and the larger females pro-duce the most viable eggs. These larger fish are vital to the long term health of musky populations. If you need a landing device use a cradle. Cradles are made specifically for longer fish and are much safer for the fish.

The Pursuit with Fly is Special

Why go through all of this trou-ble using a fly rod for muskies when you can chuck big lures instead? Well, I can think of several reasons. First, it is the challenge of fooling an apex predator on a fly. Secondly, it is absolutely deadly if you know what you are doing. Twice I have boated 7 muskies in a day of fish-ing and Brad Bohen had a 10 fish day this year. Not too shabby, huh? Lastly, it is just a different experi-ence.

I have caught some muskies on casting and spinning gear and I had fun with it, but a fly rod is a more sensitive tool. You really feel that connection to the fish much more intimately. Any musky brought to hand gives a real sense of satisfac-tion, but one caught on a fly seems even more special.






Drew Price is an avid multi-species angler who resides in Montpelier, Vermont, and contributes to an array of online publications and is a writer for Orvis News. Frequently referred as a “Fish Geek”, Drew spends a lot of time crawling around trout streams but is just as comfortable in his canoes on large rivers or wetland areas. Drew fly fishes for everything from sunfish and muskies to king salmon and brook trout. If he had a soft spot for any group of fish it is the oddballs that most people don’t think of as fly rod targets such as bowfin, longnose gar, fresh-water drum, suckers and carp.

To read more about Drew Price and his angling pursuits, or to schedule a guide trip, you may visit him online at:

http://www.drewpriceonthefly.com/



MIDNIGHTMADNESSPeak Period Fishing: October and November is the most productive time of the year to wade rivers after dark for walleyes.

By Andrew Ragas

<< Matt Coppolino, with a 26 inch, 7 lb. walleye.

Dan Sims with a 28 inch, 8 pound monster >>



Dan Sims with a 28 inch, 8 pound monster >> Photograph by Andrew Ragas


N I G H T S H I F T W A L L E Y E S



If you can brave the colder air and water temperatures and navi-gate and wade your way around riv-ers in darkness, fall walleye fishing can be a tremendous amount of fun. Many anglers turn to the autumn season for deer hunting and sitting on the couch for weekend football. But for those of us who are aware of the madness that occurs on our local river systems after dark, the

fall season is simply the best time of the year for catching big river wall-eyes.

I’ve observed that fall fishing just about anywhere in the Midwest can be a lonely event. For the first time all year, it feels strange to have so much water available to yourself and a few other diehards. What are the odds of having the entire river all to you? In this day and age of increased angling pressure and the popularity of fishing, you get the feeling that something must be wrong with this picture. But don’t be concerned about it. Chances are that nothing is wrong and every-thing is right.

During my last five seasons of fishing, the months of October and November have proven to be my most productive period for catch-ing big walleyes. Fishing during the fall months on any river system throughout the Midwest leads to the biggest catches of fish than at any other time of the year.

Motivated to Migrate

As the end of summer rolls into fall, seasonal triggers such as cooling water temperatures, less daylight, and baitfish migrations occur. Consequently, these occur-rences send schooling walleye on an upstream river migration. These up-stream migrations usually lead wall-eyes several miles away from their previously known locations. Many fish species, including walleye, mi-grate in search of food, sometimes over considerable distances despite the increased risk of predation and harvest. This explains why walleye are nocturnal and will predominant-ly run at night; to evade harm, and to prey on the less adapted diurnal forage species.

As water temperatures cool down into the 55 to 60 degree range, usually beginning in late Septem-ber for much of the Midwest, the fish become restless and go on the move during the nighttime hours. They retreat from their summertime



Photographs by Andrew Ragas

deep water locations for areas with more gradient and current, shal-lower pools with rocky habitat, and more abundant food sources. Wall-eyes will stay active and be on the move for several weeks until water temperatures eventually drop into the 40 degree range. Usually this occurs by end of November. Fish receive the signals that winter is near and their metabolism will slow. By then they will start retreating to their wintering holes and grow dif-ficult to catch.

Just like the spring spawning season, the fall migration creates a high concentration of fish. How-ever, unlike the spring when fish are on the move to reproduce, the pur-pose for the fall migrations are for the fish to feed and store fat content for winter survival. Hence, the fall run is referred to as a feeding mi-gration.

Walleye Locations

On any Midwestern river sys-tem, walleyes tend to spread out and solitarily roam the waters throughout

the year. Fall walleyes, on the other hand, tend to migrate in schools, and are found in concentrated num-bers. In addition, they become much more active, and feed aggressively all day long.

Active walleyes that are lo-cated in identifiable locations lead to peak fishing conditions. Locat-ing these fish is the first piece of the puzzle.

The majority of my searches for productive water usually begins by consulting with fellow river rats and then browsing online satellite maps for locating potential water including access sites. By study-ing satellite maps, I’m often able to pick out areas with current, riffle runs, pools, and likely holes without needing to see the river firsthand. Since most of my fall walleye fish-ing occurs after dark, I will always do the preliminary research before-hand during the daytime, especially if I need to visit the area to test the waters and see it for myself. It’s best to know where you will be fishing and wading the river if you can see it. Otherwise you could be asking

for trouble by doing it as you get there at night.

Another productive means for locating fish is by heading as far upstream as known the fish can travel. From there, begin methodi-cally wading and casting your way downstream, covering every hole and pool encountered. Good start-ing points for me are dams or any other barriers preventing further migration. Despite the increased an-gling pressure dams and other simi-lar landmarks receive, these are the some of the best places to begin an outing.

During autumn, walleyes tend to relate to deeper pools that are just downstream of dams and large rocky riffle runs. On wadeable riv-ers and their tributaries, these pools are usually anywhere from 3 to 6 foot deep. The river in the most productive pools will have current flow that is in a low to mid-gradient state, and the bottom will be littered with underwater obstructions such as rocks, boulders, and even wood.



This underwater structure tends to attract forage species such as perch, suckers, chubs, shad, and other pe-lagic baitfish species. Consequently, due to the refuge provided by these areas, as well as their food source aspects, walleyes will consistently stage and roam through these areas, utilizing the both structure and the smorgasbord of available prey.

Besides dams and riffle runs, other areas such as gravel bars, wing dams, and deeper shoreline holes that create eddies will con-sistently hold fish throughout fall. These areas serve as outlets from the current. They are all prone to hold fish because they have depth, shape and deflect the current, and can be accessed by wading from the shallow upstream sides and casting directly into the deeper pools they

create downstream. To locate walleyes during fall,

I have learned that it’s best to try fishing multiple areas throughout the night rather than rely on solely one area. Since fish are on the move, peak fishing is maximized by fish-ing these high percentage areas due to their likelihood of holding fish at any time. Based on my experiences, spot-hopping until fish are located is the best way to stay productive and gives anglers the best chance at consistently catching them. Lastly, if the moon is shining overhead, use that to your advantage as the major-ity of my nighttime river walleyes are caught under brighter condi-tions.

Choose Rivers Wisely

Most rivers do not fish the same and unfortunately, not all of them provide great walleye fishing. Most normal river systems are com-prised of great habitat ranging from hard-bottomed rock, boulder, and gravel, to stretches with sand, mud, and wood. In addition, they may have well defined channels, distinct pools and holes, and a combination of current with slackwater. Howev-er, these factors are not the deciding points for me in whether the river is worthwhile to fish or not. In order to determine the productiveness of a river, there are a few different things to examine.

First, I check the amount of dams on the particular river system. Without question, dams greatly re-duce the amount of walleyes in a river system, regardless of stocking


The fall seems to be the time of year most trophy walleyes are caught. There is a reason for this. Most trophy walleye caught during the fall are typically females. The female is looking to eat a large quantity of food to nourish her develop-ing eggs. If you can figure out what is turning them on, you could have the fishing experience of your life.




programs or not. Worst of all, they prevent seasonal fish migrations from occurring for a variety of spe-cies. In this scenario, walleyes are a victim of dams. Once they reach the impassible barrier, their upstream run is over. In some situations, dams even prevent natural reproduction from taking place. The quality of fishing can be greatly improved by reducing the number of dams.

Individual experience suggests that dams truly do prevent good fishing from taking place. This proof came to me during October and November, 2010.

Every fall, a group from Fish-ing-Headquarters gathers at a Northern Illinois river of our choice for a period of 8 weeks to enjoy the camaraderie and to catch fish after work. In previous years our walleye league nights were held with suc-cess along the heavily overlooked and very productive Des Plaines

River. However, a few spirited an-glers decided switch our locations for 2010, forcing our league nights to take place at various landmarks along the more convenient for them, and less productive, Fox River.

The Fox River is a medium sized river, flowing 115 miles in Northern Illinois from Antioch, through the famed Chain O’ Lakes, then southward past several of Chi-cago’s furthest west suburbs and communities before emptying into the Illinois River. Along the way, there are 15 dams which the river flows through, with several of them being only 5 to 10 miles apart from one another.

Over the course of six straight weeks, our contingency of anglers did not catch a single fish while fishing several known walleye lo-cations. This was not surprising to me. Meanwhile, a separate group, who refused to be shut-out unlike

the others, headed back to the Des Plaines River system to fish the river and its tributaries. By early November while others were still beating the Fox, we enjoyed catch-ing walleyes every night on the Des Plaines. The difference between our success and the lack of theirs is the fact that the Des Plaines is a barrier-free river system for over 75 miles. It also connects to multiple larger rivers and smaller tributaries along the way that are without barriers themselves. The lack of any dams obviously allows fish to make their yearly fall feeding migrations, and enables the fish populations to re-main strong within the many miles of refuge and inter-connected water-ways they can seek along the way.

In addition to dams, it’s no secret that places with current at-tract fish. Many of my best wall-eye streams have equal amounts of current with slackwater areas that

Despite their productiveness for good fishing, dams are the worst possible barriers that prevent fish migrations from taking place. Once walleyes reach the impassible barrier, their upstream run is over. The quality of fishing can be greatly improved by reducing the amount of dams on our river systems.





provide refuge. Current is benefi-cial to walleyes in several ways: It provides dissolved oxygen content required for survival throughout the year. It also traps struggling baitfish and forces them downstream to an-ticipating feeding walleyes. Current leads to reduced visibility for every-thing in the river system, and causes baitfish to become disoriented. Due to their excellent vision, and natural instincts to keep keel with the river bottom, walleye take full advantage of everything that comes to them through the current.

Another thing I look for is whether my river system intercon-nects with other tributaries, and flows into reservoirs. Throughout

states such as Wisconsin, Min-nesota, and the Dakotas, several river systems possess outstanding walleye fisheries because fish have miles upon miles of water to make their seasonal movements. I have had my best success fishing river systems that have these “open wa-ter” qualities where fish can migrate upstream from the reservoirs up into the river and vice-versa with-out having to worry about barriers. Consequently these inland waters contain the highest populations of fish that can be found anywhere in the Midwest.

Finally, most of my best rivers are fished when current flow is sta-ble and water levels stay consistent

throughout the entire months of Oc-tober and November. Heavy periods of rainfall during autumn are detri-mental to good walleye fishing on rivers. For all species of fish, flood-ing and increased water levels push fish tight to shore and makes wading impossible and unsafe. Since wall-eyes roam the open basins of rivers, chances for any good fishing during high water are lost. Despite that, oc-casional rainfall is actually a benefit for fishing. The run-off from rain-fall and its receding waters thereaf-ter initiates an intense fall bite and triggers increased feeding. In addi-tion, rising water levels spur wall-eye activity and make good condi-tions turn even better.

During autumn, walleyes tend to relate to deeper pools that are just downstream of dams and large rocky riffle runs. On wadeable rivers and their tributaries, these pools are usually anywhere from 3 to 6 foot deep. This 24 inch walleye was found in a deeper pool with current, just downstream from a set of riffles.

Photograph by Matt Coppolino



Gear and Tackle

I like to fish with a variety of baits throughout the fall. Without question, matching the hatch with a larger profile minnowbait is the most productive method for landing the big ones.

When fishing at night during October and November, my motto is go big or go home. The reasons being are that most species of bait-fish have reached their adult sizes by late season. Also, larger walleyes tend to prefer larger prey over any-thing else in order to conserve their energy levels.

In most situations I fish with medium to large sized minnow baits. Preferred sizes are in the range of 3 to 8 inches in length. Some recom-mended favorites are F9, F11, and even F13 Floating Rapalas. In addi-tion, other minnowbaits such as sus-pending models are dangerous on walleyes. These include Smithwick Rogues, Rebel Minnows, Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnows, Husky Jerks, and XR 8 and 10 Rapala X-Raps. In ad-dition, sinking minnows such as the CD07 and 09 Countdown Rapalas are effective in pools where depth is greater than 5 feet.

I have actually noticed that color choice plays an important role with minnowbaits. Matching the hatch is critical due to the presence of baitfish and preyfish in several areas frequented by walleyes. Be-cause of this, and also due to the improved water clarity as tempera-tures keep getting colder, I always use natural colors. Some of my best all-around patterns are anything re-sembling shad, shiners, suckers, and yellow perch. However, there are times following rainfall when water clarity becomes reduced. In these situations, unnatural colors such as hot orange, firetiger, and yellow en-

Floating Minnows

Suspending Minnows

F11 Floating Rapala

Rebel Minnow

Rapala Husky Jerk

Smithwick Suspending Rogues

XR8 Rapala X-Rap

Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow



N I G H T S H I F T W A L L E Y E S tice strikes.

It is important to make long casts perpendicular and downstream with the current flow of the river when fishing with minnowbaits. Oftentimes, retrieving the lure at a steady pace and exerting its wobble and vibration triggers strikes. If there is current, let it do most of the work during the retrieve. As for sus-pending minnowbaits, it is best to retrieve them with occasional jerks and pauses. It pays to experiment and to retrieve the baits according to the moods and activity levels of the fish.

In addition to the old standby minnowbait, jigs and plastics are re-liable producers. In some situations they even work better than the hard bodied artificials. I fare best with plastics during the daytime hours. They work especially well in peri-ods following a cold front and when the fish are tight-lipped either due to weather factors or if they grow con-ditioned to certain lures and angling pressure. I tend to use plastics the least, but some favorites are Lindy Tackle’s Munchie grubs rigged with 1/8 oz. to ¼ oz. jigs, and 4 inch Walleye Assassins, a slender swim-bait with a paddle tail that is best fished with an 1/8 oz. long shank darter head jig.

When it comes to choosing colors for plastics, I’ve often had my best success fishing with bright unnatural colors such as orange and chartreuse. However, natural colors including white, pearl, smoke, and pumpkin may also entice strikes of-ten during daylight. Usually jig head color doesn’t play a role in my suc-cess because the fish are focused on

the profile and action of the plastic rather than the color of the jig itself. As far as retrieve goes, I frequently like to swim plastics through the water column at varying depths. In addition, I also snap jig and bounce along the bottom providing that it is clear of snags and other debris.

The larger the river system, the heavier the tackle I use. I often wade with two rods on me, because in cold temperatures it’s an inconve-nience to frequently retie new lures. On most rivers I fish, and especially for fishing with minnowbaits, I use a 7 foot medium fast action rod with

8 lb. abrasion resistant, easy casting copolymer line. Sometimes a light braided superline works for prevent-ing snags and making longer casts, but I dislike the way it handles be-cause it imparts less action on the baits. If I use plastics and want to snap jig my way along the bottom or swim it through the water, I use a shorter 6 and a half foot medium action rod and a reel with 6 lb. abra-sion resistant copolymer.

Besides rods and reels, and a healthy selection of baits, owning a good set of waders and wearing warm clothing in the darkness of 30

Walleye Assassin Curly Tail Shad




and 40 degree air temperatures are the most important pieces of equip-ment a nighttime walleye angler should have. Due to water tempera-tures falling into the 40 degree range, neoprene waders with an interior liner are recommended for keeping warm. I tend to wear fabrics with a thickness less than 2 mm. due to increased mobility and better com-fort. However, at times, breathable waders can be used, providing that several layers of clothing are worn underneath. And as far as clothing is concerned, bundling up and wear-ing layers underneath is advised.

Standing in the middle of a riv-er in above-freezing temperatures for hours at a time can take a toll on one’s body. Exposure to the cold while fishing is the worst thing that can happen. Always dress warm and have a set of gloves and a hat. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to have

some hand warmers either. Keeping warm while catching fish will make you want to fish for walleyes every night during the midnight madness of fall.

Bring a Buddy

During my past few seasons of fall fishing, I’ve witnessed that the nights spent fishing are best enjoyed alongside the company of friends and other anglers alike. Catching walleyes and enjoying the camara-derie makes the dwindling fall sea-son all the more worthwhile. If it’s cold out, chances are that you likely won’t feel it.

Do yourselves a favor as you hit the rivers for walleyes in the upcoming months. Meet up with some friends, form a weeknight walleye league, and have a social afterwards. Go enjoy the midnight

madness of fall. The big fish are out there, and more abundant than ever before. Strap down, bundle up, and wade to some of the largest walleyes you will encounter all season. After all, it is better to fish late rather than never.

Rapala Countdown


Besides dams and riffle runs, other areas such as gravel bars, wing dams, and deep-er shoreline holes that create eddies will consistently hold fish throughout fall. This 24 inch fish was caught from a smaller tributary of the river, and came from a gravel bar that gave way to a deep pool.




During my past few seasons of fall fishing, I’ve wit-nessed that the nights spent fishing are best en-joyed alongside the company of friends and other anglers alike. Catching walleyes and enjoying the camaraderie makes the dwindling fall season all the more worthwhile. If it’s cold out, chances are that you likely won’t feel it.

Do yourselves a favor as you hit the rivers for wall-eyes in the upcoming months. Meet up with some friends, form a weeknight walleye league, and have a social afterwards. Go enjoy the midnight madness of fall. The big fish are out there, and more abundant than ever before. Strap down, bundle up, and wade to some of the largest wall-eyes you will encounter all season. After all, it is better to fish late rather than never.

Pictured at right is Dan Sims with his first ever walleye, a female, that measured 28 inches and weighed over 8 lbs. Dan joined me on a cold wet night in November, 2008. This outing was also his first ever try at nighttime walleyes. To date this is the largest walleye I’ve ever seen during any nighttime walleye wade. Scary to know there are much bigger ones out there.


Photograph by Kenny Lookingbill

Photo courtesy, Jim Gronaw.


C U S T O M C R A N K B A I T S

ANGLING EVOLUTIONS. THE CRAZE FOR CUSTOM PAINTED CRANKBAITS.

By: Bryan BlazekFishing-Headquarters Contributor

For as long as I can remem-ber, there has been one thing re-maining constant with my fishing. A properly presented crankbait will produce quality fish consistently, outing after outing, and year after year. Crankbaits will probably even continue to produce until my future grandchildren are fishing 50 years from now.

I remember the first time I

peered into my grandfather’s tackle box and noticed a beady eyed Hed-don Pumpkinseed staring back at me. It is interesting that in the 52 years since the Pumpkinseed first debuted, the crankbait industry has come full circle; back to hand paint-ed, ultra realistic color schemes to reproduce live forage accurately. Advances in materials have made for much more precise manufactur-ing, and more consistent baits. How-ever, the old balsa wood crankbait is still the preferred tool of many pro-



ANGLING EVOLUTIONS. THE CRAZE FOR CUSTOM PAINTED CRANKBAITS.

6th Sense Custom Lures Live Threadfin Shad

fessional anglers for those lazy sum-mer bass. Sometimes a departure from a natural appearance is nec-essary to trigger strikes from fish, often because of lighting and water clarity issues; bold, high contrast colors are also popular choices to catch bass, and bass fishermen alike. One only has to look to the shelves of a local big box store to find an effective crankbait, and with many of the models selling for around five dollars, most anglers own a consid-erable assortment.

With the market flooded with crankbaits, and every snag at the

local fishing hole littered with lost lures, where does the discerning an-gler turn to find the edge above the field, to show the fish something new, to best replicate natural for-age?

Custom hand painted crank-baits have been the answer for a long list of professional bass fishermen for the past couple decades. Ever since Tim Hughes started painting his famous Table Rock Shad pat-tern, and as soon as the tournament winnings started pouring in, many anglers sought out high end artists to do custom airbrushing on mass

produced lures in order to separate themselves from the crowd.

Tim Hughes is largely consid-ered the father of modern lure air-brushing, and I was lucky enough to consult with him while putting together this article. Over one-mil-lion dollars in tournament winnings have been documented on Tim’s Table Rock Shad and Norman Flake designs. Nowadays, almost every major tackle manufacturer offers some variation of these patterns.

By Bryan Blazek




Over the years, Hughes has consulted with Bass Pro Shops, Excalibur, and Bomber to put his color designs into the tackle boxes of more anglers. He explained to me that there is no single most popu-lar lure sent in for customizations. However, there seems to be some baits that he sees most often. During the spring jerkbait season he sees many Smithwick Rogues, as well as the Megabass jerkbaits; and dur-ing the summer, he will see many Bomber Fat Free Shads, Storm Wiggle Warts, and Lucky Craft RC Squarebills.

Besides factory manufactured baits, hand carved wooden baits are also still popular for anglers willing to foot the bill. Many of them swear that there is nothing even close that

crankbait. The obvious advantage to the plastic baits is the consistency at which they are manufactured. Many of us have had the experience of taking brand new crankbaits out of the box, tying them on, and casting them out, only to find that they do not ‘swim’; or roll off to one side. Plastics and resins, along with com-puter aided design processes have led to a much smaller percentage of baits being defective, yet it still hap-pens. Because of this, any bait sent in for custom paint should previous-ly be tested for desired action.

Advantages of Custom Cranks

The advantages of a custom painted lure can be described dif-ferently depending on the color pat-

tern being ordered. The first major advantage that can be immediately noticed is a thick durable clear coat. Unlike the less effective clear coat on mass produced lures that often loses its color and cracks, most custom cranks will look better and last longer, even after deep probing structure and rip-rap. The obvious next advantage is in the realism of-fered by some of the baitfish pat-terns, which is remarkable to say the least. Combined with the thick clear coat, the vibrant colors really come to life, and offer an ultra re-alistic package when created by the hands of a true artist.

The attention to detail is what many tournament anglers demand in order to be a cut above the field. Artist and graphic designer, Dwain

In the 52 years since the Heddon Pumpkinseed first debuted, the crankbait industry has come full circle; back to hand painted, ultra realistic color schemes to reproduce live forage accurately.



Batey, of BaitWerks explains this well. “It’s also not all about real-ism, though that’s often what the customer is led to believe in this industry. Often times the advantage is a mixture of several factors from color selection, to contrast. I feel like a lack of contrast kills a lot of the major manufacturer’s photo fin-ish color offerings, they look great, but just don’t produce. Its taken me a lot of years to learn the little things that I can incorporate into a design that brings the bait to life, but keeps the fish interested.”

It is true that sometimes an ag-gressive fish will strike almost any color you throw, but tournament an-glers are looking to catch the pas-sive fish as well. Combining ultra realistic paint, with the modern sus-pending action of today’s high end crankbaits can be a deadly combi-nation for lethargic bass. The last major advantage comes out of the concern of conditioning.

Many anglers believe that a fish can grow accustomed to see-ing the same baits swim by on a regular basis, and will in turn, lose curiosity. You may not believe this to be the case at your local honey hole, but at lakes such as Alabama’s Lake Guntersville, which hosts over a hundred tournaments a year, it be-comes a legitimate concern. In these cases it often takes a new color, or a slight tweak to an existing well producing pattern, to gain the edge over your competition. Casey Sobc-zak from 6th Sense lures explained it like this. “Colors that the fish have never seen can really catch more fish on pressured lakes. I call these colors ‘Curious Colors’, where a bass will eat the crankbait out of cu-riosity.” Casey may be a young guy, but he’s no dummy when it comes to custom crankbait artistry, with over $100,000 in documented win-nings coming on his baits since 2011 alone. Speaking with Tim and Casey

about their client list is like a who’s who in professional bass fishing. Tim has painted for pros like Stacey King, Robbie Dodson, Tommy Mar-tin, and Larry Nixon to name a few. In addition, Casey is proud to have also worked with Scott Rook, Ger-ald Swindle, Takahiro Omori, Matt Greenblatt, and Jason Quinn among others. The artists I interviewed all expressed that they also had many other customers that would prefer to remain anonymous due to potential sponsorship conflict, but one can clearly see that the pros turn to art-ists like these when they want the ultimate bass catching tools.

Now more than ever, the con-sumer has access to the custom designs once only available to the pros. As discussed previously, Tim Hughes has teamed up with a few major manufacturers to make his color patterns available to anglers of all skill levels. Artists, Dwain Batey and Casey Sobczak, have

Tim Hughes Table Rock Shad

Tim Hughes Norman Flake




also worked on similar ventures. Dwain has teamed up with Mike Yucca of Bull Shad Swimbaits to produce some truly awesome swim-baits, especially when painted in his ultra sheik Batey “Shad 2” or “Live Crappie” pattern. Casey is working on an entire new line of cranks that are slated to hit the market in the next year or two.

Custom Crank Availability

Another ever growing market for custom cranks is the realm of online auctions. There are inherent downfalls when it comes to buying from these places, however great deals are still to be had. One of the best ways to take advantage of online auctions is to purchase discontinued crankbaits in unpopular colors, and have them sent out for a fresh new custom paint job. Many artists will

also repair worn or broken lures, and return back a finely tuned, tank tested, fish catching machine.

A couple of years ago anglers may have been lucky enough to score some of Dwain Batey’s work on eBay, and I hear that every once in a while some are still out there. The past few years has seen an explosion in custom baits like never before, Dwain explains. “When I started painting the only person I knew of that was even painting crankbaits full time was Tim Hughes, who is the grandfather of the whole custom painting industry, and before the explosion of people doing this hap-pened I had already developed my own style. I really try not to copy anyone’s designs, choosing to fo-cus on my own experience as well as actual prey images for reference. There is too much copycatting in this industry already. I started paint-

ing after learning about airbrushing when I was in high school back in ‘90 and ‘91. I’ve been fishing since age 2, and an artist just as long, so a marriage of the two in custom painting was just natural for me. I painted for myself and friends for many years. In about 2004 I found a reasonable clear coat that made my baits durable enough that I could start thinking about doing some for other people. After that I started selling some of my work on eBay, which at the time was the heyday of custom painted baits for eBay. The prices were ridiculous that I was getting sometimes. This led to a lot of fly by night painters who thought it was a gold rush, so now eBay is flooded with custom painted baits. I hardly ever sell there anymore, it’s just not necessary with the customer base that I have from my website and networking.”

6th Sense Custom Lures Drunk Sunfish



If you are ready to take your bass fishing to another level, you need to consider custom painted crankbaits to complete your arsenal. Before writing it off as cost prohibi-tive, first consider this: These are finely detailed pieces of hand-made art, and should be priced according-ly. Then consider the benefits. These artists transform normal pieces of plastic and wood into masterpieces of taxidermy, as well as neon radio-active fish magnets that will guar-antee you a shot at finishing in the money, or at least with a smile on your face.

“When I started painting the only person I knew of that was even painting crankbaits full time was Tim Hughes, who is the grandfather of the whole custom painting industry, and before the explosion of people doing this happened I had already developed my own style. I really try not to copy anyone’s designs, choosing to focus on my own experience as well as actual prey images for reference.”

- Dwain Batey

Dwain Batey is particularly proud of the exacting detail in his baby bass patterns.

Bull Shad in Dwain Batey’s Shad 2 pattern




6th Sense Custom Lures Live Bluegill



Custom Crankbait SourcesFor your next custom crankbait orders, please contact Tim, Casey, or Dwain directly at the following address-es provided:

Tim Hugheshttp://www.hughescustombaits.comEmail - [email protected]

Casey Sobczakhttp://www.6thsenselures.com Email - [email protected]

Dwain Bateyhttp://www.baitwerks.com Email - [email protected]



G O P R O C A M E R A R E V I E W

The Official Fisherman’s Review. Presented by Fishing-Headquarters.


From May through July 2011, I extensively filmed and re-viewed the GoPro HD Hero. Near-ly all videos took place within the settings of my boat that was out on large lakes, and attached to my body while wading the rivers.

My purpose for this review is to share information about the HD Hero to a specifically targeted audi-ence; fishermen and the fishing in-dustry. It’s no secret that GoPro has

established its popularity amongst surfers and other water sports en-thusiasts. However, there is one other outdoors and adventure niche which GoPro can fill and that is on the bodies and in the boats of fisher-men.

About GoPro & Company History

Located in Half Moon Bay, CA, GoPro is the world’s leading activity image capture company. GoPro produces the famous HD



G O P R O C A M E R A R E V I E W

HERO® line of wearable and gear-mountable cameras and accessories, making it easy for people to capture and share their lives’ most exciting moments in high definition. GoPro’s products are sold through specialty retailers in more than 50 countries and online.

The idea for GoPro officially began in 2002 by Nick Woodman, the founder and inventor of the Go-Pro Camera. At the time, Woodman, an avid surfer and adventurer, em-barked on a five month world tour, traveling through Australia and In-donesia to surf the best waves in the world and find a vision for the fu-ture. Woodman wanted to document his adventures and devised the idea for a hands-free camera system that could capture and document action

photo and underwater video. His goal was to make the world’s most versatile camera system, one that could be used by everyone in every-day life. After developing the first prototype as a tool, Woodman be-gan thinking that he could sell these in order to keep his dream alive.

It took approximately two years for Woodman to fully develop and perfect his first camera, a 35 mm waterproof model. By the time the ASR trade show took place in San Diego, CA on September 15, 2004, GoPro was officially launched to the public.

Things began very slowly for GoPro during the initial years as their main distributors were located in Japan. In 2005, the company had only two employees, by 2006 there

were three, and then a new digi-tal product was released. In early 2007, the immediate future of this new camera was its abilities to be mounted on anything, making it “The Swiss Army knife of image capture,” as Woodman describes it. This breakthrough enabled GoPro to immerse themselves into a vari-ety of new markets including action sports, professional video produc-tion, and military applications.

To this day, GoPro has grown exponentially, 300% growth each year, since its inception according to Transworld Business. In order to successfully market its business, GoPro uses action sports as a mar-keting vehicle, and has featured television commercials on CBS, NBC, and ESPN in major consumer

The GoPro HD Hero has proven to be one of the best cameras ever developed for those who are involved with action sports and outdoor activities. It can be employed for filming everything in nearly all conditions, and is built to last.




markets around the country. Since business began flourish-

ing in 2007, GoPro has released the line of HD Hero units along with several different mounting options. A new innovation GoPro is proud of is the wearable 3D Hero which was released in winter, 2011. The 3D Hero, the first of its kind, utilizes two HD Hero units and combines their footage in a single camera housing to create three-dimensional video.

Today, GoPro enjoys its suc-cess as an engineering related com-pany, but over the past few years they have focused more on sales in order to catch up with high demand of their products. Woodman stress-es that GoPro is first and foremost a product company, and that their success comes from focusing on the best possible products and the consumers who are anxious for the products they make.

Through thick and thin, Go-Pro has shown consumers that they are addicted to innovation. As long as people want to document them-selves and their friends, GoPro will continue to make cameras and ac-cessories that make filming easy to do.

Camera Impressions

The GoPro HD Hero has prov-en to be one of the best cameras ever developed for those who are involved with action sports and out-door activities. It can be employed for filming everything in nearly all conditions, and is solidly construct-ed with durability in mind, so that it can withstand abuse and neglect from weather and even misuse. With its different mounting options, the HD Hero can be mounted any-where on boats and offers fishermen an easy “do-it-yourself” approach

Photograph by Frank Weilnhammer



G O P R O C A M E R A R E V I E Wwhen it comes to filming and edit-ing the footage of a day’s catch and angling adventure. There is a rea-son why the GoPro brand has been making the best selling sports cam-era for the past few years, and it is because of its quality and functions that come at an affordable price.

Prior to receiving my HD Hero and accessories, I had read several preliminary reviews from both ex-perts and novices regarding the film quality of the GoPro HD Hero. While most reviews were positive, some were negative. Most of the negative reviews were related to technical functions such as its lack of good focus when zooming in for close perspective shots, the frequent fogging of the lens, and having to memorize too many buttons for ad-justing the settings. Despite the bad reviews there weren’t any reasons for “why” such problems were oc-curring.

At first I was concerned about these reviews due to my unfamiliar-ity with the camera system. I was not going to let anyone’s opinions influence the way in which I film and edit. Neither was I going to alter my approach of this review just be-cause of a few anonymous critics. I needed to see everything for myself before forming my own judgment. The preliminary research I did was able to aid me with this review and allow me to fish and film with an open mind. I was able to test the camera and several of its functions in most situations while fishing.

Camera Specifications

GoPro HD Helmet Hero + Accessories

The small profile of the HD Hero (without housing)



Due to long content and space constraints, the remainder of this product review may be viewed

in web format at fishing-headquarters.com

To see the real world tests, video footage, the camera breakdown & review, and conclusion of this piece, please visit the following link:

http://www.fishing-headquarters.com/gopro/


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