Fall Musky Bite - Lake Bemidji - Cass Lake - Musky Guide

I had the chance to fish with my buds from In-Fisherman, Chuck and Trent, for muskies yesterday. It was an earlier morning as we were up and at em and on the road North to the stomping grounds to try get one of these toothy critters in the net. We were greeted with a strong South East wind but the guns were loaded and were were ready to put a good day in. Throughout the morning we moved a few fish but it was obvious they were not in the right mood so after eating a bunch of Diablo Wings from the Green Mill we decided to try our hand a different lake.

It didn't take long and we started moving fish. As we fished down long expansive weed flats there was no doubt the fish were schooled up as we had multiple follows in certain small areas. We concentrated on green cabbage beds. Green? Yes I said Green because this time of year is when the some of the weeds start to die off in which they turn black and do not produce the oxygen like the green ones. Most of the fish were moving were coming from the insides of the weed edges. Although we had several fish located we couldn't get those bad boys to bite, besides the one that Chuck won't want me to talk about, so we made an adjustment just before the sun hit the trees and went shallow into the bullrushes. I told the boys, "if they are up here it wouldn't take long to find out!" and it didn't. We were casting buzz baits like Vibrax Musky Buzz from Blue Fox Lures. Check them out at Blue Fox Vibrax Musky Buzz This can and is one of the most exciting ways to catch these fish. I position the boat just on the outside edge of the bull rushes casting into them as far as we can making sure I gave the fish enough room to eat as the bait exits the bullrush edge. This is pretty important part to catching these fish because almost all the time the fish will follow the bait out of the rushes and eat just on the outside. If the boat is too close a lot of time you can spoke the fish prior to the bite as you are in pretty shallow water.

So just like the the text book says we had a fish come out of the rushes and eat about half way between the boat and bullrush edge. It was an awesome bite and Trent did battle with this beauty of a musky!

So why in the world would we make a move after seeing a bunch of fish? I don't know? I just had hunch we could get a bite up shallow. We decided to make one pass to see what would happen and it worked out. Sometimes you just have to go with your gut feeling!

Equipment Check!
While fishing in the bullrushes one of the most important tools is your fishing rod. I mentioned earlier that most of the time the fish will bite out from the edge but there are times when they are deep in the cover and this when the fishing rod you are using can be a huge factor in landing fish or not. The goal is to get the fish's head up and yes this is the one time you really have to put the boots to the fish. I'm not talking about the hooks set I'm talking about putting lots of pressure on the fish after she is hooked up. The goal is to get the fish on top of the water and try to get her out of the rushes. Most times you will have to go in after them with the trolling motor. Yes this is intense and so much fun!

I have been using St. Croix musky rods this year and they are without a doubt the best fishing rods I have ever used. I would highly recommend the Legend Tournament Series 8'6" Sling Blade model. This is by far the best all around fishing rod I have ever casted a lure with. Check them out at St. Croix Legend Tournament Series Rods

Check out a few of the photos!

"Make a memory"

Jeff Andersen