My NB muskie from last Fathers Day!

Wish me luck!

More Fish’n Canada Episodes.

Click the image to see a close-up of the lure! (possibly NSFW)

Out came my box of Rockstar inline spinners. The clouds finally cleared away for a few moments, so I switched my chartreuse inline spinner to one with a big silver blade to create some flash. First cast with the silver one and I was on. And it was big! A nice fight and soon she was in the cradle, which this time was handled like a PRO by Albert. Once in the cradle, I realized that this was another really long fish – and the tape measure proved me right, another 47″!

Albert and Marco immediately dove into my box of Rockstars and clipped them on. I had not even picked up my rod yet after my release when Albert, on his first cast, shouted out “There’s one… there’s one… right behind my lure…SHE’S ON!!!”. She had followed him in and then nailed it right at boatside! She fought hard, and kept trying to dive under the boat or head towards the motor, but soon she was cradled, and Albert had smashed his old PB of 36″, with a 42″! While helping unhook her, she got me good with her gill rakers, but I hardly noticed at the time. Some first aid would have to be administered soon after so I didn’t bleed all over Albert’s boat carpet! A few pics of the happy camper with his prize catch, and she released well.

It’s a great feeling to know my lures are helping people catch big fish!

I worked all week, but as soon as the weekend arrived, I woke up early and took a 45 minute drive down highway, exiting at a small town name Hope. Ironically I was hoping to catch some muskie. I met up with a fellow Muskies Inc member name Cal, and after a quick introduction we headed out to Mountain Lake. When we arrived at the lake I was amazed how small it was. A lake this size I would usually refer to as a pond, but regardless of its size, Cal assured me that there muskies here that exceeded 50 inches.

One look at his Jeep and boat and I knew we’d get along just fine.

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Conditions looked great. It was warm, sunny with a few clouds in the distance, much nicer weather then I am accustomed to at this time of year. We set out casting Phantom Glide baits toward weed beds in about 5 feet of water. It didn’t take long to hook the first fish, a healthy 38-40 inch muskie caught within the first hour.

A beautiful New Jersey Muskie, caught on a perch pattern Phantom glide bait.

Things slowed down after that as the wind picked up and pushed us around. We tried casting a few other lure and then started trolling Bulldogs. Only electric motors can be used on Mountain Lake, and the strong winds were working against us. Having to use the electric motor constantly to reposition ourselves, ate up the batteries fairly quickly. We called it a day with one muskie and one bass boated, and a couple more seen, but not hooked.

We had talked about fishing another nearby lake that had a healthy population of tiger muskie, but I was was hoping to stay on Mountain Lake the next day since there were a few spots I wanted to fish again. The next morning I climbed into the car and I took a look at my window. The condensation on the window formed an unmistakable pattern of a tiger muskie, so I when I met up with Cal I suggested that we chase some tigers!

We headed to Oxford Furnace Lake which was even smaller then Mountain Lake, and again we were limited to using an electric motor. We started using glide baits again, but the weeds here were much thicker. We changed tactics and used large soft plastics to avoid the weeds. I landed a solid bass after a couple of hours on the water but that was the only action we saw.

Furnace Lake largemouth bass

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We went in for lunch and got a quick charge on the battery before heading back to Mountain lake for one last attempt. Sadly strong winds again ended our day early. Despite some tough fishing I really enjoyed my time in New Jersey. All of the people I met were great, especially my fishing partner Cal who was an exceptional host on and off the water.

It’s been 10 days since I last fished, which is the longest span since April. I have every intention of making up for lost time! From what I’ve heard glide baits are producing – luckily I have a few with me!

Photo by David Rose

“On Sunday, September 27, Kyle Anderson of Rapid City, MI caught this 50-pound 8-ounce Great Lakes muskie. The fish is now the new Michigan state record. It beat the old record, set in 1984, by 2.5 pounds. Anderson was fishing in Torch Lake, near Traverse City.”

I used to spend summers out near Traverse City when I was a kid, but I had no idea that there were fish like this were swimming around!

Check out more photos at Field and Stream

via OFNC

via Marshfield News Herald

7.5″ Phantom Canadian Crush

6.75″ Magic Maker Silver Shiner and Firetiger

Its been a couple of years since I’ve targeted muskie in the fall, but luckily I’ll be fishing with a guy who knows the area well. As our own Shop grows, you will definitely be seeing pike and muskie lures like these, so check back often!

What are your favorite fall muskie lures?

What a beast!

via Michigan Sportsman