Fishing for the Predator of Predators: The Muskie
Fishing for the Predator of Predators: The Muskie
By Steve Weisman
Mention the fall season and you’ll find anglers going after all kinds of fish: walleyes, largemouth and smallmouth bass, perch and other panfish. However, there is a group of anglers that go after the top of the food chain, the predator of predators…the muskellunge. For years, it has been called the “fish of 10,000 casts”. Yet, as fishing techniques have advanced and improved, so have the catch rates to the point that on a given day multiple muskies can be boated. That can happen right here in the Hawkeye state where stocking programs have increased the opportunity for anglers to catch a trophy muskie. Two bodies of water in northern Iowa offer quality trophy muskie fishing: the Iowa Great Lakes chain of Big Spirit, East Okoboji and West Okoboji and Clear Lake. Let’s take a look at what two highly respected guides have to say about fall muskie fishing: Shane Akin (Iowa Great Lakes) and Kevan Paul (Clear Lake).
First off, Akin, who owns Great Lakes Guide Service and Paul, who owns Kevan Paul’s Guide Service headquartered near Clear Lake both say fall fishing is prime time for all kinds of game fish, and that holds true for catching trophy muskies. Aiken began chasing muskies as a kid and caught his first one at age six, while Paul began targeting muskies later in life. As guides, each year both will catch multiple fish over 45 inches with Aiken’s best being a 52 incher and Paul’s over 48 inches with one of his clients taking a 49 incher.
Iowa Great Lakes
Let’s start off with Spirit Lake with the greatest surface area of the three lakes, a big wide-open lake with a maximum depth of 24 feet. Akin says, “Spirit Lake has a mixture of rock points and humps and miles of cabbage weedbeds. Most anglers will concentrate on those weedbeds in 8-14 feet of water. The lake is known as a great perch fishery, and, as a result, the muskie’s main forage are perch and also sheephead.” He finds Spirit Lake to be a lake of running and gunning!
According to Akin, most anglers use bright colors in the stained water. “What I like to look for on Big Spirit is where the weeds run into the rocky areas. I believe this holds a concentration of the muskies and some of the bigger fish. As on most lakes, blade baits work well along with jerk baits and glide baits, but crankbaits are hard to beat on Spirit in the fall. The way I go about attacking Spirit is fishing the weed edges that are next to the rocks.”
Akin will throw jerk baits and crankbaits first and then go to the blade baits next. The North Bay called Anglers Bay is good muskie territory with its great cabbage beds that set just outside the lakes only reed line. “I have found fish up in the reeds on the back side of the cabbage and out on the deep end of the cabbage.”
Now let’s head down to East Okoboji, a long narrow lake with some humps and big bars. In the spring and early summer months, East is full of curly leaf pondweed, but when the temps hit that 80-degree mark, that all dies off and by fall there will be little to no weeds left is the system. Akinn finds East Lake to usually be stained water, but with the zebra mussels, it has been getting clearer each of the last two years. According to Akin, “The main forge on both East and West lakes are yellow bass, perch and sheephead. I like to cast the deeper bars and points in the fall with crankbaits and glide baits. I will throw some rubber on East as well. Colors are usually the bright colors. The best way to find and catch fish on East is to troll the main break lines from eight feet out to 12 feet. Like I mentioned, the weeds are gone, and the fish are roaming the break lines. Trolling gives us the best opportunity as we are covering ground and looking for active fish. When you do track down the muskies on East, it can be multiple fish days, usually not big fish but you can put numbers of fish in the boat.”
Of the three, West Lake is Akin’s favorite of the lakes to muskie fish. “It is a deep and clear lake with lots of structure and a maximum depth of 140 feet. It is full of deep break lines and deep weeds with weeds consisting of coon tail and some cabbage.” The weed line on West Okoboji will run out to 25 to 30 feet of water. The lake consists of several bays that all have bars and rock reefs with weeds. Akin says, “The things I look for on West are the deep weedbeds that run along the bars, but at times the fish will move shallow up on top of the bars. As for lures, fall fishing on West is all about big rubber and big jerk baits, while some fish will still hit big blade baits and glide baits.”
The water is clear and the fish can spook easily so when a fish follows to the boat, it is important to have slow movement with the final figure eight. Natural colors work great on this clear water but some of the biggest fish Aiken has put in the boat have come off bright colors that look like a perch. Akin says, “I like to fish West inside out by starting shallow and working out to the deep weed edges. I will have three rods set up -one with rubber, one with a big jerk bait and the other with a big blade bait, and I am constantly switching up until we have a pattern going.”
Akin’s suggestion is this: when you find a spot that is holding fish, there will usually be multiple fish on that spot. “I have been known to spot lock on one spot for the whole day, and it usually pays off with more then one fish. Muskie fishing is all about that window that opens up, and if I know I am on fish, I don’t want to be running up and down the lake and miss that window! The Iowa Great Lakes muskies are some of the heaviest fish for the length you will find, with several 50” fish caught each year. With catch and release so popular I have no doubt that the current state record has been broken a few times without being recorded.”
Clear Lake
Clear Lake is often overlooked for its quality muskie population. According to Paul, it is one of the best spots in Iowa for muskie enthusiasts. Area biologists document that Clear Lake has good numbers of 35-45 inch muskies. Every other year (600) 12-inch yearlings are stocked. Paul’s main piece of advice when targeting muskies on Clear Lake is to find the find the food. Since it’s fall, muskies are on the prowl looking for food. Paul says, “I don’t know how many times we’ve been fishing a school of active yellow bass and a muskie will be there following a hooked fish. So, it is really about finding the food, and the muskies will be there, too!”
Paul says muskies can be found in a lot of areas on Clear Lake. “One prime spot is if water is running into the Little Lake. If so, muskies will lie off of the break areas and the dredge cuts. On the main lake, I’ll also target the reefs, rock piles, wind-swept points and along the reeds on the north side. Clear Lake is not a deep lake, so side imaging has become an important tool for me in locating fish. This holds true for finding those big muskies.
Paul believes muskie success comes when you use all the tools available, including the weather and the lunar tables. “Fishing muskies right before a significant weather change can really make the fish active. Then when you combine the incoming weather change with a good monthly moon phase and rise or set of either sun or moon, I’ve caught more big fish. Just the rise and set of both the sun and moon has the most impact than any other daily sun or moon position.”
Like Akin, Paul would rather cast for muskies than troll for them. Natural colors always work well, as does gold/glitter and don’t be afraid to match the forage. “First, if I can, I will use my side imaging to locate the fish, I like using bigger swim baits like the Medussa, the Whale Tail and big tube jigs, using a big sweep of the rod toward me followed by a pause as I move the rod back to its original position, reeling up the slack line.” He also uses a lot of gliders with nice rips back and then a stall. “For me, the longer stalls equal more fish.” At times, Paul will troll Super Shad Raps and large bucktails like the Big Tooth Juice Mini 8 or Juice Mag 8.
So, as the weather cools and the days get shorter, it’s time for some prime time fall fishing. How about going after the predator of all predators: the muskie!
