Musky Shop Northwoods Fishing Report: Late August

We hope you are having a great summer of fun fishing. The Northwoods of Wisconsin has been an outstanding place to be as summers in the Minocqua area are awesome. We have so many things to do up here and fishing is at the top of the list. Oneida and Vilas county have roughly 1700 lakes with tons of fishing opportunities and if it happens to be a windy day one can always find a place to fish as the size of our numerous lakes can be managed without too much trouble. If you're considering a trip to the Northwoods of Wisconsin, fall is approaching and the Minocqua area is one of the most beautiful places on earth with outstanding fishing so please join us.

Musky Fishing has been a bit up and down as we are ending the summer and entering early fall-like conditions. Muskies have scattered a bit as they ready themselves to move shallow as most of them do in early to mid-September. We have been getting good reports from customers catching muskies in shallow water, weed edges, and suspended. As I said the majority of muskies will be moving shallow soon and they will remain there until turnover.

Some good baits to consider for shallow muskies would be 6" and 7.5" Phantoms Softail gliders. I spoke to a customer in the shop yesterday who caught 5 muskies all shallow on Phantom glide baits. A few other very good shallow musky baits to consider would be Big Fork Sand Cats. The Sand Cat has a great belly roll with some walk-the-dog-type inconsistent action that makes these lures irresistible.

Red October Tubes in the Shallow or Mid models especially the shallow model have worked well. Red October Tubes come in shallow, Mid, and Deep models when choosing for early fall again the shallow model would be a good selection. The Titan and Titan Junior are also appropriate for the season these can be worked at different depths depending on what size of weight is added or not added to the bait. Livingston Lures Kamakaze Chatterbait is a real head-turner as well and this bait throws off tons of vibration and is a must-have in my opinion for fall muskies. Of course, many bucktails such as Musky Mayhem, Hooked On Musky Baits, and RJ Bucktails are all great considerations.

If you need assistance with your early fall muskies, please contact us as we would be happy to be of service to you.

Walleye, smallmouth, largemouth bass, crappies, and panfish are all moving shallow too. We have a great selection of Fresh Live Bait which includes Red Tails, Walleye Suckers, XL Fatheads, Crappie Minnows, Jumbo Leeches, Nightcrawlers, and Red Worms that are all excellent choices when targeting and catching any of the above species. 

If artificial Walleye Baits, Bass Baits, and Panfish Baits are what you prefer we have a very good selection as well as rod and reel combos for those of you who are coming up to join us in the fun out on the water in God's creation. We hope you will join us. You might consider our guide service if you want to cut the learning curve in being productive on the water. Our guide staff has many, many years of experience and would love to hook up and take you out for a great time on the water. 

Well, that's it for this time around, please let us know if we can be of service to you as it would be our pleasure to serve you.

Good Fishing and God Bless,

Jim Stewart