Musky Shop Northwoods Fishing Report: Late November
We hope all of you have had a great fall. The weather has been outstanding for fall fishing and we really hope all of you have got a chance to get out on the water, enjoy God's creation, and catch some giant Muskies. Musky fishing in Oneida and Vilas County has been excellent. We have had some great reports from customers and from our guide staff of some very nice muskies.
Two of our guide staff members Doug “Big Ticket” Smith and Captain Tim “The Mayor” Ives were out fishing together for fun and caught 2 one day with the largest that day being a 48.5" Tiger Musky. The day previous they caught 2 and lost 2 as well.
Water temps on most lakes are in the high 30's to low 40's. It probably sounds like a broken record but muskies have been relating to structural edges. Especially if there is bait nearby, muskies will use the edge to move up into the weeds or structure and move out away from the structure so if you position your boat to cover up on the structure, the edge of the structure and out of the structure you will be in the zone.
Muskies are still hitting a variety of baits. Jerkbaits and soft plastics are always a good choice in late fall but a very overlooked bait you might consider is a spoon. Several options come to mind like the Eppinger Daredevil Husky Jr or Eppinger Red Eye Wiggler. One can cast or troll spoons. They can be worked fast or slow but in late fall you will want to work them slow. You might also consider adding a soft plastic trailer for added attraction, such as a Mister Twister Double Tail Grub. Spoons are great in my opinion and vastly overlooked.
A new soft plastic that you will want to consider is the Chaos 8" Posseidon. This bait can be worked by itself but if you add a Musky Shop Magnum Spinnerbait Rig the bait gives off a much larger profile and is still easy to cast. This is another overlooked presentation that can help you score big in late fall. This too, can be cast or trolled.
Speaking of trolling, there are many baits that we carry that are great for late fall trolling but a couple of the biggies that we always have good reports from fisherman and our guide staff are Supernatural Crankbaits and Grandma Crankbaits. As I mentioned we carry tons of great trolling baits but 9" and 13" Grandmas and Supernatural Headlocks and Mattlocks are must-haves for late fall. These baits can be worked near the edges of structure and out away from the edge working around pods of bait fish. Grandmas and Supernatural baits are quite different however both have distinct qualities that muskies can't resist.
If you get a chance to get out late this fall please consider the aforementioned baits as I really think they will aid in your success. Lastly, we still have wild caught Musky Suckers in stock that are housed in very cold running well-water. It's always a good idea to take a few along with you as you get out of the lake. As I'm sure many of you know, when that line-out clicker goes off, man that really gets your heart pumping. Super Fun.
Well, that's it for this time around, we hope all of you catch some Giant Muskies during this late fall time period. Please let us know if we can be of service to you as it would be our pleasure.
Good Fishing and God Bless, Jim Stewart