Musky Shop Blog
Northwoods Fishing Report: Early July
Fishing has been fantastic in Oneida and Vilas County this summer. Especially Musky fishing. Our guide Staff have been doing great. Fred Palermo just had a multiple fish day. Doug Smith is having a great season with several mid to upper 40" Muskies. Matt Dassow caught a 50" a few days ago and the rest of our Guide staff are doing great. Most of our guides and customers are reporting their targets located along weed lines and suspending over main lake basins following baitfish.
(If you're considering a guide, please reach out to us at 715-513-7700 or at muskyshopguideservice.com)
If you hit the water some baits to consider would be Smity Mercer Creek Jerkbaits, Big Fork Sandcats, LLungen crankbaits, Savage Gear Sucker, and spinnerbaits. Many of the locals have had good luck during this early part of July with those lures in particular.
Walleye fishing has also been popular. Most of the walleye are sliding a bit deeper depending on the daily weather of course but most reports are most are located near and along weed lines as well. Nightcrawlers, Leeches and XL Fatheads have all been working well. Jigging or Drop Shotting live bait has been a great way to pick up walleye as well. Crankbaits casted or trolling is a good technique, a few poplar lures being, Rapala F18, Rapala Scatter Rap, and Rapala Husky Jerk.
Crappies and panfish are hitting good, with most in the 5'-8' range. Kalin’s Crappie Scrubs have been working great all season by fishing them plain. One can tip them with a crawler or Leech which helps but it is just kind of their mood. Sometimes they want something live but then again sometimes plain is what they want.
Well, that's it for now. We will report again soon. Be sure to join us at our second annual Musky Bash. July 16th 11am-4pm The Musky Bash is a super fun day, there will be a lot of vendors as well as a Live Power Panel featuring Joe Bucher, Pete Mania, Russ Smith, Steve Herbeck, Steven Paul. There are literally decades of experience and knowledge they will be passing on at our Free event.
After the Power Panel discussion Steven Paul and Jay Esse will host a Live Musky360 podcast with some audience participation. We hope you can join us. It's one of the most fun days of the year plus it's smack dab in the heart of Musky Country. Sounds like fun to me!
We will also host The Livingston Lures Musky School on Sunday July 17th 10am-1pm. Both Saturday and Sunday’s events will have door prize giveaways as well.
Gotta run, we hope to see you at our events on July 16th and 17th and on the water.
God Bless and Good Fishing Everybody,
Jim Stewart
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Another one of our guide staff members, Al Frost has been having a very good start to the season as well. Al has been guiding in the Northwoods of Wisconsin for many many years and has developed a vast array of knowledge of Oneida and Vilas county lakes. Frosty is a multi species guide but his favorite species is Musky. Once the Musky season starts he will be targeting and following their movements until ice up or when the season ends whichever comes first.
Some things to consider as the season starts:
Another location for opening skies to consider are weed edges and just out off the edges.Not all Muskies will be spawning at the same time thus some will be shallow and some will be finished spawning and moving out to recover and begin to feed. For those fish that are near the edges and off the edges some great baits to consider are Spanky Baits Firefly, Hooked on Musky Baits 7/8 Bomb, Suick 9", Slammer 5" Shallow Minnow and trolling Supernatural Big Baits Headlocks and Mattlocks.
As you can see the Musky lures for edge fish are just a tad larger. Muskies that are done spawning and have moved out are going to be in the hungry mode, so give em a meal. Sometimes as fishermen we kind of get stuck into thinking all of our lures have to be small however if you kind of feel your way along you will find small to medium size baits in the backs of bays and medium to large offerings on the weedlines and out off of the structural edges.
Above I included a link to Supernatural Big Baits. These crankbaits are fantastic all season long. There are always big Muskies caught every year by fishermen who are willing to break away from the norm in targeting those edge skies by trolling Big Baits. This is a proven technique and one you will want to consider to aid in your success.
In closing all of us here at the Musky Shop are always willing and happy to pass on any information you may need to be successful. Please feel free to stop by the Musky Shop or contact us. We have a very knowledgeable staff that are more than willing to help. and meet your needs.
"If You Don't Know Ask A Pro"
Kind Regards and we hope you have a great fishing season,
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Behind the Baits: Interview with Josh Recknagel from Reck N Rack
Musky Season Opener Boat Prep w/ Al Frost
Lake of the Woods Muskie Trends, Tactics & Threats
First Leg of PMTT Winner Announced
Muskie vs Northern Pike: How These Apex Predators Compare
