Musky Shop Northwoods Fishing Report - Early August

We hope all of you are having a great summer and enjoying some time on the water. Summers in Northern Wisconsin are always the best; we just wish they were a bit longer. There are so many lakes in Oneida and Vilas counties to fish and so much beauty, that to me Northern Wisconsin is one of the best places in the world to fish and relax. In addition to that, there is always a place to fish as we have literally hundreds of lakes that one can fish even if we have an unseasonably windy day.

As for the fishing, all species have been biting quite well and we have been getting good reports from our guide staff as well as customers coming in and out of the Musky Shop. Crappies have slid out a bit as we hit peak summer. A good number of them are in or near structure (weeds and or wood) in the 8'-12' range. Kalin's Crappie Scrubs along with Crappie Minnows, Leeches, and live worms all are working well.

Walleye have also slid out a bit. The water temps are in the mid to upper 70s depending on the day and the lake you are fishing and so far, this summer we really have not hit water temps that would be considered dangerous. On the deep clear water lakes Rippin Raps and Jiggin’ Raps work well for walleye that are a bit deeper in the 20'-30' range as well as a jig tipped with a Redtail chub.

Another good technique is a Little Joe Spinner tipped with a Redtail, XL Fathead, nightcrawler, or Leech. That application always seems to catch walleye as well as other species such as Smallmouth Bass and Northern Pike. For those who like to troll, trolling Rapala Shad raps always seems to be a productive technique for catching walleye.

Musky Fishing has been good. They have been a bit scattered however with our water temps warming slightly that seems to have moved muskies out a bit. There are good numbers of muskies near structural edges. One will want to consider casting up on top of the edge with a bucktail, or glide bait. Hooked on Musky Baits are a great line of bucktails that are producing some nice muskies, Phantom glide baits work great as you are working up on top of the weeds in locating muskies. As you cover the top above the weeds if nothing is going then slide out a bit and cover the outer weed edge and a bit out off of the edge. Heavier deeper running Bucktails such as Spanky bucktails are built with .040 blades which is heavier and will run a bit deeper. Another good bait to consider near the edge and out off of the edge would be weighted Titan Jerkbaits as well as Bucher Depth Raiders in straight or jointed models. 

All of the previous baits ate great for catching musky on or near weed and structural edges. A good number of Muskies will always hang near edges and then move around the edge. Local weather and wind will determine where they set up. When you hit the water, this summer consider targeting weed edges and structural edges then cover them completely (cover the top, cover the outer edge, and cover out off the edge) if you are thorough and cover those areas well you will put yourself in a great position to be successful in catching Muskies.

Well, I got to run, I'm hoping to hit the water later today. We hope you have a great rest of the summer and catch lots of big Muskies. One last thing to consider if you haven't downloaded the free Musky360 app please consider it as there is a ton of fishing information on that app to aid in your success.

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