How To Break Down New Musky Water — Keep it Simple!
How many of you have launched your boat on a new lake and asked yourself, “Where do I start?” Breaking down a new fishery can be a daunting task, no doubt about it. In this short segment, James Lindner and Jeremy Smith, a couple of musky gurus, share how they break down new water when they are hunting for summertime muskies. In this particular piece, they are fishing on Lake Wabigoon in Northwest Ontario. James hasn’t been on this lake in over 20 years and this is actually Jeremy’s first time ever fishing Wabigoon.
Every time you go to a new body of water, you need to start somewhere. So, how do you begin?
While you might be able to collect local intel on some lakes, that isn’t always the case — and oftentimes, the “latest fishing report” can send you on a week-long wild goose chase. Ultimately, the most reliable intel you can acquire is the kind of intel you form yourself covering water and making casts.
When you’re scouring the lake, trying to put together a pattern, the first thing you should figure out is what type of structures the fish tend to prefer at that given point in time, whether that be rock reefs, island complexes, shoreline points. What kind of cover are they relating to: wood, broken rock, boulders, or weeds?
Sample different structures and cover-types until you find signs of life. If you a musky follows you out of a weed bed or a boulder patch, chances are, you can find them in similar areas all across the lake.
