If there’s one thing, above all else, that has worked well for me in my search for “active” early season muskies; it has been finding warming water.  The term “active” is important here, too.  It’s important to note that not all the muskies in one given lake will be where the warm water is, but it’s a good bet that the ones using that particular area are sure to be much more active.  In fact, I firmly believe that pods of muskies exist in many locations throughout a larger body of water.  But these individual musky pods turn on at different times depending upon time of day and prevailing weather patterns.

THE NORTHERN EXPOSURE RULE

A shallow north eastern bay, for example, might have a water temperature of no more than 55 – 60 degrees or so on any given morning in the early spring.  If the prior night was cold and clear, it could be even colder.   However, if the skies are relatively clear on that day allowing a lot of sunlight penetration, and the wind direction is northerly, this same bay is apt to warm up considerably by mid to late afternoon.   It could warm up by as much as ten degrees!

This northern exposure rule works to a “t” whenever there is ample sunlight and a lack of cold wind and wave action.  Any musky inhabiting this bay would most likely be non-active early in the day.  In addition, the rest of the food chain that services this musky is not likely to be active early, as well. A periodic check of such a northern bay throughout your day of fishing often reveals startling developments when the conditions are right.

This same bay, dead and lifeless in the morning, may now have minnows cruising the warmed surface waters feeding on algae and protozoa that also just came to life with the warming water temps.  It might also have a few bass, crappies and perch chasing these minnows causing a visible surface disturbance.   All of this, in turn, attracts the larger predators such as pike and muskies to investigate possible feeding opportunities.

LURES

Several lures can work well on these warming bay fish, but my two favorites are the traditional bucktail spinner and a minnow bait.    It’s usually best to fast-fish the bay first with the bucktail.  A simple fancasting approach covering as much water as possible is generally all that is necessary to find a hot fish.   Check the size of the overall bucktail lure used as well as blade size in order to determine if there are any fish preferences.  While conventional wisdom might suggest a smaller lure with French style blade, don’t necessarily live and die by this.  Quite often, a slightly larger 6 to 7 inch bait such as the 500 to 700 series Buchertail with a bigger fluted blade is more effective.

The overall height of the bay’s weed growth is a determining factor in blade choice, also.  High weeds demand a larger blade or a much faster retrieve with smaller versions.  Conversely, low weed growth usually means deeper holding fish.  A smaller bladed model is sure to be more effective here.

If a musky follows a bucktail, it’s usually doubtful it will hit it with repeated casts.  In this case, I’d recommend a quick-switch to a five inch minnow bait such as the ShallowRaider worked in a jerk – pause – jerk – pause fashion.   This is one of the best applications of a minnow bait for muskies.  Bass anglers have made this technique of jerkin’ minnow baits a mainstay method, but musky anglers can be equally successful with it.  It is most effective in areas where you are fairly certain you have the fish located.

SOUTH SIDERS

Contrary to popular thought, the warmest water isn’t always found on the north side of a lake.  Other factors can be a surprisingly strong influence on water temperature rise.  One of the largest and most surprising is a shallow southern bay that has an incoming creek or a connecting channel to an adjacent warm northerly bay from the lake next door.  Any lake connected to another in a “chain” situation is a classic example of this.

The adjacent lake may be smaller and much warmer, and it might have a shallow northerly bay that has warmed all day long.  The inflow of water from this smaller lake up into the southern section of the nearby lake actually makes the southern bay of one lake much warmer than it ought to be.  I have recognized this unique phenomenon all across the country.

The key is to find the set of variables that match up correctly.  Generally, if you’re fishing a chain of lakes, you’ll find this situation somewhere inside that given body of water in the spring.

CHANNEL CONNECTION

Channels themselves can also be musky magnets in the early season.  Of course, any channel with cover is apt to attract some baitfish and spawning panfish, and with that a musky or two.  However, not all channels are created equal, and some are sure to be much better than others.  Narrow channels with higher shaded banks are rarely as good as ones that are sun baked and lined with small inundated coves and toppled trees.   Again, the key is to find channels that attract the rest of the food chain.  Warm shallow, cover laden channels with minnows, crappies, and other possible “musky bait”, are much more likely to produce an early season ‘lunge.

The best way to fish these channels quite often depends upon the layout of any given spot and the cover options available.  The biggest musky ever taken in our spring musky schools during that time hit a bass spinnerbait crawled over a fallen tree.  Most of this tree was protruding above the water making it tough to fish with any other lure style.  Again, this is why the bass style spinnerbait is such a vital part of the spring musky fisherman’s arsenal.

The top overall channel producer in my boat has been a five inch minnow bait such as the ShallowRaider worked like a jerkbait with additional “pause” emphasis put on the lure while it was near logs, brush and weeds.  More muskies were taken on this lure in channels than all other baits combined.  Quite often, these fish were spotted following another lure, but were triggered on the cast back sometime later with the minnow bait.

REED RUNNERS!

Many of our favorite musky waters have large flats on them covered with reeds and bullrushes.  Throughout most of the season, such cover is apt to be too shallow to attract muskies with any regularity.   However, muskies gravitate heavily to reed flats in the spring.   Admittedly, this is one of my favorite early season musky locational patterns and I have taken advantage of this for nearly two decades.

In all honesty, I stumbled onto this deadly spring reed musky pattern quite by accident a number of years ago while casting spinnerbaits for bass.

Rigging up to spinnerbait a reed flat for spring muskies is simple.  I actually prefer to bass spinnerbait over any musky version for this application.  The smaller overall size attracts more fish during this time, and you catch lots of bonus bass while in pursuit of a big toothy critter.  I’d lean hard on a white ½ ounce spinnerbait with tandem blades featuring hammered nickel willow leaf blades.  The newer models that have premium grade hooks in the 5/0 range are much better for hooking and holding muskies than older styles with lesser hooks.

For tackle, it’s tough to beat a 7 to 7 ½ foot rod and a bass sized baitcaster loaded with at least 20 pound test braid, but heavier braid is nice to have if you encounter a real hawg inside thick reeds.