So I spent 2.5 days muskie watching and getting frustrated as usual on LSC. Figured I would give the report for people heading to the outing saturday. I have to work so I wont make it. Anyways we moved around 120 fish in 25 hours of casting. Not a typo, 120! It was absolutely unreal in terms of numbers of follows. The only thing the fish were aggressive towards were gliders worked fast and most were just lazy followers. The fish were stacked in the warmest dirty water we could find. Water temps were 64-70 where we found fish. Very cold in other areas of the lake. Unfortunately it was no secret and lots of boats were working them including the prominent guides. The fish were getting lure shy no doubt. I started the trip off by missing/losing 7 bites in a row, most of which decent fish around 40". I was getting pretty pissed at my bad luck but then we managed to stick a few in the net in the 30s. My buddy got a nice 38" for his first casting muskie ever, it came up and crushed his hellhound as he watched it charge in. He was pumped! I decided that was fine and good and went back to losing bigger fish, missing 2 mid 40s in a row. One I teased into biting next to the boat and it came up with its mouth open right on the surface like a great white trying to get a chum bag as it is pulled away. Dumbfounded that follow number 73 decided to actually bite I ripped the bait out of its mouth without hooking it well. Anways after loss-a-palooza I finally stuck a decent one. Good luck at the outing everyone!
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Michelle and I both have had the exact same type of day but on Webster. One morning we moved over 100 fish before noon with NO BITES. We had Muskies hiding under our boat. We kept seeing this one mid 30's fish that would poke its snoot out now and then when we would figure 8. I never hated figure eighting more then on that day. My arms, shoulders, neck and Back were all on fire. We finally got a couple to eat on top water and a couple more trolling that day. Yup , I share your pain.
In looking at your story I can only see one thing you might have been able to do to convert a few more of those fish. They were hot on Glides but were there any particular type of Glides they liked more than others? Maybe it was a day when the Hoosier glide got it done or the Phantom Soft tail or maybe an old Magic Maker. What I am saying is , Okay they wanted Glides. There are hundreds of glides out there. Some roll some dive and rise while going side to side. Most of us have Hell hounds and they while easy to work are very basic and predictable. Im not a Glider expert but I do know that when fish are on and chasing certain styles of lure there are less noticeable traits that get bit more during certain conditions. You may have been able to narrow it down more. Know what I mean?
I used to throw Mantas and they were so unnatural (too perfect) no chaos or odd moves. Just left right left right ,etc. Never caught a single fish on Mantas. Hoosiers are all over the place and some are just plain frustrating to fish but those are the ones that get bit for us over and over again. I remember that day on Webster we were moving so many fish on dawgs and gliders but none would eat. Switched to top water and got blasted on the third cast. Its hard to say what would have improved your catch rate but you were real close to Lighting it up. If you would have found that trigger lure you might have boated 20 or more. Still thanks for great report. Mike
Unfortunately I didn't have a lot of baits to choose from or experiment with, I left some gliders/jerks at home to save room in the boat [smilie=brickwall.gif]. I brought about 30 dawgs instead haha. We tried all kinds of stuff but a magic maker and a hellhound were all we could get bit on. Hellhounds worked fast kicking out wide near the surface got bit a bunch, the problem was I kept missing them. Most of the fish that were actually hitting were just shooting up out of nowhere and blasting the bait, no warning and bad hook sets. I had plenty of bites, just couldn't seal the deal on too many. Its the nature of that presentation to miss fish but this was just bad luck more than anything it seemed. I have caught some nice West Michigan fish on hellhounds and never had too many problems so this was especially frustrating but here I usually work them a little slower, not in big waves, and I can see the fish coming before it hits. I hate fishing a glider if I cant see the bait and what is behind it the whole cast.
Yes, that is the nature of those baits. All gliders and twitch baits hook up better if you can slow them down. But when they want it fast what can you do? Michelle's Hellhound fish this spring was on one of those surface breakers like you said. Some Hell hounds do that real well. You wont forget that day for a while. Those days still haunt me years later. Instant replay in my mind over and over again. Shelly and I are going to go down there in the next two weeks for a day. We have several new baits to try on those nasty brutes. Mike
Sounds like our day down in Indiana for the tourney this spring. We moved 20 fish in the first hour with fish rolling on the hellhound and missing every time. I'm taking Will's advice and limiting my glide time. I personally have found that when fish are moving on glides that a suick usually gets fish to bite hooks. That's with limited experience though. I want to be the first to know when someone figures out how to increase the conversion rate of a hellhound.
Don't worry…it happens and is very common out there in the bay. It's stacked with fish and stacked with boats all doing the exact same thing. We had fish on 1 specific glider and they brushed off the rest. What did it for us was topwater… Yes topwater. Nobody there threw topwater that we saw around us and we boated fish on WTD topwater. Don't beat yourself up. There's been guys pounding that same exact drift (depending on wind direction) for week straight. Back n forth for 12+ hours and at times 20+ boats, 2-3 guys a boat and lots of pressure in a compact drift. Temps get up a bit more and you'll can leave the Bay and find them in some really awesome spots without a lot of pressure. Good luck!
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