Fished from 7:30am to 8:30 pm
Water temp 67 to 68
Put in some time once again and came up short handed.. I took one northern on the north side of the lake around 2:30, small fish 22 inches or so. I did have my first follow to the boat. I don't know wether to be happy or not. I guess I know I'm on the right track the only bad thing was it was huge!!! I get excited just typing about it. I did get to meet my first MMA member and his fancy boat! I would of introduced myself Will but you looked busy at work. I'm fishing this whole weekend I cannot stop until I catch a musky!
It doesn't usually pay to stay and beat up on that same fish. Make a couple extra casts maybe with a different bait then move on. Give her a couple hours and go back on her especially if the weather changes or towards sundown. What a follow can tell you is info on where fish are locating on a certain day. Go fish similar spots and there may be other fish using those spots.
I agree on not pounding fish once you locate her. Go back several times during the day. Approach from a different direction or come in stealth with your depth finder off. Sometimes its the little things that give you the fish of a lifetime. Many times Michelle and I locate several nice ones then have to decide which one do we want to go back on right at dark. It never fails as they seem to be at opposite ends of the lake ha ha ha . Sounds like you are having fun , stay with it. You will be rewarded. Mike and Michelle
Well I know I'm the first to say this but…. I have officially declared war on thornapple!!! Those fish can run but they can't hide forever. Today was a busy day there was a boat Around every corner. Water seemed torn up… I have some questions some might be stupid but bare with me please.. I decided to fish a bull dawg and work the drop offs in the wind, basically vertically jigging good spots on the graph. The visibility in my mind makes me think I'm wasting my time. I also went to the south end of the lake where I could get out of the wind but my graph looked like crap besides the last point… The shoreline looked appealing with the down timber but the rest of the lake looked pretty bare as far as weed growth and depth changes. Am I wasting my time fishing Down there or does that end still produce? At about 7:30 the lake calmed and I instantly told myself topwater baby!!! But I haven't read anything in this website about top water fishing for muskies. I have caught many pike on topwater baits and have always loved watching the water explode but I don't want to waste my time.. Is there a better time of year for this. Or is it pretty much only when the time is right. And maybe this is the dumbest question but… How come you only use live bait such as a sucker rig in the fall? Is it just because the fish are beefing up for spawn? Would it be a waste of time early on in the year? I'm sorry if my questions seem stupid But I'm starting to realize that even though pike and Muskie are alike in many ways… They are so much different in so many others! And I'm not a pike expert but I've always been able to catch them if I wanted to anywhere I go! On a positive note…. Ill have two new members coming soon hopefully. Good fisherman that are craving muskies as much as I am hopefully they don't ask as many questions as I do sorry I feel like I am a pest [smilie=biggrin.gif]
The south end definitely will produce, but I usually stick to the timber down in that area. Topwater is a great tactic to use so don't be afraid to throw those. I have had some fish chase weagles and topraiders out there and know of a lot of fish caught on creepers and other topwaters. The reason people don't fish suckers in the summer is the water temp usually gets too warm and the suckers die pretty quickly on the rig. Just keep at it on the lake and you will get rewarded; keep pounding the weed edges with jerkbaits, minnowbaits or anything that hangs in the strike zone for a little bit and you will get some fish.
The lower end (river) is great along that timber. Best producing lures in there right now are twitch baits and buck tails. 7 inch cranks jerked and twitched over those logs and branches always gets attention for us. I always move fish in the lower (south) actually west end. You have to convince yourself of this one thing. Just because you cant see into the water dont think for one minute that a Musky can NOT see up into the sky. Your lures are visible to them even in turbid conditions. No sense declaring war though I have often felt like doing so ha ha ha . AH the frustrations of chasing these beasts. 😀 😀 The sickness has set in my friend. I think it s time for visit to my shop and to try another lake. Michelle and I have helped a lot of the club members get started. Thorn is a tough bird even for all of the seasoned veterans in this club. We managed to get one average fish in our last trip there after being taunted by two big girls.
You might want to try a day on Austin or Osterhout. Murray is also in range of you. Much clearer water on these lakes which will present its own set of conditional problems. I like fishing turbid water on bright sunny days and clear water with wind and lots of cloud cover with light rain mixed in. Make sense? Dark dreary days ?clear water. Bright sunny days? Look to dark stained waters . That is one of my own rules for WHERE WE FISH. Hope this helps. Feel free to make an appointment with me to tour the shop and Ill be glad to help you get that first fish in the net. Mike
I was out there early Saturday morning as well from about 6-10AM when I had to leave for a wedding and then again on Sunday for about 2 hours in the evening when I was able to get away for a minute. Lost 2 decent ones and had 2 smaller follows. Most action I have ever had on Thorn before in just a limited time out there so I was happy even though I blew it on the 2 I had hooked. I need to get better at netting fish alone. I blame all the action on the full moon since I never contact fish out there…
You are definitely right about the boat traffic though. I hope that was just because of the holiday weekend.
Mike King can talk muskies so well that I'm not sure he even bothers to stop for a breath until at least a few hours have passed. But he knows his stuff, definitely a big help to anyone and very generous with information.
My love/hate obsession with Thorn has been going on quite a while now. I fish there more than anywhere else since it's near me and has big fish, but my hours per fish there are worse than anywhere else except Long Lake near Three Rivers. Ovid, Murray, Oster, Diane, Austin have all been much better for the time spent. The Thorn beasts are well worth it though, the more effort it is the more satisfying it is when you succeed with a nice fish. Stick with it and you will. Sheer relentless perseverence is about the best suggestion I can think of for muskies, but especially Thorn muskies.
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