By Nick Simonson

The added challenge of clear water is universal across all fish species.  Many game fish – from bass, to walleyes, to muskies – all rely on keen sight to find their prey.  This also makes them more discerning as the water gets clearer from the introduction of invasive species such as zebra mussels, which can filter more than a liter of water per day.  But this added clarity is not the only challenge in fooling fish, it also can make them harder to find.  Take for example the structure-specific muskellunge, the season for which opens Sat. Jun. 7 in Minnesota’s lakes country where zebra mussels have been present for more than a decade. 

“You’ve got to have a short memory. Weed patches that were there last year aren’t there this year. Spots that you moved fish on last year, for whatever reason – a patch of weeds or whatever was down there they were relating to – can be gone this year.  They’re kind of more like a river system as a river system will change year after year after year, the zebra lakes are kind of the same” explains Andrew Slette, a muskie guide in western Minnesota.

With clearer water, muskies may relate to deeper weedlines in the summer, and those patches that were the dominant holding point in prior seasons may have shifted or no longer exist.  Seasonal factors such as water levels, water temperature and amount of sunshine received play a part in the equation where clear water is the norm thanks to ANS being present in a system.  The first step in the season, according to Slette, is to get out and cover water, searching for those new patches which are forming on muskie lakes.

A Cool Spring

Additionally as the muskie season gets underway, Slette points to cooler water temperatures to start things out this year.  This harkens back to beginnings of seasons over a decade ago, when things weren’t as warm when the opener rolled around.  Cooler waters will make fish more lethargic, and anglers should look to certain features to find more active muskies.

“We’ve had a little bit more of a traditional spring this year, it’s cooler than it has been.  It’s been warm every spring, jumpstarting a little bit more into mid-June patterns, as opposed to early June.  Water temps are right around 60, so it’s kind of a throwback, we haven’t had this in a while,” he advises, adding likely spots to find muskies on the opener are “the bays, the north side of the lake that gets a little more sun; they’re a cold-blooded fish. The warmer water is going to have more active fish; that’s just the way it is.  Especially the big females that are coming out from spawning, if you’ve got a river or a system you think they spawn in, stay close to that.”

With muskies chasing less, it’s likely that smaller baits will be the ticket, at least early in the season, in converting those follows into strikes.  As weed patches and lines develop and waters warm as summer approaches, easier casting options will likely pay off compared to chucking larger baits for the fish of 10,000 casts.

“A smaller bucktail, probably a smaller rubber bait – a Bulldog or a Medusa something you can work through those weeds – and then a twitch bait, something you can work slow, let it hang out there a little bit, work it a little bit and let it rise up. It’s something you can work a bit slower,” Slette recommends for baits the start of the season in lakes country.

The Minnesota muskellunge season begins Sat. Jun. 7 and ends on Mon. Dec. 1.  Lakes where muskies are present and more information about them can be found on the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources muskie landing page: dnr.state.mn.us/fish/muskellunge.

Simonson is the lead writer and editor of Dakota Edge Outdoors.

Featured Photo: Muskie anglers on Minnesota’s western waters containing the fish of 10,000 casts will find a throwback type of spring, with cooler waters. Additionally, the presence of zebra mussels in many of those destination lakes in the region have made for clearer conditions and continually shifting weed patches and deeper weedlines compared to previous years.  Covering water and hitting high-target regions on each lake will be a necessity to find muskies as the season gets going on June 7. Simonson Photo.