Fish different “Angles” in 2013
During the winter months where time seems to go by slow, we all sit and dream about open water. Talking about fish stories from previous years, doctoring up baits, and planning trips, these are some thing we do to cope with not being able to Muskie fish. I personally sit and reflect on the highs and lows of the 2012 season. Drawing conclusion from patterns I came across, and also what did not work for me the previous season. One of the most important things that I have learned over the last few seasons now, is the art of using angles in fishing. The simple idea of presenting your bait to the Muskie at different angles can greatly improve your success rate. I will break down more in depth of some of the things I have learned, and now implement on a daily basis when out on the water.
Fishing inside out
If you go to your favorite Muskie lake, 90% of the guys fishing a rock reef, sand bar, or weed edge will fish it the exact same way. Casting their lures up onto the structure or weed edge and retrieving the bait away from the structure back towards the boat. While this seems to be the easiest way to fish a structure, it doesn’t always mean it is the most productive. Not to say fishing the norm like everyone else won’t get you fish, I just want to discuss and give you an option to try another angle to switch things up when it is slow, or when there is heavy pressure on a lake. The first time I became a believer in fishing a structure from the inside and casting out, was after a slow day of fishing. After fishing down a long, distinct weed edge without a bite or even a follow, we put the boat about a half a cast distance inside the weed edge and went right back down the same edge, but now having our baits starting in the open water and working them towards the structure versus away from the structure. We immediately had action seeing multiple fish using this technique. It all made sense to us, lets simply give the muskies a different angle in which they see our lures. They see baits being pulled away from them all day long, why not have the baits work a different direction or angle towards them? Think about the angles with the thought of using a protractor like we all did in math class back when we were in school. Most Muskie anglers will throw their bait perpendicular to the structure and pull lures away from that structure, which references a 90 degree angle. Now, picture that same 90 degree angle but from the inside of the structure. That creates roughly 180 degree change of the lures path. It is just a different way we present our lures to the fish, the same can be applied for us humans, we see food in different ways and they sometime see more appealing based on how they are presented.
Planning an attack
When you are going to implement this technique, it is however important to know what structure your boat will be over. If fishing a rocky shield type lake, you better be certain you know how deep the apex of the structure is because you can beach your boat on the structure really easily. The art of inside out fishing can be a “close combat” style, as most of the time you will be fighting fish on shallow rocks, or in heavy weedy cover. So with that said, lets break down how to use stealth and precision to give these muskies a different angle. Personally, I fish a lot of rock reefs, both shallow and deep. I break down the structure by looking at the wind direction and where a fish will most likely set up. The tips of structure, weather a reef or weed edge are an obvious hot spot, but finding those secondary ambush point that muskies love are the ones we want to target. The blue pins, (Contour photo) represent a situation in which we found last summer. The wind was from the East, (right side) so we entered the boat from the west. (left side) I prefer working a structure into the wind if possible; in this case it helped us from spooking fishing knowing that most likely the Muskies would position themselves on the windy side of the piece of structure.
Fishing inside out
If you go to your favorite Muskie lake, 90% of the guys fishing a rock reef, sand bar, or weed edge will fish it the exact same way. Casting their lures up onto the structure or weed edge and retrieving the bait away from the structure back towards the boat. While this seems to be the easiest way to fish a structure, it doesn’t always mean it is the most productive. Not to say fishing the norm like everyone else won’t get you fish, I just want to discuss and give you an option to try another angle to switch things up when it is slow, or when there is heavy pressure on a lake. The first time I became a believer in fishing a structure from the inside and casting out, was after a slow day of fishing. After fishing down a long, distinct weed edge without a bite or even a follow, we put the boat about a half a cast distance inside the weed edge and went right back down the same edge, but now having our baits starting in the open water and working them towards the structure versus away from the structure. We immediately had action seeing multiple fish using this technique. It all made sense to us, lets simply give the muskies a different angle in which they see our lures. They see baits being pulled away from them all day long, why not have the baits work a different direction or angle towards them? Think about the angles with the thought of using a protractor like we all did in math class back when we were in school. Most Muskie anglers will throw their bait perpendicular to the structure and pull lures away from that structure, which references a 90 degree angle. Now, picture that same 90 degree angle but from the inside of the structure. That creates roughly 180 degree change of the lures path. It is just a different way we present our lures to the fish, the same can be applied for us humans, we see food in different ways and they sometime see more appealing based on how they are presented.
Planning an attack
When you are going to implement this technique, it is however important to know what structure your boat will be over. If fishing a rocky shield type lake, you better be certain you know how deep the apex of the structure is because you can beach your boat on the structure really easily. The art of inside out fishing can be a “close combat” style, as most of the time you will be fighting fish on shallow rocks, or in heavy weedy cover. So with that said, lets break down how to use stealth and precision to give these muskies a different angle. Personally, I fish a lot of rock reefs, both shallow and deep. I break down the structure by looking at the wind direction and where a fish will most likely set up. The tips of structure, weather a reef or weed edge are an obvious hot spot, but finding those secondary ambush point that muskies love are the ones we want to target. The blue pins, (Contour photo) represent a situation in which we found last summer. The wind was from the East, (right side) so we entered the boat from the west. (left side) I prefer working a structure into the wind if possible; in this case it helped us from spooking fishing knowing that most likely the Muskies would position themselves on the windy side of the piece of structure.
Now is when we use the technique discussed above to catch these fish. Making sure we get a cast out off of the structure and bringing it back to the boat which will bring the lure right towards the fish. Being able to make extra-long casts are very important in this style of fishing, you can keep your boat further away from the fish by being able to make long, down range casts. When you think of this style of fishing from a birds-eye view perspective, it makes sense. The amount of baits being casted onto the structure and pulled away, versus the inside out style is astonishing.
Give it a try
This 2013 season, when your normal hot spots, or times of the year are not producing, reflect back and plan an inside out style for a day or two. Fishing pressure has a lot to do with why I implemented this style much more the past few seasons. It is not a style that has never been done before, but is definitely a style that is way over looked, and hardly used! Giving the muskies a different angle in which they see the baits is what we are trying to accomplish. It is mind blowing to see the difference just on one piece of structure of how the fish react differently to the angles of the baits. Give it a try, no matter what type of lake, or structure you are fishing, instead of hitting as many spots as you can, cut your spots in half and fish them in 2 styles. Fish the normal style, then turn the boat right around, go inside of the weeds, or on the rock reef and cast off the edge of the structure and reel the bait back up on top or back into the weeds. Good luck in 2013!
Give it a try
This 2013 season, when your normal hot spots, or times of the year are not producing, reflect back and plan an inside out style for a day or two. Fishing pressure has a lot to do with why I implemented this style much more the past few seasons. It is not a style that has never been done before, but is definitely a style that is way over looked, and hardly used! Giving the muskies a different angle in which they see the baits is what we are trying to accomplish. It is mind blowing to see the difference just on one piece of structure of how the fish react differently to the angles of the baits. Give it a try, no matter what type of lake, or structure you are fishing, instead of hitting as many spots as you can, cut your spots in half and fish them in 2 styles. Fish the normal style, then turn the boat right around, go inside of the weeds, or on the rock reef and cast off the edge of the structure and reel the bait back up on top or back into the weeds. Good luck in 2013!