Timing your fishing trip just right can be everything. I spend much of my off season talking with clients about which dates will be best for which bites. Looking back at catch data from the last 17 years, I have a pretty decent idea of when certain bite trends will happen… but you never know exactly when they will kick in. That is up to old Mother Nature! It seems though that when it a pattern kicks in, it’s most potent on the front end of things. The first fish that show up in locations are usually the most aggressive and easy to catch. 

 

This has been true for my friends John Mich and Scott Kolpin the last 3 out 4 Octobers. They have been able to accurately pick days that have had giant muskies moving up onto structure. Each of these years they have been in my boat on the first and second days of my livebait sucker season and have cashed in big time!

 

2017 Scott catches a 52″ that had just shy of a 26″ girth. 2018 John catches a 54.5″. 2019 due to a scheduling kerfuffle the boys weren’t able to come out with me. On the days that they would have been out we caught a 45″, 48″, and lost a fish due to a broken rod that I thought was 55″ or better. 2020 John is back in the boat with his buddy Charlie and catches a 52″ which was the largest of 5 fish in 2 days. 

 

Now, I can’t tell you when exactly these dates are, but I can tell you after many years of experience that timing can mean everything when it comes to muskies! 

 

Ryan McMahon