It looks like the muskies will be getting another break in our area as the water temps are currently at 76-77 and the next week of weather will undoubtedly push them to above 80 for a period of time.

That being said, as of July 21st, the last week has been great fishing with yet another clients first musky ever boated. Two patterns seemed to solidify this week, one being the suspended basin fish and the other being shallow weeds.

Fish have somewhat packed up into smaller areas of each lake and rather than running and gunning between a lot of spots I’ve spent a majority of my time using my Mega SI to locate fish and continuously running these spots from different angles until the window opens. Blades have had the majority of action in both open water and shallow patterns. Slowing the blades down to make contact with weeds as well as incorporating a weighted leader when casting over the basin has helped get baits down a little deeper and seemed to be the key in having fish make the first bite move on the bait. A majority of fish have been eating boatside so committing to a figure 8 every cast has been critical. Musky Mayhem Trigger has continued to shine however smaller Indiana blades and Kramer Brother revolutions have also produced.

When fishing the basin, I have kept the remaining bait choices very simple. A variety of sizes in Chaos Tackles Medusa’s and 10” jerkbaits have been the line up. With three baits running, the fish will usually tell you if they prefer the blades or rubber each day and adjusting the line up accordingly has been the key to maximizing the action.

Great fishing is just around the corner and I have begun booking for fall starting the first week of September. If you’re interested in getting out in Northern Illinois or book some of my limited Southern Wisconsin dates, feel free to text or call me at 18155753468 or send me a message on Facebook.

Austin Wiggerman

https://www.facebook.com/austin.wiggerman.1