Category: musky

Hi Italo, Brian from Musky Ontario Lure Co. in Welland. www.muskyontariolureco.ca Have you ever done a show on Upper Niagara Musky? If you have not please do. I fish the Upper about 3 days a week and in a couple of spots I know the fish on a first name basis. I am only to happy to give you my GPS pins so you create a good show. Look for us on the water. We bearth at Millars Marina and the boat is covered in our decals. I catch most of your shows and enjoy the relax time you provide. take good care.Brian and Maria Friedrichs

Posted on July 27th, 2021

Hi Brian, glad you are having fun catching Musky on the Upper Niagara River. Both the Lower & Upper River are an excellent Musky area. Thank you for your kind offer of sharing fishing spots. I have shot a Musky TV show with Capt. Eric Elenfeldt from NY and we landed about 5-Musky in 8hrs. fishing. I try not to promote Musky fishing as you know they are very vulnerable fish if not fought and released properly. My concern has always been of anglers that don’t regularly Musky fish, hook into a Musky, fight it for a long time to the point that the fish is almost belly-up, net it and then take time to un-hook, take pictures and then try and revive the fish for release. I hope anglers that do fish the Upper know the importance of getting Musky in fast, quick pick and fast revive and release. Keep enjoying that excellent fishery…God bless you.

Make sure to check the fishing videos on our Italo Labignan YouTube channel and if you have any questions just email them to me at Ask Italo throughout our website.

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Hi Italo thank you your response last time. I’m if you have ever fished the moon basin area woods bay Arnold’s bay and Blackstone harbour. Wondering if you have any tips for the area

Posted on August 22nd, 2018

I have not, but I know the same techniques will work there for smallmouth and walleye. Any larger weed beds will produce good pike and if are looking for a musky, remember that the Canadian record was caught by Ken O’brian trolling with a #7 Rapala. He landed a 65 lb. musky that 58″ long and had a girth of 30.5″. He caught it right there, Georgian Bay’s Blackstone Harbour, Moon River Basin.

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Every summer i go fishing with my cousin on “Chemong” lake near Peterborugh for bass.Apparently it also has “Musky” but we have never caught one.Have you ever caught Musky on Chemong?

Posted on November 11th, 2017

Hi Clark, yes, I have. It has a good healthy musky population that mixes with Pigeon and Buckhorn Lake stock. I have had my best success catching musky in lower Chemong below the Chemong Causeway. Try fishing the weedline on the east-shore that runs south form the causeway and past the small island in 10-12′ water. You can catch them casting bucktails along those weeds and even accidentally jigging and drifting with a Vibrax #3 spinner/worm combination for walleye.

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Hi Italo, I hope you are keeping well. I am writing you in hopes that you can guide me in the right direction when it comes to Muskie fishing. I have been out a few times this year and fished lakes from the upper Manitou in sunset country, all the way down to Lake St. Clair. So far I have been unsuccessful landing a Muskie. I am getting the odd follow and even with a figure 8 at the boat I can’t get them to strike. I have fished using lures from Bulldogs to crank baits, and top waters and buck tails/spinners still with no luck. . I am heading up to Buckhorn lake this coming weekend in hopes of redeeming myself. Should I be trolling the deeper water/drop offs or should I focus shallow? What type of lures should I use? What are typical trolling speeds? I am determined to learn the patterns and habits of the fish but I am having trouble finding good resources online. I have even subscribed to musky hunter magazine in hopes of learning about the species. Do you know of any other good resources or literature that I could utilize that will help me learn about about the muskellunge? I understand that fishing for the species can be challenging but any information would be greatly appreciated. I saw you down at the Niagara River in the spring, this is another fishery that I would love to learn about. I just recently purchased a big enough boat that will allow me to fish these larger bodies of water. just recently purchased a big enough boat that will allow me to fish these larger bodies of water. I am used to being in a small aluminum boat and focusing on mainly bass and pickerel. They are a lot of fun but the past couple years I have had the Muskie itch! Anyways, keep up the good work! I look forward to hearing from you. All the best. Mark

Posted on October 15th, 2016

Hi Mark, Musky can be one of the most challenging freshwater fish species to be able to catch regularly. Firstly, they are usually loners, especially if they are larger fish. Secondly, they can patrol a large area and not always be in a feeding mood. Lastly, if they do feed on a larger meal, they can take a few days to digest which means they will not be that hungry and will often follow lures without striking. That’s why they are often referred to as, “the fish of a thousand casts”.

dave_stclair_musky

Buckhorn is one of my favorite lakes to target musky in the Kawartha’s. Challenge is that there is lot’s of shallow-water habitat to hold musky forage like small bass, panfish, coarse fish and walleye. I would recommend that you cover as much of the weedlines in the lake as possible “burning” (reeling in fast), musky bucktails in bright colors like chartreuse blade/body/bucktail just below the surface right over the thick weeds, and on the weed-edges. Inactive musky will often lay just below the surface in these weeds and are usually “woken-up” from resting by a loud bucktail whizzing by. If you see a follow or wake behind the bucktail don’t slow down, if anything speed-up, put your rod-tip in the water (to make your bucktail dive down a little), and anticipate doing an aggressive figure “8” as the lure and fish approaches the boat.

The Niagara is a totally different fishery. Both in the Lower and Upper River musky tend to feed on the structure/current breaks in open-water ranging form 15-25′ depths. Most anglers either jig these areas with large swimbaits like the Storm Live WildEye in the 4-6″ range, or the larger Lunker City SwimFish or Shaker with jigheads up to 1 1/2 oz in weight. Or, they troll using body-baits that dive down 20+ feet in the same areas….God bless you.

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Italo your the best fisherman I know, will you take me and my dad fishing for Muskie?Vinny 8 years oldWe are new to fishing and you have been our guide, thank you Vinny’s Dad

Posted on August 28th, 2016

Hi Vinny, thanks for your kind words and request, but I don’t guide. Musky is one of the toughest fish to catch reliably and even musky guides can have a hard time.

dave_stclair_musky

I can suggest though that you contact a good friend who is one of the best musky guides in southern Ontario and guides on Lake Nipissing out of North Bay.  His name is Danny Columby,  http://www.nipissingmuskies.com/?page_id=28    He averages about 85, trophy musky a year with his guests.

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Hi Italo, I hope all is well. I would like to put in some time fishing for some october/November musky. I am from the Hamilton area. I would like to fish the kawartha as I am most familiar with pigeon. Also, buckhorn, and chemong are also an option. Which of these three hold the largest population of musky? I have fished pigeon a few times and have only landed one musky. Will the musky be shallow at this time of year? I have heard different opinions, some say very shallow (less than 10′) whereas some also say they won’t be shallow until November, when the water temperature really begins to drop. I would appreciate any expert advice on the matter. Also, I have been doing some reaearch and I plan to join muskies canada Hamilton chapter next year in order to learn more about the species. Have you heard anything about the club? All the best! Take care. Thanks

Posted on October 1st, 2015

cs23_22_musky_image

I am not familiar with the Hamilton chapter of Muskies Canada. The fish are still in their summer pattern in the Kawartha’s so you can catch them shallow (less than 10′), and deeper (10-20′). You can cast for them and troll for them. In the near future though, when the lakes “turn-over” many of the musky will be feeding heavily in the shallower water both around weeds and rocks. Right now I suggest you fish smaller bucktails all around the shallower water structure where the bass and larger panfish are still feeding. If the bass and panfish are there, the musky will be hunting them. Last year at this time we caught our musky in less than 6′ of water.

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Hi, I just bought a place in midland and I was wondering if you can give me some advices on which areas to fish? I want to try this fall to get a trophy muskie or pike . Thank you.

Posted on September 9th, 2015

pat_pagano_musky

Musky right now remain in their summer pattern until the water temps start to drop. You will do best trolling the 20-30′ of water around the deeper channels that have nearby shallow-water and bass. Good areas to try are: between Green Island and the mainland, the waters off Musky Bay Rd., and the deeper channels going north towards Roberts Island. Careful navigating these waters, deep channels are often close to rocks meeting the surface. Best to troll with 5-8″ long body baits.

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I fish the kawarthas for musky. This year I have had a lot of follows and was wondering your advice on helping these fish commit. Also, do you think the kawartha species are much different than the nippising type? Thanks, Chad.

Posted on June 25th, 2015

jeffery_musky

 

When casting for musky follows usually means the musky are not feeding aggressively, or not convinced by the presentation. Experiment with retrieve speed, jerking presentation and fishing shallower/deeper in the water column. If casting always use a figure “8” at the boat just in case you have a follow and as a follow-up to the figure “8”, have a rod ready with a heavy jig/plastic swim-bait like the Storm Live series to also use as a secondary follow up and fish the area where you spotted the follow thoroughly.

storm_swimbait

Musky in the Kawartha’s and Nipissing are the same species, but can have different feeding habits/depths depending on forage they are feeding on and location.

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