This is a topic with an infinite amount of answers.  Trolling or casting, big lures or small lures,  hard baits or soft plastics,  deep or shallow, sunny or overcast, and on and on.  The true answer is that all work at one time or another.  There is no wrong way to fish for Musky.  How many times have you talked to a Bass fisherman who told you that he hooked a Musky on a small crankbait in shallow water near a dock??  My cousin, John, has caught his largest Musky’s with 10” rubber worms while fishing for Bass.  The Musky is probably the most finicky fish of them all.  The truth is that when they want to eat, they do, and when they want to be stubborn, they are.  Maybe that is what intrigues me so much about the Musky.  I am constantly trying new things to make that fish bite on any day regardless of the conditions……still a work in process and probably an impossible dream. 

The Musky “Purist” will throw nothing but large Bulldawgs or Medussas in 40 feet of water fishing the top 12 feet of the water column.  Very effective and very popular.  The larger the lure the better for them.  Some never fish shallow water at all.

Others, including myself, prefer to fish drop offs and shallow weed edges with hard slash baits or jerkbaits using speed as a trigger to entice a strike.  I also like to throw bucktails with a twisty tail trailer added to the bottom treble hook for additional action.  I throw them into the weeds and shallows and burn them across the top edges of the weeds and catch many fish that way.

Top water baits early morning and late evening are very effective as well.  Giant Jackpots and Topraiders are my favorites. 

Another method that is very effective is trolling.  I love it.   Well over half of the Musky’s that I catch are caught trolling.  In fact, the 49 incher on this page was caught trolling.  It is the most exciting thing in the world to me to be trolling and have a Musky hit.  It looks as if the rod is going to get torn off the side of the boat, rod holder and all.  The biggest benefit of trolling is that you can cover so much more water in a much shorter amount of time than casting and if you are unsure as to the whereabouts of the fish, trolling is a fine way to find out where they are.  Also, as you troll, you will find out where the biggest clusters of baitfish are and can make a note of it and return to those spots later on and cast them more meticulously.  Where there are baitfish, there are sure to be Musky’s lingering nearby.  

Weather is another story.  Overcast and windy seem to be the best conditions, however, fish can be caught on Sunny, calm days as well.  If you can be out there ahead of a weather front, all the better.  Post front, a little slower……or is it??  The key to Musky fishing is patience and persistence.  The more you do it, the better you will get.  Patterns will start to appear on your home lake and it is smart to follow them.  Where you may have seen one on a follow yesterday would be a great place to start fishing today.  Keep at it…..you will catch ‘em.

Author: Bryan Piekarski