mostlymuskies

We got a late start at 3 pm,tried trolling south basin first,did not mark much at all and no hits.Water temp was 59 degrees near White Wall and 62 degrees near the bridge.Went toward Long Point next marked some bait fish but not much in bigger hooks.Water temp infront of Long Point Marina was 63 degrees.Trolled through Witney Bay and past Prendergast Point to near the Bell Tower 62 degree water there,deeper water was like a dead sea.We quit at 8 pm with no hits at all.Everything must be in the weeds around the edges,we should have been casting shallow.

Algae still ugly at Long Point Marina!

Off to Chautauqua Lake this morning to fish with my friend Dr.Dave Palo till dark.I will report on Lake conditions and how we did later tonight.

Riley,your temps may be correct,I was fishing up against the shore just down stream from Black Creek and that water could have been warmer.That is why the bait fish were stacked up at the 12 ft drop by the Riverside Motel & Campground dock. After looking at Lake Erie water temperature taken from 20 ft down at the Roundhouse it was 60 degrees.So I may need to look at my own transducer if the water near Black Creek was not warmer.

We spent about 4 hours trolling Beyers Creek & Black Creek area from 9 pm.At 10:05 pm we caught a 34"er and at 00:35 am we caught a 35 1/2"er.Floating weeds are still a problem,cleaning every 10 minutes.Water temp was 64 degrees.Launch ramp at Big Six Marina will close on Oct 11th.

Ivan,Another good one! Maybe I should have passed on watching the Bill's today!

Congrats to whoever caught the Fat 43"!

Riley,Tommy was wondering who was in the boat that caught the muskie near Canadian shore edge that night,Congrats!

Bill congrats on a nice Chautauqua fattie! Dr.Dave & I were to come to Chautauqua today,but he got called for surgery.We will not get down until Tuesday from noon till dark now.Good Luck again today Ivan & Bill!

11 muskies durring a cold front with Northeast winds is very good!

Well who won and how many muskies were caught seen some pix on facebook!

Water temps at Chautauqua Lake should be getting near mid to low 60's by now with the cooler NE winds and cold nights.The shallows will be the coldest water,so look for muskies to be very shallow between weeds and shore in 3 to 4 ft of water durring day warm up or out deep suspended at warmer water temps 15 to 20 ft down.

FishinNY,After looking at isobar changes on NOAA weather mapping,it showed the winds swinging around out of South SE around 1 pm.This should turn on the feed bag of the muskies on the Niagara River & Chautauqua Lake at wind change.This change will take place earlier at Chautauqua, that is the reason for going there,also Niagara River will still be flushing floating weeds out of Lake Erie for a day or two after wind change.I feel tomorrow may be not only a multiple muskie day,but even a big fish day at Chautauqua Lake!

Since we have had 4 days of steady Northeast winds on Lake Erie & Niagara River,flowing masses of floating weeds down the river,I will make one last trip down to Chautauqua Lake and take out my friend Dr.Dave Palo out Sunday.I will report the conditions and how we did Sunday night.

With all the Northeast to East winds is making it difficult to troll cross stream at upstream angle and keep correct lure speed.Once you get enough kicker rpms to make way again'st the wind,your crankbait is working to fast from the 3.5 mph river current.Then the slightest downstream angle and your speed jumps over 6 mph.Along with lots of floating weeds to deal with and the fact I catch very few muskies in winds out of the East,I moved the clients I had for the next 3 days out to later dates.Next time on the water will be Monday.

We did mark lots of bait fish on the 13 to 14 ft edges coming out of 20 ft + water.Also many big musky hooks on the same 13 to 14 ft,all were tight to bottom.Water clarity was at least 10 ft.Going to be stiff Northeast winds through Saturday,first change in wind direction the fish will be on!Water temps are dropping,was 66 last night and 65 degrees today.Last year when the surface water reached 60 degrees I had some multiple mid 40" fish days all the way up to the big snow storm in November that crashed the water temp to 36 degrees and everything blew out into warmer water of Lake Erie until it stableized back to 43 degrees last week of November.

Last night with the East Northeast winds and cold front we could not move any fish at all.Floating weeds were also a big problem.Surface water temp was 66.4 degrees.Back out tonight for some more Northeast winds.

I have never fished with Justin,but have emailed back and forth with him s few times.Reading past posts as well,I think Justin is top notch and anyone wanting to fish Otisco Lake should book a trip with him to shorten the learning curve.

I decided to get out last night to see what action we could find in the west river.Rained most of the night but we got a little action.34",37",38 1/2" muskies took a 5 1/2" Wiley out 60 ft of leadcore over 12 to 13 ft of water trolling slow at 2.5 mph.Water temp was 64 degrees,floating weeds were there but still 10 minutes between cleanups.

Very Nice Fish!

Esoxpox,The water clarity in the North Basin was about 3 ft on Sunday,light brownish green tint.

Addicting is not the word for Muskie fishing,I have been at it since 1975!I have seen many come and go over the years,some because of marriage & new kids,others because high gasoline costs in years past and others that have passed on.I can count on two hands the number of guys that were muskie fishing in 1975 that are still muskie fishing today,most are over 65 years of age.When I quit getting excited at every muskie to the boat,big & small,by myself & others,it would be time to quit!I will most likely leave this earth while I'm muskie fishing,if not I will be dreaming about that big muskie when I go!

My first clients for the fall on the Upper Niagara River start this Tuesday night,hopefully the action is as good as last year fall trips were.