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| Mike Davis with his biggest fish in almost 20 years of muskie hunting - a 51.75 incher caught on night patrol on Dryberry. Well Done, Mikey! |
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A LITTLE NIGHT MUSKIE MAGIC
by Bob Chochola
MUSKIE Magazine (August 2006)
During a Major Moon Phase, Under Cover of Low Light, Then NO Light… It’s Your Best Bet to Catch Big Muskies.
If I were only allowed two hours a day to muskie fish, you bet that I would be on the water an hour before until and hour after sunset. This two-hour magic window of opportunity has produced most of our big muskies. During the full moon the window is on fire and you are certain to boat a big fish if you focus your efforts on the time period.
It’s often been said that you won’t catch a musky if your bait isn’t in the water. This philosophy keeps the lures splashing from my boat long after most other anglers have gone to bed. If you ask anyone who has had the pleasure of timing a trip around one of ours, they’ll probably tell you about our triumphant returns at two o’clock in the morning singing and giggling like a couple of school boys on summer retreat. The giddy arrival is usually accompanied by a big fish story about a behemoth we dredged up from the depths in the middle of the night.
I’m sure you’ve heard the theory that moon phases can affect the musky bite? Heck, I’m the kind of guy who would send a dozen red roses to Joe Bucher if I were to catch a 50-incher during one of his moon phases. But let’s just say, for the sake of argument, that you left his time chart calendar sitting on the kitchen counter when you left home. You can bet that if you are fishing on or around the full moon you will contact big fish one hour before until one hour after sunset (by the way, moonrise also happens at this time and without even looking I can tell you that Joe has this window marked on his calendar too).
We have been fishing the full moon for a long time and it has always been very good to us. I’ve seen such dramatic increases in land critter and waterfowl activity during the full moon that I have to believe it similarly motivates the creatures under the surface. You will notice the buzz about three days prior to the full moon and then it will suddenly crash a day or two after. It’s like clockwork.
During the full moon Canadian Shield lakes are lit up at night. You can read a book out there. Just beware of approaching fronts – cloud cover can turn out the lights in a hurry. All kinds of cool stuff will go on out on the water at night during the full moon. If you are a brave soul like me and you still have enough left in the tank after chucking lures all day to stay out after dark, then twilight into the first hour or two of the night bite can pay big dividends for you. Not to mention that you will see the most spectacular light show ever. Never mind that “the stars at night are big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas.” Nowhere on Earth is the sky more interesting than in Sunset Country. People always ask me, “Where are the pictures?” What they don’t realize is that you can’t photograph the magic and even if you could, a picture wouldn’t do it justice. ”You just had to be there.” I tell them.Northern Lights, frequent spectacular shooting stars, and communication satellites buzzing and blinking through the star-studded night sky provide a heavy metal light show for a very exciting time to be musky fishing.
Bears, wolves, deer, loon, and bats make every minute special when you are out there casting the moonlight. You won’t see any of it in Texas, or anywhere else, for that matter. The soft and subtle light can play tricks on you though, but this is also true for the muskies. We have had so many fish slam into out boat after missing the turn on a figure eight that we have grown to expect it. I had a nice fish crack her head right at my feet one night, scratching her back along the entire length of our boat before she took back to the weeds. Pat hooked her on the next cast and we released a nice 46-incher.
You have to tough it out though. Every evening before dark, just when we are getting pumped for that big strike that we don’t see coming, I watch all the other boats scurrying off the water heading for camp. Tired and hungry anglers race home and leave the entire lake to us. Let me say this to those anglers… THANK YOU! I know it’s hard to cast all day and expect to keep going after dark, but if you take note of anything from my big fish pictures it should be that most of them have a night background. Of course, we take our fare share of big fish just before dark too. As I have said, “prime time” is one hour before until one hour after sunset. It does not end at dark. Sometimes action lasts for hours after dark and that produces some of our more memorable moments on the water.
What about Moonset and Sunrise? I am not the person to consult about time specific information, as I don’t keep close track of time when I’m on vacation. For specifics I will again direct you to Joe Bucher’s moon charts published in Musky Hunter Magazine. Joe has made painstaking efforts to put together accurate information on this subject. All I can say is that if you follow his timetables you will contact fish. We have proven him right enough to say that you will prove him right too. (The roses are on the way, Joe!)
We do pay close attention to the rise of the moon. We have had incredible action when the sun is disappearing beyond the horizon to our west and that big ol’ round hunk of cheese is peeking over the trees to the east. You won’t ever find us in camp at this time of day. No way! Our best action comes at dusk during a full moonrise (and simultaneous sunset) and lasts into the night. It doesn’t matter to us if it’s the gravitational pull or the many changes in light texture doing the job – all we know is that we catch big muskies.
I must confess that sunrise is a time of day Pat and I know the least about, mainly because most times we are up until all hours of the night celebrating all the big fish we catch after the sun goes down. We do, on occasion, fish the early bite when we are on a lake where we face a bunch of recreational traffic during the day. Our trip last 4th of July weekend to Webster Lake, Indiana is a good example of that. We wanted to get out before the jet skis and wave runners beat the surface to suds and we saw some good action because of it. We did catch matching mid-thirty inch muskies right in the middle of the day during the “water show.” Go figure? Of course, it wasn’t easy standing to cast in the 5-foot rollers, but we’re pretty tough customers when it comes right down to it.
Sunrise brings out the food and it only stands to reason that the toothy critters will be on the prowl too. Now you’re never gonna see us awake that early on Dryberry – for obvious reasons – but each lake is different and you should gear your hunt to the specific situation you are facing.
I cannot stress enough the “magic window” of time one hour before until one hour after sunset – particularly during a full moon. I’m sure there will come a time when my aging bones tell me that fifteen or sixteen hours of casting every day isn’t gonna be possible. In fact, even now we head in to rest during the heat and high sun that the “dog days” of summer often bring. A break gives us enough stamina to keep-on-keepin’-on into the night. Although each big muskie we hook-up with in “the window” does more for our motivation level than any nap ever will.
My advice is to save your energy and press on later in the evening. Don’t be surprised if you find the lunker that has been eluding you. You may even boat that stubborn following muskie that never seems to bite when the sun is high in the sky? It’s happened to me many times. It can happen to you too. Just make sure the flash is working on your camera and take care on the release to make sure your muskie has a chance to swim away safely before you fire-up the motor and head home to celebrate.
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