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| Pat Elza's first big fall Webster Lake muskie. |
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Crunch Time Indy Style!
By Bob Chochola
MUSKIE Magazine, October 2009
Midwest Outdoors, Fall 2009
Are you still in the hunt for that first muskie of the year? Have you been pounding water into suds with enthusiasm and relentlessness with only a few sub-legal ski’s to show for the effort? Has the trophy of a lifetime eluded you again in 2009 despite the fact that you’ve given it “your best shot” and now you’re ready to pack it in for another season?
Stop! It’s way too soon to use the words, “Wait ‘til next year!”
Fall (especially late fall) is by far the best time to stick a hog that will make all of your patience, persistence, and hard work pay off in a big way. There’s plenty of season left and you’d be surprised to know that there are some pretty big muskies cruising water that isn’t typically thought of as a haven for monsters.
Pack-up the truck; you’re goin’ to Indy for a muskie adventure with plenty of big fish potential all the way through Thanksgiving week and beyond – all the way to ice up.
Most of us think of Canada, Minnesota, and Northern Wisconsin when we think about chasing a late season trophy. No doubt about it, the northern tier of popular lakes gives-up monsters in the fall, but fall comes mighty early way up there. When folks are already sweeping snow off the porch and prepping the ice shanty at Lake Vermilion, or Lake of the Woods, things are only beginning to get interesting down south.
“Down south” of course means states like Indiana – south of the much shorter fishing season you will experience in the Northern Great Lakes region or Canada in particular.
Three absolute jewels lie in North Central Indy and can all be fished while on the same trip – staying at the same camp. Webster, Tippecanoe, and the Barbee chain offer great opportunities for (very) late season action and regularly produce muskies in the upper forty to lower fifty-inch class. And the later in the fishing season you go, the better chance you have to boat a muskie that will make 2009 a season to remember the rest of your life.
Remember: we’re talkin’ Indy here - a stone’s throw from major metropolitan areas like Chicago and Indianapolis and not very far from Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin either. Minnesotans could even benefit by letting the snow pile-up a bit to go fishing where the boat has not been replaced by a snow machine yet.
You’ll get a month (or more) productive fishing in Indiana and this cluster of lakes is booming with action. Sure you can head north and brave the elements, but extreme weather conditions can really make staying out on the water uncomfortable, if not impossible, especially if you bring kids along for the journey. Big water up north can be hard (and dangerous) to navigate when the wind whips-up strong and driving rain turns to tiny ice razor blades sailing through the often frigid descending daily highs. And daylight on the water shrinks faster too the farther north you go.
Where are they now?
A large body of water like Lake Vermilion can be very intimidating with a span of forty-one-thousand acres sprawled out in front of you. When a swift cold north wind picks up even trolling can be not for the faint of heart. Large swells and white caps will render many areas off limits even for an experienced boater. (I was on Dryberry Lake in Northwestern Ontario in October a few years ago when forty-mile per hour winds and a forecasted ice storm forced a hasty early getaway.)
On the other hand, a lake like Webster has but a bit more than five-hundred-and-fifty acres and fishing plans are rarely cancelled due to extreme conditions. That does not mean it cannot get rough out there, so always exercise caution before you drop the boat off the trailer.
Fall is an exciting time of year in Indy though for trolling and casting alike.
Trolling is a great choice the longer you wait after Labor Day. When a chill is in the air and dark clouds are rolling over head, trolling is a good bet even on a relatively small body of water like Webster.
However, casting can still out produce the troll when the rollers are high and you can set-up on a controlled drift along structure.
Webster Lake is really a no-brainer when it comes to structure. Find the deep weed edges and you’ll find fish – lots of them. There are only a few deep holes – completely surrounded by a deep weed edge – making things pretty simple whether you troll or cast.
Throw a sucker rig out the back side of your drift and you will double your chances late in the year. And it really doesn’t matter how fast you are drifting or how beat-up the sucker gets in the chop either. Some of the best sucker bites on Webster have come in six-foot rollers – honestly!
Casting will produce, but it isn’t uncommon to have a following fish miss on a figure eight then cruise under the boat to hit the sucker. Anything to increase the odds helps and a sucker rig will do the trick most of the time. Some days that’s all they seem to want anyway – in which case you can catch up on your reading while you are dragging meat. (And if you’re lodging is on the water you can even throw a sucker off the dock – Pat Elza caught a 41-incher this way while on a Webster Lake job site a couple of years ago.)
If trolling is your late season game plan, the same structure rules apply on Webster. Cruise the weed edges! It won’t be like trolling in Canada though – following a break line for a few miles and then turning around. It’ll be a little bit like those carnival rides that go around in tight circles. But as long as you don’t get dizzy easy, then go for it!
So much bait; so little time!
A tackle box full of lures can be the downfall of any angler who spends too much time thinking and too little time fishing. The massive “ball” of interlocking baits comes right out of the box as one being that they are often all hooked together; untangling the mess wastes valuable time and can be very frustrating.
Some of us have accumulated ten or more such bait catchers and it gets harder-and-harder to make wise decisions simply because of sheer quantity intimidation. By now most of you have heard the “confidence lure” speech. It’s as true now as it ever was – maybe more.
If it worked before, it’ll work again.
Every guide worth his (or her) salt will have a custom lure to go with a pitch of the services they offer. This will include big fish photographs and a claim that their invention is the latest and greatest. With all due respect, it is rare that a “new” lure out produces the time tested and proven. There are exceptions, of course, but all things being equal, would you go with a lure you personally have had great success with, or one that you have never thrown before? How about during precious crunch time?
In the dog days of summer, by all means, experiment until your heart’s content. Long days and hungry weed bed prowling fish allow you to be a bit curious if not downright adventurous.
The fall bite is not the time to field test new baits. It’s time to get serious. Use lures that have put fish in your boat, or that you know for sure have produced for others – then stick to the game plan. And pay attention to what others (yes, guides too) are actually using - types and colors. This will require a bit of “spying” on your part. The local tackle shop can be a very helpful research tool too.
Don’t forget the suckers!
Back home again in Indiana…
For the purposes of the “nuts and bolts” portion of this article, Webster Lake was the main focus. But you can easily use this information on Tippecanoe and the Barbee chain. These lakes are a short distance from one another and can all be explored on a single weekend trip.
There’s still plenty of time to catch a muskie before winter arrives. Indy’s longer fishing season provides excellent opportunities as long as you have open water. Webster, Tippecanoe, and the Barbee chain are excellent choices if you are serious about catching a muskie that’ll make 2009 a year to remember.
Take a weekend off this fall and go muskie fishing in Indy – it’s crunch time!
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Interested in a guided Indy trip? Bob can hook you up with a licensed professional guide with years of experience/success on Webster, Tippecanoe, and the Barbee chain - comfortable lodging too! Write him at muskie@bobzilla.tv and ask him for his recommendations.
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