Fishing Articles & Pro Fishing Tips

Over the span of his professional fishing career, Author and Outdoor Educator Joel DeBoer has authored many, many top-notch articles on the "How To's" of becoming a better angler. On this page you will find just a sampling of some of his articles and tips - we hope you enjoy!

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Autumn Muskies on Top!
Fishing Articles & Pro Fishing Tips >>

The memory is as clear as if it happened yesterday – in the dim light of dusk, a teenager makes the perfect cast to a patch of lily pads.  He engages his reel and the surface lure slowly begins its noisy cadence back to the boat.  The young man turns to say something to his fishing partner, and as the words are just about to exit his mouth, the tranquility of the quiet early autumn evening is shattered by the sound of a fish exploding on the topwater bait.  Minutes later both fish and fisherman are briefly illuminated by a few flashes of light from a 35mm camera as the proud angler holds the mid-forty inch fish all the while kneeling in the bottom of a leaky 14’ aluminum boat.  The memory is complete with the exuberant shouting and congratulatory high-fives of the two young men following the successful release of the fish – yup, no doubt about it, I will never forget my first topwater musky!

Musky fishing can be described, tongue-in-cheek, as hours of boredom followed by moments of sheer excitement; this is especially true when discussing fishing for these toothy critters with topwater baits.  A predator with good eyesight, an advanced lateral line, and capable of short-burst speeds of over 30 miles per hour, muskies are truly at the top of the food chain, and a more than worthy adversary! 

Arguably one of the most entertaining methods of fishing, using surface lures for the king of freshwater is not only thrilling, but downright effective.  Traditionally thought of as “warm weather” baits, topwaters certainly are one of my more go-to presentations during the sultry months of summer, and I start throwing them once surface temperatures break the 60 degree mark.  That being said, surface baits are a very over-looked and often under-utilized manner in which to score on big autumn muskies.  I continue utilizing them all the way through the fall months with great success, especially during low-light periods, until the surface temperatures drop into the low 50 degree range.

Typically thought of as a presentation best-suited for shallow water situations, the practicality of surface baits transcends just the “skinny” water, even during autumn.  Locations to use surface baits for muskies in the fall are for the most part quite similar to castable summertime structure.  Weeds and wood remain worthy of scouring for muskies, and with the progression of fall, rock and sand increase their value as musky magnets, especially during or immediately following bright sunny weather.   While topwaters excel when fished over or around shallow weeds, wood, rocks, and other structure types, they will also produce fish from water much deeper than many people realize.  Surface lures can be deadly on suspended muskies, especially in clearer water; in fact, I have caught muskies on topwaters over 60+ feet of water hundreds of yards from the nearest structural element, and well after the leaves have changed color.

Good surface bait anglers understand that a proper presentation is contingent on the proper equipment.  While I am an avid fan of longer rod lengths for most fishing applications, this is especially true when musky hunting.  When musky fishing, I rarely use a rod shorter than 8’ anymore, especially when working surface baits, and feel that rods in the 7 ½’ – 9’ length range are perfect for fishing topwaters.  Looking for the perfect rod - a St. Croix 8’ or 8’ 6” Legend Tournament or Premier, or an 8’ St. Croix Mojo Musky rod are perfect for catching giant muskies up on top.  Not only does the added length enable you to make longer and more accurate casts, offer added leverage for powerful hook sets, aide in easily executing effective figure-eights, and assist in fighting big aggressive fish boat side, they are truly “magic wands” when needing to steer baits around cover and looking to manipulate lure action to elicit strikes.  Complete your outfit of choice by adding an Abu Garcia 6500-C3, 6600-C4, or a Revo Toro 60 spooled with Sufix Performance Braid and you’re ready to hit the water.  In respect to leaders, I use Stealth Tackle’s 14” fluorocarbon leaders as they are lighter and more pliable than conventional wire leaders, thus allowing for more action out of the bait; in addition, the Stealth leaders offer high abrasion resistance, superior tensile and knot strength, and the invisibility factor that fluorocarbon provides.

Walk through the aisles of a store or shop catering to musky anglers, or browse the pages of the latest edition of Rollie and Helens Musky Shop catalog, and you will discover there is indeed a vast array of topwater lures available on the market today. Despite the plethora of options, anglers need but a hand full of selections to be both armed and ready for musky hunting.  Prop-style surface baits are some of the most revered and well known in the topwater lure category, and for good reason – they are simple to use, effective search lures for covering water and locating active fish, and flat-out productive.  The Tyrant Crusader and Sennett Tackle Pacemaker are two that should be on your “must-have” prop-style bait list.  Both the Crusader and Pacemaker will produce fish in calm conditions or in windier choppier situations as they produce a great sound that calls in fish from far away.  Generally speaking, prop-style lures are most productive in fall when retrieved with a medium cadence.  Prop-style lures generally excel during the fall months under warmer steady conditions, or in “cold” (surface temps. below 60 degrees) water during a warming trend, a.k.a. “Indian Summer”.   

On the opposite end of the retrieve speed spectrum are the creeper/wobbler style lures.  These baits are generally most productive in calmer quieter water, and are not effective search lures due to the slow retrieval rate required for them to perform correctly.  The trade off is that creeper/wobbler style lures hang in the strike zone longer than most other baits making them fantastic options as “throw back” lures for when a musky is raised, when muskies are less aggressive and unwilling to commit to faster retrieved lures, or when looking to thoroughly dissect a particular fishing spot.  Solid creeper options include the Tyrant Dictator and Sennett Tackle Creeptonite, while the Mouldy’s Hawg Wobbler continues to set the bar as one of the most productive slow moving surface baits of all time.  Creeper/wobbler style baits can be effective musky catching machines during autumn, especially once the water temperatures drop below 60 degrees and other faster moving surface bait presentations are not producing.  The last 1-2 hours of daylight seems to be a magic time for creeper style lures in fall, and as such, they should not be overlooked as a more than viable option. 

Walk-the-dog style topwater lures crashed onto the scene many years back with the arrival of the Poe’s Giant Jackpot, and musky angler’s everywhere took heed – the irregular side-to-side (“walking the dog”) action wasn’t just for bass fishermen tossing Zara Spooks, these magnum versions were big-time musky producers.  Years later, walk-the-dog style lures are still producing loads of muskies for anglers each season.  Improvements such as plastic construction to aid in hook setting and rattles for an even more intense fish-calling allure have been incorporated into models such as on the Musky Mania Tackle Doc and Li’l Doc.  These two lures, at 7” and 9” respectively, will work in both flat-calm conditions or in a slight to moderate chop.  For whatever reason, walk-the-dog style lures seem to be at their autumn musky-producing peak once the fish seem to “turn-on” to jerkbaits; in fact, when the jerkbait bite is hot, I will almost always have someone else in my boat throwing a Doc or Jackpot in addition to the angler with the jerkbait, to seemingly complement each other – it’s a combination that has produced a great deal of action for my boat over the years.  A key to consistently producing strikes when using a walk-the-dog style lure is to vary your retrieve cadence, implementing random pauses into each cast; this is especially true during the cooler temperatures of fall when anglers often need that little something extra to provoke a strike.

Fishing muskies with surface lures is incredibly exciting, but can also be extremely frustrating.  Because it is so much more visual than say, casting a deep-diving crankbait (after all, you get to see everything happening for the entire duration of the retrieve), angler’s need to remain disciplined with setting the hook.  Few things are more disappointing then setting the hook on a monster musky because you “thought” she had the hooks, only to have the bait come flying back at you; trust me, it’s a lesson I learned the hard way too many times in the early years.  Not to say that fine-tuning your technique will result in perfect hook-ups every time – that’s not possible, it is musky fishing after all! 

Practice this one simple rule, and I guarantee you will significantly increase your hook-up percentage:  “reel ‘til you feel!”  Simply put, regardless of what a following musky appears to be doing to/with your bait, keep it moving towards the boat and do not set the hook until you actually feel the weight of the fish.  By keeping the bait moving you not only keep the fish interested, but you also keep the lure effectively engaged in the strike zone should the musky miss your offering on its initial strike.  While it’s oh-so-tempting to haul off and attempt to drive the hooks home on the sudden explosion of a surface strike, it is imperative to continue reeling and actually feel the fish – trust me, not only will you catch more muskies, you will save yourself, or someone in your boat, a trip to the emergency room to have hooks removed.

When you spot a musky is following your lure, your goal immediately becomes provoking a strike out away from the boat; not only is it easier to get a sweeping hook set, but also more conducive to initially fighting a fish with thirty feet of line out than three.   The biggest factor to keep in mind is to keep the lure moving – at no point do you want to stop your bait.  If the fish is coming hard to your lure, just keep it moving and remember to, “reel ‘til you feel”, then set the hook hard; unfortunately, it sometimes takes a little more “convincing” to get a solid strike. 

If you have a lazy follow or even a fish that appears hot on the bait but just won’t strike, start by adding a quick angle change.  This is easily done by sweeping the tip of your rod to one side or the other (thus the long rod).  If the fish responds positively but does not yet strike, either opt for an additional angle change or try speeding the lure up a bit.  Should the musky still not commit, maintain your retrieve speed but throw in a variance as to the manner in which you are retrieving the bait, i.e. suddenly use an irregular cadence with a walk-the-dog style lure, or, using your reel handle to  impart short speeded-up bursts to prop-style baits.  The bottom line is that muskies, like other predator species, are opportunistic feeders – convince them that they should eat your offering or agitate them to the point where they want to, and you’re in the game.

So… you’ve read the body language of the fish during the duration of the retrieve, made all the right moves, and yet here you are with both bait and musky at boat side – now what?  Simple – smoothly transition into a figure eight, a “must have” maneuver anytime musky fishing, but especially in fall.  Surface lures are not easy as some of their brethren to figure-eight, but that doesn’t mean they are incapable or ineffective when done so.  As with any other lure, the key to an effective figure-eight is to keep the lure itself moving and move effortlessly into the maneuver.  With a surface bait, you actually want to take the lure underwater during the execution of the figure-eight.  As you reel in and the bait approaches the boat, seamlessly execute the L-turn and force your rod tip underwater far enough that the trailing lure follows suit.  Often times a musky will strike as the bait plunges from the top and takes the initial dive underwater; if it does not, continues the figure-eight, being sure to incorporate both speed and depth changes until the fish is coaxed into hitting your presentation.     

If you haven’t tried topwaters for muskies during the autumn months, you’re missing out – not only are they one of the most productive esox-producers available, even in the fall of the year, they are also simply put, the most exhilarating!  Put the Packer game on the radio, keep your hooks sharp, remember your figure-eights, and enjoy the fight!  I’ll see you on the water… 

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