Gord Pyzer’s 50 best tips, secrets and tactics for catching monster muskies

#41  Nothing helps me find muskies better on a day-to-day basis than current. If there’s no current in your lake, fish on days when the wind is blowing, especially down channels and through constricted areas. Muskie fishing is a current affair.

#42  Muskie season opens just after the fish have spawned, so the best early-season locations are typically near shallow, warm, weedy bays. You can have too much of a good thing, however, as you will find fish faster in lakes with fewer weedy areas.

#43  Fall muskie fishing is all about silvery ciscoes and whitefish, which spawn in late autumn. Since muskies will move out onto main-lake structures to intercept them, I will only cast and troll lures that resemble these baitfish.

#44  The weather affects muskies the same way it affects us. If it’s cold and raining, we’re much less active. If it’s warm and beautiful, we go for a walk. I gauge fish activity by the way the weather affects me.

#45  Anglers spend far too much time fretting about baits. Lures are simply tools, and selecting the right one for the job is a small piece of a much bigger puzzle. Most of us would be further ahead learning more about the seasonal habits and habitats of muskies.

#46  My top muskie lure of all time is a crankbait, but I never cast it out and simply reel it back in. Nothing makes muskies madder than a crankbait crashing into the bottom and ricocheting crazily in every direction. Crank ’em for all they’re worth.

#47  When I take friends to my best muskie location, they always ask, “How did you find it?” The answer is that I put in the time. Everyone can spot obvious structures and cover, but it takes days to locate a single, car-sized boulder surrounded by a dozen strands of tobacco-leaf cabbage.

#48  Muskies love hiding under trees that have toppled into the water, and on cottage lakes, they’ll use docks and boathouses as substitutes. The best docks sit low to the water on rock-filled cribs surrounded by weeds, offering plenty of shade and cover.

#49  Unlike many bass, walleye and trout lures, virtually no muskie baits are scented. But since muskies are notorious for following baits looking for a positive cue to strike, I slather water-soluble scent onto all of my muskie offerings.

#50  Many anglers think muskies follow their lures looking for flaws, but that’s not the case. Rather, they’re looking for positive signals telling them the lure is a real creature that they should eat. So, speed it up and impart erratic directional changes to make your lure come alive. Then hold on.