When the toothy critter bite is tough, fish the heaviest cover you can find. Here’s how to do it

Misery doesn’t always love company.  We went through a spell recently when one low pressure system after the other blew through the region, and while our muskie and pike fishing friends were all lamenting the tough bite, too, it didn’t make life feel any better. So we set out to change it the best way we know how. And that is to comb cover, specifically, the densest, thickest, weed, reed, grass and vegetated areas we could find.

Thick cover—and heavy current—are the great equalizers when the bite toughens up, so the day after the last cold front pushed through, dropping the air temperature down to a daytime high of 17 °C (63 °F) the inside of the boat looked like a combined hay field. Fortunately, it was at least overcast—sun would made the conditions worse—and still spitting rain.

Every spot we fished was comprised of thick weed growth, although “thick” is a relative term thanks to the grass-mowing efforts of our rusty crayfish. Nevertheless, the tally at the end of the day was three muskies in the net, one lost at the side of the boat and a pair of husky northern pike. Not bad for immediate post-frontal conditions.

Using crankbaits like the Rapala Super Shad Rap that dive when you retrieve them and then rise when you stop and pause are the best combs you can use to groom weed beds. A close second are dive-and-rise baits like slightly weighted Bobby Baits, and unweighted or barely weighted tube jigs like the Water Wolf Lures Gator Tubes. With the first two lure styles, you can crank, rip or twitch them down to nick the tops of the weeds, and then pause to let them back up, rise and slide over the vegetation. With the lightly weighted tubes, you can walk-the-dog with them over the tops of the weeds and then let them flutter down over the edge.

It is ironic, too, because crankbaits are often the last lure style muskie and pike anglers consider when they’re fishing thick weed cover, but they are ideal combs. And while many folks abhor pulling grass off their lures, we intentionally make contact with the vegetation so that when we yank hard, the lure pops free, like a fleeing baitfish. I think many times, too, the big toothy critters feel the lures (and weeds) shaking as they get ready to lunge forward.    

To get a much better sense of what we were doing, click on the following video that we shot on the day in question, to prove the point that when post-frontal conditions have you in a funk, dig out the combs and groom cover.