EARLY SEASON HUNT FOR ESOX LUSOX
May long weekend in Northwestern Ontario signals the unofficial start of open water season with walleye opener. Myself, being a musky angler, I must wait a whole extra month. The third Saturday in June to be exact. The struggle is real folks, being a musky hunter is not easy. However, in Sunset Country pike and bass have an open season year-round.
WHY BASS AND PIKE?
Having the ability to target pike and bass does a couple things for me during the early season. Pike fishing is similar to musky fishing, so it allows me to try out any new gear and sort out any potential issues. Casting for both species allows me to regain my strength and technique before casting larger musky baits. Early season bass fishing helps me pattern the fish as the water temperature changes rapidly, this will translate well to musky fishing.
START WITH YOUR GEAR
If I know any angler, I know them all. We have obsessed with our gear all winter. If you’re like me, you have plenty of new lures, rods and reels to try out. Going over all your gear prior to hitting the water is a good idea. New fishing line, new leaders and terminal tackle, don’t take anything for granted. You will be forever upset with yourself if you lose a beautiful fish due to neglect. That being said, we are human, and we make mistakes.
I treat the first couple trips on the water as ‘pre-fishing’ for the year. Try to incorporate all your gear, find any weak spots or items you may have missed. Catching fish during the first couple trips is a bonus for me.
BASS TO MUSKY
I love bass fishing. There I said it. For me, bass fishing gets exciting around mid May as the water starts to warm up. Smallmouth bass will be in pre-spawn at this time and you can find them in small groups. They are generally in shallow water and easy to find close to spawning areas.
Over the course of a few weeks time, we can start to pattern their movements as they get closer to the actual spawn. This type of behavior is similar to how the musky will act as they stage up for the spawn. See how I tie this back into musky fishing? I am always looking for any edge I can gain from being on the water.
The mechanics of casting for bass mirror casting for musky. The accuracy needed for bass will help build confidence I will rely on all season. I will say one thing about casting with bass gear, it is much harder to cast a small lure rather than the much heavier musky lures I usually use. It takes a day of bass fishing to feel comfortable casting again.
BASS BAITS ARE CUTE LITTLE MUSKY BAITS
I keep things simple when I fish for smallies. I like to use baits that could be considered downsized musky baits (do bass anglers call my baits upsized bass baits?). Mepps #5, small spinnerbaits, Rapala X-raps and topwater baits. I understand how these smaller versions of familiar baits will work. I can work on my technique without learning a new bait action.
PIKE ARE ALMOST MUSKY
Early season pike fishing can be a riot. Just after ice out the smaller male pike will still be up shallow and easy to target and catch. But that’s not what we’re after. We want to target the bigger females. Depending on the water temperatures the big females may be just spawning or already moved back out to open water.
Big pike act just like big musky, they move out to open water after spawning. They will be looking to feed after the spawn, so finding the nearest forage will be key. The warmer water of the spawning area will be host to all types of forage bait. Locate the first main lake points or break lines out of the spawning areas and that’s a good spot to start.
Tying it back into musky fishing, here is where I would try out any new gear or applicable lures. I will target these post spawn pike with bucktails or spinnerbaits on the outside edges of known summer weed beds. Glide baits or dive and rise baits work great around weed, rock transition areas. For open water areas I always go to rubber baits. You can count them down and rip, pull, pause them back to the boat. Hungry pike can hardly refuse a 12” snack dandling over their heads.
BE CAREFUL NOT TO TARGET MUSKY
One downside of early season pike fishing; lakes home to both pike and musky can be tricky to fish without catching out-of-season musky. Personally, we try to avoid targeting pike on lakes with musky populations. If we do, we understand that many of the spawning areas are shared by both species. If we see musky staging up to spawn we back away from those areas.
We treat any incidental musky catch with the utmost care. Any stress can cause a pre-spawn female not to dump her eggs. The future of the species depends on healthy females.
MOST HUNTERS ARE ANGLERS
Most hunters are anglers, however not all anglers are hunters. I don’t know where that quote comes from, but I feel it’s true. Being a hunter, I can appreciate the aspects of bass, pike and musky fishing that relate to hunting.
Actively targeting bass and pike in the early season can be compared to hunting. We are hunting for the locations of both species as they prepare to spawn. Once we know the locations we can fine tune our presentation to increase our odds of success. Just as large deer can be elusive, large pike and bass can be tough to locate. Thinking like a hunter can be a big bonus. We see the water in three dimensions, we look for travel routes in and out of spawn areas. Hunters will relate to this instantly.
Spring bass and pike help me fine tune my ability to read the water around me. I learn every time I am on the water. By putting all this information together, I have already jump started my musky season a month before it opens.