THE SHIELD

Pre-Season Plan To Catch Muskies After Season Opens

- Glenn McDonald

Northwestern Ontario and muskies are synonymous with each other. The big downfall is the long wait until the third Saturday in June for the start of musky season. Early season success, even on the most fabled of Canadian Shield lakes, is not a given.

Opening weekend can be notoriously unforgiving. Preseason scouting and understanding the spawn can go a long way to opening weekend success.

Planning

The best preseason plan starts well before the fishing season. In most cases we are dealing with home waters where we have history and waypoints. I meet with my fishing partners and discuss the past couple seasons while going over past fishing logs. We look for successful early season patterns, fish location, weather patterns and water levels. We also make a note of the most prominent spawning areas from the past few years.

Muskies have a tendency to spawn in generally the same areas throughout their lifespan. However, weather and water temperature will play a big role in the timing of the actual spawn.