ROCK & ROLL MUSKIES!
For some reason, the majority of anglers throughout time have always related muskies to weeds. In fact, I’d venture to say that a vast majority of musky anglers today still spend most of their time pounding weeds as their sole target. This is a huge mistake, obviously, and these folks continue to miss out on one heck of an opportunity. Plainly put, muskies like rocks, too. The bigger the rocks, the more they like them. The bigger the fish, the more they seem to like rocks as well.
While nearly any lake, river, or reservoir can indeed hold a rock-related musky, some are notably better than others. In other cases, rock use seems to be more of a seasonal thing, with fish relating heavier to weeds, open water, and other locales at other times of the year. Following are some notes on the best rock patterns I have seen over the years for muskies.
Probably the best rock musky patterns I’ve encountered occur on waters where there is a noticeable lack of weed growth. This is almost a no-brainer since it is obvious that the fish have no choice but to utilize what’s available to them. Lakes like this exist all across our country, but I have personally experienced this phenomenon consistently in both Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Canada. Anytime you encounter a body of water that lacks weeds but is peppered with mid-lake rock reefs, you can bet your best musky rod that muskies will be all over those rocks at certain times of the year. Where they are when they are not on rocks in waters of this type is a good question for sure. They’re probably suspended over open water. However, when they’re “on the rocks,” they are usually catchable.
The key on waters like this is to try to establish what kind of rocks the fish are preferring at that given time. Since there are so many rock structures of varying sizes, depths, and makeup on waters like this, it’s not uncommon to find the fish utilizing specific kinds of rocks located in certain sections of the lake at the right depth. For example, last summer I got onto a great August rock pattern on such a lake. In the course of a few days, I managed to boat several big fish, including one brute at 52 inches. However, this particular lake had a proverbial land mine of rock reefs. They were everywhere. But through attrition, I was able to decipher that the only productive ones topped off at less than five feet, and they had to have strong wave action over top of them. This particular lake was also a large one, in excess of 20,000 acres, with rocks of varying kinds throughout the entire lake proper. I eventually found that the biggest fish seemed to be concentrated in only one small section of the entire body of water near a larger open windy basin. A clear case of a specific rock pattern within a rocky environment.
However, rocks can and do produce musky action on weedy waters as well. This particular lake is shaped like a big hourglass. What I have noticed quite often on weedy waters that have a few rock humps is this—the weeds might hold the majority of the muskies, but the rock humps hold a few big ones. The weeds get all the fishing pressure, and the rocks get virtually none. This scenario can provide a unique opportunity since it actually isolates both the big fish and the pressure. One can confidently fish high-pressure waters in situations like this and expect to find the masses pounding the weeds, while the lone rock hump or two in the middle of the lake goes untouched, with the exception of a walleye fisherman now and then. And that walleye fisherman, by the way, is usually the guy who stumbles onto the catch of a lifetime.
Weather seems to have a bearing on the productivity of rocks for muskies, too. My near thirty years of experience with rocky muskies suggests that both wind and sun are allies. I’ve nearly always had my best results with rock muskies in a good chop. In fact, the rougher the chop, the better in some cases. This is where an extra-long shaft trolling motor combined with high thrust is your best friend. Without it, you simply can’t fish rock muskies in some of the best conditions.
Dead-flat calm conditions are rarely big producers on rocks. Wind and wave action appear to attract muskies as well as the forage to the rocks themselves. The current and water action boiling around shallow rocks, in particular, seems to be a winner. Take the wind and wave action out of the equation and you lose the current. Baitfish scatter outside the rocks more over open water. This, in turn, scatters the predators such as muskies.
Even when muskies are sighted on shallow rocks during these conditions, it’s a good bet that they are not very active. The lack of wave action seems to kill their aggression. However, a sudden change in these calm conditions with an approaching front triggering stronger wind can suddenly fire up these sleeping lions.
I’ve also noticed bright, sunny light conditions seem to be far more productive with rock-oriented muskies than dark, overcast conditions. I’ve never been able to figure out exactly why, but I have noticed this to be true. It’s not that I haven’t taken a few nice muskies off rocks on dark, overcast days or after dark. It’s just that I have done even better on sunny days. I theorize that the sun and its solar effects stimulate something in the lower end of the food chain on rocks that, in turn, fires up the whole system. I have also seen this to be true with big walleyes, so I am convinced there is some correlation here.
When the water is coffee-stained, this bright, sunny condition seems to be an even more critical factor. For some odd reason, sunlight seems to draw muskies and big walleyes up on rocks. Wind and the subsequent wave action then make them more active.
Lure choices for rocky muskies, in my opinion, are a simple one. If the water is relatively shallow, less than 10 feet, an in-line spinner like my Bucher is my first choice. Oddly enough, willow-shaped blades seem to be particularly good on rock muskies. This is another strange phenomenon that I cannot explain the “why,” but can only report that it seems to be true more often than not. Perhaps it’s because the willow-bladed lure tends to run a bit deeper, but I’m not sure that is the answer. Quite often, we as fishermen stumble upon things that work and never really find out why they do. This is one such case. Willow-bladed bucktail spinners are clear winners on rocks.
When rocks top out in that five-foot range or less, topwater lures can be really productive too. In particular, both tail rotators and walk-the-dog baits seem to be exceptional. Both of these baits can be worked with speed, and this seems to be an asset. Some of the biggest muskies ever taken on TopRaiders have come off such a pattern—bombing long casts over shallow rock reefs and winding the daylights out of them.
Time of day is sometimes a factor in topwater productivity, but not always. While many wait for the change of light conditions in the early evening to try their luck with a surface lure, some of the biggest fish have come during midday on top. Wind and wave action is another misnomer. Many mistakenly avoid topwater when there’s a noticeable chop on the water’s surface. Experienced rock reef anglers now know that this is a prime condition for big fish on prop baits. In fact, muskies have a tendency to strike more than follow in such conditions when a topwater lure is thrown at them instead of a subsurface lure.
Rock patterns for muskies seem to really vary in productivity with the seasons, too. All in all, I’d recommend summer and the fringes of summer (late spring and early fall) as the best for rocky muskies. History suggests that some of the biggest muskies are taken early in the spring off rocks by walleye anglers. I have also had some superb fall outings casting rock humps with jerkbaits and crankbaits on bright, sunny October afternoons. But June, July, and August are certainly the most predictable.
Finally, isolated rock humps on waters with an abundance of weeds really seem to turn on in late summer. I’ve seen this situation time and time again. The weeds are productive all the while they are in the growth stage. However, once they peak out and choke areas, big fish can be hard to pluck out of them. A nearby rock hump might be just the ticket.
Joe Bucher
