Most musky anglers find themselves quickly out of their comfort zone if they are not casting to weeds, wood or rocks. The lack of a visual target to place casts near in open water makes them feel lost and disoriented with out a plan of attack. But these subsurface structures like drops, humps and breaks are key spots that hold active muskies year round but are rarely effectively fished. So lets look at how to approach these subsurface targets and get you started effectively fishing these submerged musky gold mines.
Angle of Approach
So you have identified a part of the lakes structure that you want to target. Regardless if this is a hump, saddle or a break line your first consideration should be your angle of approach.
If your wondering what I mean by Angle of Approach I am simply referring to the direction in which we are orientating our boat to a target which dictates the angles in which our lures cross the structure.
Muskies that are actively feeding stage facing the direction that they anticipate forge to be coming from. So your angle of approach should be reflective of this.
So the next question obviously is
"How do I know what the appropriate angle of approach is on a structure".
The answer to this question is usually found by observing natures clues.
Wind and Current are the two biggest influences that dictate the direction that a feeding muskie will stage on a structure. Generally active fish are facing into the current or wind anticipating forage to be brought to them.
So your approach should be reflective of the current, wind and water flow directions. This can make for some tricky boat control issues in high winds but I encourage the use of anchors and spot lock trolling motors when structure fishing,
Drifting into these locations multiple times is also a consideration if boat control is a major issue.
Presenting your lures over structure in a more natural manner and at the angle that muskies are expecting is a simple concept that will put more trophies in your net.
Steven Paul
1-615-440-3237
www.TennesseeMuskyFishing.com
www.TNMusky.com