Waneta Musky

[Guppy35]

My friend and I have never been musky fishing before, but would love to give it a try this year on Waneta Lake. Can anybody tell me when the best time to fish for musky is, what kind of lure to use, how to fish for them (casting or trolling?) etc. Any information would be a great help!!

Thanks in Advance

Sean

[zach]

most people troll rapalas open water that are new to waneta. they can be caught casting as well. if you dont see them in the weeds, go to the open water. some people troll at night also. good luck and if you get cut off by a guy running 8 lines and huge planer boards don't get too mad cause we all have been cut off by the "king of waneta". if you kill your muskies no more info will be given.

[Guppy35]

Thanks Zach. I know Waneta does not get that deep, so when trolling for musky do you use the rapalas kind of like a top line when trolling for trout, or do you still use downriggers and have the rapalas right off the balls? How fast/slow should you troll for them?

[zach]

early season u can usually do okay running the top 1/2 of the water column. later on u should go deeper. u can use riggers, the people that do run riggers on waneta only set them 6-8 feet deep. last year i did multiple fish in the top 5 feet of water no matter how deep the bottom was. best day was when a mayfly hatch happened and all the panfish came up to eat them and guess who came w/ the panfish? the rapalas it seems that most newer people run are the large shad raps but feel free to try anything. some last year were caught on large spoons also. i would recommend looking through rollie and helens and grabing one or two shallow divers (2-, the same for mid depth (8-15) and some deep. i know larry jones has a bunch of tuff shads to get rid of cheaper than u can get them from anywhere else. u cant go wrong w/ a perch color but dont be afraid to try something bright as i have done them one those also. speeds to troll? anywhere from 2.0 mph all the way to over 5mph and anywhere in between. there is no need to run real far back when trolling as the fish will hit a short line also. any other questions i may not have answered feel free to ask? last summer smaller (<7") lures worked for myself for #'s but got my largest last year on a big 10" bait so pick your poison. small lures to at least catch one or a bigger lure for a bigger fish? i highly recommed wiley crankbaits, tuff shads and legend perchbaits. i think u could use those 3 lures all year and do as good as anyone else. best luck and leave the muskies in the lake so my kid can catch them in future also.

[tbulhead]

If you get tired muskie fishing, cut through the channel to Lamoka Lake. Toss small buzzbaits like Booyah Pond Magic in red over the submergent vegetation. You can catch all the pickeral you want.

[old man]

zach has you covereed on trolling. here's my 2 cents on casting. they like brown hair and gold blades. go out of the canal til you hit 7' of water and start there. work to your left til you get to the point with all the docks. there is a trailer/pre-fab home area there. the little bay there has been good to me. work the weedline and dropoff from there about 400 yards up the lake. repeat. like zach said"let em go".

[zach]

gold and brown huh ole man? may have to tie one of those up just for waneta. ole man- do u usually cast bucktails or spinnerbaits? i think this year i will spend more time casting spinnerbaits than bucktails just b/c of the weeds. ole man- that bay did well for not only myself but i know solgrande did a few there also. great info and pay attention guppy35 b/c u could make a nice trip with the info old man and i gave u. good luck.

[solgrande]

Most of my fish have come in the top of the water column,i`ve mostly trolled up to this pt.3.5-4mph.Sometimes 20ft back some @75`(mainly im around 30-35`back).Perch colors are good as well as firetigers(there are many variations-maker to maker)Yellow cisco kids work to.Greens...lime,chart etc.for trolling.Watch your drag!!Also don`t be affraid to launch lures in no-mans land.Picked one up casting back out into the basin over deep water on an orange tiger tuff shad(eastside-just south of the camp).

As far as the best time...that would be anytime you can get yourself on the water.Time on is the most important for me.Have had succes on blue bird days(when they say its not good) as well as crappy weather.I change up alot when they`re not biting.Just works for me.

Cya and good luck

Bob S

[old man]

i use both bucktails and spinnerbaits. i have a couple ghostails that work well there. i think the pattern is called sucker. it's brown and gold. i have had a lot of luck recently with rabid squirrl spinnerbaits. the walleye color is my favorite. i have caught muskie,pike,walleye,and bass on em. the only downside is they don't hold up real well. on the plus side they hook up better than other spinnerbaits.

[zach]

old man- in your opinion why do the rabbid squirrels hook up better than other spinnerbaits? just b/c i tie them up also and am always looking to improve them. are they not durable b/c the hair falls out or what?

[THE TRADESMEN]

Try a 1/4oz Mister twister

[old man]

i really can't say why they hook up so well,i just know they do. when a fish hits one of these they get caught. as for holding up,alot of it comes from getting eaten all the time. they are real hairy,i think it's marabu,and every fish takes some off. and i lose a lot of the second hooks. they are held on with a piece of surgical tubing and if you don't watch it they fall off. i make the problem worse by taking the barbs off everything. i bought some new ones for this year and i put shrink tubing on 'em. looks like it will stay there,we'll see.

[old man]

trying to figure out why the squirrels hook up so well....i laid out all my spinnerbaits on the table and compared 'em all. trying to be scientific about it. haven't got a clue. then the damn cat hops on the table,flips out,and takes off with a funky chicken hangin off her. she was safely released.

[old man]

this is gettin old. let the season begin