Fall tips for casting at Waneta?

[Dan M]

We've seemingly got the trolling down and caught some good fish year (one lucky lure has gotten 6-8 musky so far) - I'd like to catch a musky casting still.

Any tips on lures or depths to cast at? I get trolling - looking for bait balls & fish, adjusting depth of lures to target, but I'm not sure what I'm really looking for as far as casting goes.

If I was fishing for largemouth I'd be casting at docks, structure etc.

West side of Waneta is more of a gradual dropoff where East side is steep.

Are the musky in shallow in fall? If so, are you casting right to shore and retrieving back to boat? Or are you targeting the bottom of the lake with a bulldowg or similar?

[old man]

We've seemingly got the trolling down and caught some good fish year (one lucky lure has gotten 6-8 musky so far) - I'd like to catch a musky casting still.
Any tips on lures or depths to cast at? I get trolling - looking for bait balls & fish, adjusting depth of lures to target, but I'm not sure what I'm really looking for as far as casting goes.
If I was fishing for largemouth I'd be casting at docks, structure etc.
West side of Waneta is more of a gradual dropoff where East side is steep.
Are the musky in shallow in fall? If so, are you casting right to shore and retrieving back to boat? Or are you targeting the bottom of the lake with a bulldowg or similar?

Only tip I can give is stay at it. I caught one Saturday on the west side in 2 fow. It hit a black/nickel super girl. Not a magic bait,just what I had on as I waded through the box. I don’t have a bait I can recommend other than what you have tied on when you find a hungry one. It’s hard to see followers there so it’s extra important to play the bait around at the end of the cast. Make enough casts,you’ll get one. Fishing pressure on them will be easing up now. Next couple weeks should be good.


Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[Dan M]

Just now, old man said:

Only tip I can give is stay at it. I caught one Saturday on the west side in 2 fow. It hit a black/nickel super girl. Not a magic bait,just what I had on as I waded through the box. I don’t have a bait I can recommend other than what you have tied on when you find a hungry one. It’s hard to see followers there so it’s extra important to play the bait around at the end of the cast. Make enough casts,you’ll get one. Fishing pressure on them will be easing up now. Next couple weeks should be good.


Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United mobile app

I think I'm not in shallow enough water when casting - my boat is usually sitting at 13-16 FOW when I try to cast

[Chowdaire]

I spend most of my time there trolling but I've done some casting and picked up a couple with some follows and misses. All of mine have been in 6-10fow on a glide or twitch bait.

 

Do you mind me asking what kind of speed you're trolling at? I have had a couple of really slow trolling days in a row out there and just feel like my speed may be off. Thanks,

[Dan M]

Just now, Chowdaire said:

I spend most of my time there trolling but I've done some casting and picked up a couple with some follows and misses. All of mine have been in 6-10fow on a glide or twitch bait.

 

Do you mind me asking what kind of speed you're trolling at? I have had a couple of really slow trolling days in a row out there and just feel like my speed may be off. Thanks,

Varying from 3.5 - 4.5.  Yesterday we hit the first one on a 6" diver over 25 FOW - 16' down ( just found the bait and targetted) - took 2 hours to hit that one. Then the second one came in like 15 FOW as I was reeling in the lure to check for weeds. That got the heart pumping, wasn't expecting to get blasted with the trolling rod in my hand

We also missed a strike as I stopped from 4mph to idle and the hit came on the stop.

Previous time we went 2 hits were at 4.5mph and one at 3.8ish.

Time before that we landed 5 all around 3.5mph.

[Chowdaire]

Nice! Thanks. I was mainly running 3.5-4.2 so I guess I'm in the right range. Just couldn't put together the last couple of outings but hopefully I'll get back down there soon.

 

Casting, I fell in love with the 7.5" Phantom Softail last trip. I put it on and couldn't believe how easy it was to work and how good it looked. A dozen casts later had my first fish on it. Got smacked again a little later. It may never work again but it's got me hooked.

 

Good luck!