Off the Deep End for Giant Muskies

The northeastern United States is blessed with a hit list of big, deep-flowing rivers that connect all of the Great Lakes. Each one of these rivers is unique but they all have three things in common — deep water, current and good populations of trophy muskies.

- Hans Mann

These rivers are very diverse and offer water that can be good for any technique you choose. However, the fish caught out of water 20 feet or deeper consistently seem to have a larger average size.

A huge factor to consider in these rivers is the unrelenting flows have battered the muskies into a different set of behaviors than the ones observed in more classic musky fisheries.

One example of this is the idea that fish will move shallower during feeding times. Although this does happen in calmer parts of the rivers, areas of relatively strong current can actually have the opposite effect on the fish. When the window opens and muskies want to eat they will forgo the slack water weed edge and instead move into the deep current to feed. In a 2 mph or 3 mph current, all muskies and baitfish are forced toward the bottom to take advantage of current breaks created by small humps, rocks, and the occasional log. To them, the river current becomes like a giant conveyor belt effiiently serving up tired and confused forage. Muskies simply hold near the bottom in 18 to 30 feet of water and wait for the food to come to them.