Flow. Fall. Fish.

It’s upon us, that much anticipated turn of the calendar that cues the end of the season for paddleboarders and wakesurfers alike. That time of year when outdoorsmen are rewarded for months sharing woods and water. The days get shorter, the leaves oblige, and the muskies get hungrier. It’s fall in musky county.

- Nick Erickson

In northern Wisconsin, we are blessed with some of the most beautiful lakes in the whole musky range. But there is something no lake, no matter how hard you look, can offer — flow. Here are some of my reasons I prefer to target muskies in rivers versus lakes late in the season.

Turnover

During the summer months, lakes stratify with warm, oxygen-rich water staying near the surface. Meanwhile, separated by the thermocline, cold, oxygen-deficient water sits below the warm water. The presence or absence of oxygen dictates where muskies will be located during the summer months. As we get later in the year and days get cooler, this upper layer of warm water will cool, increasing its density, and will sink and mix with the cold water below. The thermocline vanishes and equal parts oxygen and temperature can be found throughout the water. Lake turnover occurs in most lakes when surface temperatures dip below the 55-degree mark. This event is characterized by no-fish outings and frustrated fishermen.