3 Hot Summer Patterns

Bucktails, rubber & night fishing are as reliable of patterns as you will find during the heat of summer.

- Ryan McMahon

Summer musky fishing in Minnesota can be world class. as our lakes warm up to summer peak the fish become very active and feed multiple times throughout the day.This creates some really fun patterns to fish.

Fishing pressure in the twin cities metro area starts to level off in July. many fishermen start to spread out around the state as action in the larger northern lakes heats up. as we roll into July and august, i find my boat often times reaping the benefits of stable weather and reliable patterns. 

Although this article will talk about three of my favorite patterns for summer fishing on twin cities metro lakes, these tactics can undoubtedly be used in other areas with high fishing pressure, and especially those with Leech Lake strain muskies.

1. Burning Bucktails 

It should come as no surprise that burning bucktails made the list, and hopefully you are not skipping this section of the article because you think you’ve heard it all before. There are few variables that are important when it comes to burning throughout the summer. Sometimes the fish are deep, sometimes they are suspended, and as the summer goes on they start to move shallow. Using speed in your retrieve is a huge triggering tactic but to successfully do so in these different locations requires different approaches.

When muskies are holding on deep weed edges, secondary spots, or just out in open water, we are faced with a challenge. We want to retrieve our bait quickly but the lift of the blade(s) makes the bait rise. i’ve never been much of a “count down” guy with bucktails, so i’ve always got the blades started and then let them flutter down before then gunning them in. This works but the bait isn’t getting that far down and it’s always coming in at an upward angle (which is unavoidable).