Water temperatures shot up over the July 4th holiday weekend, but rain and cooling air temps this week are bringing water temps down. Musky fishing was good over the past week, though not quite as good as last week. I suspect this was due to the quick water temperature rise and the fishing pressure we always see around the holiday.

That said, we had muskies in the boat that were again caught from shallow weeds to deep water. Successful lures were Mepps Double Musky Flashabous — particularly with copper blades and a black tail — a Cisco Kid Topper, a Suick Muskie Thriller, a Baby DepthRaider, and Swimmin’ Dawgs.

Cchances are you shared the waters with dozens of other anglers and boaters over the holiday weekend. To succeed in pressured conditions, you need to fish differently than other fishermen, or to fish when traffic from other anglers and pleasure boaters is minimal. If you join the crowd and simply do what everyone else is doing, you’re playing “Musky Roulette” and leaving your success to chance.

You can join the dawn patrol and fish before the lakes get busy, or try fishing at night. If you take the latter option, your boat lights must work, and it’s wise to have a good headlamp, some experience on the lake you intend to fish, and a boat partner. It’s a good idea to always wear a PFD at night. Night fishing can be terrific.

If you still want to fish your usual hours, observe what other anglers are doing. Take note of the lures they’re casting, and try something else. Or move in shallower or out deeper, rather than targeting the same stuff they’re fishing. If you must fish a weed edge, turn around and cast away from it because pressured muskies will often move out of weeds and suspend nearby.

— Steve Heiting, steveheiting.com