By Steve Heiting
Every musky angler has a “No Fish Bay.” It probably doesn’t carry that name (although Little St. Germain Lake in northern Wisconsin does indeed have a No Fish Bay), but everyone has a spot they cannot figure out.
I have a few that I actually refer to as No Fish Bay, but a problem spot can be anything — weedbed, reef or otherwise — that looks good but doesn’t produce. If the spot has some form of cover, whether submergent or emergent weeds, or wood, or some type of structure like a rockpile or a breakline, is located near relatively-deep water, and has regular baitfish presence, you can bet muskies will be there sometime during the year.
It could be your problem spot gets used by muskies only seasonally. For example, a weedy bay may be used only in the spring around the spawn, especially if it is located some distance from a main lake basin. A bay with the same characteristics, but adjacent to a main basin, may be full of muskies in summer, but they will move out to deeper structure as the weeds die in fall. Not catching muskies from a spot may simply mean you’re fishing it at the wrong time of year.
If your spot has everything and you can fish it throughout the season, and it STILL doesn’t produce, you’re likely missing something important. The “spot on the spot” — the place where muskies always seem to come from — really is a factor. Electronics like Humminbird’s Side Imaging can help find the irregularities muskies use for ambush points. An inside turn in a weed edge, a subtle weed point, or a finger that extends to deep water could be it. Never forget you can visually explore spots in clear water lakes on a calm sunny day when the muskies typically aren’t active.
When muskies are active is the time to fish your problem spot. If they’re chasing baits elsewhere, chances are high they’re doing the same on the spot you can’t figure out. Never fish such spots as a last resort because you’ll never learn their potential.
I finally conquered a “No Fish Bay” on a destination water I fish during the same week every year. Before finally giving up several good fish last season (including the one pictured), this particular bay had never produced a musky for me despite being adjacent to a similar bay that always seems to hold fish.
Sometimes it just comes down to having confidence in your ability to read water and sticking with it until the spot produces.g
