I fell in love with fishing lakes of the Canadian Shield during my first visit to Lake of the Woods in August 1981.

During the second week of November 1984 I made my first late fall trolling trip on the Shield. My North Dakota fishing buddy, Keith Ogden, said not to worry, “Lake of the Woods never ices up before Thanksgiving.”

For that trip, I drove 18 hours solo, due north from central Missouri. On the first morning we spent two hours loading and unloading gear for our planned week-long stay at an island cabin in Sabaskong Bay. Then we jumped in my friend’s boat and trolled for about five hours before dark. It was cold and very windy with periods of light snow and sleet. We were the only boat I saw on the big lake. After a few hours I really was wondering if I was crazy to be there.

Then, late in the day, my buddy hooked a muskie over four feet long while we were trolling alongside a large rock island. It thrashed on the surface and threw the hooks before the third fellow in our boat could slip the net under it. While I was disappointed that we never got to touch that muskie, I later realized that this fish had touched me and changed the way I thought about muskie fishing.

About 30 minutes before dark my buddy said we better wind up the baits and make the 9-mile run back to the cabin. Then he said something that really surprised me, “I sure hope the wind doesn’t lay tonight.” Now I was thinking he was the crazy one in our boat and I stated that I’d enjoy fishing even more the next day if the frigid wind wasn’t blasting us.

His response worried me, “The water is 32 degrees. If the wind quits it will turn to ice.” The wind was still howling when we got to his cabin so we tied the boat up at a dock on the other side of the island to protect it. We turned up the heat, had a warm dinner, and a couple of libations. The wind was still blowing strong when we went to bed.

Fast forward seven hours. We awoke in a panic to no wind. The lake had turned to ice as far as we could see to the west. The trees looked like ice sculptures. I tossed on my clothes and ran to the other side of the island hoping to see open water. Wrong! The boat was iced in!

When my friends realized that the entire lake had iced up around us we winterized the cabin and loaded the boat in record time. It took us about two hours to break ice from the cabin back to Buena Vista Resort near Morson. The ice kept getting thicker. Eventually we had to run the big Lund up on the ice and go to the bow to break through the ice about eight feet at a time. When we got within 40 feet of the boat ramp the ice was too thick to break and our propeller blades were gone. Chuck Gate, who still owns Buena Vista, used his front-end loader to break some of the shoreline ice and put our trailer in the water. Then he pulled us across the ice to our trailer with a tow chain.

When I parted company at the border with my fishing buddies I was disappointed and sad to be heading home so much ahead of schedule. I wondered if I’d ever try another one of these crazy late fall trips. As I neared Duluth I turned

Was Willie Nelson Singing About Chasing Late Fall Muskies on the Shield?

“ I may not be normalBut nobody is

So I’d like to say ‘fore I’m through,

I’d have to be crazyPlumb out of my mind

To fall out of love with you. “- Willie Nelson

Sunset comes early in October and November and you may find very active muskies wherever

ciscos or whitefish move in to spawn.

- Kevin Richards

September / October 2014.....MUSKIE 13www.muskiesinc.org

east toward Wisconsin instead of south toward Missouri. I drove to Hayward and got a motel. Then I walked to the Moccasin Bar and had dinner and drinks while sitting under the mount of Cal Johnson’s 1949 muskie.

It was then that I decided I wasn’t going to let a little ice deter me. I loved the solitude and big fish potential of fall trolling. I scheduled another trip to the Shield for the following year, but made it two weeks earlier for the last week of October.

What is the Canadian Shield?The Canadian Shield, also known as the Laurentian

Plateau is not a place but a huge geographic region of North America. If you have ever fished for muskies in Ontario you have probably fished a lake or river which lies within the Canadian Shield. The scenery can be spectacular. There are islands of all sizes which range from bare rock to pine-covered beauties. There are massive rock outcroppings. Under the water there are treacherous reefs teaming with fish. I think the Shield is my favorite part of our Earth.

Keep in mind that the Shield extends far beyond the borders of Ontario. It includes areas like the Arrowhead Region of northeast Minnesota; a perfect example of a Shield lake in that area would be Lake Vermilion. The Shield encompasses Georgian Bay of Lake Huron, and the Thousand Islands area of the St. Lawrence River on the New York/Canadian border.

One of the best descriptions of the Shield which I have found came from the website of the University of Colorado:

“The Canadian Shield or Laurentian Plateau is a vast horseshoe-shaped geologic region that covers central and eastern Canada and small parts of the northern United States. The Shield extends in a great semi-circle around Hudson Bay, ranging from the Arctic coast north of Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories to northern Quebec and Labrador. It covers about 1.9 million square miles and occupies almost one-half of Canada’s total area. In the United States it includes the Superior Upland of northern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin, northern Michigan, and the Adirondack Mountains of northeastern New York. The oldest part of the North American crustal plate, its rocks contain fossils of some of the earliest forms of life, such as

algae and bacteria from more than 2 billion years ago.During the most recent of the Ice Ages, beginning about

2.5 million years ago, continental ice sheets covered the region, stripping away soil, depositing glacial drift, and creating many lake basins and riverbeds.”

That “glacial drift” includes boulders large and small, which just so happen to be great places to fish for muskies, walleye, and smallmouth bass!

When?In Ontario and northern Minnesota I prefer October and

early November as the water cools from 50 degrees to near freezing. Note that I no longer want to be present when freezing actually occurs, but I like cutting it close when I can.

Why Late Fall?The old adage that muskies “put on the feed bag” in the

late fall is certainly true. To be ready for spawning the next spring adult muskies must bulk up in the fall to have the nutrient and energy reserves they need, especially for producing eggs. If you are a late fall angler you already know that this is a wonderful time to catch big, fat muskies.

Muskies will eat almost anything that swims, but availability and abundance of prey will usually dictate what’s on the menu for each meal. Suckers, perch, crappie, sauger and small walleye are available in most Shield lakes.

Many of the Shield lakes also have populations of ciscos and/or whitefish. These species are fall spawners and are wonderful forage for muskies. Patricia Strutz noted that these fish are high on the list for caloric value compared to other forage; they have a high fat content, no spines, and are easy to digest (refer to Cisco: A Muskie’s Favorite Meal; Oct/Nov 2011 MUSKIE). If your favorite muskie lake has

Canadian Shield lakes are dotted with islands, rock outcroppings, and underwater reefs.

Field editor Kevin Richards loves the late fall scenery, low fishing pressure, and chunky muskies. Photo by

Earle Hammond.

14 MUSKIE..... September / October 2014

www.muskiesinc.orgwww.muskiesinc.orgwww.muskiesinc.org

ciscos or whitefish figure out where they are spawning and be there as the water temperature falls from the upper 40s through the mid-30 degree range. The spawning peak will often be around 38 to 40 degrees at a depth of 8 to 12 feet.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources website states, “The spawning season for the lake whitefish is in the fall (usually mid-October to early December) when shallow water temperatures fall below 45 degrees. Spawning usually occurs at night over gravel, rubble, or small rocks near the shores of the lake or around islands. The fish swim up to the surface of the water and back down in twos, threes, or greater numbers releasing eggs and sperm. The fertilized eggs fall to the bottom and settle between the rock crevices.”

An October or November trip to a Shield lake allows you to enjoy the late fall scenery, low fishing pressure, and chunky muskies. In addition, muskie catch rates (fish per day or fish per hour) and lengths of fish caught can be the best of the year.

One of my favorite days of fall trolling involved taking a break for sandwiches and hot soup on a sheltered island with my buddy, Keith Ogden. We built a warming campfire and sat on our boat cushions just as big fluffy snowflakes started falling. I’ve eaten at a fancy French restaurant on the main street of Paris and it couldn’t even come close to that simple Shield lunch.

How?Late fall trolling techniques are actually pretty easy as

long as you are prepared for fishing in snow, sleet, freezing rain, cold water and colder winds. Every movement takes a little more effort when your clothes have that Pillsbury Doughboy look.

We typically start out running our baits 8 to 12 feet deep and adjust from there based upon fishing success and what we are seeing on the sonar. We almost always have one rod running in the prop wash with about 20 to 25 feet of line out with a deep diving crankbait; that rod is historically one of our most successful. No matter what depth we find the muskies at we always zig-zag around every island, point and reef to make sure we are occasionally banging rocks. Sometimes our turns will run the deep-diving crankbaits over a three-foot reef and catch a fish. Many of the most popular muskie crankbaits have charts available online which show the depth the lure will run at various speeds and line lengths.

There will be times when the muskies just aren’t relating to rock edges. Keep trolling as you move from island to island or across the mouth of a bay from one point to the next. Watch the sonar closely. If you start seeing schools of forage fish in open water you will most likely start seeing some muskie-sized marks nearby. Adjust the running depth of your baits and work those areas hard. Last fall, after two uncharacteristically slow days we found the muskies out in the open with the baitfish and landed four nice fish in as many hours.

I prefer to troll at 3 to 4 mph; several of my buddies notch it up closer to 5 mph. At any of these speeds it is important to have a well-built lure that runs true.

Steel leaders 30 to 36 inches in length are my personal choice, though some of my trolling partners prefer fluorocarbon. We all agree that leaders are essential when trolling the Shield. You need to protect your line as much from the rocks as you do from the muskies’ teeth and gill flaps.

Lure selection is a personal choice, but deep-diving crankbaits 8 to 13 inches long that are also fairly buoyant are our go-to baits. If you’re doing this right you’re going to get hung up on the reefs and in the boulders (a.k.a. glacial drift). A big, buoyant bait will often back itself out of trouble when given some slack.

A Good Rock is Always a Good Rock!You will become a much better muskie angler if you fish

your favorite waters during different seasons of the year. Summer casting and fall trolling in the same areas complement each other and give you a much more complete picture of the habitat and structure.

I like to say a good rock is always a good rock. The photo on the next page is a great example. This small rock

2014 Chapter Challunge Headquarters!

www.redwinglodge.netFamily owned and operated for 50 years

CHECK OUR WEBSITE FOR THE FIRST LIVE CAM IN MORSON!

Over

13,000 Muskies

Released

•Ultra-modernone,two,three,orfourbedroomcabins•Housekeepingorcamping•Floatingdocks,electricityforchargingbatteries,LundBoatswithswivelseatsanddepthfinders,Hondamotorswithelectricstart

•Diningroomwithfoodandliquoravailableforregisteredguestsonly

Call or write for data on musky catches:

1(888)488-5601or(807)488-5601RedWingLodge,Box1008,Baudette,MN56623

Theconvenienceofadrive-incampwiththeprivacyyouwouldexpectonanisland.

OnSabaskongBayNine-timeMuskies,Inc.,

ChapterChallungeHeadquarters1983,1986,1993,1997,2003,2004,2011,2012

September / October 2014.....MUSKIE 15

island has been a steady producer for our fishing buddies for over 30 years. It has a big reef off one end, a small reef and boulders off the other, a couple small patches of vegetation, and some steep rock on one side. All of those spots have produced big muskies for our group at different times. One year in early November we were disappointed because the shallower side of this island had iced up. We decided to make one pass to break ice and then another pass through the broken ice. On the second pass we bagged a muskie while trolling through the freshly broken ice!

As mentioned previously, there will be times when even your good rocks aren’t producing. Don’t give up, just wander a little farther into open water and start looking for suspended fish.

Tips from Very Successful TrollersI’ve included a photo of some of my favorite fall trolling

baits, but I thought our readers might appreciate the insight of some guys who are very accomplished fall trollers. I posed this question to them: If you could only take one lure with you for a day of October muskie trolling on the

Canadian Shield what would it be?Keith Ogden: An 8 inch straight Believer in black sucker pattern; it’s so versatile.Joe Hardy: I’d take a 10 inch Jake in rainbow pattern; the Jake has rattles which I especially like in darker water. Tom Stark: I’d pick a 10 inch Hooker in the shad color for lakes having ciscoes in Wisconsin. The lure has a big fish profile, trolls well slowly (less than 1 mph) or fast (3 to 5 mph), will get down to 25 to 30 feet, resists getting hung up on the bottom, and is easy to retune if necessary. As a side note, next year motor trolling will be legal on all lakes in Wisconsin (one line per person on lakes which were previously closed to motor trolling). While many of us row trollers are not happy about this change, it is better than allowing three lines per motorized angler; row trollers will still get to use three lines.Doug Johnson: I like a lure which is quite buoyant so that when it hits a rock it bounces rather than getting snagged. It also helps if the lure runs straight rather than nose down as this also help prevent snags. The lip needs to be very durable and strong. I like lures that hit bottom around 10 feet deep with around 50 feet of line out. The best I’ve found that matches this is a 10-inch Jake. A snag resistant lure will put more fish in the boat than one that gets hung up often. My favorite color is what I happen to have on the end of my line when a fish hits; I’ve caught fish on many-many-many different colors.Joe Bucher: For October trolling in Canada, my choice is easy. You want a bait that generally runs around 10 feet for most waters. Plus you want big profile, vibration and flash. The 9 inch ShallowRaider has all these attributes. My top color would be Tennessee Shad. In clearer waters where the 12 to 18 foot range is bound to be the fish zone, a straight model DepthRaider in the same pattern would be my choice. Remember, no matter what bait you use line length, line diameter, and trolling speed are all factors that dictate running depth.

Safety Tips Late fall trolling can be very productive and fun, but

never take the harsh conditions for granted. Dress appropriately and always wear a PFD. I have found my full-floatation survival suit keeps me very warm and gives me the peace of mind I need to stay out there when the water temperatures dip into the 40s or 30s.

Don’t fish alone. Better yet, when possible have at least two boats fishing the same general area and set-up some meeting or radio check-in times.

Be as prepared as possible for catch-and-release. All the Six of our author’s favorite fall trolling lures and colors. Two of the baits have no hooks; they’ve been retired!

A good rock is always a good rock, from summer to fall.

16 MUSKIE..... September / October 2014

July / August 2014...MUSKIE 17

standard release guidelines apply, but you’ll be moving slower in your bulky cold weather clothes. Have your net, release tools, and camera ready. Don’t hesitate to cut hooks or split rings to speed up the release process; it’s fast and easy to replace hooks on big crankbaits!

Where to StayCheck out this issue of MUSKIE, and past issues, for

some great places to stay for late fall trolling on the Shield. On many of our trips we have been the last group of the season to rent a cabin or a houseboat from one of our MUSKIE advertisers. They usually welcome the late fall business.

Final ThoughtsIf I lived closer than 800 miles to the Shield you’d find

me up there fishing many more days in October and November each year. If you get the opportunity to go, I’ll give you some Willie Nelson style advice . . . you’d have to be crazy, plumb out of your mind not to try it.

* *

LOOK FOR ALL CHAOS TACKLE PRODUCTS AT A TACKLE STORE NEAR YOU.www.chaostackle.com www.esoxassault.com www.customxlures.com

Katie Ogden has been releasing big fall muskies since 1990. Her fishing partner/dad (Keith) does

pretty well too!

Jack Smith (left) and Tom Stark (right) make a very successful

fall fishing team. The water temperature dropped to about 40

degrees when Jack caught this one last October trolling through

suspended schools of forage fish along a steep rock wall.

Remember it is cold and dangerous as

water temperatures cool from 50 to 32

degrees. The author prefers a full-

floatation survival suit in the late fall.