Fished with a friend who caught a 38-inch tiger musky on a jerkbait in mid-afternoon. This fish followed a spinnerbait earlier in the day, and was ready to feed. Contrary to some reports, tiger muskies are still stocked here and we saw numerous small ones. Tiger muskies are hard to catch and you have to work at it. They hang out in warm shallow water and eat squawfish. Mayfield’s two structure types are weeds and wood. The large weed flat opposite Tilton Cove holds the majority of this lake’s tiger muskies. Weeds in Winston Cove also hold fish. Look for shoreline areas with underwater stumps and logs. The best time is mid-week on cloudy days. Tiger muskies are catchable until early October. Musky tackle is not available locally, and I buy mine on trips to the midwest or from Rollie and Helen’s Musky Shop on the internet. My boat is a Tuffy Esox Magnum, a favorite of midwest musky anglers, that I purchased in Wisconsin. I use 7-foot bucktail rods with Garcia reels and 30-lb. Cortland Musky Mono line, wire or Smity hard-mono leaders, and small to medium size bucktails, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, and twitch baits. I use a salmon net to land fish. You’ll need a file to keep hooks razor sharp and pliers to extract hooks from fish (and occasionally yourself). Mayfield’s water is very clear, so subdued lure colors are best, except red and red-black are good bucktail and spinnerbait colors here. Black is a good color for low-light conditions. In turbid or muddy water, try bright colors like chartreuse. I prefer nickel blades. Tiger muskies are attracted by flash and vibration. The figure-8 technique can turn follows into strikes. Mayfield does not offer night or topwater action. For basic information about musky tactics, get Saric and Heiting’s book, “Complete Guide to Musky Hunting,” from Rollie for $15.95. Although oriented to midwest fishing, much of the information applies to Mayfield’s tiger muskies. Please release all muskies!

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