# Leesville Trip #5, still no muskie



## BigTripp

Alright, I need some advice.

I've been down to Leesville five times this year and probably three times last year fishing for muskie and haven't had so much as a follow. I've never caught one before and I just want to make sure I'm not doing anything obviously stupid that is keeping me from catching fish.

I have a Cabelas Prodigy baitcaster with 50 lb braid power pro on a medium heavy rod. I have tried a pretty heavy duty leader and a micro leader to see if I get different results. I have a couple of big old bucktails, a couple of bigger hard chatter baits, and some bigger rapalas with three treble hooks that I'm casting for a few hours at a time. None of these are the enormous lures that a lot of the hardcore guys are throwing. I usually fish the south end of the lake near Clows. When I'm moving around the lake I'll troll between spots, usually with one of the rapalas or a chatter bait. I try to focus on areas right outside of the weed line, I'll make a few casts in the weeds or through some lilly pads and have tried a ton of different retrieve speeds and am not stopping the lure. This evening I saw three actually break the surface (or else they were the worlds largest bass, definitely not carp) while I was fishing but didn't even have a follow. There were some shad jumping in the area. I have a big net and one of the long handled hook removers for when I finally do land one.

Does it sound like I'm doing anything obviously wrong? Does anybody have any tips for this lake or just in general? I'm absolutely stumped. I don't really want to shell out the cash for the huge muskie specific gear until I have at least a little bit of luck. I keep hearing how Leesville is chock full of them and guys catch them accidentally while bass fishing and can't believe I haven't even caught a glimpse of one near my line with as many hours as I've put in.


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## doublemusky

Nothing jumps out as being wrong. You didn't mention if you had a fish finder. If you do you may want to concentrate a bit on the humps and channels. If you don't have a finder you may want to find a topo map, that will give you at least a idea of locations. May also want to try the north end, toward Petersburg, I've had decent luck on that end (see post on this forum "Leesville Musky 6/3/12"). You didn't mention if the Rapal's were floaters or divers, you may also want to try picking up a Lee Sission's #41, (they need modified for Musky, see the Musky forum on how to modify). Leesville Musky for some unknown reason like little lures, probably why bass fishermen get surprised so often.

Keep At It & Good Luck


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## MuskieWolverine

I started Muskie fishing last summer, and had the same problems you're describing. I fine tuned a bit, and so far have boated 13 muskie this year, with a 48 incher. Here is what is working for me:

1. Cast the OUTSIDE edge of the weed beds. I'm finding if I throw into them, I spend half of my time picking weeds off my lure. If the weed line is at 12 feet, put your boat in 20 feet and cast toward the edge....or.....cast parallel to the weed line. That keeps your lure in the "zone" longer.

2. For me, so far, the big baits have proven to be a waste of money. I like to throw Mepps 5's in the spring, and go to Mepps Musky Killers this time of year. (you'll want the big lures this fall: Bionics, etc) I caught my biggest muskie, a 48 incher, on a stupid Mepps #5. Go figure.

3. The hot color in Ohio seems to be Brown tails with a firetiger/chartreuse blade. Or a brown tail with a copper or red blade. I don't know why. I just fished Cass Lake in MN and the hot color up there was black tails and silver blades. I really really want my white/red muskie killer with a silver blade to work...but I have yet to catch a fish on it. Stick with what works. I also throw a Suick glide bait when I'm in the mood to.

4. Don't retrieve too fast. I retrieve at a bass fishing pace....there's a reason the bass guys are picking up muskie.

5. I have had ZERO luck trolling buck tails. I troll Little Ernie's and Tuff Shad. Let out about 10 feet of line, set your motor for 3.8-4.0 MPH and sit back and wait.

Again, I'm still learning...and all of this will probably change in a few weeks when the water heats up. But that's what is working for me right now. I've only hit Leesville a few times...I mostly fish West Branch and Salt Fork.

There are a million different lures out there that promise to catch big fish.....I refuse to continue wasting money when my bucktails and current trolling set ups work just fine.

Now here is a question for you muskie pros: As the water heats up, should I be casting crank baits or trolling deeper? How deep??


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## fishing_marshall

Trolling open water and structure. Run baits down 6 to 14ft of water based on what your sonar is showing you. Your baits will be 6 to 14 down, but your boat could be in 12 to 36ft of water. Hope that helps.


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## muskiehunter06

Cast with a muskier innovations bulldawg and as of late troll a Joe bucher chrome perch depthraider in deeper water especially in the evenings 

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## BaddFish

Lot of good tips here...
my 2 cents:

-Cast parallel to the shoreline whenever possible. keep em in the strike zone!
-My favorite style of structure is a rocky drop off from 4ft to 25ft over a distance of about 30yds. (I fish the other end of the lake- don't know clow's end very well)
-Don't troll your stuff too deep- muskie have eyes on top of their heads and can cover 10ft in a flash!
-my favorite "follow: or "locate" lure is a jerk bait called hell hound in walleye color- I've not caught one on it yet- but have had a dozen follows over the last 3-4 years. One 35incher or so came out smashed it and let go and swam away in a split second- I watched the whole thing and I couldn't react fast enough- Crazy!
-My first muskie at Leesville came on a small black bucktail- in the figure eight! 
-My best day was 2 years ago- my brother and I landed 3 in one day, 2 trolling.... The biggest reason: Barometric pressure was dropping all day- a T-storm was fast approaching.... our last one was caught after it passed and it was raining cats & dogs. Pick your days if you can depending on the weather!

If I lived closer and had more time- I know I would try some weedless swim baits... Seems like swim baits dropped on their nose in the weeds would get them to eat.

Good luck and hang in there!


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## MuskieWolverine

Badd:

For Leesville, do the black tails with orange blade or black tails with silver work better?


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## wlfd194

My uncle and I fished leesville from sunrise to sunset on 6/6/12. We did alot of casting in bays and near weedbeds. We trolled in between casting spots. Only one caught which was a dink 16" musky on a AC Shiner....walking it on top of the water directly over weeds. I had two good follows around 7pm in a small weedy cove about 10 casts apart. one was a 24"er that took a swing at my showgirl with a figure eight. The other was a BIG musky that swirled at the boat.......I had weeds in the hook of the showgirl and was "ripping" it back to the boat to clear it when a big musky took a swing at the boat. I never saw it following and It took me a lil while to calm down...i was shaking it was so big. Obviously not sure how big it was, but it was def. over the 40" mark..........I'm still tore up about that fish. That small cove was mostly 10'-12' deep with weeds about 2' under the surface. I was fan casting the whole cove with a blue and silver showgirl. I was reeling it fast just under the surface to keep it outta weeds. I have never fished leesville before that and I'm a very novice musky fisherman. We did throw a lot of smaller crankbaits and trolled smaller cranks too...was surprised we didn't catch any bass or saugeye fishing with the smaller lures


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## DancinBear

i have had alot of luck at leesville casting a small perch jointed shad rap. Not the huge gaudy size. and not yellow perch the original rapala perch. Casting in the the bays


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## Mr Chomp

SMALL!!!! We use Hot N' Tots Fire Tiger and the silver one with orange bellt and spots on top and we always get at least a follow! We use bucktails later in the season like around October?November in the coves. We always try and keep the boat in 10 - 12" and cast parallel to the shore this time of year


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## Tatonka

I was thinking of heading down to Leesville and trolling those big weedless swimbaits?
Anyone ever troll the big Storm King swimbaits


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## Bulldawg

Tatonka said:


> I was thinking of heading down to Leesville and trolling those big weedless swimbaits?
> Anyone ever troll the big Storm King swimbaits


Cant say they wont work , but probably better off sticking with the good ol reliable sissons . Me and a buddy went down for the day and picked up 2 fish casting .


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## bttmline

Get a bucket of minnows, put on a slip bobber and fish for crappie. Once you have a crappie on reel as fast as can and wait for a muskie to grab the crappie, LOL. Just kidding, but that is how I catch all of my Muskie!!


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## BigTripp

Still no luck. Just got out with dad today for a couple of hours, casting bucktails and some rapalas. Had a really nice channel on the line about an hour before dark, definitely over ten pounds, but lost him at the boat. It hit my bucktail. That thing was a beast. Heading back out tomorrow for trip nine after my buddy gets off work. If anyone has anymore tips for this time of year lemme know.


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## Tatonka

BigTripp said:


> Still no luck. Just got out with dad today for a couple of hours, casting bucktails and some rapalas. Had a really nice channel on the line about an hour before dark, definitely over ten pounds, but lost him at the boat. It hit my bucktail. That thing was a beast. Heading back out tomorrow for trip nine after my buddy gets off work. If anyone has anymore tips for this time of year lemme know.


I haven't been out in a couple weeks but I am due for a trip
Keep grinding away and please keep us posted
Anddddd good luck


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## glassbb6646

get a tenn. shad Lee Sission cast the weeds at the south end of the lake. That is the only color I could get them to follow. Also storm thunder stick is very good bait at leesville.


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## BigTripp

Went out this afternoon, still nothing. We both got skunked, but I did come home with a nice lure I found. Anyone have any tips for time of day or an area of the lake that usually produces? I feel like I'm just hopelessly launching lures now. We had fish everywhere on the depth finder but no interest to speak of.


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## sparkman

I do not fish for them but every year do get 2 or 3 while bass fishing. This year I have hooked only one and it was on a 6" wacky rigged worm. It jumped and completely cleared the water and broke my line. It was probably in the 35" to 38" range. I have caught them on tubes, plastic worms, vibees and spinner baits. Also have been bit off more times that I care to think about and most of those bites came on crankbaits. November and early December they seem to get active and have seen many roll while bass fishing during those months. There are some real monsters in Leesville. I had one come up under a surface bait that just gave me goose bumps. I was fishing with a friend a few years ago and we had two 40" muskies in one day that we landed. Next spring when the pan fish start to move into the shore would be an excellent time to get bit.


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## pal21

This time of year with water temps in the mid 70's keep your troll speeds around 2.0 gps.


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## fishing_marshall

This time of year at leesville you should be casting the weedbeds. Focus on low light conditions. Early morning, evening, or overcast days. Bucktails, suicks then into october sledges, various glidebaits and bulldawgs. They can all work anytime this is just what I seem to throw.


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## BigTripp

Went over to the Cuyahoga River today for some smallmouth action. Just wanted to catch some fish after all these unsuccessful trips. Throwing a natural color rebel crawl, cast #5 gives me this guy. Definitely wasn't expecting it. Not quite a muskie but it was cool to finally get my hands on one of those toothy critters.


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## BigTripp

Heading out to Leesville EARLY tomorrow. If anybody has any different tips or advice for this crazy cold wave we've had here lately let me know. I'm planning on launching at Cloughs and heading north casting bucktails at weedbeds in the bays. Here goes nothing!


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## Drake3

If you're going back to Leesville, try chartuese colors.. They are hitting and following that color right now. I was there tonight bass fishing. I was throwing double willow spinner and had two really nice fish following. All of the Muskie guys ive been talking to say chartuese bulldogs and mepps around the weed beds casting. PM me and I'll let you know what I've been hearing Im local and there every week.


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