2014 Episode Synopsis


Episode 249 : St. Clair Muskie & Zombie Maxx Pike

Today, the Mercury Marine Destination takes us out to the Muskie waters of Lake St. Clair, then more toothy critters, Pike on Reindeer Lake in Saskatchewan . After an early morning run down Hwy. 401 in the Ram 2500 Longhorn, it’s time for a fun summer day on the water with Jim Fleming and Drifter II Charters. Joining Charlie and Jim today is special guest Jeff Griffin. Jeff knows the waters well and has spent many a day himself on Lake St. Clair catching Muskies, some of them driving the boat for Jim. The hits come fast and the numbers add up, but it is the larger Muskies everyone targets. Planner boards and line counter reels are the winning combo, but part of the trick out here is finding the lure colour that will be best for the day. Depth the Muskies are suspended at, light penetration, water clarity, it all matters for that winning lure colour. Jim has been doing this for years and knows the lake like the back of his hand and has always produced numbers of great fish. Jim is about as honest as a person can be, so if fishing has slowed or weather is looking poor, he will phone and cancel a charter rather than simply take your money. Jim is out to give you the best he can. Drifter II Charters (519) 845-1115. This is trolling in 10–18 feet of water at 4 mph with planer boards and long rods. For those of you that don’t like trolling, you might like this, it is exhilarating to feel the hit of a Muskie that rattles the rod holders and tears out line with the clicker on the reel screaming!

Charlie brings his own equipment simply because Jim normally uses mono on charters since it is more forgiving for clients who might be more excitable and surprised at how big these Muskies are, and how they react (the mono will stretch and allow for slight mistakes in fighting the Muskie). Charlie loves his 50 lb test Seaguar Kanzen braid for rock hard hookups, but without the stretch, you need to be a little more careful. Rods need to be flexible and drags need to be silky smooth, and the Okuma Catalina and Cold Water line counter reels are perfect. Match them up with an Okuma Celilo 7 foot, medium heavy rod, and you have a perfect length for planner board fishing, and a rod with a flexible tip and powerful backbone for power. These rods were ideal for this application. Jim has also learned over the years that fluorocarbon out fishes the very visible wire, so 6–8 foot Seaguar leaders of 80 lb test, complete with Jim’s weed guards are part of the set up. Sharp hooks are a must with the boney, tooth filled mouth of a Muskie, and these are filed to a sticky sharp point. Jim has a complete selection of custom painted baits to match the water colour to perfection, if you don’t think it is important, you will after a day on the water with Jim.

To keep the wood baits in the best shape possible (hard when the tooth filled mouth of the Muskie is always hammering them), Jim uses Mustad #7982HS-SS and Mustad #7825-NI double hooks. Not only do they hook the Muskie extremely well, the configuration of the double hook does not rub on the wood lures during trolling, causing unneeded damage and gouging the lures, it is only the Muskie scratching up the lures, not the hooks. The hours of trolling with treble hooks rubbing on wood lures is more damaging than you could believe until you see it for yourself, try the Mustad Double hooks, you will love them on your favorite Muskie lure.

The waters of St. Clair are often muddy or heavily stained, and simply having a lure that stands out in these conditions is not enough. There is a balance to have the lure colour look natural, still be seen, but not so obvious it doesn’t look natural. One day it can be brown tones, the next greens, or even light yellows, and the change can be hourly. A good selection of lures is a must to match the water conditions. Find the schools of bait, and you will find Muskies, these fish roam the lake with the bait under the cover of cloudy water, not holding structure like you would expect. Another trick that Jim has learned over the years and one Charlie will surely not challenge, is to put the lure back exactly where it was when it was hit or caught a fish. Simply moving the lures down the line on the planer board is not enough. If that specific lure, with a specific lead of line (helps greatly with the Okuma line counter reels), is at the correct depth for a hit, that magic distance from the boat, it needs to be repeated, put it back exactly where it was. Sometimes lures run slightly deeper than one that looks exactly like it, and when the Muskies are hitting or suspending at an exact depth, get the working lure back where it was is crucial. You would be amazed at how many times that one lure, back in the exact same spot, has caught the majority of the fish, even when eight lines are being run. I believe!!

Then, Charlie and wife Terri are up to Lindbergh’s Reindeer Lake Lodge. This is a Pike anglers dream. Pike in every bay and so many you actually try to pull the lures away from smaller fish to save fishing time, targeting larger and larger as you go. Charlie is out to test a new lure from Lucky Bug called Zombie Maxx. The Zombie Maxx is a fish shaped, 5 jointed lure that has an amazing snake like, natural action in the water. It can be cast and retrieved straight, or twitched during the retrieve. Twitching causes this lure to dart and turn, and you can really make this lure dance enticingly. This lure has done well on smaller Pike in the past in southern areas, but untested on the crushing strength of true trophies. Well, it didn’t take long, who said you need large lures for big fish, not when your lure looks this alive. Not only did this 5 inch Zombie Maxx hold up extremely well, the finish, the joints, everything. It also drew the attention of some very large Pike that sucked this tantalizing lure out of sight! Having the feeling this lure was going to be engulfed, Charlie tied on 50 lb test Tuf-Leader, this braided stainless steel leader is flexible and easy to tie with any simple knot, and with a spectra core underneath the steel, this is extremely strong and easy to work with. Charlie chose to tie on the Zombie Maxx with a loop knot to allow even more action and freedom with the twitches.

With a light weight lure such as this, Charlie chose to use a medium action Okuma Citrix rod to really work the lure, along with a Cedro Baitcaster. The Cedros is a dream to cast and features heavy duty machine cut dura brass gearing, comfortable handle knobs and over built in every aspect. This work horse is actually designed for saltwater applications, so you know your freshwater fishing will be light duty compared to what this reel is capable of handling. The Zombie Maxx is rigged with two treble hooks, but with Pike on almost every cast, Charlie replaced both smaller trebles with a single Mustad 3X treble on only the front ring. The lure worked every bit as good with the heavier hook and made for much easier releasing with only one hook to worry about. Handling so many Pike a day is the guide’s problem, but Charlie likes to do it himself and trusts the Viking cut resistant NBR palm coated gloves to do so. The fine mesh doesn’t stop a tooth or hook from poking through, but it stops the slashing and cutting if mistakes happen. I would much rather a small poke from a tooth then a slashing cut anytime from toothy critters. Weather can change from sunny and warm to rain and windy in a matter of minutes in the far north, but with the Viking Tri-Zone raingear, you are covered. Warm, 100% waterproof, zip out fleece, and matched with a Viking bib, you are set for the worst. We have all been wet and cold on fishing trips, it really takes the fun out of it. With Viking, you can have the protection you need without breaking the bank.

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