Multi-species guide Jeff Andersen enjoys putting clients on whatever species they prefer, but his favorite time on the water is spent chasing muskies. As you’ll see in this video, he’s pretty good at it, too.
Andersen is in the back of the boat guiding a husband and wife on Lake of the Woods, a massive body of water on the Minnesota/Ontario border. As you’ll see in the video, the woman has a large muskie follow her topwater lure to the boat. If you’re not familiar with muskie behavior, the species is known for its frustration-inducing habit of following behind lures without striking. At times, anglers can entice a strike at boatside with a clever move called a figure eight, but more often than not, the fish simply descends to the depths.
Occasionally you can return to the spot where a muskie followed earlier in the day and get that fish to bite. In the video, Jeff refers to this attempt as a "pitch back." But muskie fishing is a low-percentage affair where success is often measured in follows and not strikes.
In this scenario, the fish looked “hot,” so Jeff doesn’t abandon the area with plans to return later. He wants to make sure the big muskie has another chance to eat, so Jeff slowly and carefully slides his boat along the shoreline, with his clients continuing to pepper the shoreline with casts.
Finally, and it’s clear as cabbage weeds in the video, Jeff spots the muskie on his Humminbird fishfinder with a function known as Side Imaging. The muskie is lurking within casting distance of boat, and his electronics clearly indicate the fish’s position.
Almost like Babe Ruth calling his shot, Jeff points at the muskie’s location. And seconds later his client is setting the hook. Check it out below.
