Muskie Strategy: How to Create a Better Game Plan
Early Fall Topwater Tactics for Muskies
 Joe Bucher

Early Fall Topwater Tactics for Muskies

Early autumn offers up one of the most unique times to test topwater baits, since a lot of muskies are bound to still be up in the shallows. Weed growth has peaked, providing ample shallow cover. Plus, the early transition from summer into fall triggers both baitfish and predators to slide out of deeper, open water up into these weeds and shallow rocks, making them very catchable. Tall, cresting weed tops also provide a high percentage situation for a topwater bait, since many sub-surface lures are bound to collect weeds.

J Joe Bucher
Fall Trolling Basics
Steven Paul

Fall Trolling Basics

As we venture further into the crisp sunrises and sunsets of fall, one thing comes to my obsessive muskie mind…Trolling. While fall casting can be fantastic, those in the know are already starting to dial in their fall trolling patterns and gearing up for the super bites that happen the further, we edge towards winter’s grasp. I have said it before and will say it yet again, if trolling isn’t a part of your musky game plan you are an incomplete angler. If you fall into the camp of those that don’t troll, put down the casting rod for just a bit as we explore some of the basics of what you need to start dialing in on fall musky trolling.

S Steven Paul
Fall Transition and Lake Turnover EXPLAINED
 Musky 360

Fall Transition and Lake Turnover EXPLAINED

The transition from Summer to Fall can be a confusing time in Musky Fishing especially in colder climates where the transition is quite dramatic. When the fall transition is taking place in the air and landscape around you, imagine the same is taking place subsurface. Fall brings cooler water temps, dying vegetation, lake turnover, and a whole host of changes for underwater habitats. This extreme change can be encompassed into our "Fall Transition".

M Musky 360
Menace Wins 1st Place at EFTTEX Awards in Belgium
 Musky 360

Menace Wins 1st Place at EFTTEX Awards in Belgium

I am truly humbled and proud to announce that my latest lure design, the Menace from Livingston Lures, was named the #1 new lure for 2026 at EFTTEX in Brussels, Belgium, on September 11, 2026.

M Musky 360
Total Package Trolling for Fall Musky
 Joe Bucher

Total Package Trolling for Fall Musky

So many of today's Midwestern musky anglers are diehard casters. Some even consider trolling taboo, but that certainly wouldn’t be me. My fishing education background is principally centered around the foundations of Buck Perry, stressing the basic fact that "the fish are either deep, shallow, or somewhere in between".

J Joe Bucher