The Hunt For Big Fish with Larry Dahlberg

Larry and Friends,

I recently spoke to Pete Maina at a trade show and the topic of our discussion was musky fishing without a boat. He pointed me in the direction of small rivers that I could possibly wade in to fish for muskies. That being said, I've investigated many rivers I would consider to be small and have found little luck so far. I live in the Green Bay, Wisconsin area but I am willing to travel.

My questions would be, what would you consider to be a good small river for musky? That is, is it trough shaped with deep edges or slowly sloped edges? Is it better for it to be rock, sand, gravel bottom? Is it better for it to be slow current with lots of stagnant water or fast current? Lastly, is there any way to know if musky will even be in the rivers before I begin to fish them? I know the DNR lists various rivers, but they are main rivers. If there are muskies in a large lake or large river, does there stand to be a good chance that there are some musky in the small tributaries of that main lake/river?

Any help on this matter would be great. I love musky fishing but don't have access to a boat, I'm willing to get dirty and travel through trees and brush to catch them though!

Thanks to all.

I never give specifics as to locations because it's not healthy for the location. That being said, generally you'll be best to stick with smaller rivers. I used to know a guy that used a float tube while wading and it worked well for getting across to the other side when needed, or drifting slower stretches with too steep to wade banks . The dnr records are a good placed to start looking.
anther strategy is to locate the washout holes and hairpin bends in mid-sized and even larger rivers and focus on them, using your car to get you from one to the next.
best,
L

Never looking for specific rivers or locations, just some helpful ideas. I'll check out some of the mid-large rivers and work the bends and backwash areas.

Thanks Larry