Why do muskie suspend over open basins in summer?
On stratified lakes that hold cisco or whitefish, the coolest well-oxygenated water and the densest forage both sit near the thermocline — often 8–12 m (26–39 ft) down over water twice that deep. Muskie follow the groceries: sonar work and telemetry on lakes like Lake of the Woods and Green Bay waters show big fish hanging in open water, structureless, right at bait-school depth. These suspended fish are trolling targets more than casting targets, and they are frequently the biggest fish in the system because pelagic calories come in large soft-rayed packages. If your weed-edge program dies in August, the fish may not have quit — they may have moved out over the basin.
The full story
This answer is one piece of a longer lesson — setups, diagrams and the reasoning behind it.
More questions about Breathing & oxygen
Same topic, other species
- Why are summer crappie pinned to one exact depth band? — Crappie
- How does the thermocline affect where largemouth hold in summer? — Largemouth Bass
- Is there enough oxygen in the deep basin under the ice? — Yellow Perch
- Why can't big pike just go deep in summer where the water is cold? — Northern Pike
- Does a summer smallmouth have to move deep? — Smallmouth Bass
- Why do trout lakes need to be deep or spring-fed? — Trout (Rainbow · Brook · Lake)
- How does the thermocline decide where summer walleye live? — Walleye