One of the debates in the muskie world is the "patterning" of muskies. The better guides and angler that I know all agree they can be "patterned". Check out post tourney interviews of Bass and Walleye anglers and they will likely talk about the pattern they caught their fish on.....such as "the fish were on the 10 foot break and I was trolling a whodaddy tipped with half a nightcrawler died blue at 1.78MPH"......now the reality of fishing those species is the angler who does the best usually has the largest fish dialed in to almost that degree in order to succed and will generally catch size and numbers as these fish tend to school so getting on one usually means getting on a bunch.

So how do you deal with your first (or most recent bite) or follow from the queen of our local waters as it applies to your days outing. While some anglers will argue that solitary preditors like Muskies cannot be patterned like schooling fish I believe that you can...to a point. What I try to do is factor in daily and seasonal patterns and start my day with that in mind. Any sightings and or bites are added to the recipe and a "pattern" starts to emerge. The hardest part with muskies is usually finding them so start there. Check out different depths and structure types untill you start making contact with fish. What I do on familiar waters is visit different types of structure that I have had solid success on....in other words if fish are using mid-lake weedy humps "one should be here" as I know they use this spot when they are doing that. If you visit a number of different types of spots and fish are active on a certain type focus your efforts on that type of spot....don't ignore other spots but put maximun time on the prefered type ....at least until you see activity shift to other structure types based perhaps on weather or light changes.
The same can be said for lures. If my last outing was successfull throwing a Hot Green Double Cowgirl on the inside weedline you can be sure that bait will get the most time untill something else shows favor. Don't ingnore other types and colors but give the "hot" bait additional opportunities. Last year while doing some film work on a local lake the one angler out of the three of us was using a Hot Green and Black color combo and had the bulk of the action....the next day all three of us started out using this color combo in different sizes as a preference had emerged....that is patterning Muskies and it works.
So start with what worked last if you have been out recently or check what the resort owners say is hot if you are traveling. Use that as a basis to expand on and experiment from and you will cut the curve of catching your next one....the second one of the day is almost always easier to catch than the first if you apply what worked on the first one. Muskies can be patterned.
Bob Turgeon
fishmuskies at AOL.com