A couple of years ago, my wife and I pulled into Eagle Waters for the fish fry. We left Hanna Banana, my yellow Lab, behind in the truck. We parked between two other trucks with Labs of different colors and were greeted by two black Labs between the truck and the front door. One Lab left in a truck is a recipe for a bark fest. But if half the vehicles contain canine guardians that seem to develop a pack mentality, this circumstance is the natural order of things in the northwoods.

Eagle Waters, the Chanticleer and Hiawatha Supper Club on Duck Lake are three must-do dining experiences when visiting this part of the state, with the ideal time to dine about 7 p.m. This puts you back on the water at prime time for fishing, with the potential for an explosion only one cast away if you keep the 'Wacker in the water. You can't get away from the boats on the Eagle River Chain during the summer -- a fact of life that is easier to accept with a full belly and a beverage containing an olive or two.

It is nearly impossible to maintain cobra-like intensity on every single cast when fishing through a 12-hour day. Therein lies the beauty of the after-dinner bite on the Eagle River Chain. Just engage the auto-pilot on your big trolling motor and ease your way down the shoreline while targeting every boathouse, pier and shoreline structure with a cast or two. Wayward logs and stumps are also worth a shot, some of which have been in the water here since the flowage was first dammed up in the late 1800s.

Conventional wisdom may whisper that this is no way to fish for muskies. What self-respecting muskie would even think of chasing down a lure in the midst of a flotilla of personal watercraft, pontoon boats and inboard-powered pleasure boats? These muskies are acclimatized to all the hubbub. They don't seem to mind. In fact, tossing a bucktail or topwater in the wake of a passing boat has fooled more than one of these fish.

Labor Day is just around the corner. Tourists will be returning to Illinois. Maple trees and popples will soon be turning color. And the time will be at hand to get truly serious about muskie fishing.

Weeds are probably the single biggest key to muskie location throughout most of the season. Distinct weed edges with submergent weeds dropping sharply into deeper water are usually in place by June 1. Weeds have even more significance as autumn progresses, with remaining green weeds being true fish magnets well into October.

A sucker on a quick-strike rig should be part of your autumn attack plan on these waters. Many fish are either cruising at about the 12-foot breakline or are pulled out of remaining green weeds by a lure, only to feast on your offering of "meat" instead. This is also a time for pitching crankbaits and jerkbaits. After the second serious cold front of autumn has come and gone, fish cribs placed by the Headwater Chapter of Muskies Inc. and other organizations are also worth serious fishing efforts.