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Hi Ty
What day can we fish for muskies on the Flowage? 23rd or 27th.
I was going to shoot up there Mem day weekend for a little chase but a buddy just told me not yet. Opener was last weekend down here. Saw a few follows on black and orange bucktail.
Thanks
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It is the 23rd!
Get your muskie on!
Goonch! Swine! Muskie Chop!
Thanks Snizz.
Gents
Now that we have established that we can fish in the Hayward area, I wanted to get some advice. My brother is going to Canada next week, so i will be fishing out of my boat on my own. I want to try a couple of the following lakes, as they were suggested to me. Sand, Sissabagama, Moose, Lake of the Pines, and then Teal and Lost Land, but those 2 seem to be a little more advertised. I have fished the Chip twice now with nary a follow, so I want to check out some different water.
I am looking for a lake I can handle on my own, with maybe a little smallmouth action on the side.
Would you suggest any of these lakes or maybe a couple others that I can tackle next weekend. Thanks!
Sand is very easy to fish, it's just a big bowl with weeds all around the edges and a couple of small bays. I've been there twice and caught fish both times but that was in late July and August. I would think it would be a good early season lake because of the early weed growth in the shallows should concentrate them. The ramp is not the best and if you have a big boat you'll probably get wet launching it.
Moose is loaded with muskies and is a great early season lake. Most that you catch are small and the water is very dark so it's hard to see a follow but I'd be surprised if you put in a hard day out there and didn't catch one. The water level could be very low so be careful because it's a flowage with lots of stumps and rock piles. Make sure you fish the river that comes in right in front of Sportman's Lodge.
Lost Land and Teal are probably your best shot at not just a fish but some bigger ones. Lot's of structure in Teal and the river and thoroughfare should be great in early season.
I think Ty will agree that another great spot to hit is the Spider Chain, lot's of fish and very clear so easy to see follows.
Gary
Thanks Gary, couldn't have said it better myself. Spider is a really cool little system. Clear water and awesome structure. Not many big fish but there are a few. Lost Land and Teal are the best they have ever been right now but everyone knows that so it might get hit pretty hard.
Thanks guys. I will do a little more research, and make a decision. I was aiming for a lake that was a little less pressured. Moose sounds like a good option. I don't fishi dark water very often, but it looks to be a bit bigger than most of the lakes I mentioned. Have either of you fished Lake of the Pines?
http://dnr.wi.gov/fish/musky/lakes/sawyer.html
When you are talking about the Spider chain, are you talking about Spiser lake. In the link above it lists all the Musky holding lakes in Sawyer county.
Spider Lake is the one you're looking for. I usually use the ramp in Little Spider but the other one is good too. I've never fished Lake of the Pines but if you fish Moose use smaller bucktails with brown hair and either orange blades for low light and copper or gold if it's sunny. For some reason they really like french blades out there. Ty's Pacemaker and Stillwater have always been good out there also, I like the firetiger one the best, but any color would probably work. I've also done well on the 7 or 8 inch Slammer in the Black Sucker pattern. Any markers you see out there stay well clear of them because it's either a nasty stump bar or rock pile. Fish the river, Moose Bay, and Lone Pine Island area and you'll move fish. Good luck!!
Gary
Is that a normal pattern with the gold blades then? I have had more luck with the nickel blades. Caught a lot of pike on a grey tailed nickel #5 mepps. Black and orange is a winner no matter the sun, it seems. I need to get a few more gold blades, but have never really caught that many on the gold/copper.
I bought a 9 inch pacemaker at the Chicago musky show. Is it too early to throw big topwaters like that? Should I throw a smaller Top Raider for now, or a heddon walk the dogger or globe or hawg wobbler. I have all of those too.
Are the fish still wanting a slower presentation? Bulging a bucktail on the surface would require speed, and not sure if they would just dismiss that presentation.
The water temps will be warm enough to throw topwater but I usually don't catch a whole lot the first week of the season on topwater. I would stick with bucktails and minnowbaits like Gary suggested. He knows Moose as good or better than most of the guides up here.
Ryan
Nickel and silver typically don't work as well in deeply stained water because all of their forage is stained a sort of brown color and they're used to gold flashes off escaping prey. Black and orange will work also but brown and orange or brown and gold seem to work best. A regular Mepps Musky Killer seems to work well but I'm sure any brand will work. Good luck! When I say it's dark I mean you can't see an orange bait three feet down usually so they hunt more by feel so slower retrieves are usually better and longer pauses on your twitches.
That was well put Gary! Makes perfect sense on the color patterning. You are really getting me interested in Moose. It would be good to fish a darker body of water. I have no brown haired baits though. Just more for the collection. How far is Moose lake from the Chippewa Flowage?
Ty, when you say minnow baits, are you talking like jakes and grandmas shallow raiders? What about gliders like a manta, or a suick or bobbie? Do those work in the spring?
Moose is a ten to fifteen minute drive from the Chip depending on where you are. As for baits, yes, the crankbaits are the minnow baits I was referring to. Mainly Big Game and Slammer cranks. There are others like you mentioned that work well but I just prefer the two above. I do use Suicks a lot all year. I use that bait more than any. The spring included.
70 miles...Quote:
Originally Posted by ryanmitchell
MAP!
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/8586/mapk.png
this is obviously not the same moose lake TY! is talking about...ooooooops...
I am kind of interested in Teal lake now too. Both Moose and Teal seem like more stained water lakes some some of the same tackle might work at each.
Ty, I bought a big game and a slammer this spring, both of them are the smaller size, like the 5" and 6". And the colors don't seem to fit the dark water. Thebig game is silver/white, and the slammer is like MN cisco, a little purple and orange and white. Do you twitch those, or straight retrieve pause, straight, pause? They both run VERY shallow.
I am looking for numbers so i think I will try and hit Moose and Teal with some minnow twitchers, firetiger Jake and Believer, and some bronze bladed, maybe hammered brass bucktails. Maybe a firetiger M+G spinnerbait, and try and work a perch and thunder colored Suick.
Both lakes are a little bigger in size than I wanted to tackle on my own, but I am hoping to find a lake map for each. Is there a good palce to score maps for both lakes? If I don't do Teal I may do a Callahan and Lake of the Pines for smaller lakes.
Thanks again guys, Snizz and Gary for the insight.
After more research it looks like Teal and Moose are heavily fished? True or false? I was hoping to fish a couple of lakes that don't receive a lot of pressure, especially on opening weekend. Is that possible? Will I have any trouble launching at either of these lakes, parking spots? Is there any fee for launching on these lakes?
Teal will have more traffic than Moose probably. Moose is really easy to fish in general. The ramp at Louie's Landing is great and I think they charge 5 bucks but if you eat there or have a few beers they usually wave that. Hit the areas I mentioned earlier and you'll do well and look for any early weed growth that may be starting. The weeds are extremely shallow, usually 3 feet or less. When I fish the shoreline stumps I usually keep the boat in 4-5 feet of water and cast in. The fish can come from anywhere because all the flats are just huge stumpfields so make sure you figure 8 every time. Have fun and just watch the stumps, stay on plane as much as possible.
Never had any luck in there, or near there? Is this the early season spot? Never been there this time of year, and wish you luck!
The rock piles in the middle where there is a caution bouy, it is 2 feet deep and have been holding fish. Drops to 15 ft but the wind puts alot of current through the rocks and causes action. dont spend alot of time though but a great place for a Good Fish! Good luck, Michael
Give the Big Game and Slammers twitches to get better action. You can straight retrieve them but you get less fish that way.
Gary, can you direct me to a link that might identify the landing and some of the spots you refer to on Moose?
That might be asking a little much for Gary to give up spots out there but as for the landing, google Louis landing and you should be able to find the address for the boat launch. Then you can mapquest it to get you there.
Alternatively, hire Gary !Quote:
Originally Posted by Ty Sennett
Ryan
Louie's Landing is on Louie's Landing Road, from the Flowage take HWY S north and you'll see the signs. Get a Hot Spots map and the areas I mentioned are well marked. Some of the best areas look like you are fishing in the middle of nowhere but it's really a huge stumpfield so watch your graph. Usually if your boat is in more than 6 feet of water then you are too deep. Have fun and have a beer at Louie's for me.
I was not asking Gary to give up his spot (not that bold), just tying to figure out how to get on the lake. He has already given up a lot of information, and I am appreciative. If I do make it out there, I will definitely let everyone know how I did. I need to get a map as soon as I can so I can study it. I need to up north more to get one, as my local Cableas did not have moose or teal lake maps.
This was a long string of info. I want to get a map so I can mark all the places and launch. I cannot wait till this day is overwith. Softball tonight, Silver Lake tomorrow, Madison Chain Saturday then some combo of the Chip, Sissabagama, Teal, or Moose on Sunday and Monday.
Thanks again and good luck.
Hey Ryan - PM coming your way....