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| Hi. I am going to be going to balsam lake in wisconsin this weekend to do some muskie fishing.
This is what i know so far but i am looking for some reinforcement or suggestions. If anyone disagrees or has any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
I have been told that the best places to find muskie in Balsam are in the shallow reeds in a calm spot or along the edge of the weeds along the main island.
I have been told when in the reeds, topwater baits and spinner/buzzbaits can be good at a low speed, where along the weedlines, crankbaits and big spoons do the trick.
Would it be a good idea to rig up a sucker and let it out into or right off the reeds? or would it be better to let it down along the weed lines.
Also, the buddys cabin i will be at, his dock is off of a pretty large shallow sandbar
where i have caught bass and crappie.
Is it worth it to go off the dock at all maybe using topwaters? Will the fish be active that shallow and in that structure? Would it be a good idea to try letting the rigged up sucker work around the sand bar as well?
Hope someone can answer my questions, and thank you for any expertise you can offer.
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Posts: 639
Location: Hudson, WI | Balsam Lake...Polk County? By the town of Balsam Lake? |
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| Hate to break it to you, but i am pretty sure Balsam does not have muskies. |
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| I have heard of muskies in balsam but it is not listed as such by the state and the population is extremely low. If they were to put them in there however, it would be one of the best in the state. |
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| I am sure that they have muskies in Balsam. I have family members that have caught musky in balsam and the local bait stores also attest to that. |
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| Guest - 7/13/2009 2:35 PM
Hate to break it to you, but i am pretty sure Balsam does not have muskies.
http://www.all-wisconsin-fishing.com/polk_county_lakes.html |
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| I did not know that....I stand corrected and that is very cool. |
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Posts: 1536
Location: God's Country......USA..... Western Wisconsin | Bzo, I am basically a Balsam Lake Native, lived most of my life in and around Polk County and have fished Balsam all my life. (58 years old this month) I have never caught a Muskie in Balsam and have only seen one many years ago. I know that there are some in there but there are also some Smallmouth Bass in the lake. It is not a Muskie Lake or a Smallmouth Lake. They are both present but in numbers so small as to make them not a targetable fish. Now I do not fish for Muskies on Balsam because I consider it fruitless. Please let me know if you get a couple I will have to change my way of thinking. Send me a pm and I will let you know how the Muskies got in Balsam in the first place, or at least how they were rumored as to have gotten there. Do yourself a favor and go to Deer or Bone or the Apple River. Easily 1000 times the Muskies in these other bodies of water.
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/water/fhp/lakes/lakemap/2620600b.htm
Edited by muskyone 7/13/2009 5:05 PM
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Posts: 639
Location: Hudson, WI | I know Wapogasset has a good population, all from Deer via the Balsam Branch and the Straight River via Big Round/Blake/Bone. I suppose it's completely possible that Balsam has a migrant muskie population in it. And as ToddM said, if it did it could be an incredible fishery. In 20 years of fishing Polk County, I never even knew they were there. Good luck and report back if you have any luck! |
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Posts: 639
Location: Hudson, WI | If I knew you were going to post that, Mike, I would have just held off! |
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Posts: 1536
Location: God's Country......USA..... Western Wisconsin | There is a dam at the far South end of Balsam lake in what is know as the "mill pond". This is where the Balsam Branch originates. The Muskies could possibly get to the dam but not up the hill and over into Balsam. Too bad it would be great Muskie water. Over the years some over zealous Muskie addicts have been putting a few into the lake from time to time but never in any great numbers. I have also caught a 39 incher in Half Moon while Bass fishing but there is not a fishable population in that lake either. As in Balsam they are present but not a fishable number. Now the Straight river sounds interesting. Not a great access there but not so much water to search either. I may have to give it a go over there.
One more thing to add. There is a Bass tournament on Balsam this Saturday the 17th. 54 Bass boats all ripping around, going to be busy from 6:00 am until about 2:00 pm.
Edited by muskyone 7/14/2009 10:06 AM
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Posts: 580
| Ditto what's been said, above. The DNR has never stocked muskies in Balsam, and it's virtually impossible for there to have been in-migration. I heard rumors of muskies in Balsam myself and I then had some correspondence with the local DNR biologist and he basically confirmed that any muskie population in the lake would have to have been from illegal, private plants. Although there is anecdotal information of muskies being occasionally caught, the DNR has not surveyed any muskies from the lake....given the fact that the lake is managed fairly heavily by the DNR, the fact that they've never sampled a muskie, or had one reported in any creel survey, is a pretty good indication that the population is exceptionally low density. |
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Balsam Lake?