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| Message Subject: Metro tiger lakes | |||
Ogandrews |
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Posts: 216 Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota | I live in the cities and have fished a few of the tiger lakes but really haven’t put much time into them. I’m curious if anyone on here regularly fishes them. It seems like I never hear people talk about them much. I’m thinking about spending more time on them this year to get away from some of the pressure. Every one I have caught has been on smaller rubber or smaller cranks, do you guys fish them much differently than pure muskies? I noticed that the fish I caught would almost all be out deeper in summer and fall. Curious to have any input from people who fish them | ||
| Guzzler |
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Posts: 41 | Not sure this helps much, but my brother used to live on Cedar Lake just north of New Prague. This lake was only stocked with tiger muskies. The biggest we got out of there was 44.5" which was caught during the metro tourney years ago - I think in 2004. I am unsure if they stock it or not anymore. But that being said, we caught quite a few tigers there, and I would say most were caught fishing off of the weed edges in deeper water. That was easily our best pattern. Our best times were before the big bloom came on the lake towards early-mid July. There were a lot of carp in there that did not help that issue. We had a really good 3 or 4 week period of catching nice fish there. We saw some fish that were larger than what we caught (by other anglers) and had some follows from fish pushing 48" plus but never boated any of them. At one time we thought we might have a chance of getting a 50" tiger out of there but never accomplished that goal. Small bucktails and jerk-baits (6" reef hawg) worked well for us. Good luck if you go there. It would be interesting to see what you run in to as I have not fished there in probably 12 or 13 years. Send a report if you get anything. Tight lines! | ||
| gimruis |
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Posts: 145 | I have been specifically targeting tiger muskies for 7 years now in 3 metro-area lakes that are stocked with them. I'm not going to specifically list the lakes on a public forum. I've boated over 40 of them since 2017, my biggest is 41 inches. My best season was in 2017 when I boated 8 total. The last 2 seasons I had one on each season that were significantly bigger - 45 to 50 inchers, and the other person fishing with me can verify it as we both got a good look at each one. Unfortunately they both spit the hooks. Until I visually saw those fish, I didn't think tiger muskies could actually get that big. A 40 incher is big, a 45 or 50 seems almost unheard of, but they exist. You can definitely downsize your presentation when compared to targeting pure strains. Like almost "bass sized" tackle. Bigger lures still work but you limit the number of fish you target to just larger ones if you go that route. I tend to catch a lot of northern pike along the way too, of various sizes. I don't mind catching 30 inch tigers either, so I often throw smaller lures than usual. My best period is in the late summer/early fall when the water temps are 65-75 degrees. Outside of that range I can't develop a pattern. Also, clouds/rain play a major role. Its gotten to the point where its not even worth trying if the sun is out and I only go when its rainy or cloudy. I've tried a couple times at night but that's been a bust. Hope that helps you | ||
| gimruis |
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Posts: 145 | Revisiting this one, as my post back in May has held true. The action has picked up the past 10-14 days, as water temps have dropped to the desired range of 65-75 degrees. I could not move or get a fish to bite in July or August when it was consistently above that 75 degree mark, but as soon as it dropped to 74, the fishing dramatically improved. | ||
| TCESOX |
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Posts: 1257 | I've lived 10 blocks from a metro tiger lake for 30 years and have caught hundreds of them, but I don't know how much help I can be. Problem is, anything I know is not usable data, just anecdotal. Reason being, I never fish an entire day, or days. I pretty much only fish early in the morning for 3 to 4 hours, so I can't really speak to what they do other times of day. Also, having fished it for so long, other than the 4 places that seem to always hold fish, I've caught them in every corner of the lake. Deep, shallow, weedy, rocky, steep breaks, slow sloping sand, up against the shore, under docks. Literally everywhere. I have no pattern at all, other than they seem to bite early in the morning. They seem to like 2 oz. spinner baits, small tails like Babygirls, Mepps, etc. They also like Jackpots, Suiks, and Rapala Super Shads, X Raps, and lots of other small cranks of the size of 22 Shorts. All kinds of rubber like paddle tails, twister tails, and small Bulldogs, and jig with rubber like creatures. For a period it seemed like all the little ones ate big baits, and the big ones ate small baits, but that pattern didn't hold up over time. I've had 26 inchers eat Jackpots and big Suiks, and had mid-forties steal pan fish sized Rippin' Raps in early season while trying to catch crappies. I can't go 20 feet around that lake without being able to say "I caught one there." Most of the tiger lakes are small, so just fish everything and throw everything. You will catch fish, and if you go all day in various conditions, maybe you can find a pattern. But mostly just fish it and you will catch fish. Edited by TCESOX 9/16/2024 5:32 PM | ||
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