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| You take the family to N. Wisconsin for a week each year. This is a family deal, not a fishing deal...but, you get some fishing time in every day nonetheless. So, you're got to make a decision every day about where to spend your valuable (short) fishing time.
There are a few small lakes available for resort guests that contain muskies. This is a numbers game, with fish topping out around 42", but there are a lot of them and they're fairly easy to pattern and catch. Three fish a day is pretty common.
However, interestingly, one of the lakes on the resort premises is a small, deep, clear and sterile pot-hole of about 40 acres, that receives virtually no musky pressure. In fact, there aren't supposed to be muskies in this lake. This is a designated trout lake, with between 200 and 500 browns and rainbows stocked each year (put and take) for probably the last 15 years. Owner can't figure out where the trout are all going when spring fish surveys reveal lower populations than expected.
One of the resort guides has told me of seeing spawning muskies in the spring time (low to mid 40" fish). Apparently, there is a small remnant population of fish that somehow got into this lake years ago. Rumors abound of big fish hooked on trout tackle and never seen, with one credible guide telling me of a monumental struggle with a 50" class fish years ago (lost at boatside). Trouble is, I've spent time on this little lake over the years and have yet to see a fish. I believe this remnant population of fish is very low - maybe less than 10 individual fish, if that. Though they'd be very well fed.
So, where would you devote your precious (short) fishing time? Chasing a sure thing on known Class A numbers water? Or, chasing trout-fed 'ghosts' on a small unpressured pot hole lake with rumored potential for a pig?
Brian |
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Posts: 412
Location: Waukesha, WI | I'd start with the Class A waters to get my fix, and then look to "ghosts" to see if they are more than just an apparition. |
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Posts: 1937
Location: Black Creek, WI | I'd fish the pothole on the weekends... and the Class A lakes during mid-week when pressure is the least.
A 40 acre lake shouldn't take long to verify its "potential"... especially if you've already fished it before.
Cool question.... |
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Posts: 691
Location: nationwide | I would fish the class A until a weather change that would turn the fish "on", then go to the pothole and swing for the fences.
Corey Meyer |
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| I would not waste too much time on the sterile 40 acre lake...some of those can be good...but some can be a waste of time...
I'd hit a bit bigger potholes in the 150-300 acre size on the weekends that don't get as much pressure and hit the big name lakes during the week like Jason said...
chasing after fish that you aren't really SURE are in a body of water can be a waste of time...there should be plenty of smaller good lakes with decent numbers and some big fish close by to where you are staying.... |
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Posts: 1906
Location: Oconto Falls, WI | With a week available to you, and fishing time each day I would at least hit that 40 acre lake once! It doesn't take long to fish 40 acres. I fished one out of a canoe a few years back that took maybe 1 1/2 hours to fish. In a couple of hours you should be able to strain every inch of that water from deep to shallow. I don't think it's a waste of time to spend one day of your trip on the small lake swinging for the fences.
Get your fix on the other numbers lakes, and try to schedule a day on the trout lake when conditions may be best. |
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