Questions--Lakes, Reels & Leaders

[jnels20]

I am relatively new to musky fishing and have a couple of questions I was hoping you could help me with. I get up to Solon Springs (30 miles south of superior on Hwy 53) a couple weeks out of the year. I have a small boat and have been fishing Amnicon, Lyman, and the Eau Claire chain of lakes for muskies over the last two years. Do you know of any other lakes within 20-30 miles of the Solon Springs area that are good musky fisheries (Hayward is a little too far)—I am looking for a little change of scenery. However, these lakes need to be close to the Solon area because the trailer I have is suspect at best, and I would not feel comfortable taking the boat more 30 miles than away.

What are your thoughts on the Shimano Curado 300 for Musky fishing? I use them (200 model) all the time for bass fishing and love the reels, however, are they appropriate for Musky fishing? Can you use this reel with large musky lures—Bull Dawgs, DCGs, etc?

Last question—what are your thoughts on fluorocarbon leaders? I know they probably have their time and place, but wanted to get your input. Do these leaders need to be replaced or changed after every fish? I imagine those teeth can do some damage to the leader and cause weak spots which could ultimately lead to lost fish.
Thanks for the help.

[BradD]

I cant answer ur questions regarding that area and lakes sourrounding. But i can tell ya that the flourocarbon leaders are the real deal the ones made by stealth tackle are awesome i used one last fall and pretty much abbused all i cud i threw it in rocks and wood ans pretty much everything only cuaght one fish on that leader but after a week it was still like new. i will be throwing a lot of them this summer and have all the confidence in the world in those things oh and they are cheap.

[Ryan M]

I've heard that the Minong Flowage has muskies to be caught. Never fished there myself though. Little south of you I guess.

[Ty Sennett]

That's what I was going to recommend. The Minong Flowage. I don't know a lot about it though. Heard a few good reports.

The flourocarbon leaders are fine as long as you get a good one. The Stealth ones are great. I don't use any flouro leaders but that doesn't mean they are bad.

The Curado's hold up really good but I would pick a different one for crankin' in cowgirls. I guess you could just switch out the handle but the handle that comes with the Curado will flat out wear you out.

[jkahler]

Trego Flowage, Mathews, Bear, Dowling, and Nancy lake all have muskies in them. I don't think the Minong Flowage has them but I could be wrong.

Lots of small water which can be nice and peaceful, but don't expect to catch big fish.

[Ty Sennett]

Maybe that's what it was. The Trego Flowage. I don't know. I have fished Nancy quite a few times. Don't expect to see very many fish but there are a couple left over big ones in there.

[jnels20]

Everyone--Thanks for all the help. Much appreciated.

JKAHLER--Is "Bear" lake the one in Douglas County??? (On County Road A--East of Solon Springs and South of Amnicon) Have you ever fished this lake? Is it similar to Lyman or Amnicon?

[Ryan M]

Don't listen to me. Listen to Jkahler, I'm sure I have my flowages mixed up.

Just want to make sure you're not out throwing pacemakers on the Minong flo for bass and panfish!

[dfkiii]

Just want to make sure you're not out throwing pacemakers on the Minong flo for bass and panfish!

Don't be sorry, I've caught some really nice smallmouth on a Pacemaker !

[Ryan M]

Me too, come to think of it. Maybe a smaller size should be explored, Ty can market it for bass fishermen too.

On a sidenote, did anybody see that show on Bass fishing on the National Geographic Channel? It wasn't bad, showed some guys chasing a new world record in Cali, reminded me a lot of Musky fishing.

I heard that those guys in Cali will pay $100 bucks for a nicely painted swimbait. Maybe they'll do it for a pacemaker.

[Ty Sennett]

$100.00 bucks for a swimbait? And I thought us muskie guys were nuts!

[jkahler]

Everyone--Thanks for all the help. Much appreciated.

JKAHLER--Is "Bear" lake the one in Douglas County??? (On County Road A--East of Solon Springs and South of Amnicon) Have you ever fished this lake? Is it similar to Lyman or Amnicon?

Lots of small ones there. The biggest I've got yet was a 34.5. Dark water! Very shallow like Lyman. The water was so low last year that I didn't fish it. I have no idea how the fish survive in there without winter killing. It's gets hit hard during the winter for crappies but I have no idea on the size structure of those. Bright jerks, blk topwaters, org bucktails work for me there.

The boat launch is terrible, very shallow sand.

Some idiot also introduced pike in there so who knows what that will do to the muskies there. The skis aren't stocked so they're self sustaining. Maybe some tigers in there now?