Raystown

[ttabaleulb]

This may be a re-post, but does anybody have any feel for Musky fishing at Raystown. I have a feeling it might be similar to Allegheny Reservoir in that it might have a few BIG fish. I always hear about people catching Musky in the rivers above and below, but not much about the lake. I am thinking of checking out a small portion of the lake over the weekend and was hoping to find some info. I figure to just kind of run and gun to a few different "fishy" spots and see what happens.


Jay

[muskie52]

I'm curious to hear how you do. I'm heading there July 27th thru the 30th. I've only fished there once before and didn't really try for muskies. This time around that's all I'll be fishing for.

The Fishing Hot Spots map of the lake looks pretty detailed. There are a few good looking spots that I'm really looking forward to trying. Please post a report when you get back, and I'll do the same.

Tony

[ttabaleulb]

Well, I did no fishing at all today since I was too hung over after celebrating the Pens winning the Stanley Cup last night, which is incredible!!! Hoping to get down the Raystown way tomorrow. I'll definitely post a report.

[muskie52]

Ha Ha Ha.....that's a valid excuse! Good luck!

[Red Childress]

The weekends are a Zoo there.........I hope you have bad weather to hopefully keep the pleasure craft out of your hair.

[ttabaleulb]

Well, the weather was beautiful, and the "Zoo" was hoppin!! My favorite exhibits were the zebra striped bikinis. :) That definitely kept my attention while I waited FOREVER to get back out of the lake due to incoming traffic!! LOL

Ok, time for the report.

I got to the lake a little later than I had planned (I think I was still a bit hung over)!! LOL Got fishing just before 7am. I launched at Aitch since I noticed that it was mainly a no-wake zone around there. Quite a few bass boats in the lot and water by the time I got there.

The weeds around there just looked WAY too good for there not to be Musky, at least in my mind. It was a calm morning, so I decided to throw some flies for the first couple of hours. Didn't see a thing with the flies. This is a freaky lake since it seems that all of the shorelines drop straight off into deep water. However, I can just picture the Musky hangin in the deep weed-edges ready to ambush.

Surface temps ranged from 72-74 while I was on the water. Quite a few fish breaking and I marked quite a few baitfish pods. I started running a floating DepthRaider. It just looked too good for me to change baits, so I stuck with it. No action at all until I decided to head back to the launch and noticed an interesting section of the bay. I decided to throw a few more casts before headin out. Well, after a few hours of nothing, I let my guard down and the first cast in this spot was nailed!! I had the fish on for a couple of seconds before losing it. From the flashes, I am guessing low 40's. Funny thing was that I wasn't even bummed about it. I was happy to go to a new lake and get some action. :) Do any of you guys beef up your hooks on DepthRaiders? I have been telling myself to do this but did not, and I think it cost me a fish today.

I'll definitely revisit this lake in the near future. I need to try and figure out if that was a fluke or if they have a decent Musky population that casters like me can get to. I talked to quite a few people on the lake and at the launch. No-one admitted to knowing anything about the Musky in the area.

Also, as Red mentioned, this place can be a madhouse on the weekends. From now on, I will be off the water by about 10am during the Summer weekends.

muskie52,

I think you'll really dig fishing that lake since it seems like there should be a Musky everywhere you look. That was one of my issues today, I just couldn't get myself to pass anything up. SOO MUCH WATER!!!


Jay

[muskie52]

Jay,
Thanks for the report. You really got my juices flowing for my trip! Glad that you at least got the hooks into one. I'll let you know how I make out in a month.

Tony

[ttabaleulb]

No problem. If we get some rain one of these weekends, I'll probably make another trip there in the near future. I'll be sure to post any other reports that I might have. I know that theres a shallower bay further down the lake that looks promising, so I might check that out next.


Jay

[Red Childress]

The striper guides that are trolling over and around the timber (especially at nite) bang some nice accidental muskies as well.