Musky in small lakes; A fantasy?

Post by **cprince** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 1:13 pm

I was fishing in my (new) usual little lake in the Gatineau hills somewhere south of Manawaki and north of Wakefield. This lake is about twice the sized of MacBay at best. The deepest part is about 40 feet and it does not extend too far... perhaps a 3 or 4 acre area of that depth. The rest in in the 18foot to 4 feet of water range.

So Sunday morning on the lake catching nice Largie, Smallie and little 5lb and under pike. Average day for this lake... when a nice 16ft Legend comes rumbleing up to us asking what lake this was. I tell them what lake they are in, then they ask me where the muskies are at.

?

??!!

They tell me that a guy at a bait shop in Ottawa told them that this and the next lake over (even smaller and shallower than the one I was in) had musky!! I asked what re-hab he shopped at... because that guy MUST be on drugs.

These chaps were clearly mistaken or totally steered wrong. But what is the smallest and shallowest lake any of you have ever heard of that held Musky?

Obviously, keep the location and name to yourself... but give me an idea on the size and depth of the lake... I am quite curious!!

Craig

Post by **wolfe** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 1:22 pm

Interesting thread and question, cprince. I'd be interested to read what some folks say.

I do know there are small ponds in the Adirondacks that have some 'skis, but they are linked to other, larger lakes, so there ya go...

W.

Post by **Trophymuskie** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 5:20 pm

Most muskie lakes in WI are under 1000 acres some 80 acre lakes have muskies in them.

Post by **esox50** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 5:21 pm

Muskies can occur in pretty much any lake, regardless of size. I have fished them in lakes as small as 10 acres. I've also fished them in a lake that averages two feet (can't recall acreage). As long as they have suitable forage and appropriate cover they can survive. It helps if there is a creek or stream that they might use to immigrate through. Suitable spawning habitat helps as well.

Will they get as big as fish on the St. Larry? No, but they can survive.

Post by **Musky51** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 8:42 pm

loads of lakes 3 hours from Ottawa that hold good numbers of musky. These lakes usually have smaller fish but can be a great spot for someone to catch their first

Post by **Eli** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 9:00 pm

Dow's Lake

Post by **cprince** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 3:30 pm

Thanks for the replies... I am still quite skeptical that there are any Muskies in the lakes I am talking about... quite closed off from any migration, very shallow streams that feed them.

The Wisconsin and Minnesota lakes... I forgot about those! I had read about some of them a while back.

Craig

Post by **IanD** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 7:05 pm

Craig,
I fish a lot up in the same area that you are taking about. There is a lake there that is named after a particular color (that is all the clue you are going to get

) It is about the same size as you describe and has the same LM and pike. I can vouch for the musky that are in there as well. . We fish it only a couple of times a year and always in the late fall. We have caught fish up to 30lbs and have seen others that would go well over that. There is no other lake in the vicinity that have musky in them and there are a lot of lakes in the area. The only reason why this lake is not heavily fished is that the only access is by private land and the land owner is very very picky as to who he lets in. I doubt that the lake is fished more than a dozen times a year.
In this case, it and it will remain, for the foreseeable future, a prime musky lake.

Post by **Steve G** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 8:01 pm

Lake Scugog is max 15ft deep, any where, it may have more acreage than your examples, but still supports lots of muskie for a shallow lake.

Post by **cprince** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 9:19 am

@IanD
TEASE!!

I suppose that is part of the fun discovering new water... a little Forrest Gump-like; 'cause you never know what you are going to get...

@Steve G
That is SHALLOW! For some reason, I don't associate Skis in the shallow. (Not that I know all that much about them!!!)

Craig

Post by **Bass Addict** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 9:41 am

Nice to see you sporting that new '' Farmer '' look.....

Post by **cprince** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 11:21 am

Bass Addict wrote:Nice to see you sporting that new '' Farmer '' look.....

Sheep are my new peeps! There wont be any controversial videos made and posted my them!!! (Thank God!)

Post by **AnglersChoice** » Tue Oct 13, 2009 1:59 pm

cprince wrote:
@Steve G
That is SHALLOW! For some reason, I don't associate Skis in the shallow. (Not that I know all that much about them!!!)

Craig

most guys i know in Lake St Clair that are trolling are running 7 - 14 ft of water. LSC is quite shallow as well, i think you will be lucky to find 40ft of water.

Post by **AnglersChoice** » Tue Oct 13, 2009 1:59 pm

cprince wrote:
@Steve G
That is SHALLOW! For some reason, I don't associate Skis in the shallow. (Not that I know all that much about them!!!)

Craig

most guys i know in Lake St Clair that are trolling are running 7 - 14 ft of water. LSC is quite shallow as well, i think you will be lucky to find 40ft of water.

Post by **steve2112** » Tue Oct 13, 2009 4:53 pm

Hi Guys

I have heard from several people there is a very small lake in the area with musky. The lake has private access though.

Steve