WOODRUFF – Good news for anglers looking forward to the May 29 opening day of the northern zone musky season.
The early spring experienced in northern Wisconsin and most of the state means the muskies are done spawning and ready to concentrate on eating. Even an early May blast of snow in many parts of northern Wisconsin shouldn’t put a damper on the bite, says Steve Gilbert, Department of Natural Resources fisheries biologist for Vilas County.
“We had 2 to 3 inches of snow in early May and the water temperatures did drop 4 or 5 degrees, but the temps are going to rebound fast,” Gilbert says. “The muskies are done with spawning. Things are going to warm up. We still have nearly two weeks before the opener and the weather forecast looks cool but not unusually cool, so the muskies will be in their post-spawn, late-spring pattern.”
Fishable populations of musky are found in 711 lakes and 83 stream segments in 48 Wisconsin counties but the heaviest concentration of lakes with musky is found in the headwater regions of the Chippewa, Flambeau, and Wisconsin rivers. Online lists of lakes and rivers can steer anglers to where musky populations are known to be found.
Season details
The musky season opens May 29 in Wisconsin north of U.S. Highway 10, excluding Wisconsin-Michigan boundary waters, and runs through Nov. 30, 2010. The daily bag limit is one and the minimum length limit is 34 inches in most cases, but some lakes have special regulations. Please see the “Guide to Wisconsin Hook and Line Fishing Regulations 2010-11."
Wisconsin-Michigan boundary waters opened for musky fishing on May 15. The southern zone musky season opened with the regular game fish opener on May 1.
Lake Michigan waters north of Waldo Boulevard in Manitowoc open for musky fishing May 29. Included in this season are the Bay of Green Bay, the Fox River upstream to the DePere dam, Sturgeon Bay and other bays to Lake Michigan and Green Bay. The daily limit is one, the minimum length limit is 50 inches, and the season closes Nov. 30.
The Lake Michigan season for musky south of Waldo Boulevard in Manitowoc is already open. It runs May 1 through Dec. 31, 2010, and the daily limit is one. There is a minimum length limit of 50 inches.
A few fish managers took a break from their busy season of fish population surveys to file updated forecasts and condition reports. Other notes on season prospect have been pulled from the 2010 Wisconsin Fishing Report; check the report for more information on musky and other species.
Northern Zone season forecasts
Barron and Polk counties - Musky completed spawning by mid-late April in many northwestern Wisconsin waters mainly due to an early ice out and rapidly warming spring water temperatures. Expect fish to be active and on the feed if the weather cooperates come the opener. More specifically, Barron staff finished a two-year musky population estimate on Deer Lake in Polk County this past spring. We found a solid number of 35 to 38-inch fish present in the population as well as respectable number of mid-40 inch present. The fish were in great condition and should continue to provide a fishery with high angler catch rates as well as an above average size structure. – Heath Benike, fisheries biologist, Barron
Chequamegon National Forest in Price, Sawyer, Ashland counties - Saturday May 29 marks the musky opener in the Northern zone and fishing prospects look excellent. Most musky have completed their spring spawning ritual and the fish should be active with the warming temperatures. Abundance is still high on many small waters in the Chequamegon National Forest and anglers just looking for action should try Day Lake Flowage, Spider-Moquah Lakes, and English Lake in Ashland County; and Ghost Lake, Lower Clam Lake, and Black Lake in Sawyer County. On these smaller lakes with a high abundances of musky, the key is to downsize your baits. Large forage is generally scarce in these lakes and the musky are used to chasing smaller baitfish - so anglers should adjust accordingly. Others waters with good abundances of musky include Butternut Lake, the Phillips Chain, Solberg Lake, and the Pike/Round Chain in Price County. With cooler water and early season conditions, small bucktails and jerk baits should provide some good action and look for the fish to be holding on the deep edges of newly forming weed beds. – Skip Sommerfeldt, fisheries biologist, Park Falls
Iron County - The Turtle-Flambeau Flowage musky population also has improved over the past 12 years. Surveys show that musky abundance is similar from 1997 to 2009 but the size structure has dramatically improved. In 1997, 17 percent of the fish sampled were 40 inches and longer while no fish were captured exceeding 45 inches. In the spring of 2009, 31 percent of the fish sampled were 40 inches or longer while eight percent exceeded 45 inches. There was no evidence of natural musky reproduction and the population and fishery remains dependant on stocking. – Jeff Roth, fisheries biologist, retired.
Lincoln County - A comprehensive survey on Lake Mohawksin, a 1,910-acre impoundment on the Wisconsin River in Tomahawk, found strong, self-sustaining populations of walleye, musky, northern pike, smallmouth bass and panfish. There is a strong musky population with many fish up to 45 inches long. - Dave Seibel, fisheries biologist, Antigo
Oneida County – A comprehensive survey of Gilmore lake found abundant musky. About 71 musky were handled during the survey, which sizes from 30 to 47 inches. A survey on the Minocqua chain of lakes found that most musky ranged from 36 to 45 inches with the largest 50.5 inches. - John Kubisiak, fisheries biologist, Rhinelander
Price County - Fall 2008 and spring 2009 surveys of Butternut Lake allowed sportfish population comparisons to goals outlined in the 2005 Butternut Lake Fishery Management Plan. Capture rates for musky ranked in the 81st percentile among spring netting surveys on similar “fast-action” musky waters, suggesting that musky density remains above the goal of 0.2 – 0.3 adults per acre. Anglers are encouraged to selectively harvest a musky 34 to 40 inches long once in a while to help attain goals for musky, perch and walleye. – Jeff Scheirer, fisheries biologist, Park Falls
Taylor County - Anglers of all skill levels can pick from a variety of fishing opportunities that Spirit and North Lakes offer. Novice and avid musky anglers should enjoy fast-action with a decent chance to land one of memorable size. Netting in spring 2009 yielded 31 musky ranging 29.5 to 42.5 inches. Musky abundance and size structure were better in North Spirit Lake where 42 percent were 38 inches or longer. – Jeff Scheirer, fisheries biologist, Park Falls
Marinette and Oconto counties - In Marinette County, Caldron Falls has been stocked by the DNR for more than 20 years and it supports a very good fishery. Those fish have expanded into the next flowage known as High Falls. Both impoundments produce several legal-size musky each year. White Potato is also a stocked fishery but it is located in central Oconto County. White Potato is a large shallow water lake that also supports a good musky fishery. DNR recently assessed Brule Flowage in Florence County and that information confirms a decent musky fishery exists in that flowage located just north of Florence. – Mike Donofrio, fisheries supervisor, Peshtigo
Marathon and Portage counties - The musky stocking program for the flowages on the Wisconsin River between Stevens Point and Wausau has been very successful and the local fishing has benefited. The stocking program continues to get better with the assistance of local musky clubs, and the DNR is taking a more active role in management by marking every stocked musky with an elastomer jaw tag, used for evaluating natural reproduction. These tags are invisible to anglers, however a large number of adult muskies are now marked with orange internal anchor tags, placed between their pectoral and pelvic fins (belly). Anglers should report these tag numbers along with length and waterbody by calling the telephone number listed on the tag, as this is valuable recapture information for biologists. – Tom Meronek, fisheries biologist, Wausau
Price County - Fall 2008 and spring 2009 surveys of Butternut Lake allowed sportfish population comparisons to goals outlined in the 2005 Butternut Lake Fishery Management Plan. Capture rates for musky ranked in the 81st percentile among spring netting surveys on similar “fast-action” musky waters, suggesting that musky density remains above the goal of 0.2 – 0.3 adults per acre. Anglers are encouraged to selectively harvest a musky 34 to 40 inches long once in a while to help attain goals for musky, perch and walleye. – Jeff Scheirer, fisheries biologist, Park Falls
Taylor County - Spirit and North Spirit lakes – Anglers of all skill levels can pick from a variety of fishing opportunities the Spirit Lakes offer. Novice and avid musky anglers should enjoy fast-action with a decent chance to land one of memorable size. Netting in spring 2009 yielded 31 musky ranging 29.5 to 42.5 inches. Musky abundance and size structure were better in North Spirit Lake where 42 percent were 38 inches or longer. - Jeff Scheirer, fisheries biologist, Park Falls
Shawano County – Musky have continued to provide a great fishery on Shawano Lake, with several 45- to 50-inch musky captured/observed during our fall assessments. This past year the DNR stocked 2,500 musky fingerlings. In 2010, department staff are planning to conduct fyke netting surveys on Shawano Lake to obtain more comprehensive information on the entire fish community. – Al Niebur, fisheries biologist, Shawano
Vilas County - This year we had one of the earliest ice outs on record and conditions remained warm and dry all spring. This means musky spawning will be over on all county lakes several weeks before the opener. Fish should be on the move looking for a meal to replace reserves used during spawning. If the weather holds up we should have good fishing for the opener. Anglers should note that Long and Big Sand lakes in the Town of Phelps have 50-inch minimum length limits. - Steve Gilbert, fisheries biologist, Woodruff
Green Bay forecast
Green Bay – Green Bay musky fishing should be fantastic. While fall 2009 wasn’t particularly great in terms of catch rate, huge schools of forage fish comprised of gizzard shad and emerald and spotfin shiners were present. This healthy forage base resulted in some massive fish and there were plenty of 50-plus inch fish caught and released that would have weighed in at over 45 pounds. This spring DNR crews collected eggs from the Lower Fox River for the hatchery system and in one night 82 muskies were netted and averaged 44 inches. These fish are now finished spawning and will be starting to move back out into the bay. Fishing transition points may produce good results, before the fish disappear to their summer deep-water haunts. In the northern part of Green Bay, muskies may still be spawning when the season opens because of the colder water. DNR crews have implanted radio transmitters in some female fish to study the spawning behavior. If anglers happen to catch a fish with an antenna sticking out of it they should leave it in the fish and release the fish. Fish larger than 54 inches have been sampled this spring. Fish seem to relate more to structure in the northern bay and casting in early June is really an effective pattern, even in this big water. Anglers pursuing musky on Green Bay need to be prepared with an adequate-sized landing net and a good pair of pliers and side cutters for removing hooks. Oh, and make sure to have your camera ready. - David Rowe, fisheries biologist, Green Bay
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