Top Tiger Muskie Lakes?

[BullFighter]

Not including the Metro area, what are the Top Tiger Muskie lakes in the State of Minnesota?

Any opinions?

thanks

BF

[brad coin]

Tigers are only stocked and managed in the metro,,theres no tigers stocked in outstate Minn, im sure some occur naturally in the purestrain natural repo waters but I think you would be looking for a needle in a haystack trying to target them.

one of the reasons the metro was stocked with tigers was that the dnr wanted to create a trophy fisherie for urban anglers who might not have the means to go upnorth and Canada,,originally tigers were once cheaper to raise 'on pellets' so they would not be has much of a loss if urban anglers harvested one.

some of the tiger lakes in the metro will be switched over to purestains in the comming future to help ease the pressure,,,some of the metro tiger lakes are no longer being managed for tigers,,,If your into tigers it REALLY pays to call the dnr and get their stocking reports sheets for this year and the previous years so you dont waste time on some discontinued lakes in the futures

'ACTUALLY" by coincedence the Minneasota DNR tiger' fisherie specialist will be one of our guests tommarow 'tue's' at the Twin City chapter of muskies inc meeting

[lunge]

cedar by newpraque has hybrids in it, some decent size Ive caught@44" there, the lake weeds over quick. best in spring for large lures. otherwise weedless spoons,spinnerbaits,and plastics like the new M.I. slither, ive had luck on sluggo's aswell. but if you want to target tigers, go to WI

[BullFighter]

Brad,

who is the DNR Tiger fisheries specialist?

Thanks Guys

BF

[pinkfloyd4ever]

I've never fished it, have a co-worker's hubby who fishes Calhoun for Bass tell me that he has hooked a few tigers chasing his spinners. I imagine if they are in Calhoun they would be in that chain of lakes too.

[50inchpig]

we've seen and caught some decent tigers out of crystal lake in robbinsdale, although in the last few years it's really gotten dirty and we haven't had the success. if you're hellbent on getting some tigers i'd suggest nikomis, the calhoun chain, gervais, or silver/long in the NW metro, I haven't phished phalen but it seems like a nice little lake too.

i'm tempted temping to troll some cranks around lake elmo too and see if i can hook into that new state record that's out there in the abyss.

i'm excited about the new long range plan for muskies but i do hope they choose to maintain a few of the tiger lakes in the metro, it's a nice change of pace sometimes, even if the jets are flying overhead all day.

the stocking list from the DNR will also give you a few more ideas.

[mrklean]

How many lakes in the metro have tigers in them?

[Aaron Carrell]

I can think of at least 6...

Depends on what you consider metro. :-p

Orchard & Crystal in Lakeville.

Bryant in Eden Prairie.

Calhoun, Harriet & Nokomis in Minneapolis.

I know guys have caught tiger's in Minnetonka but I'm pretty positive they were never managed there, just a natural thing.

There might be a couple others, but thats all I've got off the top of my head.

[JRedig]

Don't forget Phalen, Keller, silver, i think there's a few more on the east side. Oh, Elmo.

[mrklean]

Does the DNR have a list of lakes? For some reason i thought they did or someone posted one

[pinkfloyd4ever]

Yup, Crystal in Robbinsdale has them, I've never seen or heard of anyone catching them. Johanna off of Snelling has them, have a friend who has a good success rate out there. The Calhoun chain.

Fish or Weaver in Maple Grove have them also

[mrklean]

Weaver has them???? now that i did not know

[Black_Bay]

Brad,

who is the DNR Tiger fisheries specialist?

Thanks Guys

BF

Ditto

[50inchpig]

You can download stocking reports from the Lakefinder on the DNR site, this will show you lakes and numbers and give you and idea which lakes are stocked more aggresively - make sure you download 2 years because most stockings are bi-annual.

[pinkfloyd4ever]

Weaver has them???? now that i did not know

now you are putting me on the spot, I should have been a little more clear. Its either Weaver or Fish there in Maple Grove, I have never fished them but that book TC fishing guide (or whatever its called) said that one of those little maple grove lakes has Tigers.

[mrklean]

I checked on the DNR site weaver does fish doesnt, which works good the ladies parents live 100 yards from weaver

[brad coin]

BF

Dirk Peterson is going to come talk about the status and future of tigers

also we have Bob Benson Vermilion guide and muskie activist has our main speaker,,,I'll put up a seperate thread about it!!

Ive fished most of em just off the top of my head heres a list of tiger lakes in the metro

Nokomis in MPL'S

Calhoun,,,mpls

Lake of the isles,,mpls

cedar in Mpls

Crystal in Robinsdale,,check management status?

Crystal in Burnsville

Cedar in shakopee area the heaviest stocked tiger lake.

Bush Lake in Bloomington,,no longer managed but fish still there

McCarrons in St Paul,,no longer managed but some very big remnant fish have been caught last couple years

Phalen in St paul

Gervais and keller chain in St Paul

Johanna by Arden Hills,,pretty little lake and my personel best out of it.

Elmo in woodbury,,current state record holder producer

Hyland lake in Bloomington 'check status'

Bryant lake in Bloominton.

Island lake in Arden hills area 694 goes right tru the middle of it,,,check status of this one.

Clear lake just south of Forrest lake,,'nothing clear about it'

Weaver Lake by maple grove

Eagle lake 'by Young America' very swampy and the ramp gets slippery from algae-4WD

Orchard lake,,- check status

Pierson Lake,by Victoria,,,check status

and,,,,there actually is one outstate waterway that has had tigers-Zumbro resevoir/lake in Southeast Minn,,dont know the status of that one I know a bunch got over the dam one year

I know Im forgeting a couple???

Tibits

Minnesota DNR has found on average that tigers/hybreds live on average 7yrs but they of course can live longer,,,,Thats why its important to get those stocking sheets current and past to gauge a lakes population or remnant population.

If your looking for a good guide who knows tigers and want to learn em

Josh Stevenson owner of Blue Ribbon bait in woodbury he is also the current state record tiger holder.

Paul Hartman,,owner of the Minnesota muskie expo and has written a few articles in Esox angler about tigers

for sheer beauty Id have to rate it a tie between a tiger and a native Brooktrout for prettiest fish in the state.

[cjac]

"I know Im forgeting a couple???"

I can think of one I'm glad you "forgot"! Hope to make the meeting tomorrow night, it's been a while.

Fun fish to chase, especially being so many options so close to the cities. Fun stuff........

[pinkfloyd4ever]

I checked on the DNR site weaver does fish doesnt, which works good the ladies parents live 100 yards from weaver

We'll have to go chase them sometime when you are in town, we can use my boat. Since you'd be at the future in-laws, we'd just have to make a short run, of course the motor could die or run out of gas or battery's die off, lots of things could turn a short run on a small lake into an all day adventure with a 6 pack of beer! With the added benefit being that it ain't your fault, Pink's motor broke/battery died/ran out of gas and the wind was blowing the wrong way

[mrklean]

haha that sounds like a plan pink ill be there every weekend during the summer pretty much so we will have to nail down a time

[Jakesbuds]

Going to Weaver as you know is sometimes busy so get there early only 8 or 10 spots to park

[Fishin Dan]

Weaver gets to be a real zoo with skiers and tubers so if your going to hit it, hit it early. I prefer either Orchard if im using the boat or Calhoun if im just running down to the lake real quick. I had great success last year on both just throwing large spinner baits.

[pinkfloyd4ever]

haha that sounds like a plan pink ill be there every weekend during the summer pretty much so we will have to nail down a time

sounds good dude, I've never fished it, have seen that it does get a lot of rec. traffic though

[mrklean]

i mainly do some panfishing off shore, i have heard mixed things, i think it does get the boat traffice during the nice days because it is a cities lake but early am would be a good time

[Jakesbuds]

I've fished Weaver hundreds of times, there are spots that are better for Muskie fishing than others. The lake is by no means big obviously, but I could clue you in on a few spots where I have caught some nice muskie's fishing for Bass