Polk county muskies?

[Gopher_Guy]

How is the musky fishing on these lakes (Bone, Balsam, Deer, Wap, etc)? I found information that Bone and Deer used to be really good but that spearing really hurt the populations. Most of the threads I found were at least a few years old.

Buddy and I are looking to branch out from metro area and this looked like a close area with good fish potential. He fishes Balsam for bass but hasn't fished it for musky.

[B-man715]

Balsam doesn't have a fishable population of muskies. I know one guy, that caught one muskie there, one time........on accident. It was a dandy though (47 if memory serves me correct).

The other three do, but as you found out, it's not like the good old days.

[MuskieFever]

I've only fished deer from the list and like stated, it ain't what it used to be! It was almost guaranteed to get at LEAST 4-6 follows there and most likely catch one. Now, you're lucky if you see a fish.

[Nick Kuhn]

If Balsam has muskies its the one or 2 that a some guy took of his own volition to stock himself; the DNR has never sampled one there.

The others depends really on what kind of lakes you want to fish. I will try my best. Note with Bone and Deer: yes the population is down compared to 10 years ago. However, the population back then was absurdly high, so action was practically guaranteed. In terms of population, both Bone and Deer still have more fish per acre than most lakes, including every Leech Lake strain muskie lake in Minnesota.

Deer: clear water, which brings lots of recreational boaters. I avoid it on sunny summer days. Not only do the fish seem to be deep, but the boats cut up a ton of weeds that makes casting difficult and trolling nearly impossible. But the population is pretty high in there, so a good crappy weather lake, or weekday or early/late season lake. Weeds will grow out to about 15 feet of water, so the weed edge is much deeper than the other Polk county lakes.

Bone: fairly stained water, gets pretty green especially on calm summer mornings. Big enough water that despite recreational boating, you usually can find some quieter areas. Like Deer (which I failed to mention), Bone is primarily targeted for muskies. So fish out there have seen practically everything. Lot's of follows, few takers is the norm out there. Plenty of obvious spots, and quite a few overlooked ones too. Mid summer can be a tough time out there, as there is tons of deep water to cover that is within reasonable distance of a feeding ground.

Cedar: Similar to Bone, just less structure, slightly shallower, greener, and somewhat importantly usually 5 degrees warmer than the other lakes. Again not my favorite lake to hit in the summer, as you likely would never see a follow if you got one. But there are fish in there, and they aren't necessarily the primary target of everyone like they are on Bone and Deer.

Wapo: Sort of a 50/50 mix of Bone and Cedar. Green, a fair amount of structure, plenty of weeds, and muskies aren't the primary target out there. However, Wapo doesn't have the same stocking history as the previously mentioned lakes, so it isn't the strongest population to target. Fish here do seem to be more active in the summer than the other lakes, but that may just be lucky timing on my part.

Apple River Flowage: Extremely weedy, so it keeps most fishermen and almost all recreational boaters off the water. There are still fish here, but it's stocking rate was halved in the mid 2000's, so it is no longer the sleeper action lake in the region. There isn't a lot of rhyme or reason to where the muskies hang out here, so fishing is mostly left to luck during the summer months. However, you will be left alone for the most part fishing. Also there are a few bridges to duck under in case a pop up thunderstorm happens (I may have sheltered under them a time or 2).

[Nick Kuhn]

Just an FYI, with the weather as stable as it is, the next week or so will be a great time to hit these waters. Fish will be predictably located outside of the deep weed edge, moving up to the weeds during active periods. Only boated 1 small one over the weekend, but there was plenty of action. My dad lost 3 (very frustrating weekend for him I guess). I boated the 1 strike that actually hit my lure, had 3 other short strikes that completely missed everything. On top of that I had 8 follows. Most fish spotted were between the 35 and 45 inch marks.

[Neighbor_guy]

How is the musky fishing on these lakes (Bone, Balsam, Deer, Wap, etc)? I found information that Bone and Deer used to be really good but that spearing really hurt the populations.....

How did spearing hurt/lower the Muskie population???

Not trying to start a fight, but last I checked spearing muskies isn't legal.

I still haven't hooked up this season and am also looking to get out of the metro area. Reach out to the local bait shops or specialty shops like Thorne Bro's. They will be able to point you in the right direction as well.

Good luck with your quest.

[B-man715]

Indians can spear muskies in Wisconsin.

[Neighbor_guy]

well that makes sense then

I guess I didn't put the Wisconsin factor together when I looked at the thread.