Otter Tail area

[PDXFisher]

I will be going North to the GF's family cabin in between West and East Leaf lake for opener week. This is very close to Otter Tail. Should I concentrate on fishing Otter Tail, or are there other lakes in the area I should explore for Muskies? Since I plan on fly fishing for them a bit, a lake with some nice flats would be nice.

Thanks!

[MLS]

no muskies in otter tail. Try west battle.

[fishin58]

Wouldn't Ottertail be a good fishery for Muskies to flourish, I would think that the lakes habitat would be pretty well suited for a muskie??

[10,000 Casts]

Ottertail would be a good muskie lake, nice weedbeds and ciscoes ans a ton of fat perch. But the walleyes guys would never let that happen. OH well in 2-3 years OT will be a Top 5 walleye lake in the state.

West Battle traditionaly isn't a very good muskie lake on opener. It has a good population of nice fish but they are generally deeper. But it is always worth a shot. 2 years ago, I fished it on opener with my roomate whos parents live on the lake. We moved a fish in Rockmar hole and a few on the outside edge of the weedbed east off the east side of the southern point. You might also find fish along the breaks on the south side (I would need a map to show you but you will figure it out.)

The poeple who boat the most skis on WB are trolling out side weed edges and open water off breaks. Which isn't all that productive this time of year.

For some reason I really like purple eagle tails and rad dogs out there but you have to go deep if you want to see fish. My other favorite bait is a jointed perch colored depth raider. Tough to beat Suicks out there too.

Good Luck,

John

[Dano_the_jigasaurus]

Big Detroit and Beer's (In Maplewood State Park) are up in that general area. Big Detroit would likely be a better fit for fly fishing. Big Detroit will likely be busy though. Otherwise you can head down toward Alexandria for more lakes.

Dan

[10,000 Casts]

Big DL would be the best choice but there is always alot of boats on it. A buddy of mine boated a 53" on opening day out in front of the Holiday in last year. Dead shot bay is also a good choice on opener but there is only enough room for a few boats back there otherwise it get real crowded. ( there are a couple 50's that hang out on the saddle)

I have never got one to go but they're there till July.

Big DL is probably the easiest lake to fish in the area and it has some nice year classes right now.

The east end on Pelican might be a good option too.

I have never fished beers in Maplewood but I think that it is more of a fall lake.

[DEADhead]

the public beach over on little detroit is another good spot to boat a muskie. kind of makes you think twice about swimming there though...

[PDXFisher]

Yeah, I was thinking about going to Pelican. I could also go stay in Verndale and try Shamineau and Alex again. Got skunked there last year, but that's when y'all had your heat wave and the water was 82. I will see what Detroit is like for sure. I won't be fly fishing exclusively, as I can't throw a 9wt fly rod all day. I just like to know the good flats options. I'm perfectly happy going after big Northerns, if there's good options for those in the region.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Derek

[PDXFisher]

Ahh, Alexandria. There I assume you mean Miltona and Lobster. For a beginner, is it better to concentrate on one lake until you get a fish and get some confidence there, or move around every day until you get one and keep going back to that lake? I'm such a n00b that I don't know what I'm doing on any lake, so I move around a lot.

So far I've done:

Tonka: Eight days

Independence: Three days

Alexander: Two days

Shamineau: One day

Waconia: One day

All that without a Muskie to call my own (two boated), maybe I'm just hopeless. Will be doing two more days on Tonka/Indy/Waconia before I head north, where I will have about four days to fish any of the following, based on driving distance:

Big D

Miltona

Lobster

Pelican

Shamineau

Alexander

Mantrap?

Leech?

What would you do?

If nothing else, I'm pumping a bunch of money into your local economy and taking nothing away but stories of frustration (not that I would keep a fish anyway)

[MLS]

If it were me I would go to ManTrap and or leech.

[PDXFisher]

I saw some pictures of Mantrap and thought it looked great, so that's my plan! Also found out some friends from Oregon were going to be staying at Sand Lake while I was up there, so even more incentive to head up that way.

But Leech though...is that too big for a 14' boat?

Thanks!

[MLS]

to fish it correctly that boat is too small.

[CRANKBAIT_GUY2]

West Battle is your only choice. I fish it all the time. It tries mens souls. Not an easy lake to fish for Skis. But, they're big, healthy fish.

I got a 44" last opener. But, it's tough. It's different from most lakes I've fished, so that makes it fun.

I wish Ottertail did, because it would be a factory. Tons of feed in the lake, and just enough cover. I hope someday it will.

[PDXFisher]

I'm going out on Mantrap Thursday and possibly Friday with Jeremy Anderson. Not sure where I'll be Wed. I wouldn't know a "different" lake if I saw one. Hell, it'd probably make it easier since I haven't caught anything on the ones that aren't "different"

Mantrap sounds right up my alley with all the shallow arms. Perfect for fly fishing. I think I read Miltona has some significant flats, too?

[Musky_Madness]

Miltona has amazing sand flats in the middle of the lake. The middle saddle of the lake is roughly 5-8' average and it's probably a good 400 yds or so wide in some spots. Look for some rock piles in there...good hang out for muskies. On the outside of the flats is healthy weed edges! A wonderful lake for ski's!

[Musky_Madness]

I too fished West Battle Lake 2 years ago and ended up catching 2 muskies in 30 minutes up there. ONe was 38" and the other was 46". Wonderful time! The weather was similar to today with misty rain and dreary in the AM and then calm and sunny in the afternoon. For some reason those two put on the feed bag and ate the same lure in the same spot.