Muskie…how would you fish this lake

Looking for some advice from you muskie guys. I live near a lake in Portage Mi that has been stocked and has some monster muskies in it. My question is how would you go about fishing this lake. It is about 1000 acres, and is about 5-7 feet deep anywhere you go. One spot there is a 10-12 foot hole. Scattered weed beds around the lake. Most muskies are caught by bass fisherman casting. Would you just start by trolling? If so what would you use for lures? If I troll something that goes down 2-3 feet, will that be ok? Any help is appreciated….I know you guys in Minn and Wisconsin should be able to help me. Nobody around here wants to share info, or just don’t know much. Thanks for your help…….Doug

This time of year try suckers on a quick strike rig.

What’s the water clarity and bottom composition? My guess off what you said is low clarity and mud base bottom…. Any feeder creek? If there is weed patches spend the time and mark the perimeter of every one you can find so you can fish efficently. Good trolling bait for shallow and poor clarity is Spinners. Rad dogs in a single blade being my choice bait. You can pull them through pretty much anything and they keep on spinning.

Shallow invader. Keep a short line like 10-15 ft.

I would give your 10 -12′ hole a little attention too. Muskies like shallow water but if the majority of the lake is 5-7 there is no doubt that a good population of muskies will be hanging aroung that deep spot. Once the water temps are holding steadily below 60 degrees I would put the spinners away for the most part. I haven’t met a musky yet that doesn’t like a bulldawg… especially this time of year. Otherwise, next year cast spinner baits and bucktails all over. You’ll find “spot on the spot” situations on the flat parts of the lake i.e. Weed transitions, hard bottom areas, rock piles, or slight depressions. You’d be surprised when you’re fishing acres of flat shallow water how much difference a 1 foot depression makes. It can be a musky magnet. Mille Lacs sand bite is a perfect example.

Thanks for the help guys. I will be out there Monday morning putting some of your tips to use. Saturday afternoon a CO showed me a picture he took of a 56″ muskie taken out out this lake….I was impressed.

Weeds, Weeds, Weeds, and when you are done go back and fish them again.
1st…troll, drop a shallow running crank bait a short distance back(20 ft max). When you mark weeds on your graph, or foul your crank bait on them, go back and cast Bulldawgs or Glide baits over them. Be sure to mark them on your graph as well so you can find them again.

In the summer, find the biggest/greenest cabbage you can and cast the urine out of it with bucktails and topwater. Spinner baits making contact with the weeds is also deadly at times.

I agree with pretty much everything N Eddy said…shallow running cranks and gliders in the fall and topwater and spinnerbaits in the summer. The “deep weed edge” on that lake might only be in 4-5 feet of water if it has poor water clarity, so casting a shallow running Jake or Shallow Raider along the edges should be a good fit. Don’t forget about timber or docks too if there are any.