My buddy called me to ask me what I knew about muskie fishing Namakan Lake in Voyagers. I went out to look at the DNR survey data and there wasn’t any mention of muskie. I got to thinking and the DNR survey methods may not be a good way to judge muskie populations for lakes.
Any thoughts?
Sully
I would not say that it is not possible – but the whole chain is not known for ‘skis. Downstream is Rainy Lake – which harbors a marginal population. Far upstream is Lake Vermillion which is well known for nice muskies…….and it is entirely plausible that some make it over the spillway. I know of factual ‘ski’s that have been caught on Crane, but to go there and target them…..I would expect long days and no-to-low numbers on the best of days. If your goal is a day with no competition, then it would be a great lake, just don’t get bummed at no results.
Tim
Your right, the nets used now are not ideal for catching muskies. About all a person can do is check into angler success and stocking data.
Its a good thing I believe the nets dont work well for mature muskies.. these are gill nets, and the fish dont swim away once caught. I witnessed a net full of walleys and a few other fish on a lake in the cities(Harriet) years back, not one musky was in the net. Anyone who knows harriet knows there is no shortage of muskies, and the net was placed on an excellent musky holing structure.
If my memory serves me right, I believe a buddy of a buddy caught a 54″ or 56″ muskie on Crank or Namekan. I believe they were pike fishing too. It was an EXTREMELY fat fish and I forget the weight. But I do believe it possibly pushed 50lbs.
This was either last summer or the summer prior. When we heard the news, we were all shocked!
I’ll see if I can dig up all the facts on it in the next week or two.
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