# Cowan muskie?



## bassmaster1 (Feb 6, 2006)

Has anyone caught a muskie from Cowan recently? I know they were stocked 10-15 years ago but not since.
The reason I ask is because a couple nights ago around 11pm I hooked something huge. I was throwing big swimbaits for bass, 6-7” hard baits, and something that sounded like a cannon ball hit my bait as soon as it hit the water and took me skiing on my kayak. Stripping drag hard (on a rod rated for 1-5oz and 15lb mono) he got me hung up in 10-15 fow. I tried to force it but that’s when the line snapped.
I’m ruling out bass unless this one was on steroids. I really don’t think even an 8lb bass would fight that hard. Flathead perhaps? I did just catch my first topwater channel cat a couple weeks back. I’ve never targeted flatheads but I was under the impression they like to stay close to structure, and this was on a point in maybe 5 fow. So that leads to me think I had a nice muskie on the line. If there are some that still lurk there I would think it would be ideal for them. Plenty of food, fairly deep lake, no one targets them. 
Sorry for the long read, but this has been haunting me the last few nights lol.


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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

There are still a few in there,
I still pick one or two off nearly every spring in the spillway and occasionally still see one above the lake in the spring while chasing Wbss.
Good luck and good fishing


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## bassmaster1 (Feb 6, 2006)

garhtr said:


> There are still a few in there,
> I still pick one or two off nearly every spring in the spillway and occasionally still see one above the lake in the spring while chasing Wbss.
> Good luck and good fishing


Thanks for the reply. That’s nice to hear. Good fishing to you as well.


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

Sounds like a hybrid wiper… I've hooked into several of those in the last few years at cowan in the 5-7 pound range... very hard hitting powerful fish that are also stocked in cowan


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## Vin (Oct 7, 2014)

9Left said:


> Sounds like a hybrid wiper… I've hooked into several of those in the last few years at cowan in the 5-7 pound range... very hard hitting powerful fish that are also stocked in cowan


+1 In my experience even bigger musky don’t make those long drag screaming runs that you get from big wipers. The ones I’ve tied into tend to be more erratic with shorter bursts of movement and really strong headshaking.


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## bassmaster1 (Feb 6, 2006)

9Left said:


> Sounds like a hybrid wiper… I've hooked into several of those in the last few years at cowan in the 5-7 pound range... very hard hitting powerful fish that are also stocked in cowan


Interesting. I didn’t know they were stocked in there. Thanks.


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## bassmaster1 (Feb 6, 2006)

Vin said:


> +1 In my experience even bigger musky don’t make those long drag screaming runs that you get from big wipers. The ones I’ve tied into tend to be more erratic with shorter bursts of movement and really strong headshaking.


I see. Yea it definitely made a long drag pulling run. Hopefully I’ll get one one of these days to confirm it lol


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## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

I'd love to see some documentation or pictures of hybrid striped bass in Cowan. I have never heard of them being stocked there. 
There is definitely a large population of white bass though. They don't get that big.


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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

I have absolutely no documentation of them being stocked there but by some miracle of nature I've caught two and if they were Wbss they would have been in contention for a world record.
Also saw a pic of a pretty nice one from CC but no documentation.
Good luck and good fishing !


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

Yep… Same here… I don't recall them saying they were ever stocked… But I've caught them whileCrappie fishing at cowan… and maybe I could be mistaken on my identity between a hybrid striped bass and a wiper... I don't know if those are actually two different fish… But they were definitely not white bass… Weighing in at about 7 pounds and being over 20 inches long.


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## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

I will certainly take both of your words for it! I'm sure it's a tiny population and who knows where it came from...


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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

I always assumed the were washed out from a farm pond upstream but that's just my guess. They have become a popular fish to stock in ponds or somebody dumped in a few from a fish farm 
$1.30 3-5 INCH HYBRID STRIPED BASS 
$2.25 4-6 INCH HYBRID STRIPED BASS 
$3.00 5-7 INCH HYBRID STRIPED BASS 
$3.50 6-8 INCH HYBRID STRIPED BASS 
$5.50 8-10 INCH HYBRID STRIPED BASS
Atca fish farm is near both lakes.
The last two Ohio record fish came from Deer crk but I don't believe they were ever stocked in that lake either.
Who knows, but they certainly are a welcome surprise.
Good luck and good fishing !


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## Johnnyx41 (Sep 1, 2021)

garhtr said:


> I always assumed the were washed out from a farm pond upstream but that's just my guess. They have become a popular fish to stock in ponds or somebody dumped in a few from a fish farm
> $1.30 3-5 INCH HYBRID STRIPED BASS
> $2.25 4-6 INCH HYBRID STRIPED BASS
> $3.00 5-7 INCH HYBRID STRIPED BASS
> ...


*deer creek res. and madison lake are on deer creek. North of rt 40 is a private reservoir that has stocked wipers for many years. *


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## Johnnyx41 (Sep 1, 2021)

Choctaw Lake


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## Kyle46n (Jun 22, 2020)

Wiper and hybrid striped bass are the same.


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## sjwano (Sep 13, 2018)

From the description I would bet on flathead or hybrid, less likely a muskie. But a few still linger in the lake apparently. We used to troll for them a couple decades ago off a ragged pontoon and managed a few.


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## zaqxsw (Jul 19, 2009)

Took me 20 minutes to get this one in on light bait casting gear on Cowan in 2018. A flathead on a Flicker Shad!

The amazing thing is we were trolling with two rods each. I had a huge hit that actually snapped my line on a spinning rig before the drag could even release. Just a couple of seconds later, my other, heavier bait casting outfit doubled over.

Besides the crank bait I landed it with, I found my second one that got broken off down in it's throat. No problem getting it out. I could have fit two fists down it's mouth. Boy, I never thought they were that aggressive!


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## sliprig (Apr 6, 2004)

Nice fish, Sometimes they will just slowly move off with the bait, others they will flat out hammer it. One things for sure they can put away the groceries.
Slip


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