# west branch or leesville for muskie



## steelhead steve (May 5, 2012)

my daughter wants to catch a muskie and I have caught a few but it was when I was walleye fishing . size don't matter but I was thinking trolling hot an tots n thanks in advance for your take. by the way I am close to west branch and have never fished Leesville.


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## Snakecharmer (Apr 9, 2008)

steelhead steve said:


> my daughter wants to catch a muskie and I have caught a few but it was when I was walleye fishing . size don't matter but I was thinking trolling hot an tots n thanks in advance for your take. by the way I am close to west branch and have never fished Leesville.


Both are good but West Branch seems to have been a "Hotter" lake for the last 5 years or so. If you have a small boat, Leesville is nice with the low HP limit and more scenic.


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## fishing_marshall (Jun 12, 2004)

When are you planning on going?


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## steelhead steve (May 5, 2012)

fishing_marshall said:


> When are you planning on going?


 not sure I have to wait till my daughter has a day off.


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## Snakecharmer (Apr 9, 2008)

Hot-n-tots could work. I had a nice musky casting a Leesville weed bed using a Lindy Hot Spot bucktail.. A know favorite lure at Leesville is a Sisson minnow lure which is size wise similar to a Hot-n-tot. I would probably troll at 3.5 - 4 mph but the lure may determine your speed. Good luck.


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## steelhead steve (May 5, 2012)

Snakecharmer said:


> Hot-n-tots could work. I had a nice musky casting a Leesville weed bed using a Lindy Hot Spot bucktail.. A know favorite lure at Leesville is a Sisson minnow lure which is size wise similar to a Hot-n-tot. I would probably troll at 3.5 - 4 mph but the lure may determine your speed. Good luck.


thanks I appreciate it


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

But anyways,troll hotntots around long enuff an you should hook into a muskie. An catch other species why in the process. The rattle tots might even do better......
This time of year I'm sure it's about finding the thermocline an balls of bait just above it....
Good luck,I hope you get a chance to put her on one!!


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## REEL GRIP (Jan 11, 2013)

10-4 on that! I would go to Leesville.
Beautiful lake, no jet skies, power boats,
no long lines at the boat ramp.


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## twistedcatfish1971 (Jul 21, 2013)

Westbranch got em in there. Summer time hours now though...can be a mad house. I fish it after ice out till may-ish. Then poke around when the leaves start to turn.

Best of luck.

Don.


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## crestliner TS (Jun 8, 2012)

I would go to WBranch when storms are rolling in and toss (I rarely troll) Bobby Baits in firetiger orange, BIG spinners or some type of twitch bait. My best days hands down are all before or during storms in the summer. It really fires them up. There, I have said too much all ready! Please delete this post.


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## EDE (Nov 6, 2015)

If fish Leesville for bass but usually catch 1 ir 2 muskies each year. Usually on a spinnerbait along weed edges. I have also caught them on tubes and plastic stick worms.


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## snag (Dec 27, 2005)

My BIL goes to leesville a lot and does well on nice muskie. He went with the DNR this spring on a night electro shocking and they got four or so fish over 40 inches. Some have chips in them so they know how much they have grown.










Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## drsteelhead (Jan 22, 2016)

First trip to west branch today. Trolled for several hours for musky (first time). Whole lot of nothing going on, so cut the engine and was reeling in my crank and a MASSIVE musky was a foot behind it. I proceeded to send it into the figure 8 but he disappeared. But oh my god was he big! Now I know why people are ok with getting skunked most of the time. Maybe I'll try it again some time.


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## TClark (Apr 20, 2007)

Perfect 10's are killer Musky Candy too.


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## K gonefishin (May 4, 2004)

A decent musky would tear a p10 to shreds


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## TClark (Apr 20, 2007)

NO they do NOT tear em up!! Not even close!!


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