# Bass Fishing In Musky Lakes



## crittergitter (Jun 9, 2005)

In your opinion is bass fishing better or worse in lakes that have muskies?


Are musky a threat to the overall quality of bass fishing if they are introduced into a particular lake?


Have you ever caught a musky while bass fishing?


Just curious to see what others here think.


CG


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## junkyardbass (Mar 19, 2006)

If i'm not mistaken the state record tiger musky was caught from portage lakes during a bass tourny. So I guess it is possible to catch a musky while bass fishing. I'd say if the lake is big enough and if proper proportions of fish are mantained then musky will not hurt the bass population. It may or may not help depending on the situation at that particular lake. If the ecosystem in a lake is properly balanced then all species in that ecosystem will thrive.


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## riverKing (Jan 26, 2007)

im just going to take a quick jump on the soapbox. muskie cannot. atleast i have never seen anything to show that they negatively affect bass populations (im sure they could in very rare cases but not the ohio lakes) they eat shad and suckers and any injured bait(a small bass on a line is easy pickings). i just get really po'd when im in bass pro shops and the guys (not all of them, the idiots) working there are talking about what a problem they are and how they should be gotten rid of. from a scientific standpoint, they compete very little with bass and they do not prey on bass, in fact the no.1 predator of young of the year largemouth and smallmouth, and spots, is the largemouth bass. and down off the box. i would like to see what people have experienced i just cant stand hearing ignorance like musky eat thier own weight in bass a day.

also, i have hooked (keyword hooked) many musky while smallmouth fishing with larger baits.


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## young-gun21 (Mar 14, 2006)

Muskies do not have a negative impact on bass populations in my opinion. My dad has caught them on spinnerbaits at Milton and X-raps/shallow cranks while bassin' at Leesville. I've had follows at Leesville with multiple baits but always manage to "instinctively" yank my bait out of the water!


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## Bass_turd (Jan 14, 2006)

I have hooked musky fishing for bass in a few lakes. i.e clear fork, pleasant hill, leesville to name a few. but I have also seen great bass fishing in clear fork. i have heard stories of bass being caught by musky fisherman trolling at clear fork and pleasant hill. 

and for info, the musky in pleasant hill have come from clear fork. they roll over the spillway and down the river. has not really had a negative effect on the bass in that lake, and they were not stocked, to my knowledge, in pleasant hill. hooking or catching one would be a nice bonus to me!!!!


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## gsteel (Feb 16, 2008)

I have caught many bass by muskie fishing. I dont believe they would have a negetive impact on bass.


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## crittergitter (Jun 9, 2005)

I believe the preferred forage of muskie goes something like this:

suckers
chubs
shad
shiners
bullhead catfish
baby carp
perch
panfish

So, if one would eat a bass it would be only after none of the above was available. I fish Clearfork quite a bit and the largest weigh-in for a bass tourney I ever saw was on that small resevoir. So, it seems to me that they have no negative affect on bass fishing.

CG


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## Marshall (Apr 11, 2004)

I catch more than my fair share of muskies from Alum while bass fishing. They bite everthing from jigs, tubes, crankbaits, topwater and they love spinnerbaits. Also i consider Alum to be a very good fishery for both green and brown bass.


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## DROP-SHOT (Jan 10, 2005)

i fish clearfork alot and it seems to me that it has a low population density of bass, but it has some real good quality size bass. i attribute this to the muskies, they keep the bass population thin out and the bigger bass that survive thier early years have less competetion for food with other bass, thus can grow really big. it's like a pond that's over populated with bass, they'll all be 10 or 12 inches with no big ones or a pond that's has few bass, but will have better quality size bass. i think muskies actually help some with the bass quality(size wise), but they hurt the overall bass population. so, if you want quality size bass go to a muskie lake, but if you want numbers don't go to a muskie lake. if you want both i wouldn't go to a muskie lake.
i've caught one big muskie 30 to 40 lbs. at saltfork.another one about 15 lbs from saltfork. one about 20lbs from alum. a few small ones from clearfork and piedmont. i also, had several almost. that would include hooking a big fish and then nothing, like something cut my line. follows and halfhearted swipes at my bait. all while bass fishing. the big one came on 10 test line and a crappie crankbait. it was a blast. i've dabbled in muskie fishing, but haven't caught one yet while actually trying to catch one using "muskie lures". maybe i should stick with the bass approach only with a steel leader.


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## Ranger521 (May 18, 2006)

I would challenge anyone to throw a spinnerbait on the points and cove entrances at Ceasar Creek and NOT catch a muskie all day! Seems like the bass fishing is getting better since they started putting the muskies in. The bass are definitely larger.


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## legendaryyaj (Nov 1, 2005)

It seems to be not a problem here but in Cali it seems to be a big deal. One of the guys there said they killed a whole lake to try and get rid of Pike that was introduced there illegally. Bit extreme? He said they used rotenone which takes oxygen out of the water killing everything in it.

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/lakedavis/

I dont understand why it would be such a big problem. I mean I know they treasure their trout but we have trout stocked in Erie and there are also Muskies and Pike in there as well. It doesnt seem to be a big problem here.

I know the thread was about Muskie but its still in the family.


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## riverKing (Jan 26, 2007)

cali is a good bit different, but it brings up a good point, here the trout are the invasives and they die out if we dont stock them. out in cali where the trout are the native gamefish there have been huge problems with introduced esocids and also huge problems with introduced bass. the native fish there have no big predators save the other trout, so when pike and largemouth or smallies, and in some cases cats, are introduced they begin to reproduce and replace and prey upon the native fish. largemouth and ski's often naturally coexisted, so one does not often affect the other as long as conditions are kept reasonable(thats why an ohio lake wont get 100,000 skis a year)


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## big_b16 (Oct 17, 2004)

Ranger521 said:


> I would challenge anyone to throw a spinnerbait on the points and cove entrances at Ceasar Creek and NOT catch a muskie all day! Seems like the bass fishing is getting better since they started putting the muskies in. The bass are definitely larger.


Ranger, can I come fish with you... I've spend so many times doing that very thing and came up empty handed last year. Granted, the year before, I had a few 1/2 oz white spinnerbaits destroyed after catching multiple muskies and bass on them. It's refreshing to see so many positive points being made by true fishermen.


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## cincinnati (May 24, 2004)

starting sometime the end of this month. Will be most satisfied to lose but what is the prize should I AGAIN succeed in NOT catching a CC musky? How do I collect?


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