# West branch



## tim sapara (Apr 6, 2019)

Hit the branch for a few to see if anything biting. Fished west of rock spring shallow from shore. First 40 minutes 2 musky bites. One on a 1/8 jig with white grub tail pink jig. Snapped line almost instantly. Second came awhile later on a shallow crank. Hit hard and fought it for about 5 minutes. Dragged alot of line. Lost it about 2 ft from the shore. Broke water 2x's. Put another jig on the line put a gulp minnow on walked away to another spot fished it for another 20 minutes bam another one . He hit it hard flopped around broke water and off it went. No other bites. Didnt have any musky gear leaders etc or I would have stayed. All I had was light tackle with me.


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## snag (Dec 27, 2005)

I was out around noon on the north side of RS road trying for cats or white bass, nothing happening from shore lots of boats and yaks on both sides of road. Try again tomorrow , Sunday sounds like colder wash out.


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## sala0288 (Oct 26, 2009)

Water temps?


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## tim sapara (Apr 6, 2019)

sala0288 said:


> Water temps?


I got 53


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## sala0288 (Oct 26, 2009)

tim sapara said:


> I got 53


Thanks!


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## twistedcatfish1971 (Jul 21, 2013)

Fished the dam tonight with wife/daughter from 7:30 till 8:45. Nice evening out and good to get some westbranch air. 

Don.


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## The Ukranian (Jul 9, 2010)

Hit the Branch today with my son. He hasn’t been interested in fishing for a long time so it was great to heat out!! Beautiful day fishing for muskie but skunked. Really wasn’t a hard day of fishing but rather maiden voyage to begin the year. Saw a guy get one, not sure of size. Great day with my son none the less.
Water temp was 53-54, clarity good


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## PIKEMAN (Apr 14, 2004)

I too hit West Branch with my son on Friday afternoon/evening and had a great day on the water. My son caught his personal best musky which went 34" and 10 lbs. He had a 2nd one on that was a little bigger, but it ran him under the boat and popped off.

I missed a small musky in the early afternoon, and had only one hit the rest of the day. Fortunately the fish hit the heck out of my Rapala and ended up measuring at 43" and 20.5 lbs.

It doesn't get much better than musky fishing with your son in blue skies and both tying into nice fish!


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## ohiojmj (Apr 16, 2004)

Nice fish! Is that a williams wabler spoon? I've got a box of them for Canada pike. Hammered silver is my favorite. 

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## K gonefishin (May 4, 2004)

How you weighing the fish? Nice fish guys


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## tim sapara (Apr 6, 2019)

PIKEMAN said:


> I too hit West Branch with my son on Friday afternoon/evening and had a great day on the water. My son caught his personal best musky which went 34" and 10 lbs. He had a 2nd one on that was a little bigger, but it ran him under the boat and popped off.
> 
> I missed a small musky in the early afternoon, and had only one hit the rest of the day. Fortunately the fish hit the heck out of my Rapala and ended up measuring at 43" and 20.5 lbs.
> 
> ...


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## 1MoreKast (Mar 15, 2008)

That's awesome, Pikeman. What a great experience for the both of you. That's what it's all about right there! Great post.


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## wilsoncastaway (Jun 18, 2012)

Thats awesome I have only caught one but it was the greatest day of my life. 
They are some awesome fish! I was screaming from the boat i think the people at the pavilion thought i was crazy. lol


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## PIKEMAN (Apr 14, 2004)

Ohiojmj - You've got a good eye! That is indeed a Williams Wabler W70 in gold, which is my all-time favorite northern pike lure. It's a very rare day when you see a musky fisherman throwing a spoon, but they do work quite well both here and up in Canada. A bonus of using them around here is that none of the muskies have ever seen a Williams. My son caught his musky on that Williams Wabler you see in the picture; the one he missed was also on the same lure. A few years ago, my 12 year old niece won the annual Ely, Minnesota "big pike" contest in the "Ely Echo" newspaper with a 43.5" 21 lbs pike caught on a silver Williams in the smaller W50 size (Basswood Lake, Boundary Waters Canoe Area).

K Gonefishing - I use a Boga Grip for smaller fish. For larger fish, I have a musky net and an older Berkley 50lb digital scale. You can weight the fish in the net, then subtract the weight of the net. Some scales let you hang the net, then re-zero the scale for a direct measurement.

Dave


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## Bassbme (Mar 11, 2012)

I was out at West Branch yesterday as well. I was fishing for bass. Definitely a gorgeous day, that's for sure. I only caught 2 keepers, nothing of any size, a couple of dinks, and lost the only decent bass I had on all day. Maybe a 2 lb fish.

I did have the biggest muskie I have ever had hooked, on for about 2 minutes before it got off. Should have had the net at least extended. Not real heart broken that I lost it though. Anyhow, my guess is it was in the 30 lb range. I've caught a couple that were 44" fish and this one was bigger than those other 2.

Rolled another one (muskie) that looked to be in the 24 - 30" range. I was on the west end for both of the muskies. I'm actually surprised I couldn't see the big one before feeling it bite. It was by the base of a willow tree that was in pretty shallow water.

Anyhow, great day to be on the lake, weather wise.


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## sala0288 (Oct 26, 2009)

Sweet muskies pikeman! I was out too yesterday, beautiful day. Fishing for bass. Managed 4 total, once was a nice female though. Awesome day to be out. Hopefully the temps continue to increase and it only gets better. Cheers all.


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## Fish2Win (Jan 21, 2009)

sala0288 said:


> Sweet muskies pikeman! I was out too yesterday, beautiful day. Fishing for bass. Managed 4 total, once was a nice female though. Awesome day to be out. Hopefully the temps continue to increase and it only gets better. Cheers all.
> View attachment 354169


Nice fish!!! Look like some real nice eaters right there.


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## Shortdrift (Apr 5, 2004)

Congrats to you and your son. Nice fish and pictures. Thanks for sharing your great day!


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## Walleyeguy46 (Jul 10, 2015)

The muskie in West Branch have seen the wablers before.


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## Walleyeguy46 (Jul 10, 2015)

But those were caught on them last year. Have 14 this year. Not one on the wabler! Been taking grandma with us this year.


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## triton175 (Feb 21, 2006)

For you Williams Wabler users, they have recently introduced new colors and have restarted making the firetiger pattern. Firetiger was always my favorite but it hasn’t been available for several years.


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## Walleyeguy46 (Jul 10, 2015)

I bought some last year, but I only caught Musky on the ones I had from Quebec in 98. Lost 2 of them in the rocks last year. The new ones don't have the stank on them or something.


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## PIKEMAN (Apr 14, 2004)

PIKEMAN said:


> onu





Walleyeguy46 said:


> I bought some last year, but I only caught Musky on the ones I had from Quebec in 98. Lost 2 of them in the rocks last year. The new ones don't have the stank on them or something.


I've had my best luck fishing Williams Wablers when the water temperature is 45F or higher. When the water is colder, I do better with jerk baits, glide baits, bulldawgs, bucktails, etc.

The nice feature of the Williams is that you can cover lots of water fast and when a fish hits the lure, it rarely misses the hooks. 

These things are super-popular up in Canada, but relatively unknown around here. You guys that use them know what they can do!


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## crittergitter (Jun 9, 2005)

Nice fish guys!!


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