Relationship between Northerns and Musky in the Cedar River Chain

[tv4fish]

Here's an interesting article on the 'skies.
http://www.cabelas.com/story-123/spr...+Muskie+.shtml

[dcraven]

I believe the Cedar Lake fish are doing just fine and have coexisted with pike for eons - and successfully. See it - no we cannot always specifically identify the whys (see why...). Why Redgut has 'skies but Rainy proper has few. Why Cedar has them and the next lake has far fewer. The lakes I worry about are lakes where there have never been pike and they are now introduced (Indian Lake Chain, Corner, Langton - Canyon, etc...). As a child when my dad first took me there, there were no pike in those lakes. The resort owner at Blue Lake Store released some to "make fishing better" in Blue Lake - so the story goes. Then a heavy rain blew out the beaver dams between Blue and Corner -they spread and are spreading. We started catching tigers in Corner in the early '80's, maybe even 1978 or 79... We started catching a few pike in the ILC a few years later and then the odd tiger. No pike are spreading slowly and will continue, I'm sure. The muskies in those lakes spawn in the bays, right where the pike spawn. I worry about the long term situation there and how the 'skies will cohabitate - or not...

But back to Perrault and others... Who knows why they are less successful... Maybe they will increase in your lifetime in those lakes or maybe they are on the way out in those lakes - who knows. Natural selection is sometimes a faster process or sometimes a slower process - usually slower. But as lakes age, it sometimes occurs much more quickly than one would think - especially in times of climate fluctuations.

Always interesting...

[Kevin R]

I agree with different types of Musky in lakes. The Musky in Perrault stay deep most of the time so are out of range for most fishing. The only steady catches are in the river area that have sharp drops to deep water close to shore. Cedar is not deep most of the lake is dark shallow water the pike are small compared with Perrault that has a great forage for Pike to grow fat. The musky for the most part are in the weeds looking for an easy meal & most anglers have a better shot at getting them interested in chasing a lure. Cliff lake has a very large amount of Musky they stay deep most of the time & come onto reefs from time to time to feed but it is easy to see schools of Musky feeding in open water over 60ft or more I have caught & seen these fish feeding many times. When you bring in a Musky many times another will follow the hooked fish to the boat the same thing holds true in perrault. When you catch one be prepared to get back in the water quick often you will catch one on the next few casts but when the bite goes cold they are done the school will just go back to suspend until the dinner bell rings again. These Musky are deep most of the time that is why often they will grab a hooked walleye, Bass or Trout & are caught by luck by many fishing for other fish. I don't waste my time casting all over these lakes for Musky I target active fish in open water that are very easy to catch.

[Glenman12]

I cant speak as to any lake other than Cedar...mid June was my 25th year of fishing that lake and all I can say is that the muskie is king of the lake...Cedar is a Class A muskie lake in NW Ontario..dont know all of the others but some are Lac Suel, LOTW, Eagle..those are some huge bodies of water compared to the 6,500 acres of Cedar Lake..Im no marine biologist and cant explain it..dont know if its the tint of the water, the forage or what makes it such a good habitat for muskies...the core of our group has been 6 over the last 8 years...we always go up the week before the muskie opener..nobody has caught a northern over 40's but all but 1 guy (me) has caught a muskie over 50" jigging/trolling for walleyes..

we have worked several sport shows for our camp owner over the years..we tell people that they have a better chance of catching a trophy muskie than they do a trophy northern..