Musky Options
By Nick Simonson
The middle stretch of summer often provides good opportunities for the muskellunge, one of the region’s most challenging sport fish to catch, known for its frustrating
follows which only sometimes result in exciting boat-side strikes. While stretches of northern Wisconsin and Minnesota’s border waters and those flows in lakes country sport some of the most wellknown muskie fishing sites, North Dakota provides a select number of lakes that hold the chance for anglers to not only hook and land the fish of 10,000 casts with a little less effort, but also an opportunity at some mature fish that could threaten the state record. With the recent expansion of stocking efforts, and solid populations established in historical muskie waters in the state, anglers can bring the heat for these mysterious members of the esox family as summer settles in. “The tried and true lake that we’ve been stocking for decades is New Johns Lake and the entire McClusky Canal, the Garrison diversion unit with includes West Park Lake, East Park Lake, Heckers and New Johns,” says Scott Gangl, Fisheries Management Section Leader for the North Dakota Game & Fish Department (NDG&F), “we’ve been stocking them there for a long time, and that’s probably your best shot because those fish that are in there are going to be older and bigger than most of the newer lakes we’ve been stocking in recent years,” he continued. It’s there on New Johns Lake that the state record muskie – a 54-inch, 46.5-pound specimen landed by Cory Bosch 13 years ago – came from, and likely the next one resides.
