Balsam Lake

[jedimaster]

Hey guys, I'll be taking the family camping on balsam this weekend and week, I have an evening sceduled with just the fiance and myself out to do some musky fishing. Her first Musky outing. I have all the right gear so no worries there, only thing is I have never been musky fishing on Balsam. If anyone is willing to point me in the right direction for a few spots I woul dgreatly appreciate it. I am hoping she catches one and enjoys it. OtherwiseI'll be stuck fishing for perch all week. lol Anyway, I do have a few spots in mind but any info is appreciated. PM's would likely be best. Candid Pics and credit will be given if requested on the board, but care will be taken to ensure shorelines and locations will not be revealed.

 

Of course any general banter on Musky fishing on Balsam on this thread is also welcome. I was going to go with my tried and true kawartha pattern of Big spinner baits, Jointed believer's and a double cowgirl. Likely trolled in the 2-5mph speed. Will be searching for weed edges near drop offs... Has anyone been out musky fishing on balsam this year? How has the fishing been?

[JoshS]

Was out there on the weekend for half of Sat and we boated one nice one and incidental walleye. Was my first time fishing the lake for musky so not sure how the population compares to other lakes in the area. Looking forward to exploring more of it, there's some nice looking structure.

[jedimaster]

Yep, I have heard of and sen lots of good size musky pictures from balsam. Hopefully I can find something.

[Rich Nelson]

Sounds like you are starting with the right lures and structures. If u have gps, find the weed edges and troll or cast them. Iwould stay in the 4-6 mph range when trolling. Water is plenty warm for them to chase down baits. If you have no luck after a while, u can cast jerkbaits etc around the weeds, or try trolling open water. Balsam holds some good size skis, and plenty of pike and tigers.

[jedimaster]

Hopefully she will be able to get into at least one. I am sure she will enjoy musky fishing if she catches one.

[redpearl99]

funny thing about Balsam is that I caught my first and only Musky ever there this year....... funny thing is I was fishing with a bobber and worm next to the cottage dock lol

[gordy28]

Hey there

I'd consider Balsam my home lake-I've been fishing there since I was 3

Only focused on musky the last 3 years though

For numbers deep weed edges near rocks have been good usually we use big single or double bucks and large spinner baits

When there's a good chop we have done well fishing some of the many shoals casting stick baits

2 biggest musky I have ever seen on Balsam were caught trolling in the main basin

Our best time of day has been between 1 and 3 pm seems to be the witching hour for us and others

Enjoy it beautiful lake in my opinion

Cheers

Gordy

[jedimaster]

Thanks, for all the info folks, its much appreciated. I hope to be able to provide some excellent release pictures of some balsam musky, maybe even a video or two. This one from Pigeon a few years back still cracks me up. As you can tell priority one when the fish got to the boat was getting it in and back out asap. The camera hit the deck like a horror movie, and the fish was back in the water without even a picture, but the struggle was great. We have learned a bit since then and get the big net right away. lol

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3axhkz8WgCE

[Rich]

Giant spinnerbaits my friend. 1.5 - 3 oz. Deep weeds. Ah yea. Wish i was going with ya.