Only until recently has Lake DuBay its due as a quality muskie fishery. It use to be that muskie anglers traveled right by the lake on their way to traditional muskie ground such as Vilas, Oneida, Iron and Price Counties. But some very good muskie guides have been concentrating on Lake DuBay's muskies and are producing some very nice fish, in the 30 pound class and better and the word is spreading.
Lake DuBay is a 6,830 acre impoundment at the confluence of the Wisconsin and the Big Eau Pleine Rivers. The lake has a maximum of 47 feet deep and is stained brown in color. The lake has channel markers running from one end of the lake to the other, making traveling the lake is no problem, that is until you wonder off the channel to fish the many stump laden flats, weed flats, current breaks and humps, but common-sense boat control can get you safely in to the areas where the big fish live.
The key to fishing Lake DuBay is current ! Lake DuBay is a huge flowage and when you have any kind of river system, fishing the current breaks along combined with cover will put you on active fish. There is so much good water here with excellent structure and cover that fine tuning your presentation will pay off with more and bigger muskies. Look for the flats areas with vegetation of wood cover that is adjacent to the deeper river channel and especially where the channel bends. Inside turns , points and pockets in these cover areas will hold fish that you should target as the spot on the spot.
Big, noisy and obnoxiously bright colored baits will be your weapons of choice in these darker waters. Jerk baits, rattling crank baits, and big fluted blade bucktails will take the majority of the muskies throughout the season but when summer comes, break out the topwater for some very explosive action.
Lake DuBay is an exceptional fall muskie fishery and landing a upper 30 pound, or even 40 pound plus muskie is a real possibility. During the fall, many of the muskies who set up residency in the backwater bays, migrate to the river channels and the deeper waters near the DuBay Dam. However, fishing in the Wisconsin River and Eau Plain River sections can produce throughout the season and fall can really concentrate these fish along the current breaks. A deeper presentation is necessary near the dam with suckers on a quick strike rig, or with large soft plastics, or a broad profile crank bait, but near the deepest waters is a large hump called "The Hill" that can attract more than a few muskies in fall, especially on those warm sunny days.
Lake DuBay should not be a lake that is bypassed and overlooked by the serious muskie angler or the weekend warrior. DuBay should be a destination lake by all muskie anglers.