The Minocqua/Woodruff area is a nature lover's paradise and has a long standing tradition of attracting families and sportsmen alike. There is plenty of woods and waters for a veriety of outdoor activities. One of the the best places for an angler in the area to make contact with a muskie would have to be the Minocqua Chain.
The Minocqua Chain consist of 7 lakes with over 6,400 surface acres. Lake Minocqua is one of the lakes favored by local muskie anglers and by newcomers to the chain. For the angler who likes to fish shallow, Lake Minocqua is blessed with haveing an abundance of shallow water cover and structure.
Lake Minocqua is 1,360 acres and is 60 feet at its deepest. Although much of the muskie fishing activities occur at the weed edges, over the weed flats, and on the many mid-lake humps, a muskie angler can also make contact with the mighty by fishing suspended fish. Some local anglers in the know, row troll ( speed trolling is illegal ) for the suspended bite and often score on multiple catch days.
In the early spring, use small bucktails and twitch baits in and around the newly emerging vegetation. Neutral or natural color baits work better in the moderately clear waters of the chain. School House Bay, Kennedy Bay, Huber Bay and Stacks Bay are good locations to start your early season search for muskie.
As the season progresses into summer, you will find the muskies scattered throughout the system. There are places however, where you can find more muskies confined to particular areas, the spot on a spot. Look for weed points in an otherwise unbroken line of weeds or an inside turn or pockets within the weeds. Humps, saddles and fast breaking drop offs relative to large, relatively shallow flats, are also key areas. All of these spots will be high percentage areas for muskie activity and could produce multiple catches. Smaller baits still work well in the summer here, but using a faster and more erratic retrieve will get you more action. Low light and darkness will give you more opportunities to make contact with shallow water muskie bite in the summer. Muskie can still be caught on Minocqua during the middle of the day if it is sunny by using deep diving crank baits or weighted soft plastic baits for the suspending muskie. The best time of the day to fish for active suspending muskie seems to be between 10:00am and 3:00pm. When you should get a follow or catch a suspending muskie, keep on the spot using your GPS or by throwing a marking near by because there is a good chance you will score on another one, with the second almost guaranteed to be the larger of the two.
A favorite time to fish the chain is in the fall. The heightened boating activity of summer has waned and it feels like you have the lakes to yourself. Now it is the time to break out those larger baits that makes muskie fishing so much fun. Concentrate your efforts on the fast breaking shorelines, pitching jerk baits, bucktails and crankbaits to the weed edges. While you are casting, have two suckers on quick strike rigs positioned vertically at different depths on the opposite side of the boat from where you are casting to. If you should have more than one angler in the boat, rig one more rod for a sucker and set it to be just a few feet below the surface on the same side of the boat that you are casting to finish on a muskie that follows your bait to the boat. This setup can be used troughout the fall season and the results should produce numbers of muskie and some photo ops on some real trophies too.
Lake Kawaguesaga ( or the K Lake ) is a 670 acre lake with 44 feet its maximum depth. It is the last lake of the chain with the Tomahawk River flowing out from its dam. Even though it is smaller than Lake Minocqua, it should not be overlooked by muskie anglers. It has produce many victories over the years in muskie tournaments. It can produce numbers of muskie and lunkers also. Even though it is a shallower lake, fishing it isn't much different then the larger lakes of the chain and well worth any anglers time.