At a first glance of a lake map of Pelican Lake, a muskie angler can easily pick out at least two dozen potentially good fishing spots. A second glance will reveal two dozen more great spots. Pelican Lake affords the muskie angler so much structure to fish, is it any wonder why this is one of the most popular muskie fishing lakes in the state?

Pelican Lake has 3585 surface acres and is 39 feet deep, with large expanses of coontail and cabbage weed flats, several weedy bays, rock and weed humps, points and enough other structures that attract muskies, to keep an angler busy all day. Pelican's fertile waters are clear in the early spring, but as summer arrives, the water turns cloudy so the muskie angler must make changes in their lure color as the season progresses. Muskies here aren't the only draw, with anglers coming to Pelican to fish perch, bluegills and walleyes.

In the spring, Pelican Lake muskie anglers will find plenty of action in the two south-facing bays of Outlet Bay and Mud Bay, and their adjacent points. The early season muskie angler can also make contact with muskies at the other bays of Musky, Treacherous, Youngs and Guth's. Small #5 bucktails with a nickel blade and natural color works well over the tops of the newly emerging weeds, rock humps and along the weed lines. Small jerk baits and twitch baits in natural colors of perch, walleye and sucker take their fair share of muskies.

As the season progresses and the water clarity lessens, brighter colors become more effective. Chartreuse, blaze orange, yellow and pink/white colors really shine in the summers off-colored waters, with black or yellow being topwaters best choice. In the summer, there is so much aquatic plant growth, rock humps, points, bays, etc. that finding the spot on the spot is critical to scoring consistently on Pelican. Look for rock humps with weeds present, where there are transitions from one week type to another (for example: where cabbage transitions to coontail), pockets in the weeds, fast tapering points and so on, instead of spending an entire day fishing a huge weed flat, looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. Due to the heavy boat traffic, summertime night fishing can be very productive using primarily topwater, but spinners and crank baits can also be effective.

In the fall, concentrate your efforts on the deep, still green vegetation along with the deep and shallow rock humps and steep breaks. Big jerk baits and crank baits are to be worked very slowly, and if you think you are fishing slow enough, slow it down even further! Big suckers on quick strike rig are a can't beat combo.