Lake Zumbro Muskies

I know that over the past decade or so there has been some exstensive muskie stocking in the lake and I have caught a few below the dam. I am hoping to log a lot of hours on the main lake this summer. From the research article I have found about the stocking program it sounds like they mainly stay in two specific bays, I am curious if any one has any expierence trolling the main channel for some big mommas..?

you have a better chance at catching pike. i fished lake zumbro for 7 years now and only caught 1 muskie about a 20″ i have buddies who have fished it there whole lives and never caught 1. I was panfsihing and just got lucky. just like walleyes out there, it just happens. at least thats my experience. below the dam like you said you have a better chance. good luck though you just never know.

Interesting, I wonder why they do so well below the dam, but not in the lake. I guess it makes sence that they would flourish and concentrate directly below the dam, but I have heard that you can float down stream from the dam and find some holes with just as many muskie in em..

I wonder if Muskie just struggle to reproduce in the lake because of competition with Northern fry or if Muskie just have a instinctive propensity to jump the damn..?

I have spent ENDLESS hours targeting the musky on LZ years ago ,we tried EVERYTHING we could during the late evenings and throughout the night to early am hours with NO success.

The ONLY time we EVER caught them is when the dam face was under repair years ago and we fished below the dam,we would stand on the dam face base/floor and cast out down river wither big spoons we caught alot of them through out the repair time frame,biggest being around 19lbs early morning and early to late evening were best times.

I have only caught maybe 4 small ones in 6 years of ice fishing there, as far as the walleyes,I have NOT fished there after the walleye stocking.

I read an article a few years back from the DNR that said the muskies In Lake Zumbro were going over the dam in high water periods. The article said that they had caught a number of muskies below the dam and replaced them above the dam with radio tags and with in a few months they were back in the river below the dam. Definately hear of more being caught below the dam then above in the lake. I’ll try and find the article but to the best of my recollection thats what it said.

Here’s the article if you want to read it. From 2008
http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/areas/fisheries/lakecity/lzumbro_muskie_2008.pdf

I’m not certain which strain they put in the lake but I think it was the Leech Lake strain and they like moving water. It seems as soon as the fish get large enough to cross the top of the dam they do so. And yes the dnr did elctro shock 8 large muskies below the dam late one fall and re-located them to the lake with transmitters in them. If I remember right, 5 went right back over the dam within a couple weeks. Of the three that stayed in the lake one was found just below the Silver Lake dam right here in town the next spring…probably followed the sucker run up the river.

As far as the lake and muskie fishing goes, I hope you have a great deal of patience. Your time will be better spent if you target water in the river below the Power dam down to Hammond. Some people say that its good muskie fishing to Millville.

I have had reports of people catching them during very windy days fishing the windblown side of the shores.

Great info, thanks guys