# muskie in lake ovid



## dornerro

Good Evening All... New to this site... Saw a post on Lake Ovid Muskie. My buddie and I fish Ovid Muskie twice a week all summer. They are pure northern muskies. No tiger muskie in Ovid. there are pike. All the previous input was correct but the more simple way to identify the difference between pike and muskie is to catch one! The pike hits once, goes limp, and feels like you got hung up on weeds. The muskie, even the little guys will give you all they got. No way to tell for sure but I would seriously doubt the previous writer caught a 42 inch muskie. Would probably be the king muskie in the lake if he did. 12 inchers released in 1999. That would be incredible growth. The populations are doing well but that would be incredible. Or could have came from the river? We caught two last night before the rain came. About 32 inches each. This is the norm. 36 and 37 appears to be the tops. Catching one or two every day. BUT, please if you hunt muskie on Ovid please release and be extremely careful with the fish... They give all they have in the fight and are very fragile and weak when you land them. We HATE nets. The fish go crazy and get their jaws broken and teeth caught. We bring 'em up to the boat pop the hook and assist the fish with getting their air back and release. We don't ever take them out of the water. I'm a reformed bass fisherman and totally hooked on the big guy now... BUT, there is a secret to Ovid. A dozen 16 and 17 inch fish in an hour is practical. A half dozen is guaranteed... 500 hours of fishing Ovid over the past three years... Nice talks and nice people here...


----------



## DaveW731

dornerro said:


> No way to tell for sure but I would seriously doubt the previous writer caught a 42 inch muskie. 36 and 37 appears to be the tops. Catching one or two every day. BUT, please if you hunt muskie on Ovid please release and be extremely careful with the fish... They give all they have in the fight and are very fragile and weak when you land them. We HATE nets. The fish go crazy and get their jaws broken and teeth caught. We bring 'em up to the boat pop the hook and assist the fish with getting their air back and release. Nice talks and nice people here...


Dornero: Welcome to the site! Since I was the writer in question, I felt like responding:
First, the "Maybe"....If it IS possible that there is a 42" Muskie in Ovid, I think I did catch him. He was three inches shorter than the 45" section of my friend's boat where we laid him. Of course, I won't rule out the possibility of hallucinating on my part, given how pumped I was :lol: ....is there any DNR info on Muskie growth in Ovid? 
Second, the first "Yes"....I totally agree with the preferred release method. Suffice it to say that we did the best we could with the resources available to us, including "fish CPR" as you discussed, before letting go of the tail. I think that is a good practice for any larger sized gamefish.
Finally, the second "yes"....this is a fun site that I have found very helpful. 
Once again, welcome aboard! 
Enjoy,
DaveW


----------



## Will Schultz

dornerro,

40-42" isn't uncommon for Ovid, 44" is the biggest I know about. The 99 year class females are growing very well. In fact, it's very common for an initial planting to grow very fast, since there's very little competition for forage.

The recent heat wave has made fishing for muskies in inland lakes a bad idea. Water temps above 80 can be lethal.

Also, your net comment is true if the net is not designed for muskies. The Beckman and Frabil muskie nets are designed to be nearly harmless. The holes in the net are small and the bag is coated. The angler and fish are much safer if the fish is netted and kept in the water. DO NOT net the fish and lift it in the boat as you'll see the St Clair "big boats" doing.

If you are really interested in muskies I would suggest - www.michiganmuskiealliance.org


----------



## dornerro

Thanks for the input. Much like the first writer, we discovered the muskie by accident in Ovid. Would have been great to have this input instead of the 300 hours of trial and error after we discovered them. Have not been to Lake St. Clair. "Rocketman" is a friend of my buddies at work. He says he guarantees me two keepers if I get out there. He's supposed to be one of the best. We are creatures of habit, perhaps to our downfall. Maybe we're catching the same "young" group of Muskie. Same lures, same spots etc. I would like to find the bigger ones. We are running the old river bed straight out from the landing and the perpendicular run right across the docks. I must say it is fun watching the old timers and kids ridicule us for trolling at 6 mph and then watch them all stand up in unison as we catch the fish! We really have the bass on Ovid mastered and look forward to finding these bigger muskie! I'll be out all day saturday. I'll be the "fool" trolling by everybody at waterski speeds... Thanks again...


----------



## Cable

Dornerro, Like Will said it is not in the best interest of the fish if the water temp. is over 80 deg. it puts more stress on them if you were to use the right net in colder water. Btw what has been the temp. on Ovid?


----------



## dornerro

Regarding temp in lake Ovid. Water turned Friday to Sunday. Never seen it this early. Water temps were about 78 on Friday night. Turned green and thick all weekend. Now water temps are cold! Did NOT bode well for fishing this weekend. Nothing....


----------



## djkimmel

Just try to toss an expensive jerkbait out there and see how long before it gets bit off. I've been having 4 to 6 muskies hitting my lures every time out this summer since early June while bass fishing. I've had 2 big ones I've just 'escaped' from and another 2 from various fishing partners.

Here's a couple I shot a pic of from a boat I witnessed catch the smaller one in. They released the smaller one, but kept the 'keeper' and said they'd caught it just before I came upon them. 39" and 43" -


----------



## walleyechaser

Regarding your statement about muskies being planted in 1999---you may want to check a little deeper into the subject.
Unless I'm sadly mistaken, and I'll be the first to admit that I'm wrong
sometime, there were tiger musky in Lake Ovid back in 1985 when I
fished it often (almost nightly).
Could one or two survive 20 years ? Possible but who knows for sure?


----------



## djkimmel

I haven't seen or caught a tiger musky on Ovid in at least 5 years, maybe 6 or 7 years. The past two seasons, all I've seen are a couple big pike and WHOLE bunch of pure muskies (northern subspecies I believe) anywhere from 25 to over 40 inches long. They are all over that lake.


----------



## MackDaddy

dornerro said:


> Good Evening All... New to this site... Saw a post on Lake Ovid Muskie. My buddie and I fish Ovid Muskie twice a week all summer. They are pure northern muskies. No tiger muskie in Ovid. there are pike. All the previous input was correct but the more simple way to identify the difference between pike and muskie is to catch one! The pike hits once, goes limp, and feels like you got hung up on weeds. The muskie, even the little guys will give you all they got. No way to tell for sure but I would seriously doubt the previous writer caught a 42 inch muskie. Would probably be the king muskie in the lake if he did. 12 inchers released in 1999. That would be incredible growth. The populations are doing well but that would be incredible. Or could have came from the river? We caught two last night before the rain came. About 32 inches each. This is the norm. 36 and 37 appears to be the tops. Catching one or two every day. BUT, please if you hunt muskie on Ovid please release and be extremely careful with the fish... They give all they have in the fight and are very fragile and weak when you land them. We HATE nets. The fish go crazy and get their jaws broken and teeth caught. We bring 'em up to the boat pop the hook and assist the fish with getting their air back and release. We don't ever take them out of the water. I'm a reformed bass fisherman and totally hooked on the big guy now... BUT, there is a secret to Ovid. A dozen 16 and 17 inch fish in an hour is practical. A half dozen is guaranteed... 500 hours of fishing Ovid over the past three years... Nice talks and nice people here...


Where the heck is L. ovid ?

Musky hunter up north..


----------



## Will Schultz

walleyechaser said:


> Regarding your statement about muskies being planted in 1999---you may want to check a little deeper into the subject.
> Unless I'm sadly mistaken, and I'll be the first to admit that I'm wrong
> sometime, there were tiger musky in Lake Ovid back in 1985 when I
> fished it often (almost nightly).
> Could one or two survive 20 years ? Possible but who knows for sure?


The Tiger muskie program was discontinued in 1991. Ovid was not stocked with pure strain until 1999. Tiger muskies have a very short lifespan, usually 8-10 years. A very old tiger can live to 12 years but that is going to be in a coldwater environment. The only muskies in Ovid right now are going to be pure strain.

Lake Ovid is in Sleepy Hollow State Park.


----------



## djkimmel

My previous time out on Lake Ovid, I could have thought there were no muskies in the lake. First time this year, not a single sighting or hint.

Today I went out and on my test cast with an Xworm on 20 pound test, thump and a clean bite off, but that was it for me after that. I didn't see any caught, but later in the day, a friend of mine came out and they caught 2 while bass fishing with white cranks. He says one was fairly large and a jumper.


----------



## born2fish87

Hi,

I am a catch and release fisherman except for some bluegill and salmon once in a while.
Im going to sleepy hollow camping this week. Just wondering if you could give me some tips. I have never caught a muskie only pike and your right they dont fight. Is trolling with mepp spinners and spinner baits good? Any tips would be greatly appreciated.:help::fish2:

Thanks a lot
-David


----------



## Capt. Lucky

in the past 2yr i've had 3 on flys have yet to get a keeper but they are a lot of fun with flys


----------



## the roofer

and no keepers...BLAME THE INTERNET...but musky or pike good fight ANYTIME anywhere...
good leader,any lake,and a bobber with the chub...but they taste awful...but what a fight..and watch pullin the hook out in the whole water thing...got the treble hook on my finger one time...and about bleed to death:lol::lol::lol:


----------



## djkimmel

Muskies are still in Lake Ovid doing pretty well. I had 2 days last year where I had 4 on and landed 2. Not huge ones - close to 40 inches. I've seen fish in the 43 to 44 inch range landed a couple times.

I mostly bass fish out there but I see 2 to 6 boats out there musky fishing most times I visit. June seems to be the month to see the most musky but it has been muddier that past two Junes so I haven't seen as many.

I feel they are still pretty numerous though based on the number of bites I still get from the while bass fishing and seeing two the last time out two weekends ago and having a deep diving crankbait bit off clean on a weedline. The trip out before, I had one on for a few seconds that felt pretty strong, but I could not see it in the muddy water.

I will tell you the muskies on Lake Ovid really like larger medium running crankbaits based on how many times I've been bit off or caught them. Spinnerbaits and deep diving crankbaits seems next. I fish along the outside weed edges on the main points and underwater islands/saddles where I get the most musky bites. These are from the dam to just past the beach.

There's usually a musky or two in the main river channel down past the boat ramp if you get any good weed edges along the drop. One of the best spots in that south end is the very last land point before the road bridge. The river channel is only about 15 -18 feet from shore there and I see a pretty good sized musky there quite regularly. That fish has splashed me several times while lifting lures from the water. Go get her!!


----------



## Griffin

Nice pic with the muskies! Very Good.


----------



## anthology86

This is an old thread and I'm not sure if anyone really cares much about it anymore, but I didn't know that there are Musky in Lake Ovid, like some of you. I work with DNR and I am currently archiving some fin clippings taken for genetic samples of musky from Lake Ovid and I have samples from fish caught in 2008 measuring... 38, 35, 39,44, 45, and 47. So I can vouch for those fish being in there at least!!


----------

