Pomme Musky

[Larry Murphy]

Any musky fishermen on this site? Looking for some help....

[Terry Beeson]

Larry,

I ran into Roger Maler at Sowbug this year as he was talking to someone from the area about fly fishing for Muskie on Pomme... You might ask Roger if he remembers who that was...

I'd like to feel one of those big boys on the end of my 8 wt...

[jim murphy]

Larry,

Muskies, Inc has a chapter here in Missouri. Their web address is missourimuskies.org . They have a section on their site that gives all the GPS coordinates for the brushpiles they have planted, as well as the areas that have produced muskies and lures used.

I have fished Pomme for a number of years and caught three there, while fishing for bass. I am trying to attempt to catch one on a fly rod now, and I still have a ways to go for that 10,000 cast. The flies that I am using range from 5 - 8", even have a couple close to 10". They are BIG and BULKY, a couple of them I can throw on an 8 weight with some wind, but the majority I toss on a 10 weight.

This past Spring, I fished Fellows Lake, north of Springfield, and had two follows in five trips. The first was about 26 - 28" and the second about 48", which stayed beside my boat long enough to scratch two marks for measurements.

jim

[MoMuskies]

Larry, muskies tend to be loners and you can find them anywhere. I've caught them 1' from shore or in the middle of the lake. 2 keys for sucess 1)is finding the food source and 2) figure 8. If you can locate the shad, fish around and in the ball with a lure that gets down below the ball. I've got some homemade cranks that I use for this type of condition. Neat thing about musky fishing is that you can make your own lures. Muskies don't care about paint job or laquer finish. If it's in the food chain, chances are they'll eat it. Figure 8 - finish your cast by working the lure at boat side either in a circle or the classic figure 8. Now, don't just "swim" the lure on the surface. You'll need lower the rod in the water so that the lure stays deep and in the zone. I don't open my bail when I figure 8, I let the reel's drag do it's job - some folks do free spool when doing the 8. I broke a rod and broke 100lb power pro from a birds nest when a large fish decided to swallow a reaper in Wisconsin once - I learned from that mistake.

If you have a follow and you see the fish, speed up or increase the twitching or retreave. A fish about to be eaten will not slow down in nature! It's going to go nuts - so must your lure. If the fish is HOT and your at boat side, swing the rod/lure toward the fish as you figure 8.

In Pomme, Martins Flat is a good place to start. I would be throwing a 6" grandma style crankbait using a twitch retreive. Grandma is a thin but wide profile crankbait that will give your forearms a good workout by the end of the day. Gliders in the same, erractic retreave have also been sucessful. Suicks, pigs and bobby baits are some of my favorite gliders. I would start shallow and work out to deeper water (15') if water is fairly clear. By this I mean you can see your lure 3' below the water. Same lures and pattern would be used in the coves with standing timber.

If water is stained or muddy; throw bucktails or large tandem spinner bait. It appears that everytime I get to Pomme, I'm fishing in coffee and cream water so out comes the spinners.

I've not had much sucess with top water at Pomme. Because of this I don't throw any of my musky topwater much; one of those confidence issues I need to overcome someday.

Best of luck at Pomme - Be careful, musky fever is very addictive, specially if you ever get a chance to fish a musky's natural, clear waters in Minnesota, Wisconsin or Canada.

[Larry Murphy]

MoMuskie....too late, I'm already hooked....

Been making a yearly trip to Canada, Lake of the Woods near Nestor Falls, each year in late June or early July. Started this 10 years ago, and we have had great success. Have boated dozens of musky with the best 48". Know the area really well, and have all our hotspots well marked with my GPS. Drag my bass boat up each year as well, and spend 10 days of non-stop musky fishing each trip.

Have been making fall trips to Minnesota the last 3 years, but this year decided to fish Pomme instead of the 8 to 10 hour drive north. Seems a little stupid to drive to Minnesota or Canada when there's a decent musky lake 2'ish hours from home. Oh well, nobody said that fishermen were smart.

Thanks for the advice....keep in touch (lmurphy8@kc.rr.com)....

[Terry Beeson]

  Larry Murphy said:

nobody said that fishermen were smart.

Especially our wives, huh?

Good luck on your trip. Look forward to feelin' one of those big dogs on the end of my 8wt myself...

[MoMuskies]

Larry, good to read that you're a seasoned musky hunter.. I've cut and pasted the results from the recent tourney at Pomme.

The 32nd Annual Fall Muskie Tournament was held on October 6th, 7th and 8th on Pomme de Terre Lake in southwestern Missouri. Sixty (60) boats total participated in the three day event with 44 fishing the Friday event and 52 fishing the Saturday/Sunday event. Fishing had been really good on the lake for the previous 2-3 weeks beforehand and hopes were high for the tournament weekend. A change in weather on Thursday brought warmer temperatures and bluebird skies but no change in the fish’s aggressive behavior.

Fifty-nine (59) muskies over 30 inches in length were caught and released during the event with several short fish also released. This is the second best tournament result that anyone can remember, bettered by only one fish in one other year. Thanks to the stocking program of the Missouri Department of Conservation and the continuing habitat creation programs of the Pomme de Terre Chapter of Muskies, Inc, the lake is healthy and continuing to improve as an outstanding muskie, bass and crappie lake in Missouri.

Thirty-three (33) muskies were caught on Friday by 44 boats. Action started immediately after the 7 am start time and continued on through the day. If all the fish that were hooked and lost were added into the number, the total would probably have been in the 50’s. The 33 fish averaged 36 ½ inches in length with the big fish of the day being 42 inches. You always have to be careful with statistics and it should be mentioned that one boat skewed the numbers by reporting 6 fish in the boat, 2 boats reporting 3 fish and 7 boats reporting two fish. When everything was sorted out, the results for the day were:

Gary Pearson, TJ Sawyer- 33, 35 ½, 33, 38 ¾, 35, 38 ½, 1st Place

Mark Boone, Marv Boyer- 39, 40, 33 ½, 2nd Place

Bill Gordon, Bill Hughes- 41, 42 (Big Fish), 3rd Place

Jim Wilson, Matt Ginnings- 36 ¼, 37 ½, 30 ½, 4th Place

Kevin Richards, Rick Weber- 41 ½, 36 ½, 5th Place

Billy Pitts, Robert Sawyer- 35 ½, 38

Earle Hammond, Mary Hammond- 38, 35 ¼

Luke Miller, Tyson Miller- 38, 34 ½

Ralph Bigham, Kirk Harlow- 37, 35

Carl Marks, Bryan Marks- 35, 36

Wayne Humphrey, Dave Brandt- 40 ½

Charley Rhinehart, Rick Rhinehart- 40

Franky Roberts, Darrell Roberts- 36

Eddie Stephens, Debbie Stephens- 35

Brooks May, Charles May- 35

Darren Zesch, Scott Taucher- 34 ½

Gary Meyer, Jeff Thompson- 34

With Saturday/Sunday being a separate event, everyone started with a clean slate and renewed enthusiasm and sure enough, things were different. With 52 boats fishing there were only 18 fish caught. The father-son team of Carl and Bryan Marks turned in 4 fish for the day while Friday’s winners, Gary Pearson and TJ Sawyer managed only one fish.

Saturday’s results were:

William Bruno, Will Bruno- 33, 36

Andy Robinson, Brian Boxx- 33, 35

Rob Willoughby, Marc Blachly- 40 ¼ (Big Fish)

Earle Hammond, Steve Brigman- 40

Jeff Drigens, John Wollschlager- 39

Doug Hutchison, Nathan Hutchison- 33

Gary Pearson, TJ Sawyer- 33 ½

Bill Hill, Brenda Nunn- 34 ½, 35

Jim Wilson, Matt Ginnings- 40

Carl Marks, Bryan Marks- 35, 36 1/8, 32 ¼, 39 ½

John Hanley, Jeff Daniels- 35

Kevin Duffey, John Duffey- 33

Fishing only a half day on Sunday always reduces the number of fish caught and there were only 9 fish reported Sunday morning but it included the biggest fish of the event, a 43 inch muskie. The leaders from Saturday were not able to connect with any fish Sunday morning and consistency paid off with Rob Willoughby and Marc Blachly catching two more fish on Sunday to barely win the event by ½ point.

Sunday’s results were:

Rob Willoughby, Marc Blachly- 34, 43 (Big Fish)

Jeff Drigens, John Wollschlager- 41

Gary Pearson, TJ Sawyer- 34 ½

Shawn Dujakovich, Marty Dujakovich- 40 ½

Jon Kirby, Andrea Kirby- 42, 37

Mark Boone, Kevin Richards- 35

Sat/Sun Final Results

1st Place- Rob Willoughby, Marc Blachly

2nd Place- Carl Marks, Bryan Marks

3rd Place- Jeff Drigens, John Wollschlager

4th Place- Jon Kirby, Andrea Kirby

5th Place- Bill Hill, Brenda Nunn

[Larry Murphy]

I was at Pomme that same Friday, and saw the 3rd place team boat the second of two 40+ inch fish. Were trolling Grandma lures on the Lindy side of the lake just off shallow flat points. I had one on right in front of them in a little cut near a beaver hut. Must be a good area....