Anyone Have Information On Hazel Creek?

[Troutnut69]

Think I might head up to Hazel Creek in a couple weeks and give the musky on the fly thing a go again. Will be taking the one-man pontoon...a big box of meat and a case of icy-hot for the sore shoulders at the end of the day!!

Never seen the lake before and just wondered if anyone here had any advice or suggestions? Not necessarily fishing related (although I'll take that advice as well!) , more wondering about places to camp on the lake?? what kind of traffic to expect?? am I crazy for thinking I can fish it from my pontoon???

Appreciate any information I can get and if anyone is interested in going along I'm always looking for a fishing buddy.

[Lancer09]

I haven't fished it but it doesn't seem to get quite the attention that Fellows and Pomme do for musky. Could be a good thing or a bad thing.

[bluebasser86]

I've fished it a few times for Muskie and a few for bass. It's a fun lake but at 500+ acres it's pushing the limits for an electric motor only lake, especially if the wind blows. No camping anywhere on the lake, we usually stay at one of the hotels in Kirksville. In the 3 times I've fished it for muskie I caught 2, one was 34" on a big spinnerbait in the timber, the other was 11" on a crappie jig. Then last year my brother in law and I went out there for 3 days to fish for bass, best 3 days of muskie fishing I could ever imagine with 9 coming to the boat in 3 days with a few more follows and missed strikes. Didn't take pictures of a couple of the smallest ones.

[buckcreekmike]

"I know a guy" (and I know a lot of bs stories start with that phrase,but) who used to catch big bass out of there - 6lbs+. So it is worth a try for bass. Muskie can be caught too as is proven by the photos above.

[bluebasser86]

"I know a guy" (and I know a lot of bs stories start with that phrase,but) who used to catch big bass out of there - 6lbs+. So it is worth a try for bass. Muskie can be caught too as is proven by the photos above.

I hooked the biggest bass I've ever seen on one of my first trips to Hazel, bigger than anything I saw on either of my trips to Mexico even. I was fishing the edge of some deep trees with a beaver bait out of a 16' john boat. When I set the hook I was positive it was a big muskie or catfish because it spun the whole boat around and started towing it towards deeper water. When I saw the enormous green side and white belly my knees went weak. As soon as I saw her, she made a mad dash back for the trees and I put too much heat on her and straightened a 5/0 EWG worm hook. I don't know that it would have beat the state record but was certainly over 10 and I would have guessed somewhere in the 11-12 pound range but it could have been more considering how few fish over 8, let alone 10, that I've caught in my lifetime.

The big bass are certainly in there too. We caught several the same trip we caught those muskies.