Walleye in Muskoka Lake
The beautiful waters of Muskoka are home to many gorgeous and hungry walleye making this lake a walleye fisherman’s paradise. This lake has plenty of bays that are sheltered just right with plenty of off shore fishing available. During the peak of the summer is when the walleye become the most active as they aggressively begin to feed on bait fish. While every lake has its optimal time of year for fishing, mid summer would be the ideal time to fish in Muskoka Lake.
If you choose to try your hand at walleye fishing in Muskoka, be sure to use local live bait. Choose from worms, leeches or minnows and set out for one of the many shoal drop offs or popular anchored points.
Once you are anchored and ready, keep your jig moving very slowly while reeling in your slack and you will be reeling in walleye before you know it. Trolling using an inline spinner like the Erie Dearie will amaze you with how many fish you will catch using just a worm as bait. Walleye as big as 36 inches have been known to be pulled from the lake with simple live bait like worms.
Some anglers choose to use a bouncy lindy rig and a floating worm and jig head combo to slowly troll in the deeper areas. Many times they are rewarded with success. However, always remember to track your route with buoys if this is the method for you.
The bottom of Muskoka Lake is rather sharp, so plan for having to retie your fishing gear multiple times. You may want to consider having multiple fishing reels and rods that are rigged in exactly the same way in case you need to quickly reach for another in order to stay in the game.
Always fish for walleye with caution by making sure you have a map of the area on hand at all times as there are many large, sharp rocks that are submerged in this lake. Many of the islands all look alike and being able to tell them apart without a map can turn out rather deceiving.
The walleye fish that you will catch in Muskoka Lake are healthy and active, particularly because of the MNR sections off the nearby Muskoka River during spawning season. Always remember to do your part to be sure that the walleye population stays healthy by only keeping the smaller fish.