Sugar Lake and Woodcock

I havent fished either of these places, just wondering how they were for bass and crappie... I've heard woodcock is a decent muskie fishery but thats about all I've heard about it.  also any tips or general locations would be helpful for getting started, thanks

used 2 do good on woodcock until last cpl yrs    think the dam muskies got everything eatin up lol   went twice     an nuttin

Caught a few nice pannies thru the ice @ Sugar,don't know much about the lake tho.

      I think both are good fishery's. Sugar seems to have a pickerel problem, but the warden down there does not seem to think so. Lot's of fun on light action equipment, but either use a tiny leader or bring lot's of lures. The last couple years I have not had much success there, but that's the way fishing goes sometimes. I used to slay the LM there back in 2005 - 2006, but as I said, not much there in the last couple years. I believe the lake, which used to be a big bass lake, is no longer one. So I believe something is happening there to make them pull the "big bass lake" regulations from that body of water. It has a fair population of Musky, but nothing like Tamarack and Woodcock. I have only went there 3 times this year, but look forward to trying it again once the water temps go down a little.
     Woodcock is also a good lake. The fishing conditions seem to have changed in the last couple of years, as far as fish location and water clarity. Used to be able to catch lot's of SM there around the shoreline, but lately I have been finding them in 10-15 FOW along weed edges and humps (with rocks - must have). Panfish are pretty much non- existent - So don't take the little kiddies there for bluegill (unless you are going to use them as musky bait). I have heard there is good ice fishing for perch there in the late winter ??? Used to catch walleye in the old creek bed by the beach, now I only pick them up early in the AM in a couple creek channels. I don't catch many LM there, but the ones I have caught are big boys. Used to find perch in 30 FOW, now I only find them tucked away in big brush piles. Pondscum is on the right track, lots of musky , but it has just made the other fish find different habitats to keep protected.  

Guys do some research before you blame the muskies for "eating everything"....these fish have lived together in lakes for centuries, it's not like they just figured out they like panfish or bass.  Bass Ackwards is on the right track, there's been a ton of studies on the impact of muskies on other fish populations and it's rarely ever negative.

Bass...remember that VERY little perch i caught the last time we were at Woodcock (when the berrings went out in the trailer).  It couldn't have been any bigger than 2 inches.... so there are smaller fish around...lol

I've been fishing Woodcock for many years myself and have also noticed a change..
We used to have a little pattern for catching eyes there and it worked quite well.
Now I can't seem to find them(eyes)..I see other boats catching them but my patterns and jelly holes have gone dry...
The Musky fishing has declined in the last 5-6 years for us..I seem to catch more Musky trolling for eyes than I do plugging for them...
The lake still has some of the largest Smallmouth Bass you will find in an inland lake..IMO..
 
 

I read an article one time on fishing pressure that really got my attention, only due to the fact we have had a similar problem in Pa.  So a lake makes a name for itself by producing fish, for this we'll just say muskies.  So this lake becomes so popular because it's producing so many fish that everybody wants to fish it.  The fish, in turn, change from the increased pressure, which makes it harder to catch fish than the originals encountered.  So here you have guys pounding away at something making it increasingly difficult to catch any fish compared to the numbers that were originally caught.  This continues to the point where it's difficult to catch one fish, and then the cycle continues with people moving on and giving up.....  Until they hear about the next lake producing numbers like the first lake.  Just think, a bunch more pressure, the fish see a ton of lures, mostly big musky stuff, which (from the pressure standpoint) makes it harder to get bit.  What do bass or steelhead guys do when the fish get pressured?  Go smaller!!  How many people are fishing crawler harnesses on that lake?  probably very few.  Probably the same number of guys that are getting hot n tots slammed by muskies.  The whole point of this is to be an intelligent fisherman, not just a guy that rolls the dice and plays the odds with a lake, but one that does research and predicts the next "big" lake, and gets off of it before the rest of the world finds out about it....

ORIGINAL: ducati

I live near a very small lake ( under 10 ac. ) and they stocked it with tiger musky for 3 years and then quit.  I have seen 30" muskie in the clear water with about 20 bluegills all around it, i see it all the time.  Do you really think fish have reasoning skills?  How maqy years have then been drawing the water down at woodcock for weed control?  I have heard that it may take 3 years or so before it has an effect on the weads.  I know of other lakes that have started the winter draw-downs or even spray the lake for weeds and personally i think its a bad idea - at least for fishing.  Think about it - you are removing food from the food chain, what do you think will happen.  Weeds are good - keep the weeds!

 
 i too think weeds are good, but too many weeds are bad.  in the winter time weeds die and decompose, then grow up again in the spring.  while they are alive, weeds are sucking CO2 out of the water and pumping O2 back in. that is very good. 
 
in the winter time, levels of dissolved oxygen fall off as the plants die off. also, the process of decompisiton is sucking even more oxygen out of the water.  if the level of dissolved oxygen drops too low, fish cant survive and you have a "winter kill". 

ORIGINAL: dealinsteel

I read an article one time on fishing pressure that really got my attention, only due to the fact we have had a similar problem in Pa.  So a lake makes a name for itself by producing fish, for this we'll just say muskies.  So this lake becomes so popular because it's producing so many fish that everybody wants to fish it.  The fish, in turn, change from the increased pressure, which makes it harder to catch fish than the originals encountered.  So here you have guys pounding away at something making it increasingly difficult to catch any fish compared to the numbers that were originally caught.  This continues to the point where it's difficult to catch one fish, and then the cycle continues with people moving on and giving up.....  Until they hear about the next lake producing numbers like the first lake.  Just think, a bunch more pressure, the fish see a ton of lures, mostly big musky stuff, which (from the pressure standpoint) makes it harder to get bit.  What do bass or steelhead guys do when the fish get pressured?  Go smaller!!  How many people are fishing crawler harnesses on that lake?  probably very few.  Probably the same number of guys that are getting hot n tots slammed by muskies.  The whole point of this is to be an intelligent fisherman, not just a guy that rolls the dice and plays the odds with a lake, but one that does research and predicts the next "big" lake, and gets off of it before the rest of the world finds out about it....

 
The truest words i've ever read!!!

The cartoon variety, i like the beer can ones.

you are absolutely right Bass...i do have a Sponge Bob Bobber that you bought for me.... haven't used it yet.... maybe this weekend...lol