Lake Tamarack

whats a stickbait?

whats a husky jerk?

I would take 2 chubs, not a dozen.
Not sure about the Butchtails..Mabee they are Bucktails cut like a mullet.
As far as the Husky Jerkin, that sounds like one of those auto erotic things and I would know nothing about it.
 

Here's what's going on in Tamarack, musky-wise:
 
Crawford County's Tamarack Lake was once considered the finest muskie lake in the state in terms of muskie density. It was once a great "action" lake, and provided me with my first four-muskie day.



In spring 1999, it was drained to permit repair work on its dam structures. Since then, it has been refilled and restocked, and early indications are that it is on its way to being great muskie water again.


"For physical habitat, Tamarack Lake is prime muskellunge water," said biologist Woomer. "It is shallow throughout, with an average depth of just 4.2 feet. It has an abundance of aquatic vegetation growth that can reach nuisance levels in some years, but it is great habitat for muskies.


"The lake also has lots of old submerged stumps that provide plenty of ambush sites for muskies. During the 1999 drawdown, we handled over 500 adult muskies, which is almost one per acre, making this a really great muskie fishery," Woomer said.


Following completion of the dam repair work, it didn't take long for the Fish and Boat Commission to begin restocking this productive water.


"We began restocking muskellunge in November 1999 with 2,200 fingerlings," recalled the biologist. "This was while the lake was still drawn down but had enough water that we could get some fingerlings in to get things rolling. In 2000, 37 adult muskellunge were stocked in April and 1,680 fingerlings were stocked in September. In 2001, 560 fingerlings were stocked. This is the normal or prescribed stocking rate of one fish per acre that we stock to maintain a muskellunge fishery.


"In 2002, it again received 560 fingerlings, but because of a shortfall in hatchery production in 2003, it did not receive any muskies. Generally, the percentage of survival in refilled impoundments is very good to excellent due to the lack of predators, so there should be a really good muskie population established given our high stocking rates and good survival. Growth rates are generally very good during the first few years following a drawdown because of the high level of forage available and limited competition among predators for food," Woomer noted.


Tamarack is a productive water with a variety of food species to feed a dense muskellunge population. Woomer lists the primary forage base as panfish, such as yellow perch, bluegills, pumpkinseed sunfish and crappies. Some bullhead species, golden shiners and minnow species could also be consumed.


This is an electric motors-only lake. Shallow draft boats driven by powerful electric motors with lots of battery power are the best bets. The Fish and Boat Commission provides seven access points, making it convenient to re-launch in different areas rather than burning up battery power boating to them

Yeah my buddies go up there and fish on boat. They say they stop at the spillway to see whats going on and once or twice muskies are pulled out of it. A lot of people tell me its the best place to for a musky fishing beginner

i know there is no where to fish on the one end for sure tamarack has two dams on it one on each end and to be honest i dont think the bottom end would have much water coming out, there are lots of places to fish from shore inthe lake. the bottom end where the pines are is one of the deepestg parts of the lake like 13 feet with a nice piont and a shallow bay.  i guess what in getting at is that if the spillway stinks u didnt waste the drive.  

The state ruined the lake IMO.  The habitat is NOTHING like it used to be and now its a huge mud puddle like most other "mud bottom" lakes in PA.  The weed base was once like what you'd see in Canada, but thats no longer the case since they drained it because of idiotic, political beurocracy.  Once a pluggers dream right here in our back yards with nice clear water and cabbage type weeds is now a stained and murky mess that you might as well troll like all the others and you're lucky to find a few weeds here or there.  As you can see, I miss Tamarack for what it once was and do not spend as much time there anymore because of it's loss of appeal.  If I want to fish muskies in murky water, I'll go to Pymy or Moraine...its a shame what they did really.  They can do what they want with it and try stocking the **** out of it, but it will never be what it once was.

I'm sure its Tamarack, I know several people that fish there. And they say it runs by the dam and the fish group up there eating the food coming outta the spillway. I'll try several spots, I'm pri gonna start around 8 and fish til dark

The muskie fishing has been horrible this year, thats not to say not to try. I think if you go to the "spillway" at tamarak you will be dissapointed as other have said they are small puddles that you can do nothing but pitch lures, no casting needed to reach the other side. Good luck, let us know how you do

well if you consider ruined to be not catching 18 muskies in one trip then sure, it's not like it used to be.  But there's still fish in there and you have to work hard to catch them, musky fishing isn't a walk in the park ya know....  To suggest that the state ruined it is absurd, I would say more of the people who told all of their friends it was the best place to go, and they were catching 15 muskies a trip.  Those boat launches have changed quite a bit since there never used to be a line to get on the lake or full parking lots filled with cars and trailers. 

ORIGINAL: dealinsteel

well if you consider ruined to be not catching 18 muskies in one trip then sure, it's not like it used to be.  But there's still fish in there and you have to work hard to catch them, musky fishing isn't a walk in the park ya know....  To suggest that the state ruined it is absurd, I would say more of the people who told all of their friends it was the best place to go, and they were catching 15 muskies a trip.  Those boat launches have changed quite a bit since there never used to be a line to get on the lake or full parking lots filled with cars and trailers. 

Err...

ORIGINAL: Frenchy

Good place to catch a bunch of 5" crappies if you want. I caught 4 of them on a double bladed 3/8 oz chatruse spinnerbait saturday night. Witnessed a blue bass boat running the big motor at speed after dark going back to the launch. :) Tamarack will never be the same until the weeds are back. Them crappie must have been pretty hungry to bite a bigspinner bait. Weeds mean feed for the panfish. Without feed they will never get big. Has anyone caught a limit of panfish in the last couple of years that were over 5"?

I've caught some 5-8'', but never over 10''.

And my recent trip, last wednesday-thursday. We boated 2, a 33'' and a 39'' and had a 40''+ Toss the lure at the boat, almost hit me in the face.

15-18 in one day? You said you've caught 11. Couldn't it be possible to nab 4 more? My personal best is 8, with 1 lost. And that wasn't a 14 hour extravaganza. Like the one I had on Lake Arthur a few weeks back..

Either way I think whoever said "people catch 18" was exaggerating just a tad.

Tamarack is no longer the way it was because the state DRAINED it and thats the bottom line.  And its NOT a matter of opinion, its a fact.  It has nothing to do with pressure or anything else.  Somewhere along the line, someone declared earthen ****s to be unsafe and need to be removed and replaced.  Tamarack was the perfect candidate for another F-Up by the state and the sportsmen are paying for it.  Thats it. 

I'm sorry, but as many times as I fished Tamarack, the most muskie fishing boats I've ever seen on that lake at once was maybe 5.  Thats not an excess of pressure by any means.  Thats on a weekend, try fishing it on a weekday....I'm usually one of the only boats out there period.

Whether Howard is friend or family, doesn't concern me, I sure wouldn't go believing EVERYTHING he tells ya.

ORIGINAL: D-nymph

KMP - Did you go to the Tamarack spillway and fish for muskies?  How did you do?  What did you think of the place?

 
He is on his way, I saw him riding his bike south earlier this week.....