Merwin Muskies

[OutHouse]

Anyone ever fish for tiger musky in Merwin reservoir? Did it this past weekend no bites but three "follows" in the beautiful clear water. Was a blast. The last follow had my friend going nuts he said it was certainly a "keeper" which I learned has to be above 50 inches. Never caught one but I think I'm hooked. My buddy has gotten way into it and I wouldn't be surprised if he catches a state record in the future. He has three or so that were between 34-36 pounds.

Also if you're heading there from Yakima area don't take the 131/FS 25 at Randle to go through GUifford Pinchot. The road was pretty bad very slow driving. Best to take 12 all the way to five and cut down and back east.

[Brushcrawler]

I have done this once as had it on my list to get back to ever since. Very cool fish!

[Blacklab]

I haven’t. Seen them cruz the shoreline a time or two. Not real big 2’-3’ cool fish for sure.

[Henrydog]

I have caught muskies.  but not a Merwin.  Just know they have really bad eye site.  If you are getting a follow move your lure in what most call a figure 8 before you bring your gear in the boat.  A lot of hook ups happen right close to the boat.

[Russ McDonald]

They are also called the fish of 1000 casts. 

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[Angry Perch]

They are also called the fish of 1000 casts. 

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10,000. You're missing a zero!

[Skyvalhunter]

The state has been stocking sterile Tigers in lakes that have an over abundance of stunted fish in order to weed them out

[Russ McDonald]

They are also called the fish of 1000 casts. 

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10,000. You're missing a zero!

Yup I did

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[Alchase]

Never fished for Muskies out of Merwin, but they are in Mayfield right off HWY 12 at Mayfield, an hour+ closer than Merwin for you.

[Stein]

I've watched some videos of musky fishermen and I can solidly say there are no more dedicated anglers that I have ever seen.  They fish tons of hours, some during the night and if they get 1 fish a weekend it's a huge success.  If I caught 1 fish for every 20 hours of fishing, I would sell my boat.  Now that I think about it, maybe I should not add up the hours and compare that to my punch cards.

[Alchase]

I've watched some videos of musky fishermen and I can solidly say there are no more dedicated anglers that I have ever seen.  They fish tons of hours, some during the night and if they get 1 fish a weekend it's a huge success.  If I caught 1 fish for every 20 hours of fishing, I would sell my boat.  Now that I think about it, maybe I should not add up the hours and compare that to my punch cards.

Steelhead fishing comes to mind, LOL

[OutHouse]

I haven’t. Seen them cruz the shoreline a time or two. Not real big 2’-3’ cool fish for sure.

Cool the only ones I could spot were pretty decent sized but I am just getting the hang of it so the larger ones were easier to see. I think we were on the south side of the lake (could be wrong) near a bunch of homes in some shallows and saw an absolute brute in about four feet of water. I think it was at least 36"

[OutHouse]

I have caught muskies.  but not a Merwin.  Just know they have really bad eye site.  If you are getting a follow move your lure in what most call a figure 8 before you bring your gear in the boat.  A lot of hook ups happen right close to the boat.

Right on didn't know about the eye sight. My friends showed me that figure eight thing you mentioned he's caught a handful just like that as you said. he told me do it every single cast. There's a definite technique to it as well I learned still working on the fluidity

[OutHouse]

They are also called the fish of 1000 casts. 

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Must be true. Kinda like wild steel head. I think I fished for three years and perhaps a few thousand casts before I caught a wild one

[OutHouse]

The state has been stocking sterile Tigers in lakes that have an over abundance of stunted fish in order to weed them out

Right. A guy we talked on the lake said the sucker fish took over and that was one of the reasons for the introduction.

[OutHouse]

Never fished for Muskies out of Merwin, but they are in Mayfield right off HWY 12 at Mayfield, an hour+ closer than Merwin for you.

For sure my buddy has fished mayfield as well but he really wanted me to be able to see one so we did Merwin. He's done Maryfield, Curlew, Merwin and a few others I think

[OutHouse]

I've watched some videos of musky fishermen and I can solidly say there are no more dedicated anglers that I have ever seen.  They fish tons of hours, some during the night and if they get 1 fish a weekend it's a huge success.  If I caught 1 fish for every 20 hours of fishing, I would sell my boat.  Now that I think about it, maybe I should not add up the hours and compare that to my punch cards.

Definitely true. My buddy said we are fishing sun up until they close the launch we left out of. Ate lunch on the boat between spots and just kept casting, casting, casting. My forearm and shoulder are still a little tender from it!  (damn lures are huge too some of them)

[Blacklab]

I believe they started stocking those lakes in the early 80s.  every so often they will dump a few in there to replace it but it’s never a lot just enough to try to keep the the lakes in check 😉🥃🇺🇸

[Alchase]

Never fished for Muskies out of Merwin, but they are in Mayfield right off HWY 12 at Mayfield, an hour+ closer than Merwin for you.

For sure my buddy has fished mayfield as well but he really wanted me to be able to see one so we did Merwin. He's done Maryfield, Curlew, Merwin and a few others I think

Curlew has a ton!
We use to go to Fisherman's Cove a couple times a year. You could watch them hunt in the shallows. My boys would watch them for hours.

[Russ McDonald]

Lake Tapps has some to.

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