For the Tomahawk Leader

LAKE ALEXANDER – Just south of Tomahawk, downstream on the Wisconsin River, lies the 618-acre Lake Alexander flowage. As the river meanders through Lincoln County and the City of Merrill, just northwest of town is Council Grounds State park. With a nice double dock boat landing, this lake draws a lot of visitors each year, and summer is prime time.

But how’s the fishing?

We launched late in the afternoon on a warm sunny Sunday. The boat traffic was pretty heavy as it was a beautiful day, 85 degrees. So, where to start?

We figured first, let’s get away from boats, so we looked for bays, and a few small creeks trickle into the river as you go upstream. We fished mostly for bass, as this lake is known for pretty good smallmouth and some largemouth bass as well. But what we caught was a total mixed bag of fish.

We decided to pitch small jigs with plastic or gulp tails, typical small bass baits that usually catch bass of all sizes. Not surprisingly we landed many little bass, nothing of great size, but the action was fun. However, what was surprising were the muskies that we caught on these small baits: several muskies under 24 inches, one in the 30-inch range, and another two-foot-plus-sized tiger musky as well.

They were smashing these small jigs. The action just makes us feel like the future for musky fishermen on this lake is very, very bright. It’s great to see some “seed” for the future.

Lake Alexander is also known for some quality musky fishing as well. With max depths to 36 feet and a sprawling flowage with lots of cover to hide in, you can see why it’s a great lake for them to thrive.

Get out there, enjoy the beautiful summer we are having and be safe on the water.