Tamarack Muskies

Tamarack Island Wilderness Lodge is a musky hunter’s paradise. It’s a quaint island located approximately nine miles west of Morson, Ontario—in the heart of some of the best musky fishing on Lake of the Woods. We launched in Morson under clear skies and calm conditions and returned in cloudy, windy conditions. In both cases, we used two simple routes to the camp and were able to get back in forth by boat in about 15 - 20 minutes. The return route was longer than the direct route, but it cuts through the famous sunset channel and is wind protected. The bottom line is that getting to the lodge is easy and well worth the minimal effort considering you are within eyesight of some great musky spots.

The advantage of this section of Lake of the Woods is that you have both large and small islands. Almost every island has a rock extension or point and a bay. So, you can fish a series of smaller islands and fish around the entire island to try and determine what type of cover the muskies may be using. You can also fish a few of the larger islands and starting in the back of a bay and work your way along the shoreline toward the main lake point. By repeating this same approach, you can determine whether the muskies are in the bays, the broken rock shorelines leading to the points, or on the main lake points. If you catch or see muskies in any of these areas, simply try and repeat the situation. You also need to fish a few reefs, so make sure you check out a few areas where the rocks are sticking out of the water, and those marked by a channel marker.

When we were filming there, we had some conditions and patterns that seemed to change daily. One day they were on points, and another they were on the shorelines leading towards the bays. The last evening, we found some muskies in the bays. So it’s important to keep an open mind that the pattern may change each day, but be aware that when you see a couple of muskies or catch one off a particular type of spot, look around and check your map for similar spots, as they are most likely to hold muskies. Whenever I'm fishing Lake of the Woods I try and find spots close to one another so that I am spending less time running and more time fishing.

This particular section of Lake of the Woods is not much different regarding lure choices for summer musky fishing. We caught a bunch of Cowgirls and had lots of follows and strikes—so use Topraiders and big minnow baits like Shallow Raiders and Shallow Invaders. Since most of your fishing is in water less than 10 feet, many of these shallow running lures are most productive. There are lots of productive lure colours such as silver/black, silver/blue, and black/black. However, anything in a perch or walleye pattern seems to work.

Tamarack Island Lodge offers all of the amenities any musky angler needs. They have a great docking system with electricity, the cabins are very nice, and their lodge is awesome. It’s a great place to share musky stories. If you are looking for a Lake of the Woods destination that doesn’t require you to burn much gas to get to good spots, this is the place. Plus, the island is protected and you can fish in any wind conditions. It’s really an incredible place to go if you are serious about catching muskies and having a relaxing time.

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