North and South Twin

North and South Twin Lakes has long been a trophy muskie hunter’s destination. It could possibly be the body of water that has produced more 40 and 50 pound muskie over the decades than any other system in the state of Wisconsin. With the advent of “catch and release”, not only does the “Twins” still log it’s share of monster muskie every year, but also the number of action fish has increased to the point where seeing 30 or more muskie a day in not uncommon. North Twin is the bigger and deeper of the two lakes with 2,788 acres of water and the maximum depth being 60 feet. South Twin is 642 acres and the maximum depth is 43 feet. Both lakes share many of the same characteristics in that both are fairly clear in water clarity and both are very fertile with vast coontail and cabbage beds, along with pencil reeds that attract and hold fish. Big Twin has however better structure with bars, humps, points, fast dropping breaklines, inside turns, and an island as opposed to Little Twins standard bowl shape.
In addition to all the structure that Big Twin provides to the muskie and to the muskie angler, Big Twin harbors most of the cisco population that the big muskie key on that gives them their robust size. Angling in and around this food source with deep diving crank baits and soft plastics is a sure fire way to make contact with the “Twin’s” trophy inhabitants.
Both of the lakes have huge expanses of vegetation and these are the areas to concentrate your efforts if you are competing in the many different muskie tournaments that are held here every year, or if you’re seeking some fast and furious action from dozens of muskie in the 34” to 44 inch range. Many of the grass flats are so long and wide, do not limit yourself by casting in to the deep veggie line, fish also the inside veggie line and get on top of the grass flats and cast out into the deeper water bringing your lure to the edge and up on top of the flats. Give the muskies something different and they will usually respond in numbers.
Because the water is clear, natural or neutral colors works best like black, white, yellow, brown, blue or purple. Silver blades on bucktails, out performs the bright colors, gold, and bronze colors most of the time. Crank baits and twitch baits do well here in a perch, silver shad, or walleye color will bring you plenty of action. Jerk baits that run straight or gliders work equally as well but usually not at the same time. If one style isn’t working the other type of jerk bait is. So just because on your last visit to the “Twins” you were sleighing them on glide baits doesn’t mean your next time out. Now they might only be looking at straight running, up and down moving, jerks.
Spring and fall are great times to be fishing Big and Little Twin for numbers and for big fish. In the spring, many of the 34” to 42 inchers are relatively shallow and haven’t seen a muskie bait in months. Lingering around in the shallows in the spring are some of the biggest muskie in the system and they are within easy casting distance. Later when the big girls transition out to their summer haunts, they become much harder to find until they move to some very predictable locals in the fall.
Summer fishing on North and South Twin can be the best time to be on the water, in terms of sheer numbers seen and fish caught. Night fishing can also be a ton of fun and can produce a big fish that was inaccessible during the day when the pleasure boaters are out in force.
If you have never tried North and South Twin Lakes before, you should schedule a trip soon to the area. Fishing the “Twins” can give you that magical “fish of a life time” that we all dream about and it will afford you to dramatically inflate your total number of muskies caught for the season to enter in for your muskie club’s statistics.

© 2010 Professional Muskie Angler Circuit