A group of guys from Midwest Musky Club fished Bankson in June of this year and one member caught and released a 36 inch musky.
Did they have a fish kill on Bankson in the last two to three years ?
According to the Michigan DNR stocking web site there are more muskies in Bankson compared to Round Lake.
People from MMA have claimed that when fishing it in recent years that a lot of the residents kill any muskie they catch..
As well as people setting lines out on their dock with live bait on then pulling in muskies and killing them.
Probably the reason why the density is so low and no one from MMA actually really fishes the lake more than once or twice a year if that anymore.
Same thing is happening with Austin lake. Once a really good lake, but the non spearing law, let all the ice guys kill off probably half the population in the lake the last couple of years. Including some monsters
"Smada962" said:
[quote="swanezy"]
no one from MMA actually really fishes the lake more than once or twice a year if that anymore.
I fish it at least 10-12 times a year, more than that some years. However it is my worst fish/hour lake I fish. Seems to get quite a bit of out of state pressure too.
It was always lots of hours/fish.
But used to be loaded with fish. Last time out there was 06' and saw nothing. Which I thought was odd. Years before that it was hard to not see a fish, even during poor weather conditions.
"Ranger" said:
Nope, no fish at all in Bankson. All killed off by wild-eyed locals. I shot a few fish myself, drunk on the water at 3:00am with a Q-Beam and a Ruger 22/45 target pistol. And there's no population of totally unpressured monster walleye in the lake, either, by the way.
No comment on the walleye 😈
Ranger is being sarcastic 😀
I have not been there in a long while. The last time I was there I observed several docks with meat rigs unattended in the water. I didnt have a cell phone so didnt make the call until a day later. There has been some local harvest but Im not sure to what extent. I am also aware of some out of staters taking a few home as well. I believe the group was from Ohio. Mike
The abuse of Michigan's muskie lakes is not new and will continue as new lakes such as Hamlin Lake try to be developed. Education alone will not solve the problems. The MDNR needs to firm up the muskie program with good science regulations and law enforcement needs more local support. This will become more important with the GLS conversion. Dealing with local violators is another hot topic thread of its own.
"Ranger" said:
Nope, no fish at all in Bankson. All killed off by wild-eyed locals. I shot a few fish myself, drunk on the water at 3:00am with a Q-Beam and a Ruger 22/45 target pistol. And there's no population of totally unpressured monster walleye in the lake, either, by the way.
True what he said, you just have to understand what he said.
There are still fish in there, have contacted fish out there last year and this year, and Smada I hear you on the hours/fish ratio.
Ok, truth….
A couple years ago a boated 18 muskies in Bankson, with 3 between 40" and 44", all the rest were mid-30"s. The lake is chock full of walleye that are REALLY hard to pattern. And because there's a decent population of big walleye, it is possible to find roving pods of really big perch.
Using a Q-Beam in the middle of the night helped me understand a whole lot about how the fish behave at different times of the year.
Also, talking to old timers who know where fish cribs, legal and not, are planted, helps find fish.
Deal.
"Ranger" said:
Ok, truth….A couple years ago a boated 18 muskies in Bankson, with 3 between 40" and 44", all the rest were mid-30"s. The lake is chock full of walleye that are REALLY hard to pattern. And because there's a decent population of big walleye, it is possible to find roving pods of really big perch.
Using a Q-Beam in the middle of the night helped me understand a whole lot about how the fish behave at different times of the year.
Also, talking to old timers who know where fish cribs, legal and not, are planted, helps find fish.
Deal.
If you look in the members section I have a few sonar fish crib pics recorded in the fish reports from several years ago.
Lon, it is very believable, no need for proof.
From my limited experience rite now is the best time to target trophey walleye in Bankson (and Cedar and Fish and Gravel). During this time of the year walleye push and hold baitfish up against steep drops. Trolling along those drops with larger deep diving cranks (Risto Raps, Husky Jerks, etc) in natural colors for the hour or so before dawn usually gives up one or two really nice walleye (25"+). They seem to shut off at first light.
Tossing a jig/minnow on those drops would be more effective to target spots on spots for just walleye, but I troll because I want a muskie bait out behind the boat on the deep side.
Well I went to Bankson today/tonite hoping to boat a fish so I could brag about it in this thread but I totally blanked. What didn't work were suicks, glide baits, various bucktails and cranks. The lake level has dropped enough to drive around the landing loop but the entire ramp is still under water.
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