John Sparbel caught a 48-inch tiger muskie while fishing on Lake DuBay with guide Phil Schweik. Photo by Dan Small.

The Badger State offers esox anglers so many opportunities to tangle with muskies that it’s easy to find a place to fish. The hard part is deciding where to go. You can certainly save up vacation time and hard-earned money for one or two trips a year to the classic waters of northern Wisconsin, as many anglers do. Or, you can join the growing throng of bucktail slingers who opt to fish more often and closer to home.

With time and gasoline at a premium, southern Wisconsin muskie waters look better and better every year. Muskies don’t reproduce naturally in many southern waters, but the Department of Natural Resources makes up for that by stocking these lakes with good numbers of fish. That fact, together with the catch-and-release ethic that most muskie hunters practice nowadays, means there are plenty of muskies available, some of them growing to trophy size.

Let’s look at some of the best places in southern Wisconsin where you stand a good chance of tangling with a muskie or two on a regular basis.

PEWAUKEE LAKE
In the time-honored tradition of eating dessert first, let’s cut to the chase and hit the best lake right off the bat. Pewaukee is hands down the best muskie lake in southern Wisconsin, perhaps the best in the state. With a muskie population of about .5 adults per acre, Pewaukee tops even the best northern Wisconsin lakes for numbers. And no lake in the state has produced more 50-inchers in recent years.

Pewaukee covers some 2,400 acres just north of I-94 in Waukesha County. The lake’s east basin is shallow and weedy with a couple of good bays, some offshore humps and one island. The west basin is deeper with a good weedline that always holds fish. Rocky Point juts between the two basins, adding -- guess what? -- rocks!

A survey conducted several years ago by Wisconsin Lutheran College biology professor Bob Anderson showed muskies here have a home range averaging 30 to 40 acres. Anderson’s radio-tagged fish moved around a lot in spring and fall, but spent the summer near structure in fairly shallow water.

Most anglers favor black and orange baits, but remember that every muskie you encounter has already seen enough bucktails, Bulldawgs and buzzbaits to make its own mental catalog of offerings. Don’t be afraid to think outside the tackle box and go with something outlandish like a chartreuse marabou bucktail or glow-in-the-dark topwater. If it makes noise and thrashes the surface, it’ll attract attention and might draw a strike. For more information, contact Smokey’s Muskie Shop at (262) 691-9659, or visit the Web site at www.smokeysmuskieshop.com .

OKAUCHEE AND OCONOMOWOC LAKES
Located a couple of lakes west of Pewaukee, both Okauchee and Oconomowoc lakes also offer good muskie action. During a spring survey a few years ago, DNR fisheries biologist Sue Beyler found a good population of muskies in Okauchee Lake and tagged some big fish, including a 51-inch, 41-pounder. A later survey on Oconomowoc Lake showed similar numbers and sizes of muskies. Interestingly enough, 1,300-acre Okauchee is stocked, while 767-acre Oconomowoc is not.

Guide Ben Kueng, who lives on Okauchee Lake, rotates his efforts among Pewaukee, Okauchee and Oconomowoc, and routinely catches muskies in all three. Browse the photos on his Web site and you’ll see why he likes these waters.