Boaters, heads up: A City Light employee told me the lake will be lowered Sept. 19-22 to rebuild the boat ramp at the state park. Plan your trips accordingly. Now for a fish story. Tiger muskies are always hard to catch but you can improve your odds by fishing at mid-week in the low light periods of early morning and dusk, in cloudy or rainy weather. This combination paid off for me Wednesday evening with a 20 lbs.-plus fish, and two more 20-pounders at Merwin Lake Thursday morning! Unfortunately my Mayfield fish wrapped the line around the motor shaft and broke off, so that one doesn't count as a boated fish! Want to know where this big fish was? Only 10 feet out from the bank in less than 6 feet of water! Because the water entering the lake is cold, the tiger muskies stay in the sun-warmed surface layer close to shore. This fish hit a shallow running crankbait thrown at a fallen tree.

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