For tigers at all depths, Hartman also likes going after them with a Stomper, which is a surface bait with a rotating tail. "I've caught 30 percent of my tigers on that lure at a variety of depths on most every lake I've fished," he said.

There are a total of 23 lakes in Minnesota where tigers are stocked, all of which are in the metro area. The lakes outlined in this article represent a cross-section of those lakes but are by no means the only ones with the potential for a trophy tiger. Each lake has the potential for producing a tiger over 40 inches and most have the potential to produce a new state record. A fast growth rate also means a shorter lifespan, and most of the trophies in a lake are younger than 8 years old. Just because a lake has been stocked for a long time does not mean it has the potential for producing a larger tiger. And the techniques described for each lake can easily be applied to other lakes, especially those with similar qualities.

So snap on your favorite bucktail and come on along for a muskie hunt!

LAKE ELMO
Listed first because it yielded the current state record of 34 pounds, 12 ounces, Lake Elmo is 206 acres of clear, deep water. It is the deepest lake in the metro area, and on a map looks more like a Canadian Shield lake than a prairie lake.

Josh Stevenson caught that record tiger in 1999 on a spinnerbait, and many claim he was actually bass fishing, though Stevenson reputes that claim. His experience with tigers, especially on Lake Elmo, is that they like deeper water that can be tough to reach with traditional muskie lures.

"Before that fish I'd caught a lot of tigers in Elmo, sometimes four or five a day, and what I found was that they preferred smaller lures," he said.

Elmo can be a difficult lake to fish, with limited weeds and sharp dropoffs. The contours of the lake are very bowl shaped and provide very little "traditional" fishing locations such as points and bars. The sunken timber in the southwestern bay can be good, as can the docks and floating diving platforms.

Ciscoes have been stocked in the lake by the DNR, and locating a school along the thermocline could mean finding a few tigers as well. Mike O'Brien of Joe's Sporting Goods in St. Paul said one way to get down deep for the big tigers in Elmo is using a large jig tipped with a muskie-sized plastic worm.

Stevenson usually begins by fishing the shallows and then works down to the deeper locations. The limited weedbeds can be good shallow-water locations to begin the search. His favorite lures are spinnerbaits, large-bodied crankbaits and jigging spoons. "Of those, my favorite is a Spoonplug because of its versatility and ability to work in shallow water as well as deep water," he said.

Stevenson now runs his own guiding service and recently purchased Blue Ribbon Bait, which is located close to Lake Elmo on Century Avenue in Oakdale. He's changing the store from a traditional bait shop to almost exclusively a muskie shop, and is willing to point out his favorite spots on Elmo, as well as a few other east-metro lakes.

LAKE CALHOUN CHAIN
Not normally referred to as a "chain" of lakes, Cedar Lake, Lake Calhoun and Lake of the Isles are connected by two long, narrow channels. Located in the heart of Minneapolis, the shoreline of these lakes is mostly part of an expansive greenway complete with walking and biking paths. When working the shoreline, anglers need to be careful not to snag a passing bicyclist or rollerblader. Seriously.