Lake Profile: Curlew Lake

[Don Wittenberger]

Curlew Lake, of Washington's tiger muskie lakes, most nearly resembles a midwest muskie lake in terms of its structure and surroundings. It has islands, points, flats, weedbeds, dropoffs, wood, docks, and rock walls, but no sunken rock bars that I know of; and is surrounded by wooded uplands. It’s long had noteworthy trout and bass fisheries. Tiger muskies have been planted since 1998 to control a northern pikeminnow (aka squawfish) infestation. WDFW stomach content studies indicate the tiger muskies also feed on rainbow trout during winter and spring.

Curlew Lake is located near the town of Republic in north central Washington only 16 air miles south of the Canadian border. It is a long way from any city, but nevertheless is a popular recreation lake with a state park, three private resorts, and about 300 private homes and cabins. Consequently, you won’t find solitude here. But it’s a pretty lake, and a fair amount of the shoreline is undeveloped.

Curlew Lake is a natural lake, fed by springs and streams, but has a 3-foot head dam (built in 1926) to stabilize the water levels It is connected by a navigable channel to Lake Roberta on its south end, which is very shallow, and brings the total surface acreage to 921 acres. It is deep in most places, with a maximum depth of 130 feet. Physically, it's long and narrow in a north-south direction, and has an irregular shoreline. It is 4.8 miles long, varies in width (but not over 1/3 mile), and has 15.8 miles of shoreline. It lies at an elevation of 2,333 feet. This lake develops a thermocline in summer, and suffers from water quality problems that limit visibility and may cause algae blooms in summer.

There is no free boat launch on the lake, but an excellent double concrete ramp with ample parking exists at the state park, which is located on the east side of the lake with access from Highway 21 about 8 miles from town. It has 82 vehicle campsites plus 5 primitive sites, including some with water and power. There also are rest rooms with showers, and expansive and pleasantly manicured lawns. Reservations are not available; camping is on a first-come, first-served basis. Gas, groceries, and a laundromat are available in town.

Republic itself is somewhat of a tourist destination. However, its economy was heavily dependent on a gold mine and lumber mill, both of which shut down. As a result, the area is economically distressed and the local residents are hurting for jobs and income. They will certainly appreciate your tourist business.

I can’t tell you much about how to fish this lake, because I’ve visited it only once. I can say, however, that is fun to fish because of the variety of structure; and it’s big enough to hold a decent number of fish and keep you interested in probing its secrets for several days. In August 2002, I spent three days scouting Curlew Lake, and didn’t see a single tiger muskie. No one I talked with knew much about them; the sketchy local lore indicated they hang around the docks and the railroad trestle at the north end (note, this is an active track). Nor is there much information in the Washingtonlakes.com lake reports. So, I'd pretty much be starting from scratch here, and I would work the obvious shallow weed beds, shoreline wood, around the islands, in bays and coves, and anywhere there’s a shelf with deep water nearby. There is a quite a bit of recreational boating traffic; so early morning, evening, and mid-week would be the preferred times to fish; and I’d be tempted to experiment with a reputed night fishery, too.

Driving directions: From I-90 take Hwy. 21 exit (between Moses Lake and Ritzville) and drive north through Odessa and Wilbur, take Keller’s Ferry across Lake Roosevelt, and continue through Republic (this is quite a long drive, and involves some of the steepest grades in the state). Hwy 21 skirts the east side of Curlew Lake and continues to the border crossing into Canada. From Spokane, take U.S. 395 through Chewelah and Colville, and after crossing Lake Roosevelt at Kettle Falls, turn south on state Highway 20 which veers west in about 3 miles and continues another 30-plus miles to the junction with Highway 21 (climbing steeply over Sherman Pass in the process). This is picturesque country and an enjoyable, but slow, drive because of the grades and switchbacks. At the junction, you can turn left and go 2 ½ miles into town, or turn right and go north about 5 or 6 miles to the state park entrance.

As always, feel free to dispute details of this report, or add your own.

[muskyhunter]

A buddy of mine at work fished this lake last year,about this time last year. He is mainly a bass guy. Anyway he said, and he is no b.ser by any means...he said that he had a Musky follow one of his 4 inch tubes followed by a Musky that was nearly 5 ft long. Like I said he is no b-ser...so take that for what its worth. There are some big fish out there in Curlew. Good luck.

[Don Wittenberger]

Water works like a magnifying glass. To properly adjust for the refraction effect, divide the reported length of the fish by 1.5.

[muskyhunter]

Don,
May I please ask..."What is your problem?" You always shoot down other peoples info...starting to work my last good nerve! Honestly, if you have nothing positive to say don't write anything. He saw what he saw. And just because you didn't see the fish doesn't mean its not there. He understands the "magnifying aspect". Please don't insult my intelligence. You've already spooked off a few guys with your great negative ridicule. So please knock it off!!!

[Don Wittenberger]

C'mon, lighten up -- it was a joke! However, it happens to be true that muskies tend to grow in size with the passage of time after their release ... :-D

[Don Wittenberger]

God help us if we ever take this game so seriously that we lose our sense of humor and can't laugh at our own foibles.

[Don Wittenberger]

OK, Todd ("musky hunter") now it's time for some straight talk. This isn't the first time you've criticized me in this forum. If you have only one nerve, and I'm getting on it, that's regrettable because I never intended that; and it's also unfortunate, because as tiger muskie anglers we have a full plate of issues before us that affect our sport, on which we need to be united and work together.

Ridiculing people isn't my bag, and I would never intentionally do that. One of the things that happens on a message board is comments get misinterpreted. Writing isn't like talking; there's no voice inflections, no body language, to guide you on what the other person is trying to say. When words are reduced to cold hard type, they have a tendency to acquire a sharper edge than the writer may have intended -- especially if a reader is reading between the lines and seeing things that aren't there. It's an occupational hazard faced by all professional writers and a pitfall that often snares amateur ones.

What I'm going to say next is for educational and informational purposes only, and definitely not intended to put anyone down. Anyone -- myself included -- who posts in a public forum has a responsibility to make reasonable efforts to ensure the accuracy of the information he is putting in the public domain. Any everyone's public comments -- including mine -- are fair game for fact-checking, rebuttal, and correction of any inaccuracies.

Five foot long tiger muskies don't exist.

I have a book around here somewhere that contains a list of the largest tiger muskies over the last 100 years for which recorded information exists. I can't find it right now, and the wife is yelling at me about making noise while she's trying to sleep (it's 3 AM), so I'll have to stop looking for it tonight and can't get you comprehensive data on how big tiger muskies get. However, I can tell you this. Only two tiger muskies over 50 lbs. have ever been caught, both from the same lake, about 35 years apart. John Knobla's world record, caught from Lac Vieux Desert (a 5,000-acre lake on the Wisconsin-Michigan boundary) in 1919, was 52 inches long. Dolores Lapp's 50-pounder, caught from Lac Vieux Desert in the early 1950s, was 56 inches long. I don't have that list in front of me, but according to my recollection, there is no verified example of any tiger muskie reaching a length of 60 inches.

A tiny handful of "true" muskellunge do exceed 60 inches (there is no example of a 70-incher), but we have no muskellunge in our state. And all of the very big muskellunge and tiger muskies, almost without exception, come from bigger lakes than Curlew. As a general rule, you need big water to grow giant muskies.

I don't know what the upper length limit on tiger muskies in Washington is. John Bay's state record was 51 inches, and we've had a few more come from Mayfield and Merwin in the 48 to 50 inch range. So, it's possible to get over 50 inches in this state. But five feet (60 inches)? No, I don't think that's possible. I've probably caught, or seen caught, as many muskies in the high-40-inches range as anyone else in the state and I will say from my experience that they always look bigger in the water than they measure on the tape. I've been off by as much as 6 inches, i.e., playing a fish I thought would go 46 or 47 inches that actually was only a 40-incher. What I'm saying is the view of a fish in the water fools the most experienced anglers, even when we get a really good look at them. To put it frankly, your friend's story of a five foot long tiger muskie in Curlew Lake is not plausible. Could he have spotted a 44 or 45 incher? Yes, that's very possible. A 48 incher in Curlew Lake? It's conceivable. I'm absolutely not saying he intentionally exaggerated, but these very impressive fish do acquire larger-than-life status in our minds. It happens to all of us, and is not to be taken as a put-down. Rather, it's a testament to the power that muskies hold over us.

Now ... I hope we can put our petty irritations aside and be friends. Or, if that's not possible, at least be allies in working together for our common interests in protecting and promoting this fishery.

[Anonymous]

[Don Wittenberger]

No KUP, I was thinking of myself when I wrote that; you write quite well, and you're probably wiser than me, too.

[Don Wittenberger]

Anyway, I've got a darn good idea of where the "petty irritations" came from. I should have ignored the Off Topic thread, and kept my beak out of the rants going on there. My fault, and I knew better too. The surest way to help a fishing board go to the dogs is to start talking politics on it. Kick me in the behind for that one.

[Don Wittenberger]

Anyway, I've got an awfully good idea of where the "petty irritation" is coming from. I should have ignored the Off Topic thread, and kept my beak out of the rants going on there. My fault, and I knew better too. The surest way to help a fishing board to go to the dogs is to start talking politics on it. Kick me in the behind for that one.

[OneEyedTrout]

Kudos to you guys jumping on Mr. Wittenberger! I have been observing from afar, and it appears that this gentleman's ego preceeds him. Put down the keyboard and pick up the rod and reel Don! I was considering musky fishing (with the prodding from my buddy who has now stopped posting his tips and experiences because of you), but you have already taken the fun out of it. Honestly, who really gives a flyin' rat's wanker if I don't run out and buy a boat just like yours, or gear like yours? I could most likely be just as successful fishing from a bathtub with a c.b. antenna and weekwacker line! Frankly counselor, your puffed-up-chest arrogance really hits a nerve--magnified by 1.5....[-x

[Don Wittenberger]

Yeah, the plan is to run everybody off so I'll have all the muskies to myself. (wink-wink)

[muskie guy]

Well, I agree that Mr. Don can be a bit long winded. But even if you get a bit miffed at some things in life, you can't turn away from it if you really love it. And I really love the muskie fishing in this area so I guess a few aches will have to be medicated with liberal quatities of large lures.

Spokesman Review has a nice little article in it about a beatiful fish caught and released in Newman on April 24th. Allen Krant caught what looks to be a 48", 28 pounder while bass fishing, 12 pound line and no leader. He posted his report on max-fishing.com. "Luckiest muskie angler in the state" should have been the article title.

There was some speculation about the possiblity of this being a new record but I think any of the people with "big" fish experience can tell it's not quiet there. Especially when compared to Mike N's from Merwin or my big one from Hauser. Still, he had the fortitude to release the beast and should be congradulated. You can do so on the Newman lake reports. He seems like a really nice fella.

[A9]

If you guys don't want to read his information or posts, then don't. No one is going to force you to do it. Read at your own choice...But don't get pissy about it and just whine like kids....

He's got the freedom to write whatever he wants, and you got the freedom to read whatever you want...Interesting concept huh????

If his so called "arrogance" is getting on your nerves, then its your fault. You guys are letting him get to you, and thats your fault. ...It's actually sad that you all are getting so irritated and mad by what Don says and writes..You guys must have unhappy lives if you get so frustrated over this...

If you don't like his information, don't read it...Plain and simple

And if you guys or your friends stop posting here or think he "took the fun out of Musky Fishing" then you guys need to thicken your skin a bit....Seriously...He didn't bully ANYONE out of the WL.com forum...You guys made the choice to leave. Don't say he kicked you guys out or drove anyone away...Cause he didn't.

So lighten up guys...Read what you want, and ignore Don if he gets on your nerves....

[Mike Carey]

Boy, I wander away from a sub-forum for a few days and all heck breaks lose. I appreciate that you all haven't resorted to name-calling or asking me to referee. Looks like WL.com is growing it's community and with that comes personality differences. As long as we remember it's all about the fish... :-)

[muskie guy]

I like fish!! HA HA!!!

[Riverman]

I am looking forward to fishing Curlew for the first time this summer. Thank you Don for the informative summary of the lake conditions. And oh, I will be sure to post a picture of the 5 foot long muskie!

kind regards,

Jed V.
www.bikinibaitcompany.com8-[

[YellowBear]

I was up in the Colville area over the weekend and stopped by the local Wally world.
The guy at the sporting Dept told me a 50 lb Tiger had been caught out of Curlew last week.
Now I am just a newbie to the Muskie so my question to all you Muskie fellers is,Do you think thats true?

[bad esox]

No!!!! But hopefully sometime in the future I will be able to say yes!!! If we begin to practice the C-P-R philosophy (Catch-Photograph-Release) a 50lb. fish would be a "possibility" someday. We are getting some fish approaching the 50 inch mark. I would love to see the pics.... Maybe in the future.