I am officially stuck with Cady. Although, we will see how the PMTT goes this year.

If he fails to catch a legal in any tourny this year, I may have to force him to renegotiate our tournament contract

It is going to be a LONG 1.5 years waiting for this one !!!

Well boys, I am sure I will see ya on the water prefishing alot in the next 2 summers.

Might even have to stop by the famous island with some Scooby Snacks and try to entice some hot spots out of you

I will be there fellas.

MT:

When you sending deposit in? I wonder how long it will take to fill?

I believe I saw this on the new Lindner’s show, “Angling Edge.”

Looks pretty cool and efficient to me.

Like I was saying Ace, a HIGH majority of “recreational” anlgers can’t tell the difference between muskies and northerns.

It’s sad.

All I know is the day I see a sub-legal musky in the possession of an angler, you can bet TIP will get a call.

Probably all they will get is a slap on the wrist, but I feel like they should be treated harshly … as is poaching a deer, extra geese, ducks, etc.

It is ILLEGAL, plain and simple !!!

Eating muskies? Yikes

Anyways, I will leave that alone for now.

There have been all kinds of ideas of what to do about increase the size and number of muskies caught.

The whole idea of a “stamp” has been brought up. Just like trout stamps in MN, a Musky stamp would be needed to keep a fish. The stamp would generate some revenue for the DNR to help stocking programs.

The only problem is that most die hard musky anglers would not even purchase a stamp because they have no intention of ever keeping a fish.

It would however, force the weekend angler who happens upon a musky to release the fish since no musky stamp is in possession.

Although, it will never fix the fact that alot of people don’t know the difference between Northern Pike and Musky and are keeping sub-legal muskies on a stringer fishing off the local dock thinking it’s a pike. (Although, increased size limits wouldn’t help that either).

My personal opinion is that continued education about catch and release and increased size limits, will benefit the musky programs greatly for years to come.

Whew ! 20 lures to choose from eh?

I am just going to start rattling off my favorite lures:

Bulldawg, Phantom, Shady Tail, Top Raider, Giant Jackpot, Slammer, Rad Dog Spinner, Suick, Undertaker …

I don’t know much about St. Claire, but here are some good trolling crankbait lures:

Grandmas, Slammers, Jakes, Believers, Wiley Baits

I am all for it.

Does it mean I will have to fish for something besides muskies …

Tuff Line is the only way to go for Musky Fishing. I use both the 50 lb and 80 lb versions.

I use single wire leader for jerkbaits and cranks, and use seven-strand wire leader for bucktails and spinners.

Usually, both are about 9″ leaders. Definitely all with Stay-lok snaps.

I agree Yo- Zuri. I am not saying that they don’t have the right to keep fish, if the DNR says it’s ok, who am I to judge.

I just wish the state of Wisc would get into the 2000’s and increase size limits to protect their state fish. Wisconsin historically has been the “Musky Capital”

of the world.

But with the DNR still having a 34″ limit on a majority of lakes and the catch and kill ratio still too high in my opinion, they are no longer the Musky Capital.

Just look at recent Muskie Inc release lists. The high majority of monster muskies are coming from Minnesota and Canada (obviously), and even states like Illinois (who by the way I believe has a 48″ limit on all lakes).

Unfortunately the Wisc DNR has fallen behind in their qwest for large muskies because of pressure from resort owners who think that people traveling to “their” lake should have the right to keep a fish.

Well, I will end it with this. The day a 34″ musky is a trophy, is the day a 1 lb largemouth is a trophy too.

I think the state of Wisc tourism is suffering from their lack of management for large fish. Heck, look at all the “big name” musky anglers from nothern Wisconsin.

You think they are filming their big fish shows in their home state?

The answer to that is … no.

I agree Ace. For some reason, catch and release has not caught on in Shortsconsin as fast as it has in MN or other states.

That’s why Wisc is having such a hard time getting size limits increased. Too many people want to be able to keep smaller fish because they think they are trophies.

Don’t get me wrong, a high majority of the musky anglers in Wisc are releasing fish, but I still think WAY TOO many are being kept and killed in Wisc versus other states with higher size limits.

Please get out and vote tomorrow if this is in your area !!!

Nice fish. Too bad the first picture was taken on land and doubtful the fish was released

It’s a great site with lots of info. It deserves more traffic !!!

I caught a musky last summer out of 1 foot of water in “grassy” type weeds. I have seen plenty of muskies swimming in shallow water with their fin sticking out of the water like a shark.

Steve:

As much as I hate fighting the wind with the trolling motor. I do now that I tried it much more last summer and managed to come in contact with more fish than previous summers.

I personally have not targeted deep water yet, but I will experiment this summer.

Although, I do have a friend who was watching his graph and found a cloud of bait fish in 70 feet of water. He stopped and on his first few casts nailed a mid-to upper 40″ ski.

Goes to show they are where the food is.

Well, my question did not get answered, but thanks anyways.

I am extremely happy with my Crestliner Fish Hawk for right now. I was just wondering if I did move to the “bass” style boat for musky fishing, I would take a look at Pro Crafts !

Tip ups outside and me inside the warm shack enjoying an ice cold beverage

Welcome to the EFN team.

I agree about the tourney hours too. You know there will be some guys fishing plenty of days prior trying to catch “the big one” then keeping it alive until the tourney rolls around.

Way too many idiots out there that would try to cheat with this format in my opinion.

Nice fish. Wonder if it came off a MN Metro lake or up north?

Once you get the “fever” it never goes away …

Nice fish. I wish I could catch them like that in the tourneys I fish.

For all musky fishermen out there that are interested in tournaments, I encourage you to fish an event or two.

My first year this year was a blast !!!

H20 fowler:

That was not me. It must’ve been my musky tourney partner since we are the only ones with those stickers on our trucks.

It’s kind of funny. You’d be amazed at how many people notice that sticker and comment on it.

I fished out that exact set-up on LOTW for 7 days this past summer.

I was very impressed how well that boat handled the waves.

Can’t determine if the price is fair or not since I personally own a Crestliner and don’t know what Alumas are going for.

Matt Beulke

I agree with both comments above. If the weather has been stable for a few days, burning bucktails near weed edges would be the best bet.

Topwater in early morning or later in the evening is always fun.

When the going has gotten tough this year, I have resorted to glide baits. For some reason when I can’t get fish to move, I slap on a Phantom or a Power Probe and see fish.