crawdaddy wrote:

It is pretty clear that ffs in musky fishing is a superior tactic versus doing it “old school.” From what I’ve heard in the musky tournament circuit, a guy showed up with screens and transducers all over his boat and won dang near every derby that year. They then outlawed the use of ffs in that musky circuit.

You heard wrong. They won one tournament and blew everyone out of the water and they were banned shortly after. I don’t really care what the pro tourneys do. Just pointing out the false hearsay.

Ffs can be deadly in certain scenarios, certain times of year and/or on certain bodies of water. But sometimes it is not the best method. If FFS was still allowed there would still be tons of tourneys won by those not using it.

Gim, you repeatedly bring up the Muskie record in ffs debates like it has some bearing on the discussion. IMO it does not which is why I pointed that out. Maybe it does to you but to those aware of all the record breaking weight fish released it is kind of meaning less. There have been fish released that were bigger than the current record that was recently killed. If you actually care about Muskie records (majority don’t) I would think you’d find those fish interesting. Pretty good video documentation on some of them. Check em out and decide for yourself if they are just ‘tall tales’.

gim wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>FinnyDinDin wrote:</div>
The record has been broke many times on Mille lacs by people not using FFS but they weren’t kept so they weren’t in the record books. The recent record was only kept because it died on the angler according to his story.

Point being, ffs has little to do with the Muskie records because most anglers (with or without ffs) aren’t going to kill the fish. So IMO state record Muskies really don’t apply to the ffs debate.

Its not a record until its certified as one. I could say I have a dozen of them if I wanted to but until its documented properly and certified by the state, its nothing but a tall tail.

You don’t have to kill the fish to receive a record. C & R length state record has been around for pure strain muskie, lake sturgeon, catfish, and northern pike for years now. More have been added recently too.

You do have to kill it to receive the weight state record though.

The part about muskie stocking is completely true. The data proves it.

Length and width makes it pretty clear if a Muskie would break a record. You’re clearly naive if you aren’t aware of all the record breaking fish that have been let go on Mille lacs. Pictures of length, girth and weight scales tell the story. If you want to call it a tall tail fine, stick your head in the sand a little more.

The length c&r length record is pointless with Muskies. A fat 45 incher can weigh more than a skinny 55. Until a 60 incher is caught, no one in the know cares that much about a length record.

Point being, bringing up the fact that the recent record was caught with a ffs is meaningless to the ffs debate. No body cares.

Maybe people should point out the big changes to stocking. With more Muskies would ffs even be an issue?? Muskie fishing in MN was on a downward trend before ffs came to the scene due to stocking. Now ffs seems like the easy scapegoat everyone wants to talk about. FWIW I do not fish Muskies with ffs.

One is that muskie fishing in Mille Lacs is far less productive now than in the 1990s. Hugely popular among muskie anglers of that era, the slump prompted a dispersal of perhaps thousands of muskie anglers to other Minnesota and Wisconsin lakes, increasing pressure on muskies in those waters.

Anybody care to guess why this happened? When you reduce stocking by about 95% the fishing success is going to change.

gim wrote:

Of note, all of the recent state muskie records (and the most recent IGFA one) were all taken using this technology.

The record has been broke many times on Mille lacs by people not using FFS but they weren’t kept so they weren’t in the record books. The recent record was only kept because it died on the angler according to his story.

Point being, ffs has little to do with the Muskie records because most anglers (with or without ffs) aren’t going to kill the fish. So IMO state record Muskies really don’t apply to the ffs debate.

People may be more apt to keep a tiger since they don’t spawn. Tiger record has also been crushed on the St. Louis but fish wasn’t kept because it was too short and not legal to be bonked.

It is a good waterfowl lake. It is probably one of the highest pressured lakes in the state due to its location but it does provide good shoots on migration days.

Well said bearcat. Being safe on early ice is not difficult. Education and safety should be the focus for kids just like we do with firearm safety. Preaching avoidance is not the answer.

I do not know of anyone who has died who was using proper early ice safety. If these kids drove on to 1-2 inches with an atv they were clearly being careless. Tragic indeed.

gim wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>phishingruven wrote:</div>
stop calling it an assassination. It was a murder. If it was an assassination, you need to call every murder an assassination.

Calm down dude

Take it up with the OP who started the thread and titled it CEO ASSN.

And every news network that is calling it the same. Because that is what it was.

Very interesting story to follow. It’s like it’s straight out of Hollywood.

Dutchboy wrote:

He was born in Iowa not that has any bearing on anything. My point was if he wasn’t a resident of Minnesota, filthy rich and a CEO of a fortune top 100 this would have generated a paragraph of coverage.

What does being a Minnesota resident have to do with anything? The whole country is following this story.

phishingruven wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>gimruis wrote:</div>
I’ll echo what has already been said. I have a lot of beef with health insurance companies and the (un)affordable care act, but that doesn’t mean someone should be assassinated like this.

I agree that the guy may never get caught, which is pretty astonishing in this day and age in a large city like NY.

stop calling it an assassination. It was a murder. If it was an assassination, you need to call every murder an assassination.

The dictionary would disagree.

I have beat the hell out of my big buddies and they have treated me well. I broke my first one but it was expected. Most of the plastic housing was busted off by the time the guts failed. Long snowmobile rides on rough ice are brutal on gear in a sled.

If you use a tank and hose make sure to bleed the line with something narrow like forceps or a nail. That will eliminate the the problem highbreeze mentioned.

I haven’t checked out the heat hog but now bearcat has me intrigued.

Deuces wrote:

In your fellas opinion is the lakes forage base currently able to handle more fish in the system?

Definitely. Especially so with the huge herring hatch.

Fortunately fish swim and they know no boundaries so lots of stocked fish from WI and Canada get caught in MN. And that includes stocked lake trout that come from WI. Just think how good it could be if MN chipped in.

It’s not just lake superior stocking where the MNDNR is slacking. MN stocking program is a joke for most species when you compare them to WI.

fishthumper wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>B-man wrote:</div>
It’s true the lake no longer needs help with lake trout, but I wish they’d dump in Browns, Kings, Steelhead, Splake, etc.

Thankfully ALL of their neighbors spend license money doing so (Wisconsin, Ontario, Michigan). Those bonus fish are a lot of fun!!!

Wisc. says Minnesota can keep those oil cans in their Big lake. We prefer out Kings and other trout. Most guides in Wisc. look down at the Lake Trout. They are their Bonus fish

Which guides in WI look down on lakers in lake superior? I know several of the guides in wi pretty well and don’t know a single one that has that attitude.

Maybe you are referring to Lake Michigan? If that’s the case, all I can say is all the fish taste like trash out of Michigan due to the alewife diet. My opinion of course. I don’t even like them smoked.

Tswoboda is right the plan is to continue to stock steelhead and this started when the looper program ended. That’s great and all but those fish primarily only benefit the stream fisherman. I really wish they would stock some kings, browns and splake. Kings make the most sense with the cold MN waters.

Where you located? Got a buddy that is looking for a flasher.

Thanks for the tip on the HDI stuff Joe. I ordered the shuttle, pole, bag and ducer cover. I am going to buy the 34 system and head unit locally.

Now I just gotta sell my used 32. Just in time for the $1,800 scheels sale…

I found 4 inches on a lake in northern MN yesterday. I also found my first (and hopefully last) skunk of the year. Not the start to the season I was expecting. Heading out to try another little lake this morning.

Some bigger lakes in the area are still wide open.

I shouldn’t have said Garmin rep. I talked to one of the largest Garmin dealers. He has direct contact with the head product people at Garmin and asks about releases before they make big orders. If Garmin lies to them and makes a release after they make a huge order they will be burning key relationships.

Got any recommendations on shuttles and poles Joe? You seem pretty in tune with the livescopes. I think im gonna go with a whole new 34 system and just sell my 32 package. I figure the cost should work out about the same vs just buying the 34 ducer for my existing set up.

Because they are old tech. No mapping and no live sonar. Vex is the king of the flasher brands but I wonder how long they can hold on when that is all they produce. If ffs isn’t banned (which I don’t think it will be anytime soon) I just don’t see any company only producing flashers lasting another decade.

These prices really make you realize the mark up they enjoyed from the strong brand name and reputation for so many years.

I just talked to a Garmin rep and he said next release is two years out. I think I’m gonna pull the trigger on the 34 soon.

3Rivers wrote:

Only $5k!

I thought the same. Crazy price point considering Garmin is still king in the ffs world.

The little lake I live in northern mn locked up last night. I’m thinking Saturday it should be good to go. Possibly Friday.

Bearcat89 wrote:

I’ll continue to be one of the guys who doesn’t stare down at a screen the entire time in the great out doors on the water. And teach my kid the same.
There is nothing even a little exciting about these releases

Aside from tip up fishing, don’t you stare at a flasher most of the time? I know I did and don’t feel that my eye balls are on the screen more or less when switching from a flasher to live scope for ice fishing.

I don’t use it on open water for that very reason though. I don’t want to stare at the screen all day when in the boat. Plus open water fishing is a completely different game than ice.

I am planning on ice fishing this weekend. I think a lot of lakes will lock up tonight now that the wind died down.

Most of the lakes on the game plan are pretty remote so hopefully they won’t be loaded with rocks that dumazzes tossed on the ice.

Not sure how many waterfowl hunters we got on here but tanglefree has some killer deals. Their panel blinds and the 360 blind are nice products. I picked up some snow covers for my panel.

I heard Sitka is doing a 40% off code for cyber Monday. Not sure if that is for everyone or just a friends/family deal. I might be able to hook up a code if it’s not available to all.

gim wrote:

It’s a complete mudhole where I hunt. Standing water in every ditch too.

That doesn’t sound like drought conditions to me!

I had planned on updating to the 34 from the 32. Now you have me wondering if I should wait.

Congrats on the giant Jake!

KPE wrote:

I want to show off my chart reading too. Snow-water equivalent varies depending on the temperature. Looking at a common temp range, 15-19F, 20″ of rain is equal to about 1″ worth of rain.

So even if we get a 24″ snowfall it’s not worth much in terms of water.

My yard has been perpetually damp for several weeks, and I have very little tree cover and high winds every day. I don’t think my yard got into draught mode all summer. This is the first summer in 4 years that I never stopped mowing for 4 weeks at a time, we just kept getting rain once a week and everything was lush and green all year.

Neighbor lost some corn crops due to excessive water. Not a lot but some. I’m 30 miles from downtown St. Paul.

But Gims map said you were in a drought. It doesn’t matter what you see with your own eyes. It’s science! You’ll take your drought and you’ll like it!

The drought monitor can be deceiving. A couple years ago when we had record snow fall it said we were still in extreme drought. You’d have convincing someone looking at their 5 foot high snow banks that we were in an extreme drought. Rivers flooded in the spring and we were still in a drought according to the map.

Sometimes you gotta use your own eyes and common sense.