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Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | Is it? |
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Posts: 1516
| I don’t think so. I’m not an elitist but I Muskie fish |
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| My definition of elite includes limited acceptance,,, musky fishing anybody can pursue without any approval. |
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Posts: 103
Location: Miller time Wisconsin. | Subscribed for any future OP clarifications and contexts of offered vagueness. |
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| Maybe a little obsessive but I don't think elitist. Working as a clean waters/clean boats volunteer at the launch on the chain where I live, mostly see fishermen, very few pleasure/sport boats. The musky fishermen are both the nicest people and the biggest jerks. No one type that I can see. |
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Posts: 20180
Location: oswego, il | There are plenty of giant egos and big drama to clash with in the Musky fishing world. If you get heavily involved it will find you. If you think no more Muskies is really about the fish, think again.
Edited by ToddM 4/15/2021 7:23 PM
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| Only if masochism is now considered elite. |
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Posts: 34
| It ain't golf but many treat it as such. For a picture. |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | If catching a trophy bass while muskie fishing and getting peeedoff it wasn't a real 'fish' makes me one, then, yup. m
[img]https://i.postimg.cc/jwrT5Py6/DSCN1258.jpg[/img] |
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Location: Northern Illinois | Uh...no |
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Location: E. Tenn | ToddM - 4/15/2021 8:21 PM
There are plenty of giant egos and big drama to clash with in the Musky fishing world. If you get heavily involved it will find you.
Only if you let it..
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Posts: 607
Location: Bloomington, MN | Andrew, if you mean that muskie fisherman have a superior attitude you may have been correct 6-10 years ago. Those days are hopefully gone, but even at the KWMT there are a couple of snooty hind ends every year. Looking at Mikie and Mauser pics shows everyone you don't need a $70000 boat to get fish. Missed you Mikie! I actually insisted my friends change the lures they were using before we docked at Theil's on Pelican for lunch whether we caught or saw a fish 20 years ago. Maybe Mr. Worrall did the same, but I always made mental notes of the arsenal in his boat. I fished Mille Lacs before and during the "Boom", and the lake was loaded with testosterone! Those guys didn't need boat lights at night and basically claimed Vineland Bay and Wealthwood. Lots of words were exchanged at that time. I no longer have any secrets to give up and share what little I know. I personally believe some bass guys have taken the theatrical mayhem of "Look at me, I'm special!" to whole different level. I just did the math, Theil's was 35+ years ago. Time for the home.
Edited by Clark A 4/16/2021 12:01 AM
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Location: Athens, Ohio | Thanks for the props. I run my dad's 1978 BassTracker, with many modifications I've made to the deck, electronics, etc. That 9.9 gets me into some of my best local lakes, and will eventually get me around many of the others.
Now, those who have known me a while may remember my 21 ft Gambler with the 225 hp screamer on it; it got me fish, too and if someone wishes to gift me with a $70K boat, I'll try my best to net a few in it, too.
As far as the "E' word, I do believe that our branch of sport fishing houses some of the very best anglers of any species. m |
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Posts: 267
Location: Central Pennsylvania | Actually saw a video calling musky fisherman pretentious, then saw a few comments calling us elitists. I thought it was kind of interesting, as I've met very few but all seemed to be very humble. I have talked to a few who seemed to have very inflated egos, though, not every one in the great sport of musky fishing is like this. |
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Posts: 357
| Personally id say it elitist. Just listen to the chastising anytime anyone holds one wrong, or kept a trophy, or kills a fish. Constant debating world records, claiming everyone is a liar about their claimed sizes of fish in photos...etc. Like it or not its a big part of why the walleye crowd despise muskies, they bring the muskie fisherman.
with the boom in popularity during the stocking booms, there were a lot of mn locals who came away with less than positive images of many gypsies. sometimes in a lot of cases that is fair, sometimes not.
as the fad starts to slow down with the declining # of fish (especially in MN) i think it will shift back to more purists than elitists. |
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Location: oswego, il | RJ_692 - 4/16/2021 7:37 AM
Personally id say it elitist. Just listen to the chastising anytime anyone holds one wrong, or kept a trophy, or kills a fish. Constant debating world records, claiming everyone is a liar about their claimed sizes of fish in photos...etc. Like it or not its a big part of why the walleye crowd despise muskies, they bring the muskie fisherman.
with the boom in popularity during the stocking booms, there were a lot of mn locals who came away with less than positive images of many gypsies. sometimes in a lot of cases that is fair, sometimes not.
as the fad starts to slow down with the declining # of fish (especially in MN) i think it will shift back to more purists than elitists.
The whole this is my water not yours is part of the elitism. It's interesting how many now "gypsie" to Florida I wonder how that is perceived. |
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Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | The dictionary definition that could be interpreted as negative applies to some muskie anglers out there, no doubt. As long as it's not all up in my face, I don't really notice or care much. There's very little of that here these days unless it's the positive of the definition describing one of our peers as one of the best.
There is a fair amount of drama at times, but that's part of any sport. All in all, I think we're a decent group of folks despite ourselves.
I get blasted occasionally on social by muskie anglers who have never met me, never have spoken to me....never have even emailed me. It's usually an 'us against them' sort of argument and I'm bundled in and then singled out because I felt compelled to comment. That's not elitism, that's just normal human bad behavior. Same with the 'my water' stuff, that's just people being ignorant.
No doubt the sport is growing, that's for sure. |
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Posts: 357
| ToddM - 4/16/2021 9:40 AM
RJ_692 - 4/16/2021 7:37 AM
Personally id say it elitist. Just listen to the chastising anytime anyone holds one wrong, or kept a trophy, or kills a fish. Constant debating world records, claiming everyone is a liar about their claimed sizes of fish in photos...etc. Like it or not its a big part of why the walleye crowd despise muskies, they bring the muskie fisherman.
with the boom in popularity during the stocking booms, there were a lot of mn locals who came away with less than positive images of many gypsies. sometimes in a lot of cases that is fair, sometimes not.
as the fad starts to slow down with the declining # of fish (especially in MN) i think it will shift back to more purists than elitists.
The whole this is my water not yours is part of the elitism. It's interesting how many now "gypsie" to Florida I wonder how that is perceived.
In many cases it was the opposite of the "its my water", it was i drove 12 hours to get here and im a musky fisherman get out of my way that prompted the perception of elitism. |
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Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | RJ_692 - 4/16/2021 10:14 AM
ToddM - 4/16/2021 9:40 AM
RJ_692 - 4/16/2021 7:37 AM
Personally id say it elitist. Just listen to the chastising anytime anyone holds one wrong, or kept a trophy, or kills a fish. Constant debating world records, claiming everyone is a liar about their claimed sizes of fish in photos...etc. Like it or not its a big part of why the walleye crowd despise muskies, they bring the muskie fisherman.
with the boom in popularity during the stocking booms, there were a lot of mn locals who came away with less than positive images of many gypsies. sometimes in a lot of cases that is fair, sometimes not.
as the fad starts to slow down with the declining # of fish (especially in MN) i think it will shift back to more purists than elitists.
The whole this is my water not yours is part of the elitism. It's interesting how many now "gypsie" to Florida I wonder how that is perceived.
In many cases it was the opposite of the "its my water", it was i drove 12 hours to get here and im a musky fisherman get out of my way that prompted the perception of elitism.
'Same with the 'my water' stuff, that's just people being ignorant.' Both sides of the argument there. |
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| I think its often perceived as such by those who don't know any better. To go "all in" on this crazy adventure, you need a $70,000 Ranger, $50,000 truck, $5k worth of electronics, several combos that can cost upwards of $1,000 each, $2,000 worth of clothes, and let's not forget 300 lures, that cost easily $20 a pop... Then you gotta go where the fish are. Gas, lodging, meals, bar tab..
Think about that... You come waltzing into the bar talking about the day's catch, they see your rig parked outside... All total, it cost more that their house.
Now we all know you don't NEED 75% of that stuff to catch muskies. I have enough gear that came off raffle tables to outfit myself quite nicely. But there's something about muskie fishing that causes even the brightest among us to lose all concept of money. And something about the personality of someone who will spend all day flinging lures at a fish that you may not even see (and throw back if you DO catch one) over and over and over again that doesn't make sense to a lot of people.
I've found most of them to be decent folks who just wanna fish, quietly, and go on about their way. But that's not who the "outsiders" notice.
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Posts: 267
| I finally became an Elite muskie angler this spring when I got my first pair of Costas. LOL. But I suppose casting out of my 30 year old boat might trump the Costas. |
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Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Smell_Esox - 4/16/2021 12:59 PM
I finally became an Elite muskie angler this spring when I got my first pair of Costas. LOL. But I suppose casting out of my 30 year old boat might trump the Costas.
Nah, the shades do the job.  |
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Location: oswego, il | Smell_Esox - 4/16/2021 12:59 PM
I finally became an Elite muskie angler this spring when I got my first pair of Costas. LOL. But I suppose casting out of my 30 year old boat might trump the Costas.
My crestliner has seen a couple hundred Muskies, my little 14' princecraft has seen at least 4X that. Mute point though I have two pairs of costas.
Edited by ToddM 4/16/2021 2:54 PM
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| I think there are just people who are better at it, and they're better at it because they have the money to do it. I've never used a fancy anything other than a rod and reel and reel, maybe a sweet hat. It is the same for any other person out there - "My 70k truck is so awesome with my 70k fishing vessel!" "Well my #*#*ty little car gets me to point B and back, so I can save up to be an awesome musky fishermen" That is where I am at. I always used to laugh when I'd see guys poundin bulldawgs for suspended fish in middle of August up here when temps peak out. They all have stickers and #*#* on their boats. I go flying by, probably "do worse" fishing-wise, but I'm still happy as happy is! I don't want to be a guide, I don't want to write a book or 8, I don't want to start a website. I do it because I love it. Maybe someday I'll have a fancy boat with spot lock or whatever the hell that is, unlearn everything I've known and catch more fish. Not really my goal. |
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| i did see that when i fished more a river known for muskys 10 years ago , but i saw a guide on same river up is nose at us and kind of make us feel like its HIS river now ! at least that how it felt to me , by the way i saw this guy struggling at it his fist years on it and being the nice fisherman that waved and did not look at you like you where fishing HIS water . but success and notoriety can go to anyone's head . |
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| becoming, no
has been for years |
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Location: Not where I want to be! | There's plenty around that think they're hot sh**. Probably accomplished at catching muskies but couldn't catch supper if they had to. I've come across plenty through the years that look down on bass fisherman and think that bass fishing isn't really fishing. Guess what, a good bass fisherman adapts to muskie fishing like a duck to water. Some of the best muskie anglers I know are really good bass fisherman. Now there are also bass guys and walleye guys that think their hot sh** also. |
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Location: Chisholm, MN | Has been for a good 15 years |
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| Ever been around a bass tournament? |
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| One thing that I suspect keeps muskie fishing from being too elitist is that it just takes so many hours and is such a low numbers fish to target. Many folks will often be happy to stick one fish on a week trip. It’s more like deer hunting in that sense moreso than fishing. Whereas with bass, folks can fish a lake for a day and compare limits of X or Y lbs caught, that’s much more difficult in muskie fishing. Also, we have more folks ‘swinging for the fences’: trying to catch the biggest fish of their life on any given trip. A lot of times, I’ll exclusively fish massive baits that I know will turn off smaller muskies, but that’s not what I’m targeting. So the timeline is spread out much further, almost into a lifetime, rather than how many fish or lb limit was caught in a given day.
All of this is to say that with muskies, there’s much less of a defined comparison benchmark for a ‘good’ versus ‘average’ or ‘bad’ angler because frankly we just catch so few fish overall. We can't as easily say "fancy gear X allowed me to catch Y fish, versus that other person with less fancy gear B that caught C fish". So I think that keeps egos in check, and the sport is much less focused on competition, which I suspect is highly coorelated with elitisim. |
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