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Posts: 63
Location: Indiana | Curious if anyone keeps stats on fish every year. I keep a pretty detailed spreadsheet, documenting all fish over 30”
Going back to 2018 our average fish is 40.12” ranging from 30-53.5
Some years are better than others but always seem to be within an inch of the 40” bogey. Had our best year ever last year in terms of number and got a 53.25 but still stuck at the 40 and change average. |
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Posts: 90
| I do the same as you as far as a detailed spreadsheet. I’ve found some variances in time of year on overall length (early season smaller average length compared to fall). I’m more of that 38-39 for average, but one year was 42 (been going since 2007). I’ve found some correlations between moon phase / wind direction, but that’s another story. I’ve caught one that went 11 inches…not a typo and on a hellhound no less! That can skew the numbers for sure. On the other hand the year I caught a 54”, the average length for that trip was 35.08”. |
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Posts: 159
Location: West Central WI | I go to Mylies every year. A month before I go, I log into the Muskies, Inc Lunge Log database and do a copy/paste of muskies caught in the last 30 days. After pasting to my own spreadsheet, I'll do a few sorts like bait type, color, length, etc to see if there are any trends that are worthy of my attention. I cherry pick my baits for each trip, starting with my past success and add a few baits/colors that seem to be the hot ones. I also sort by length and then calculate percent over 50", percent over 45", etc. Not sure any of that has really helped me but that exercise is always fun and part of my process of getting fired up for my trip. The length part of that is usually what gets me going and I always send that to those going with me. |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | See if this helps. m
http://www.redwinglodge.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Red-Wing-Lod... |
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Posts: 346
| Interesting stuff.
I have a concerning trend the last few years.A declining number of small fish-say under 35 inches.Hope it's just me. |
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Posts: 3487
Location: Elk River, Minnesota | Hiya!!
I'd say on my trips there that trend has been the same. Not catching many fish at all under the 35" mark.
Steve |
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Posts: 63
Location: Indiana | Dick, just got a copy of your book and can’t wait to dive in. On the topic of smaller fish, I took a look at the numbers and on LOTW the last two years 8 out of 61 fish were under 36”. Not sure how that compares to your numbers or what you would expect. The numbers of fish from 39-41 are crazy high. |
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Posts: 1438
Location: Brighton CO. | I was at Lake Of The Woods once back in September 93 we stayed at Redwing lodge and they had catch records for every year and at the time they said the average was 38.5 and I got one and it was 38.5. When we were there a week after Labor day there was a big temp drop and the air temp was in the upper 30's and rain and drizzle every day and all day. The last day the sun came out and was nice and I lost two fish both around 40 inches. We fished around a bad Algee bloom. |
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Posts: 63
Location: Indiana | I go crazy with a spreadsheet too. I have everything broken down by time buckets, spots, baits, and have plotted all catches against the moon phase. 2019 and 2023 highly correlated to moon phases—2024 not so much. |
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Posts: 2280
Location: SE, WI. | dickP - 2/12/2025 8:10 AM Interesting stuff. I have a concerning trend the last few years.A declining number of small fish-say under 35 inches.Hope it's just me. yep Dick, getting pretty concerning that we rarely catch a fish under 38-39” anymore. That said, we rarely bump fish unless near that magic mark! Less handling the better…. I do bump pike to take a few home for a fish fry  JD |
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Average size LOTW