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Location: Athens, Ohio | Just saw on he Columbus local news where a station up there went to $5 / gallon regular (4.999 or whatever). I have a trip planned for in the morning and I hope the $4.49 gas I put in the wife's car today is as high as I will see. My muskie waters are 2, 2.5, 3 hr drives.
At $5, I'm going bass fishing in my local lakes until someone gets this fixed. What is your squeal point for muskie fishing travel cost? m |
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Posts: 2096
| $10/gallon for me - until then I'll travel as normal life's too short to worry about an extra $40-50 buck a tank @ $5/gallon ...sell some baits 
Edited by IAJustin 4/29/2026 9:06 PM
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Posts: 454
Location: SW Ohio | I'll fish local lakes but put off making long runs. Diesel has been over $5/gal for a while now. |
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| While I don't like paying $4.99 for diesel like I did for my recent trip to Rochester, MN from northern WI, it won't stop me from going anywhere. Reality is that fuel is only part of the equation. Look at the cost of vehicles. Maintenance of vehicles has grown far faster than fuel cost. I bought a new Tahoe with the baby Duramax in 2024, got an extended warranty for 5 years, bumper to bumper. I am thinking that unlike my last two trucks, I will trade it at 5 years. Recently had a sensor replaced under warranty. Had I paid full cost, with labor it would have been over $400 and it is basically a plug and play replacement. |
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Posts: 160
Location: Roscoe IL | Part of my compensation package is a fuel card for all use, i guess id have to ask the CFO what his squeal point is LOL (ive never used it for filling the boat up or anything like that, but it fills my duramax up at least once a week)
Edited by ILESOX 4/30/2026 8:24 AM
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Posts: 1701
Location: Brighton CO. | My Dad passed ten years ago and I'm driving his car, it had 56,000+ on it when I started driving it and I have 119,000+ on it now. I fish in the town pond close to home and shop locally. Or if I go farter I'll hit Costco, Trader Joes, Spouts and a mom and pop meat market and Cabela's in a big circle. So besides the cost of gas I try to kept the miles down on my car so I don't have to buy a different one. Yesterday I went and had lunch with a friend then went to his home and watched a movie. He gave me some Muskie photo's from our last couple trips including one real special one from last trip. I had caught a 40" Tiger and it went thru the bottom of the net as I went to take it out. (there was a hole in the guides net) Another client caught the same fish in the same spot a few weeks beforehand so my buddy had me put my arms out like I was holding a fish and took a photo when we had the guide send a photo of the other fisherman holding the fish. My friend photo shopped it. (now I have a fish picture of my largest Tiger. If it was just another Muskie who cares? How many pictures of 40 inch fish do I need but a Tiger that was different. |
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Posts: 1506
| It's kind of weird. The impact of the cost of gas, has the smallest effect on me now, than it ever has my entire life. I'm making more, and my expenses have gone way down. However, I'm not taking as many trips and fishing a lot less. Tired of the effort needed because I fish alone most of the time. Lost my main fishing buddy last summer, to cancer. I'm more likely to grab a fly rod and spinning rod, and buzz down to the driftless area and walk a stream, than I am to hook up the boat and go to a lake. Kind of feel like I've caught enough muskies, unless it's a giant hunt, or someone wants to take me. Probably selling the boat this summer. Might get a little jon boat for small rivers. |
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Posts: 192
| North of 8 - 4/30/2026 7:42 AM
While I don't like paying $4.99 for diesel like I did for my recent trip to Rochester, MN from northern WI, it won't stop me from going anywhere. Reality is that fuel is only part of the equation. Look at the cost of vehicles. Maintenance of vehicles has grown far faster than fuel cost. I bought a new Tahoe with the baby Duramax in 2024, got an extended warranty for 5 years, bumper to bumper. I am thinking that unlike my last two trucks, I will trade it at 5 years. Recently had a sensor replaced under warranty. Had I paid full cost, with labor it would have been over $400 and it is basically a plug and play replacement.
What would you trade it for? Anything new will be even more complex. |
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| Vilas15 - 4/30/2026 8:06 PM
North of 8 - 4/30/2026 7:42 AM
While I don't like paying $4.99 for diesel like I did for my recent trip to Rochester, MN from northern WI, it won't stop me from going anywhere. Reality is that fuel is only part of the equation. Look at the cost of vehicles. Maintenance of vehicles has grown far faster than fuel cost. I bought a new Tahoe with the baby Duramax in 2024, got an extended warranty for 5 years, bumper to bumper. I am thinking that unlike my last two trucks, I will trade it at 5 years. Recently had a sensor replaced under warranty. Had I paid full cost, with labor it would have been over $400 and it is basically a plug and play replacement.
What would you trade it for? Anything new will be even more complex.
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Posts: 1764
Location: Mt. Zion, IL | I was diagnosed with a serious cancer last year (41 years old). I’m not missing out on my favorite pass time with my dad or kids for some extra gas money. Life is short, I’ll make cuts in other areas if I have to in order to fund fuel, but I’m not missing out on time on the water for the price of gas. My truck gets 11-12 mph towing and my 621 holds 56 gallons of gas, river boat is more economical with a 6 gallon tank but is a lot less nice even in 12” chop.
I average 5-7 gallons a day on my local water in the big boat and 6 round trip to and from the lake. I can take the family to Culver’s for the same price as a day on the lake. One is much more memorable… |
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Posts: 125
| Expensive hobby! To put it in perspective it is $1.89/ L in Manitoba right now, I'm sure at the marina's it is over $2/L. That equals $7.15 / G. I really hope it goes down soon; I'll be using my trolling motor to go everywhere lol. |
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| RyanJoz - 4/30/2026 9:19 PM
I was diagnosed with a serious cancer last year (41 years old). I’m not missing out on my favorite pass time with my dad or kids for some extra gas money. Life is short, I’ll make cuts in other areas if I have to in order to fund fuel, but I’m not missing out on time on the water for the price of gas. My truck gets 11-12 mph towing and my 621 holds 56 gallons of gas, river boat is more economical with a 6 gallon tank but is a lot less nice even in 12” chop.
I average 5-7 gallons a day on my local water in the big boat and 6 round trip to and from the lake. I can take the family to Culver’s for the same price as a day on the lake. One is much more memorable…
Good priorities. |
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Posts: 701
Location: Duluth | Fuel costs won't stop me from fishing. The price of being miserable is far higher than even $10 gas.
These days I spend much more of my time in places where a fuel tank isn't necessary on the boat, if I bring one at all. I still fish a few annual trips with my buddies, and have excellent muskie water literally out my back door so the effort to fishing time is low.
Most of my angling effort is bushwacking small flows with my brittany in search of brook trout. I've mellowed out a lot. |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | Just found out the Super 8 me and Mauser stay in for our WV trips has gone up $17 / night.
I thought that guy doing the State of the Union thing said it all was all gonna go down...m |
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Posts: 2096
| My portfolio is up 10.5% in the last 4 months alone...guy giving the state of the union seams to being doing a decent job... from my view, heck that'll fund 4-5 years of fishing travel. |
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| IAJustin - 5/3/2026 8:18 AM
My portfolio is up 10.5% in the last 4 months alone...guy giving the state of the union seams to being doing a decent job... from my view, heck that'll fund 4-5 years of fishing travel. :)
Same here but I am not too confident in that P/E ratios are historical highs. Many years ago, I took a graduate class in the evening on Investment Analysis. One truism that was stressed is that markets hate uncertainty. Talked to my advisor last week in my semi-annual and she had no explanation for why markets have stayed so calm. She has been in the business for over 20 years, I hired her at the bank where I worked.
I gave her some good natured grief, saying 'hey, you are supposed to know this stuff'. |
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Posts: 1834
| For those who feel the need to rip the President for everything including the sun coming up, theres a home for you in the basement here. Complain to your hearts content, there will be many who will join in with you. |
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Posts: 1506
| Two bit piece don't buy no more.
Not so much as it done before. |
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| Well, I made a mistake on fuel. Really didn't expect it to jump this weekend, so didn't fill up with diesel. According to Gas Buddy this AM, $5.99 is the price in Rhinelander today. This is why I don't go to casinos, I am a terrible gambler. |
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Posts: 613
Location: WI | I will probably be getting more projects done around the house this summer than I may have been planning at the start of the year. Trips up north may be with kayaks instead of the boat. We don’t have to drive much so $4.50 coming home from Madison last Friday was a bit of a sticker shock. |
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Posts: 2390
Location: Chisholm, MN | I see a theme here where people just care less than ever about catching muskies. I'm with that crowd. I will still fish bc what else am I going to do? Sit on the couch and watch TV? But I will probably go less than usual this summer due to gas prices. Maybe I'll fish for other species closer to home. I also bought a little camper. Might park that on the lake and take less trips home and back. |
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Posts: 714
Location: Livin on a Prayer. | I'm with you Kirby. Understood. I have other adventures planned as well.
I'm also sorry for those with illnesses or handicaps that wont allow them to go at all.
And let the whining, crying, and squealing continue from the same old. Lol, have at it, you're an embarrassment. |
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| While fuel prices certainly impact folks, seems like there are many other costs that have really climbed in the last couple years, that would impact travel at least as much if not more. Stopped for lunch at Culvers and realized what I paid would have bought a meal in a nice sit down restaurant a couple years ago. Lodging has gone up dramatically, in part because municipalities keep piling on taxes. In April stayed at a chain motel, total cost of taxes was roughly 30% of cost. (SE Wisconsin)
Fortunately, beer prices have not been dramatically increased. |
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Posts: 714
Location: Livin on a Prayer. | God is Great, beer is good. And people are crazy.
Still holds true in my boat. |
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Posts: 7128
Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | I'm 51, don't take care of my health and work farrrrr too much. I'm going to MAKE myself go fish regardless of gas prices because life is too short no to! BUT, that means I'll pack PBJs, drinks and the such versus picking them up at the gas n sip on the way. I'll shop harder for better deals on lodging and tell myself "you don't need another X or Y bait, you have 3 already!".
I can cut costs elsewhere to make up for gas prices. |
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Posts: 58
| Like 8 years ago, the cost of gas where we travel to muskie fish in Canada was like $10.00 per gallon. Purchasing 2 cases of Labbatt Blue Light and filling up the Ranger 620 cost us like $340.00 American. 2 days later we went back to the marina for another fill-up but only got 1 case of beer. Roughly another $320.00 more. $660.00 in gas and beer! Was it worth it? To me yes! Any regrets? Not really because I was in one of my favorite places on this earth. Our group (Brothers and Nephews) takes an annual trip every year to the same body of water at roughly the same time every year. It is an event we wait all year for. We live for this Canada trip! We talk about it after we get home, during deer season, during the holidays, in the spring, and all year long. Since I believe that you are only given a certain amount of these trips in a lifetime, I am going to do whatever I can to make sure I go as many times as I am able. Because I am not guaranteed that the next one will come along - none of us are - I plan on going until the year I pass! You are not given tomorrow so why not go? We only live once. And I work hard so when I can take a break from my everyday responsibilities, I am going to spend what it costs at the time to enjoy the things I do. I'll cut back in other areas in my life so I can go. I'll give up a couple of other planned travel weekends, not eat out, and do projects and things I like to do closer to home. I have not muskie camped in a long time, but I bought a 6-person tent at a garage sale a couple of weeks ago that my wife helped organize. It will help me travel less expensively rather than staying in a hotel and eating out. The bonus is that the tent was never used! I have the camping/cooking gear so why not camp. That is just one example for me personally. But since nothing is guaranteed tomorrow, I am going to figure out how to go muskie fishing today. While I hope gas prices do come down, I am still going to travel and keep after the muskies. I will not have any regrets. But yes, trust me, I would like the gas prices to come down as I don't really want to cut out other portions of what I do. But it just helps me determine my priorities and what is important to me. |
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| Excellent post Guzzler. If we stop and think about it, we can often find things are nice but maybe not necessary to our main objective. |
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Posts: 714
Location: Livin on a Prayer. | Between Andrew and Guzzler, I have to say....
Whoomp. There it is.
Onward. |
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Posts: 1701
Location: Brighton CO. | I take pretty good care of myself and have had only a few Eye Doctors and Dentists, well my Eye doctor retired in April and my dentist is hanging it up this month. My eye doctor has a young girl in the office who will take over and I've had her in the past and she's great. My Dentist is moving to Texas and besides being my Dentist he's been a fishing buddy. We're going to get out fishing before he moves and he wants to take trips with me to Wisconsin in the future. Later this month is Memorial Day and I take my Mom to the cemetery to put flowers on the family graves it used to be a mad house now it's like another day. I've out lived a lot of my older fishing buddies including my Dad and Grandpa. In 1987 after my Grandpa died I went up North and helped my Grandma with her place and two cousins came up to fish with me this is good this is the future for me.
One of the two died in 2002 in a motorcycle accident and the other died young in his 50's and has been gone for over ten years. Last fall on my Muskie trip I had some shoulder issues for the first time and I didn't work out all Winter then this spring I went to stain the deck and my old paint clothes didn't fit. Well I've lost four pounds all ready just from backing off what I eat and slowly but surely getting my shoulder back. I continue to work on things to fight off old age and ready for the next adventure. |
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Posts: 792
| Imo, Guzzler's post was the best of the year so far. Kdawg |
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Posts: 454
Location: SW Ohio | Wallet is a little lighter after filling up today. $111 for 19 gal of diesel. Hurts when I sit down, too.  |
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Posts: 1356
Location: E. Tenn | Getting my act together for my upcoming spring trip to the Northwoods... Gas is gonna cost me about $200 more than my trip last fall.. I'm not "good with it" but it is what it is..
What chaps my butt is getting bent over by the State of Illinois for towing a boat on their precious tollways.. What costs $6.00 in you're everyday vehicle, turns into $40.00 (actually $39.55) for the privilege of transporting a single axle trailer weighing right around a ton from the Indiana line to Beloit... and the same going back.
It wasn't too many years ago the cost was an extra 50% for the extra axle... that was no problem. Now the rig is considered to be "a medium truck".
It hasn't been to difficult finding a way to stay off the tollways, especially since I80/94 between I-65 and I-57 begin to gridlock earlier and earlier in the afternoon every trip. I find that interesting as well... I moved to South Bend from the South Side in 1977... There was a lot of construction on 80/94 then... and it's still going on..
Edited by miket55 5/11/2026 9:53 PM
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Posts: 160
Location: Roscoe IL | miket55 - 5/11/2026 9:42 PM
Getting my act together for my upcoming spring trip to the Northwoods... Gas is gonna cost me about $200 more than my trip last fall.. I'm not "good with it" but it is what it is..
What chaps my butt is getting bent over by the State of Illinois for towing a boat on their precious tollways.. What costs $6.00 in you're everyday vehicle, turns into $40.00 (actually $39.55) for the privilege of transporting a single axle trailer weighing right around a ton from the Indiana line to Beloit... and the same going back.
It wasn't too many years ago the cost was an extra 50% for the extra axle... that was no problem. Now the rig is considered to be "a medium truck".
It hasn't been to difficult finding a way to stay off the tollways, especially since I80/94 between I-65 and I-57 begin to gridlock earlier and earlier in the afternoon every trip. I find that interesting as well... I moved to South Bend from the South Side in 1977... There was a lot of construction on 80/94 then... and it's still going on..
You can save some tolls if you get on 80 or 88 to 39, get off on bypass 20 and take 251 north to south beloit, and get on the interstate at the south beloit exit. More time, but it'd save you a few bucks, personally not worth it to me, but im fortunate to live on the state line and able to get around the tolls without going out of my way. |
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Posts: 640
Location: Bloomington, MN | I'm actually renting a boat this year on Long Legged instead of trailering mine. The fuel saved and wear and tear may be worth it.
Edited by Clark A 5/12/2026 11:20 PM
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Posts: 1356
Location: E. Tenn | ILESOX - 5/12/2026 9:19 AM
miket55 - 5/11/2026 9:42 PM
Getting my act together for my upcoming spring trip to the Northwoods... Gas is gonna cost me about $200 more than my trip last fall.. I'm not "good with it" but it is what it is..
What chaps my butt is getting bent over by the State of Illinois for towing a boat on their precious tollways.. What costs $6.00 in you're everyday vehicle, turns into $40.00 (actually $39.55) for the privilege of transporting a single axle trailer weighing right around a ton from the Indiana line to Beloit... and the same going back.
It wasn't too many years ago the cost was an extra 50% for the extra axle... that was no problem. Now the rig is considered to be "a medium truck".
It hasn't been to difficult finding a way to stay off the tollways, especially since I80/94 between I-65 and I-57 begin to gridlock earlier and earlier in the afternoon every trip. I find that interesting as well... I moved to South Bend from the South Side in 1977... There was a lot of construction on 80/94 then... and it's still going on..
You can save some tolls if you get on 80 or 88 to 39, get off on bypass 20 and take 251 north to south beloit, and get on the interstate at the south beloit exit. More time, but it'd save you a few bucks, personally not worth it to me, but im fortunate to live on the state line and able to get around the tolls without going out of my way.
I usually meet up with my brother, in the NW 'burbs and spend the night, which is the only reason for me to deal with Chicago area traffic, otherwise 74 out of Indy, to 39 works great. With traffic on the interstates slowing earlier and earlier in the afternoon anymore, hopping off 65, taking back roads to Morris, 47 north then heading back east a bit works out about the same timewise..
Heading out of the 'burbs, 20 to Belvidere, and IL76, WI-140 to US-14 takes 25 minutes longer, but meets 90/39 right at a planned gas/breakfast stop.. win-win.
The only obsacle after that is Rollie & Helen's.... even my new ride pulls itself into the lot.. but I guess some things can't be helped.
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| Had to laugh about the Rollie & Helen's auto stop. Bought a new vehicle from the dealer just north of the shop two years ago. Every time I go for routine service have to try and drive by the Musky Shop. Last week I realized it was actually a little shorter to take other route and come into the dealership from the north. Will save me a few minutes and many dollars. |
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Posts: 1701
Location: Brighton CO. | A few days ago I pulled up R&H web site and they had instructions on how to get around some construction in the area of the shop. And they are always cops on the overpasses with there radar guns clocking people on HWY 51. |
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Posts: 1356
Location: E. Tenn | Chuckski... Looks like I'll be skipping that R&H visit, (my wallet thanks you and DOT). Dragging the boat, I don't go over the limit anyway, and yes there's been a lot of radar from Portage all the way up the last couple years.
No of 8: Instead of Hwy D, I'll bet you're going up to J these days... and I just noticed the Hwy 8 closure.. Traffic through Rhinelander's gonna be a joy this summer. |
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| Instead of taking K to 51, I take 47 to J, then back on 51. A couple miles shorter and probably 5 minutes shorter from Rhinelander.
To accommodate the anticipated traffic from the Hwy 8 closure, Rhinelander and the state repaved Lincoln St. That is going to be where the heavy traffic will be. But some will continue north on 17, take Timber and wind through town, eventually hooking up with 47, if going north. But Hwy 8 in that relatively short section is a mess. It is 45mph but signs advising rough road and suggesting 35mph have been up for 2 years.
Also putting in a roundabout and eliminating at least one set of lights. Should smooth traffic flow. |
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Squeal Point