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| A friend and myself want to plan a trip to MN this year, not sure where. But we'll be comin up from St. Louis and would hopefully like to get on a few decent fish late summer early fall. So rather than tug his boat up there with little experience on any water up north, we figured we might hire a guide. So, if anyone can provide any info about guide services/resorts/trips on this thread, that'd be great. Right now we have no set date or destination, so any and all info will be appreciated. Thanks |
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Posts: 82
Location: Central WI | Here's a couple websites to get you started, I've yet to fish in Minnesota, but these are a few I'd look at if it was me:
www.battlethebeast.com - Gregg Thomas
www.muskiebreath.com - Jason Hamernick
www.chadcain.com
www.mikehulbert.com
I'm sure there are a ton of great guides in MN, so I'll be watching this post too !!Chris
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Posts: 1184
Location: Iowa Great Lakes | Another choice http://muskystalker.com/ |
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Posts: 336
Location: Wheeling, IL. | why don't you join the MF Outing on Vermilion August 22-29 |
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Posts: 409
Location: Almond, WI | I'd pick a region or lake first. There's Bemidji, Cass, Leech, Mille Lacs, LOTW, Vermillion, and Metro Lakes, just to name some of the more popular destinations. All have good guides that specialize in musky. I haven't used any of them so I don't feel qualified to pimp any of them. You might want to cruise the MN DNR website for lake surveys and maps to get a feel for where you might want to go. |
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Posts: 75
| Look at the guides that are on the Operation Muskie Auction on this site.
That would be a greate place to start. I am sure that all of them would be able to get you on fish. They might even be able to help you select a lake or area to fish.
As already sugegsted check with the DNR and also the local Chanbers to get some information on the area you would like to visit.
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Posts: 574
| Lee Tauchen, and Jason Hammernick Both put obscene amounts of giant fish in the boat every year.
Check out the pics if you need further convincing
Leetauchen.com
Muskiebreath.com
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Posts: 1061
Location: Medford, WI | guest, I have limited amount of experience fishing Minnesota waters. I've fished Mille Lacs for 3-4 days and Vermilion for 7-8 days. Personally, I enjoy fishing Vermilion quite a bit more for several reasons. The scenery is much nicer in northern Minnesota than it is on Mille Lacs. The different types of structure you can find just within a small section of Vermilion are unlimited; there are islands and isolated bays everywhere.
As far as a resort, I would highly suggest Spring Bay Resort. Steve runs the resort and will be of great help in helping you find fish and overall, have a great experience up there. I believe he is available to hire as a guide as well and he knows the lake very well. Two other guides whom I've talked to and are very successful on Vermilion (and numerous other MN waters) are Matt Snyder and Jason Hammernick. As someone mentioned above, if it's possible to take the vacation during the MuskieFirst outing on Vermilion, that would be a great idea. You'll meet many people and have the opportunity to learn from each of them.
Like I said, I only have limited experience fishing Minnesota waters, but personally I enjoyed being on Vermilion much more than Mille Lacs.
Hope this helps, and if you have any questions, feel free to pm me on here.
-Jake Bucki |
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Posts: 202
| Guest, coming from a guy that does guide in the state I would say you should go by both guide and region. Now being that I guide in the Twin cities I would guess that visiting my area is not high on your list so with that in mind I would recommend either Jason Hamernick, Brad Hoppy or Gregg Thomas. All of these guys are well accomplished, professional guides who do this for a living. Now as for region you should talk to them before you put something down because I know that they do move depending on the fishing and should be able to give you a good idea where to stay for the time you select.
http://www.battlethebeast.com
http://www.muskymayhem.com
http://www.muskybreath.com
Hope your trip works out great. |
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Posts: 743
| Good morning Guest. good luck planning your trip MN this summer. you'll love your trip, no matter who/where you decide to go and fish with.
i went to northern MN to do a summer trip not too long ago. I fished with Mike Hulbert (in Bemidji area) and fishing was nothing short of spectacular. He found me a nice, big cabin that was cheap..so i had a cool place to stay and i could do all my cooking (it had full refriderator and kitchen). We fished a variety of lakes which it fun to switch it up a little bit..
I also felt that mike was really dialed into a night time bite too. we did catch some BIG fish during morning, day and evening but he also provided me some night time trips. the night time thing was totally awesome and gets your heart racing like no other fishing experience.
Before i went fishing with Mike on that trip, i thought i would never beat my old personal best ..but i was wrong. mike put me on biggest fish ever, we got it casting. it was LONG and FAT...way over 50"...every day we were on fish..that week i did not see one fish under 44"...44" was the smallest fish i saw all week. |
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| id second giving hulbert a call. if you can get your hands on a copy of the first episode of the musky hunter tv show for 2009, it would probablly help make up your mind. |
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| Another one to add to the list would be Kevin Cochran. He has been putting more and more 50's in the boat every season and works his tail off to put you in the right spots. You won't find a nicer guy on and off the water. Take a look at his website and check out the pics.
http://www.kevincochranguide.com/index.shtml |
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Posts: 5874
| Too bad Steve Jonesi is no longer guiding. That would have been my choice.
Lee Tauchen is very good, and would be one of my next picks.
Edited by Shep 3/2/2009 10:57 AM
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Posts: 734
Location: Watertown, MN | I will second brad post, Kevin is one heck of a stick up in Bemidji area, and has a true compassion for the conservation of the resources. Look him up and you will not be disappointed. Pick and area you want to travel to, and this would allow folks to give a better recommendation for guides.
Troyz |
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Posts: 63
Location: Indianapolis, IN | Guest,
All these guys are great sticks. However, If you decide to fish Cass Lake though, I'd go with my good buddy, Brian Jones. Brian is a multispecies guide who has a real passion for muskies! Brian is an absolute great fisherman, and a real blast to share a boat with! Brian can be reached at 612-730-9620!
Todd |
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Posts: 697
Location: Minnetonka | Rates are on the website. Good luck in your search!
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Posts: 2024
| Gregg Thomas for the central MN area. Kevin Cochran for the Bemidji area (though I've never fished with him, his reputation precedes him!!!). |
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Posts: 389
Location: Corning, Iowa | I'll second looking at Operation Musky Auction. Ther's alot of choices. Some of the best. Good Luck Doug |
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Posts: 5
| Hi
Check out Predator Guide Service.
www.predatorguideservice.com |
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Posts: 720
| Hi,
I've fished with one guide on one occasion. It was Gregg Thomas in Minnesota last fall. I have never fished with a guide before that trip. Having fished for musky for so long I just did think it was money well spent. I was wrong, wrong, wrong. It was a blast. The weather sucked, the fish were not jumping in the boat (although we caught 4 between 43" and 47"). But Gregg was as gracious of a host as I have met. I will go again with him. While I kind of thought this was a waste at first. I will try and book with him at least twice a year for as long as I have the money or that wonderful hillbilly has a boat. What an education. I learned more little tricks just by watching him in action than I could come up with in a year. I strongly recomend Gregg.
Dave VanDoorn |
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Posts: 203
Location: Alexandria, Minnesota | I would love to get you out , Dave Williamson www.muskystalker.com
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Posts: 324
Location: Waukee, IA | If you are thinking about fishing Leech Lake I would suggest Jim Flesch. He has been guiding there for 20+ years and really knows the lake well.
Always seems to have good days and is a lot of fun to fish with. |
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