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| Thought both the tourney guys and the soul fishin guys would enjoy this. Will it ever end?
ps. Where can I get a Reef Hawk? 
LINCOLN, Minn. -- Ron Fenske starts reeling the moment his orange Reef Hawk lure breaks the blue surface on Lake Alexander.
On weekends, muskie lovers flock to this lake, nestled between Cushing and Lincoln. In late summer, the muskie bite was picking up.
So is the tension within Muskies Inc.
The organization's primary goal is to acquire more muskie-stocked lakes. But a new issue has triggered internal conflict: whether the organization should support profit-based muskie tournaments.
Supporters say the tournaments, aside from providing fun for anglers, increase the popularity of muskie fishing and raise money for education about the sport.
Opponents include Fenske, the regional vice president of the organization's St. Cloud chapter. They say that tournaments hurt the organization's chances of getting more lakes stocked with muskies. The Department of Natural Resources has not stocked a new lake with muskies in five years.
They also contend that the advent of tournaments will propel lake associations to fight harder to restrict muskie stocking in the future.
The organization's official stance is expected to come out of Muskies Inc.'s 2004 international board meeting in Bemidji in October.
``I think they'll go against tournament fishing,'' said Fenske, a Little Falls resident who said his view is shared by most members in the St. Cloud chapter.
``I think they'll go for it,'' said Eric Guddal, a Maple Lake resident and professional muskie angler. ``It's the St. Cloud chapter, my chapter, that doesn't want it. The other chapters do.''
When Fenske talked about tournament fishing, he was sitting on a lake that was the subject of fierce debate for almost 15 years.
In 1988, the DNR stocked muskies in Lake Alexander, one of 63 Minnesota lakes currently stocked with the fish.
Come October, 317 muskie yearlings will be added. Over the years, many members of the Lake Alexander Property Owners Association have objected to the stocking. They said muskies, a nonnative, predator fish, will eat walleye and their forage.
The DNR refused to stop the stocking. The walleye, also stocked in the lake, have thrived. A muskie assessment on Lake Alexander this spring yielded the largest catch and largest average size of walleye by any method the DNR ever employed on that lake.
Muskies Inc. members work vigorously to get that message out to people opposed to muskie stocking. They spend money on educational videos on the characteristics of muskies.
Little Falls resident Tom Deml owns a cabin on Lake Alexander. He is one of 275 association members. He also is one of the 90 members of Muskies Inc.'s St. Cloud chapter.
He's persuaded some of his neighbors to support muskie stocking after they originally did not. He has no problem with profit-making tournaments. But not now.
``We're in America,'' he said. ``People have a right to have tournaments. But it will change the perception of muskies again.''
Bass tournaments, with nationally televised weigh-ins and enormous payouts, ignited an explosion of interest in the sport.
But some muskie anglers, having toiled for years to change the public's notion of their favorite fish, view tournaments as asking for too much too soon.
Fenske predicts lakeshore residents might cite potential muskie tournaments as a powder keg of fishing pressure. They'll refer to tournaments when imploring the DNR not to stock their lake with muskies.
Fenske also said muskies aren't caught at the same rate as bass, so a circuit's visual appeal won't generate as much excitement - or money.
He added that muskies need to be released shortly after they're caught to reduce their chance of death. In a tournament, the muskie has to be kept near the boat until a judge arrives to measure it.
Guddal said Fenske's concerns are unmerited. He said the pressure during a muskie tournament will be no different than the pressure on small lakes during a walleye or bass tournament. He said many lakeshore residents won't even realize a muskie tournament is happening on their lake.
``Nobody handles fish better than professional muskie anglers,'' he said. ``We have nets that are the size of a bathrobe.''
He said muskies swim within the large net while the judge comes to measure it and that the fish is never out of the water for more than 20 seconds.
``If the fish is dead or can't swim away, we don't win money,'' he said. ``People who don't like tournaments disguise their argument as if we're mishandling the fish. But there's money at stake for us.''
The Metro Muskie Tournament, held on a dozen Twin Cities-area lakes, is a fund-raising competition attracting about 400 anglers. It has contributed almost $30,000 toward muskie stocking.
But a statewide, profit-based tournament for muskies was met with fierce opposition.
Steve Cady, a muskie guide and longtime Muskies Inc. member, created the Minnesota Musky Championship Trail. The circuit scheduled dates on six lakes this summer and autumn, including Lake Alexander.
But the entire circuit was axed.
Cady said he and the sponsors received death threats - a major reason why it was canceled. He didn't speculate on who sent them.
``The St. Cloud chapter has some different views compared to Muskies Inc. in general,'' he wrote in an e-mail. ``A lot of that may have to do with the lack of muskie fishing available near St. Cloud.''
There are four muskie-stocked lakes within 60 miles of St. Cloud: Sugar Lake near the town of Maple Lake, Lake Miltona in Alexandria, Lake Shamineau and Lake Alexander.
``How would you feel if you had a scheduled vacation and it was during a muskie tournament?'' he continued. ``So it makes a lot of sense why Ron (Fenske) and some of the St. Cloud chapter feels this way. I say some because not all members of St. Cloud (are against tournaments).''
Fenske said he had never about the death threats, and he said he felt sympathetic toward Cady when he heard his tournaments were canceled.
``I feel he had the right to attempt to have them,'' said Fenske, an officer for the Minnesota National Guard at Camp Ripley.
While he doesn't see tournaments as a pivotal issue on larger lakes, he's steadfastly against them on smaller ones. Lake Alexander is 2,763 acres.
``If the homeowners start rallying, what's to stop the DNR from not stocking anymore?'' he said. ``If we can't get them to stock more lakes, then there'll be no more tournaments anyway.''
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Posts: 5874
| These people act as though muskie fishing has only been around a few years. Too much, too soon? Get real. My dad was muskie fishing before there was a MI, much less a St. Cloud Chapter. You know, way back when a four footer was the measure of a real trophy, and they clubbed most of the fish they caught. I know a lot of my Chapter, Milwaukee, fishes some tourneys. Heck, they hold a fund raiser tourney on Pewaukee with 130+ boats every spring. Is it ok to have a fundraiser tourney that benefits MI, but not a prize money tourney? Are they gonna stop stocking walleyes because thare are walleye prize money tourneys? I rather doubt it.
I'd be leaning towards not renewing my membership, should MI come out against tourneys.
"Fenske also said muskies aren't caught at the same rate as bass, so a circuit's visual appeal won't generate as much excitement - or money" Seems to me both the Cass Lake and the Lake Vermillion Tournies generated lots of excitement this year. Pretty sure that BobM didn't lose any money, and I know for a fact that the winners were quite excited. Lot's of people followed the Vermillion tourney daily, both on the net, and personally.
And why would somebody schedule a vacation,not knowing if there was also a tourney scheduled that weekend? It only takes a little effort to find this out.
Sorry, but it seems as though this chapter is a little skewed in it's thinking. 40+ other chapters in MI, and only this one thinks this way? Sounds as though one or two are speeking for the 90.
Edited by Shep 10/6/2004 2:13 PM
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| Great article the guy couldn't even get reef hawg right.
It was published in the St. Cloud Times. Funny that quotes for me are actually in it when I requested to NOT BE included in any article. Figures.
Anyways it has a bunch of other inaccuracies. Like the Metro tournament is a FOR PROFIT tournament. It gives alot of money back but it is for profit. Also the canceled MMCT was for profit but all of the proceeds were to be donated to stocking. And it also refers to MI and MI considering if it should be a part of for profit tournaments. The funny thing is the author has that so wrong it's actually not funny. Muskies Inc. is actually talking about running it's own big $$$ tournament trail for a fund raiser. THAT is what the vote at the Bemidji meeting is about.
Amazing that this continues. Great way to sell a magazine or a newspaper I guess.
Just fish. |
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| I have intentionally been apolitical in the Muskie realm for the last decade. (Mostly because of burn-out and personal challeneges.) However the decade before, I and others fought hard for the elimination of cash kill tournaments and the elimination of the Weight Division in a conservation based organization Muskies Inc's Members Only Contest and kill divisions in MI's fund raising tournaments. Believe it or not it was very difficult. Then came trying to justify subsistuting replicas for skin mounts. Then it was size limits on waters and all that entailed. Then came an effort to educate anglers to release trophy class fish which included pleas to the Ministry for the Lac Seul area to be closed to kill fishing for Muskies. The Ministry didn't even believe there were Muskies there. It took some time but most of these projects have had limited success.
Now it seems tournaments have become a social problem (by the writings above anyway). I am in the dark to this controversy. First I am assuming all Muskie tournaments now are total release affairs. If not I am againist them right NOW. Assuming they are all total release, is the tension between anti-tournament people verses tournament people? Is it againist cash tournaments verses fund-rasing tournaments? Who controlls the number of tournaments on a single lake per season or a total number of tournaments in a year or month? Are there lake size limits set by someone of number of anglers per lake size and amount of lake usage set up by some agency? I honestly don't know and would love to be filled in. It sounds like this situation is getting nasty and believe me these things can. (First hand experience) At what stage is the tournament situation to date. Can someone explain it to me please. - Steve Voigt |
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Posts: 358
| Hello Steve,
I will give you my take on this and try to address some of your questions. First off, on the Minnesota side of things, Steve C. probably knows best of the sentiments of those living in the areas mentioned. I myself have yet to even get a chance to fish any of Minnesotas waters.
MUSKY TOURNAMENTS: I personally dont know of any musky tournaments Steve that allows an angler to keep a fish, and still be eligible for any monies, trophies, etc. As a matter of fact, of those tournaments that I fish, if you happen to kill a fish during the tourney, that fish does not count. Some even consider you to be done for the day if a musky you caught does not survive.
So, its probably fair to say that all musky tourneys are catch & release.
FOR & AGAINST: There are a number of folks that would argue this topic to death if given the chance. Some of the AGAINST I have heard are: Too many boats on my lake, poor sportsmanship on behalf of the tourney anglers, ruining the fishing on my lake, and on and on and on. FOR: Enjoy the competition, chance to win some cash, fishing new waters, etc. Steve, there are just too many comments on both sides to even get close to telling you all of them on this thread.
REGULATING TOURNAMENTS: These facts I do know (at least in WI.) Fishing tournaments (not just muskys) are controlled by the DNR biologist of that county where the lakes will be fished. Number of boats, type of tourney (kept vs release,) tournaments dates, and there are even regulations regarding sponsorship restrictions. Permits are required for most tourneys in the state of WI, but this is based on number of participants, award values, etc. Also, after a tourney is over, the sponsor is required to return data to the biologist on the number of fish caught & released within 30 days of the finish of the tourney. This aids them in monitoring the waters that are fished. These facts, I will stand behind since I recently applied (and was approved for) a tournament permit myself.
CLOSING THOUGHT: Steve, I fully believe (in my own opinion) that the biggest problem with tournaments, is not the tournament itself, but the lack of education and understanding on both sides of the fence.
Take care man.
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Posts: 714
Location: Rhinelander, WI | Just more info, All of the tourneys I know of in Wisconsin are called catch and release tourneys. I am sure there are many different rules, but many of them don’t disqualify the angler or even scratch the points of the fish if it dies. There is usually a penalty and as far as I know the fisherman is always done for the day, as the bag limit is one fish per day.
As an example a number of years ago in the Hodag Musky Challenge as guy caught his personal best, an upper 40s fish. Him and his partner decided to purposely keep the fish, because the gentleman wanted the fish mounted. Right or wrong it was his choice and it ended up costing them big time. After the penalty points where removed for the keeping of the fish it knocked them from 2nd place to 10th, it ended up being a swing of around $5,000. He didn’t even end up with enough to pay for the mount.
In the tournament world there are two types of Musky Tourneys, Immediate Release and Transport. The first you wait for judge boats to come to you with the fish in the net at the side of the boat. The second you place the fish in the livewell and run the fish to a judge station where the fish is measured and release. That is a whole other topic of conversations and is sure to get heated every time it is brought up on the boards.
Nail A Pig!
Mike
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