|
|
Posts: 670
Location: Otsego, MN | Hi all,
So I have been "coaching" high school fishing here in MN (Maple Grove) for about 6 years now. Six years ago there were not many "teams/clubs" in the state. Over the years I've helped many schools start up clubs around the state and today there are thousands of kids in MN and hundreds of schools with clubs.
Why I bring this up is because 95% of the kids I've had involved are Bass anglers most of the time. I've tried to get kids more into muskie fishing, but it's hard. The social media for bass is out of this world(kids are addicted to social media) and the exposure is everywhere. Granted the tournaments that are available for these kids are mostly bass events.
Some reasons it's hard to get kids into muskie fishing that i've seen from my high school kids:
-Kids have short attention spans
-kids want to catch fish (as we know you often need to put in time to muskies)
- cost of muskie fishing is way more expensive than anything else
- kids see the Seth Feiders and Josh Douglas and want to be them(which is great)
- lakes with muskies are not as easy to access (many of my kids can find a lake to jump on with a kayak even and bass fish)
-I think kids are looking for instant success as well personally and you don't get that in muskie fishing being new to a sport.
This year I have a few more kids that have actually asked about muskie fishing which is great. So hopefully I can get more out of them.
What do all of you see from the youth coming up? From where I'm coming from and have been seeing over the last 5-6 years Muskie fishing seems to have of little interest to the kids which concerns me.
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 1763
| My opinion is it doesn't matter. These are kids. They will get older and some will continue with Bass, some Walleye, some Muskie and some pan fish. If 20% of your kids are fishing in 30 years (regardless of species) that will be 20% more kids then those who never fish. Don't be concerned with the species, just help them any way they need help.
Also thank you for taking the time to be involved. As drug dealers know it only takes a little interest in a kid to get them involved. Fortunately for them it's fishing. lol
Edited by Brian Hoffies 2/17/2020 6:03 PM
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 8792
| How did YOU get into muskie fishing? We all started out with a bobber, zebco spincast outfit and whatever cheese, corn, bread & salami our mother would let us swipe from the refrigerator. (I kind of miss those days. I was NEVER hungry while I was out fishing...)
Then we got spinning gear, and maybe a few lures, and started casting. So it was bass, and maybe the occasional Pike. Then we discovered walleyes, and jigging...
My first muskie moment was a hybrid, that I saw swimming on a huge shallow flat. I casted past it with a Rebel Crayfish. "holy %^&$, here it comes!" *WHACK!!" Biggest fish I had ever hooked. Lost the fish. This was about the same time that Saturday morning fishing shows came around. Babe Wikleman, Bob Izumi...
"I'm going to do that one day!"
Well, "one day" didn't happen until many years later. I was pretty well hooked on the idea, and the prospect of going to MN or Canada for a long time before that. Funny thing was when I finally went overboard with muskie fishing, everyone I knew said "Yeah? AND? It's about time. We knew that when you were a kid!"
My point is you don't start out as a kid or even a teen wanting to be a muskie angler. You start out the way we all did and grow into it wanting to catch bigger and cooler fish.
Bass fishing is popular because they live everywhere and there's an awful #*^@ lot of them. Anybody can catch them, and some big ones too, without much effort or knowledge.
Muskies? They're easy enough to catch. Their just aren't as many of them to be caught, and sometimes nothing you do will get them to move. In my experience, you can almost always scrape up a bass or two by using the right technique, even on the worst days.
The kids who are already into fishing and pretty serious about it are an easy sell. If they're not really into fishing for fishing's sake, good luck.
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 2337
Location: Chisholm, MN | I started out wanting to catch muskies at 12 years old, with no parental influence 
I couldn’t afford it though so I fished bass, then walleyes once I realized I needed more of a challenge. I think just exposing the kids to muskies at an early age will make them think about it and eventually target them when they can afford it or have more patience. Al Lindner exposed me to muskies as a kid. I guess we should all try and be somebody’s Al Lindner. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 32892
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Kirby Budrow - 2/17/2020 7:46 PM
I started out wanting to catch muskies at 12 years old, with no parental influence
I couldn’t afford it though so I fished bass, then walleyes once I realized I needed more of a challenge. I think just exposing the kids to muskies at an early age will make them think about it and eventually target them when they can afford it or have more patience. Al Lindner exposed me to muskies as a kid. I guess we should all try and be somebody’s Al Lindner.
This. |
|
| |
|
![](<a href="http://flmnetwork.com/content/generators/skinny-sig-generator/">")
Posts: 485
Location: On my favorite lake! | The reason Bass fishing is so attractive to these kids:
Bass are everywhere and one of first fish they catch regularly.
They have big $ tournaments and tournaments everywhere. You want to fish in Florida, New York or Oklahoma in June there are multiple tourneys probably going on.
The Bass guys have 40x the lure choices of Muskie anglers and they are usually less expensive except maybe some swimbaits.
The pros that did make it are impressive. They are on TV, They wear jerseys, drive lifted wrapped trucks and drive $100,000 boats with all the new gadgets. That success appeals to a lot of kids. Just like the big power hitter in baseball. Muskies are like the all star gold glove 2nd basemen. It’s good but he doesn’t really stand out.
The pros are well known. How many kids know or seen the PMTT guys.
Saric and Keyes are both on TV regularly but it’s more regional based and their gear isn’t impressive compared to what the bass guys have.
Social media is strong almost every bass anglers including the kid down the street does YouTube , Facebook videos and posts.
Bass are instant gratification. 100 bass to 1 Musky.
Musky fishing will always have kids interested because they want to catch the big fish. That’s the best thing going. It’s just a different game.
FunnyAl Linder who exposed one Kirby to Muskie fishing was a Bass tournament guy.
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 166
Location: Cedarburg, WI. | Bass are abundant. Musky are not.
Bass are found nation wide. Musky are not.
Bass can be caught consistently with $50 worth of gear from a bank. Musky can not.
These 3 facts to me are why Musky fishing will always struggle to bring people in and retain them. There are plenty of people that dust off a musky stick once or twice a year for a "Musky" week or weekend, but probably wouldn't label themselves a "Musky fisherman." I don't see this changing anytime soon for the above reasons which we can't control anyways. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 20230
Location: oswego, il | Here is where Muskies Inc comes in again as being important. My club sponsors a H.S. fishing team. We give them money and equipment. One of the pillars of M.I. is youth and there are funds for it. There are companies willing to donate. Want to get kids into Muskie fishing? Introduce them to it and their parents through M.I. we have some of those families coming to our meetings, youth outings and now our banquet. This is the best way IMHO to have an organized way of doing it. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 661
Location: Roscoe IL | My experience bringing up my boy’s and teaching them the hobby of fishing has been both rewarding and challenging. I find the most difficult hurdle is patience on their part. These boy’s want instant rewards, and if the bite is tough they go to their phones. Even now this happens and at 16 and 21 I have to remind them that the next cast could catch a world record.
The best way for me to help them overcome the boredom or defeatism is to mix it up and target multiple species. Just to keep their interest in fishing anything can be a challenge sometimes. That’s when the tube comes out and we do a few laps. I do this to develop another interest outside of playing video games and the gamut of social media that comes with their cell phones. I understand all of their friends are on it, but give it a rest sometimes.
My point is that it’s going to be very difficult to get younger kids or young adults to just want to pick up and go Muskie fishing. I see it firsthand and they will target Bass even though they have full access to the mountains of Muskie gear in our household or on the boat. If it’s not Dad taking them, there is only a handful of times I recall them going fishing on their own. When they did, it was for Bass because that provided them the best chance to catch a fish. They don’t need a big net, snips, giant pliers and 40 lbs. of tackle to target Bass. Just a small tackle box and rod & they are good to go.
I believe when they get older and are looking for a challenge and have the patience, time and funds to target Muskies, then I can see them making that adjustment.
Just my observations and OP..
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 1767
Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | Kirby Budrow - 2/17/2020 7:46 PM
I started out wanting to catch muskies at 12 years old, with no parental influence
I couldn’t afford it though so I fished bass, then walleyes once I realized I needed more of a challenge. I think just exposing the kids to muskies at an early age will make them think about it and eventually target them when they can afford it or have more patience. Al Lindner exposed me to muskies as a kid. I guess we should all try and be somebody’s Al Lindner.
I took it up myself as well without any direct introduction. Watching Bob chase big muskies in Canada on Simply Fishing was what did it for me.
I know some guys have musky rods in their kids hands super early but that’s not really my plan. I’d prefer, like me, they start at the bottom and work their way up. I want them to appreciate and enjoy the hobby, and that’s going to require catching fish |
|
| |
|
Posts: 4269
Location: Ashland WI | Musky Brian - 2/18/2020 8:03 AM
Kirby Budrow - 2/17/2020 7:46 PM
I started out wanting to catch muskies at 12 years old, with no parental influence
I couldn’t afford it though so I fished bass, then walleyes once I realized I needed more of a challenge. I think just exposing the kids to muskies at an early age will make them think about it and eventually target them when they can afford it or have more patience. Al Lindner exposed me to muskies as a kid. I guess we should all try and be somebody’s Al Lindner.
I took it up myself as well without any direct introduction. Watching Bob chase big muskies in Canada on Simply Fishing was what did it for me.
I know some guys have musky rods in their kids hands super early but that’s not really my plan. I’d prefer, like me, they start at the bottom and work their way up. I want them to appreciate and enjoy the hobby, and that’s going to require catching fish
Jackpot muskies did it for me.
I grew up fishing with my dad, and we mostly fished multi-species. He knew I liked muskies, so he would spend some time casting for them. I didn't really focus on them regularly until I was married and in my 20's. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1000
| Everybody starts somewhere. Right now we need new anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen. You're doing a great thing supporting those leagues and introducing kids to muskies in the process. Maybe 1-3% will catch the muskie bug! |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1037
| I started fishing muskies because as a young kid, my parents had a cottage up in Vilas County. They were teachers, so I was up there every year that I can remember from age 7 to age 22.
When I was young, the only "kids" around the lake came from Ohio and they were much older than I was, around 15-20. Well, we all loved to fish and they fished muskies. So they would take me.
And I became "hooked" almost immediately.
I have no doubt that I would not have been hooked without someone else offering to take me out and show me how to musky fish.
Today is much different with YouTube muskies, musky shows on tv...etc. But, I think the simplest way to get kids or anyone musky fishing is to simply invite them out with you. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 141
Location: Minnetonka | Might not be the same for all, but I would assume a good amount of muskie anglers can trace their addiction back to a single event or a handful of events. For me, it was a giant follow, while smallie fishing with a creature bait. I knew I had to catch one, after that. Every person I bring in my boat who is new to muskies, I am hoping to create a moment like that for them. The struggle is that what we consider ideal weather for muskies, most sane people do not want to be on the water and even the adults I've taken out only have an attention span of a few hours without anything happening. So, when someone is interested in trying to catch a muskie, I try to take them for a couple hours on a nicer day, towards sunset, in the warmer months, and I never forget the bug spray. Prop style topwater is easy for any beginner and one strike usually creates that moment. Sometimes, we take the mystique of a big follow for granted. To someone who's excited about a 3 lb bass, a 45 inch muskie is mind boggling, behind a bait. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 4269
Location: Ashland WI | MuskyMatt71 - 2/19/2020 1:11 PM
Might not be the same for all, but I would assume a good amount of muskie anglers can trace their addiction back to a single event or a handful of events. For me, it was a giant follow, while smallie fishing with a creature bait. I knew I had to catch one, after that. Every person I bring in my boat who is new to muskies, I am hoping to create a moment like that for them. The struggle is that what we consider ideal weather for muskies, most sane people do not want to be on the water and even the adults I've taken out only have an attention span of a few hours without anything happening. So, when someone is interested in trying to catch a muskie, I try to take them for a couple hours on a nicer day, towards sunset, in the warmer months, and I never forget the bug spray. Prop style topwater is easy for any beginner and one strike usually creates that moment. Sometimes, we take the mystique of a big follow for granted. To someone who's excited about a 3 lb bass, a 45 inch muskie is mind boggling, behind a bait.
You make a good point here.
If someone new is in my boat and gets a slow (meaning see the fish for a long time) follow from a big (45'' or so) fish, and that doesn't excite them, I usually tell them this game is not for them. |
|
| |
|
| My first experience with musky was when I was 12 or 13, in the early 1960d. I had done a lot of fishing by then but never on musky waters. My family rented a little cottage on a lake in Oneida County. One of the co-owners of the three cabin "resort" lived there during the summer. He was a retired mill worker and fished for musky. One night he asked if I wanted to go along when he took out one of the wooden row boats. I mostly rowed and observed but also learned how to cast what was then a large bait with a bait caster. We had been fishing for an hour or so when out of a weed bed close to shore a big musky came completely out of the water and landed on it's side with a huge splash. The retired guy let out a "holy cow, that was a big fish!". I quickly rowed us closer but we couldn't get it to show itself again. But, I was hooked. I had caught carp that weighed in excess of 40# out of the Wisconsin river near my house but they didn't get me excited like that musky did. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 8792
| My first time actually targeting muskies was similar. My buddy told me all about how the fish follow your lures and you have to do figure 8's. Saturday morning fishing shows taught me that. Or so I thought...
About 3 casts into the morning, here comes a fish. It was probably all of 30" thinking back. But there it was, right behind my lure. "Oh, wow. Look at that!!! Holy $&%." When it got to the boat, I stopped reeling. I stood there looking, and it sat there looking. Then my brain kicked in and said "Idiot, do a figure 8!" So I did. A nice one at that, about 2 feet wide. By then, the fish was long gone. But that moment sealed the deal.
My wife? Well, I pretty much dragged her kicking and screaming into the whole deal. A few hours in the yard casting, endless conversations about muskie nonsense no woman cares to hear, and then off to Eagle for a week of "muskie baptism by fire"...
It was brutal. It was awful. Ain't nobody alive that can throw a temper tantrum like a woman... "you a-holes!! You %^&ing do this %^&$ for FUN!?? WHAT THE %&$^%!!! I'm never gonna ^&% get this!!! This is the stupidest %^$&*ing thing I've EVER done!!! GODDA^%&%IT!!" This went on for 6 hours. Every cast was either a backlash, or went 15 feet at best.
I'm thinking "hey, if I throw this broad outta the boat, I can fish for a couple days, and be back home before they even find the body!"
Guide and I have tried everything... Finally I look at her and I say: "you know... If you didn't F up every cast you might have CAUGHT one by now!" I'm at that point...
Her next (angry) cast went a country mile. Heheh. I said: "See? Now that's how the F you cast!! Do THAT! Look around at where the F you ARE!! It's CANADA! Look at this $^%& place!! People live there whole lives and never see anything like this! You're into birds, right? Well, look at all those %&*^& BIRDS!!!! Put the ^&*% LURE in the %$& WATER, and shut the %&*^ UP!!"
(I am NOT a good mentor)
A few casts later, as she's going on about arctic turns, casting (my) Top Raider mindlessly and not even watching, *KABOOM!" Water flies at least 4 feet in the air. Scares the crap out of all of us. She hooks a fat 45"er as her first fish.
It's not been without temper tantrums since then, but that moment sealed the deal for her.
If we want this "sport" to continue and prosper, it's up to us to give other people the opportunity to experiences those "deal sealing" moments.
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 1037
| Great story, essoxaddict!
My wife loves to topwater fish and has caught quite a few.
I get just as good a "rush" when she hooks one as when I hook one.
Sounds like my wife is a touch more patient than yours, though! |
|
| |
|
Posts: 358
| We created the youth of today. We were the ones who stuck them in front of TV, Ipads, phones etc. Not too many 12 yr olds buying themselves such stuff.
How about hockey practice in the summer, baseball in the winter, year long basketball etc...
Have a kid post a musky picture on social media and get lectured for how they are holding it, or fishing for walleye killers or whatever. Hold up a walleye or bass and get a great job.
We made the mess...how can we attract kids to musky fishing? Probably not going to happen. The stocking programs have been used up by us. We pressure the hell out of everything. Project the image of elitism. Have to have a $1K rod and reel combo and 500 worth of release tools, cast big heavy expensive lures all day
I have a couple of kids who are both capable musky fisherman, but don't particularly care for it. Both would prefer to bass fish because its fun and they catch fish. Like to walleye and perch fish because they like to eat them. And both are so busy with adult driven activities its hard to find time to do any of it.
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 109
| So right "RJ_692." Additionally, younger folks have an awful lot more important burning issues facing them than previous generations had. The era of affordable healthcare, education, housing and hobbies is Long Gone. Young people don't have the options of simply getting a job and paying bills - roughly half of the population cannot cover an unexpected $400 bill. At the same time look at the expense needed just to get on the water and that assumes the time to do so. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 650
Location: Duluth | Conservation Guy - 2/20/2020 10:38 AM
So right "RJ_692." Additionally, younger folks have an awful lot more important burning issues facing them than previous generations had. The era of affordable healthcare, education, housing and hobbies is Long Gone. Young people don't have the options of simply getting a job and paying bills - roughly half of the population cannot cover an unexpected $400 bill. At the same time look at the expense needed just to get on the water and that assumes the time to do so.
yuup, same goes for Muskies Inc. memberships. The problems are systemic, and not only impacting fishing participation. |
|
| |
|
| Something that would help musky anglers of all ages is that when somebody comes on a forum like this and says, "hey, I can only afford to spend a max of $200 on a rod/reel combination for musky fishing, what are my options?", don't reply 'oh you need a St. Croix top of the line rod with a Tranx 500', completely ignoring the monetary limitations the poster laid out. You see it time and again. Well, great, so you can afford that but the initial poster can't. If you cannot be helpful, don't respond, no one cares if you buy nothing but top of the line gear to use in your 2020 Ranger 621. We really don't. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 3150
| How much does it cost to equip a kid in hockey,,ice time and the traveling team fees compared to musky fishing
Edited by happy hooker 2/20/2020 12:50 PM
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 109
| ....yes, and how many cannot play hockey because of that cost? |
|
| |
|
Posts: 8792
| Muskie fishing does not have to cost a fortune.
I think the larger problem is cultural. We can hem and haw about it until the cows come home, but the age of technology has created several generations of kids who just don't have the attention span, the patience, or the determination to be successful at (or even interested in) muskie fishing.
Casting all day for a fish you might not even see vs the instant gratification of pushing a few buttons and having something happen right away? Tough sell.
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 358
| happy hooker - 2/20/2020 12:49 PM
How much does it cost to equip a kid in hockey,,ice time and the traveling team fees compared to musky fishing
It costs quite a bit. I've done all that. However, money for us was not an issue. Not for sports, not for fishing. Time however is. And if you determine that the time is required, that leaves less of it for other things.
My kids are WAAAYYY busier than i EVER was. We used to have all summer to go down to our local river and fish and whatever...kids have practice, workouts, school stuff, the whole social media grind, music camp, bible camp, sports camps, etc...skip a practice to fish, skip a camp to fish...no A team for you, the pressure on kids is real. That pressure comes from us.
Its just really different for kids, i suppose like every generation. Not many of us are killing chickens to eat fresh chicken anymore either.
Hunting / fishing is being out competed by other interests...that are pushed by our generation in many cases for monetary gains. Not a kid problem. Definitely a social issue |
|
| |
|
| Conservation Guy - 2/20/2020 12:59 PM
....yes, and how many cannot play hockey because of that cost?
When I lived in the U.P., one way hockey was much more affordable was that they would on a regular basis have swaps, where kids could trade for or buy used equipment that other kids grew out of. Plus business owners regularly sponsored teams and picked up a lot of costs. There were kids who still could not participate in travel teams, but there was a lot of work put into making it possible for as many kids as possible to participate. It didn't just happen.
Edited by North of 8 2/20/2020 2:48 PM
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 8792
| From where I sit, kids don't even play outside anymore. Their parents drag them all over to soccer, Lacrosse, swimming lessons, dance lessons, softball, baseball, piano lessons, violin lessons. holy crap. I guess I missed out on a lot of that. My parents just took me to the lake every weekend all summer long. #*^@.
Maybe the answer is just to take a kid fishing and hope for the best. We tried that with my niece and nephew when they were younger. We went out and bought the barbie outfit for her and a batman outfit for him, took them to the local pond... My niece had no interest in it. My nephew, on the other hand, took to it right away. Showed some real promise casting, caught a handful of fish. About an hour in he said "It's okay uncle Jeff, I got this!" and threw about a 40 foot cast. Well... That stuff has been gathering dust in my fishing room for 6-7 years by now. Can't get them off their phones long enough to pay attention, much less get them out of the house for a few hours on the water. Nephew is 12 now, so in a couple years I'm hoping I can get him out in the boat for muskies, but I'm not holding my breath.
Edited by esoxaddict 2/20/2020 3:58 PM
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 1311
| When it comes to musky fishing, I don't really think there is a problem. While all other forms of fishing (other than ice fishing), are shrinking, musky fishing has been in a steady increase in participation for quite a while now, and it doesn't look like it is slowing down. But musky fishing doesn't seem like something that many kids have ever got into unless they come from a musky fishing family. Musky are a fish that people matriculate to, from other forms of fishing, which usually means that you become proficient at other forms of fishing before looking for a bigger challenge/thrill. After all, you don't see too many kids out elk hunting either. Musky are big game. Where the concern is, is getting kids into the entry level fishing. If they don't get into entry level fishing, they won't move on later, to musky. I agree that many kids are too busy with planned activities, but many are not. There are a lot of kids that don't do any of those activities. But they all spend a lot of time fiddling on their phones. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 2018
| I don’t have kids, but have introduced a dozen or so to the sport ...several will be the next generation of Muskie nuts and beg me to take them fishing over any other activity..I generally make the day multi species to keep interest up, and turn to Muskies when conditions are favorable..pretty cool to watch a 7 year old catch a 40”+ muskie! Interesting my own nephews don’t really care for it..and that’s fine , every generation has those that just don’t care to fish (I don’t get it-ha!) ... as noted there are just a lot more choices today to occupy a kids time than even just 20 years ago... I still say take them when you can you will find a fair share still love it from my experience.
Edited by IAJustin 2/20/2020 11:01 PM
|
|
| |
