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Posts: 639
Location: Bloomington, MN | I found this old photo taken in 1962. The article attached states 53 muskies for 47 people in two days on Lake St. Clair. They trolled 4 rods in 4'-8' with Swim Whizzes. The person up front is the Legend himself, Mr. Homer LeBlanc (with the largest fish that probably doesn't even go 48"). I'm sure there have been numerous times recently that 1 boat with 4 people caught that many in a two day stretch on that body of water. Obviously, Catch & Release does help the average size!
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Posts: 133
Location: Lake Tomahawk, Musky Central, USA | Hey back then according to many old musky fishermen, keeping that many fish out of a body of water with an abundance of muskies did not matter. To this day Lake St. Clair is still a trophy class big fish lake am I wrong? With all the interest in musky fishing these days and the amount of people chasing them, I doubt it would be a good idea to do this..but back then...Makes ya think!
Edited by Andy 8/21/2008 7:09 PM
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Posts: 25
| Cool picture. Really makes you think about what it was like in "the day". Today, we catch muskies and stress out like crazy to make sure they are safely released, wow what a great thing.
Things have changed indeed, for the better!
Edited by T_Musky 8/21/2008 7:31 PM
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Location: Bemidji/Cass Lake | I like the guy in the second row, far left in the glasses. Was there ballroom dancing shortly after?? |
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Location: Duluth, MN | Can you imagine the smell!! |
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| My grandmother fished with Homer quite a bit and they did troll dressed up in cocktail dresses and such. It was a very social event. She also put a sucker out in the morning, drank her coffee and watched. Pretty great woman, and I was lucky enough to met Homer and some of the other folks of that generation and it was very special. Special people, a very special time when the fishing was about the company you fished with....which to me is pretty darn important....Ben |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | nostalgia forgives logic and wisdom ... that to me is an odd reflection. think and romance as you wish to keep the memories feeling good. thankfully there were some who stood up to do some things even back then ... like teddy roosevelt. imagine our current state if there were no conservation-minded people even back then ... and earlier.
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Location: minocqua, wi. | we all have relatives and friends from that generation ... right? ... so, i'll just say my entire family of farmers and fishermen made some bad decisions and had they conserved in some areas there would be some things that remained like pheasants, wetlands and yes in some cases fish.
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Posts: 639
Location: Bloomington, MN | That guy in the "suit" does look like a "Fun One"!! I've caught St. Clair fish many years ago. We got 11 one day. and 7 the next half day. Why do not any of my muskie pics look as though they have no spine? The auditorium shot looks like a U-Boat convention! Does anyone remember the Bomber advertisement in Fishing Facts during the early 70's with a guy holding a reported 40 lber out of Dale Hollow? This Sway Back looked like a watermellon holder! My goal about 5 years ago was to restore my 26' 1959 Chris Craft Sea Skiff (very similar to Homer's 26' Lyman) to do Lake St. Clair/Homer LeBlanc style Muskie Charters out on Lake Waconia, MN without the whacking and stacking...and on top of it...with all 10 fingers. I had the complete collection for Fishing Facts ( I think it was called Fishing News in the begining) from the first issue (guess 1968?) until about 1987 when the Wiley Miller cover paintings stopped. I gave the collection to a friend, that I'm quite sure let them get damp and moldy in his garage, and tossed them. I still miss the world of big billboard foam front/mesh back hats (almost missed the Skipper style hat days...dohhh!), Lund tri-hull guide boats, 25 hp. oil slick leaving Evinrudes, flannel shirts with the sleeves cut off summer wear, and Marathon Slim Jims!
Edited by Clark A 8/22/2008 12:16 AM
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| jonnysled - 8/21/2008 10:10 PM
we all have relatives and friends from that generation ... right? ... so, i'll just say my entire family of farmers and fishermen made some bad decisions and had they conserved in some areas there would be some things that remained like pheasants, wetlands and yes in some cases fish.
I don't disagree with your point, I just think you are way off base in regards to muskie, as they are a renewable resource...not wetlands or habitat for pheasants...Also those numbers were not common, before management and CPR, the fish were harder to catch and apparently harder to let go. If they caught them in the numbers we do today, the showing off or freezers in front of the bait shops would have gone away quicker than they have. However once again, I will mention that muskies are renewable which is why those numbers of fish are actually possible on a regular basis on St. Clair today....Ben
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| Clark, classic photo! I was fishing the PMTT on three lakes chain...geez in 99 believe and was fishing a shoreline and actually saw the 10 foot aluminum boat and 5hp motor that I tooled around with friends with in the 80's as a youngster......crazy what we used to get by with... |
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| However once again, I will mention that muskies are renewable which is why those numbers of fish are actually possible on a regular basis on St. Clair today...
we're fortunate that this is true, to a certain extent, or we'd have lost some fisheries entirely. however, when harvest outpaces growth/renewal, the fisheries are easily devasted. look at northern WI prior to the advent of Muskie Inc and CPR, when people would be excited to see a 40" fish in the Freezers of Death.
for a sport fish like the muskie, the question isn't whether or not the fish are present, but whether or not they are reaching their potential. renewal keeps them present, but only the kind of catch-and-release that exists today allows them to approach their sport trophy potential.
that's a nice photo, but reflects a harvest mentality both in the fact that those are dead fish, and in the fact that they're _small_ compared to what an equal number of fish from St. Clair would look like today. size does matter for sport fish.
saying, "it's a renewable resource" can be dangerous as it can be heard to mean that it's ok to harvest them like this. it's not, they're "re-catchable" not renewable.
as for pictures, one thing i like about the old time pictures is the way people went and changed clothes into their "Sunday best" for a photo. of course, this is only possible with fish that were kept, but there are some great pictures that came from that era.
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Location: minocqua, wi. | the freezers are still on the streets .... the shoresitters will have their campfires this fall ..... the single hooks will still be on the shelves .... the pontoon trolling cruise will still take your money ...
and some farmers will still bale the ditches ...
it's all renewable and degradeable at the same time ... |
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| the freezers are still on the streets .... the shoresitters will have their campfires this fall ..... the single hooks will still be on the shelves .... the pontoon trolling cruise will still take your money ...
and some farmers will still bale the ditches ...
it's all renewable and degradeable at the same time ...
but is it worse or better than it's been?
because although everything you list is true, there's also more eagles, and bears, and wolves, and cranes, and muskies, and clean water, and trees, and...on and on...than ever before.
we're getting there, we're getting there.
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Location: minocqua, wi. | lambeau - 8/22/2008 8:54 AM
the freezers are still on the streets .... the shoresitters will have their campfires this fall ..... the single hooks will still be on the shelves .... the pontoon trolling cruise will still take your money ...
and some farmers will still bale the ditches ...
it's all renewable and degradeable at the same time ...
but is it worse or better than it's been?
because although everything you list is true, there's also more eagles, and bears, and wolves, and cranes, and muskies, and clean water, and trees, and...on and on...than ever before.
we're getting there, we're getting there.
as you probably know ... it all depends on where you go. go far enough north to take a right on M and you'll find more than you would imagine. by that time most have put things away for the season ... but, it's alive and well ... er, uh dead. |
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| I am surprised nobody has complained about the vertical hold in the second row yet... |
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Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Me too. Revisionist history makes me nuts. It is what it is, and we need to embrace where we have arrived from and resist believing we didn't arrive by the lessons learned, for many in just one generation. Those who have not yet learned those lessons are there to be taught, and those who are ready, willing, and able can certainly extend the necessary effort to join with those who teach.
lambeau, I believe we are WAY 'ahead' of when that image was taken.
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| yesir those were back in the day. i grew up in that era. have we moved ahead you bet. |
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Location: Rhinelander. | benR and steve I agree with both of you. Ben said its about the company you fish thats importantant and its true. Catching fish is about 3rd or 4th on the list. Steve is also right I think we are ahead also.
But that is a cool picture. Ty for posting it.
Pfeiff |
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Posts: 272
| It wasn't that long ago that photos of this variety were fairly commonplace and folks thought nothing of it. It wasn't very long ago that people were really PO-ed that the size limit in WI went from 30 to 32"....now it was going to be harder to have a dinner of "muskie steaks."
We've all seen the pictures. Some very famous folks have posed for pix like this. Frank Suick comes to mind.
Yeah, there are a lot more of us now out there doing the muskie thing, but well over 95% of fish are released.....vs 0% as recently as 20-25 years ago.
Which brings me to my point that I get sick and bloody tired of the cat calls and snarls, bashing and bitchin' that nearly always follows a report or sighting of a kept muskie. Its ONE fish. Let it go folks, ya just gotta let it go and get over it. Look where we came from. Frank with his clothesline full of muskies on Pelican or a bunch of folks in ballroom dancing outfits holding up 4 dozen fish in one portrait.
I'm glad we're a vigilant, passionate and dedicated bunch, and working toward our collective goals is a must, but, we have to remember that the freezers of death and fish hook rack photos are mostly if not pretty much completely a thing of the past.
When I see a pic of someone with a fish or hear of it....my first thought is of congrats, immediately my second is wishing they'd have let it go and my third is reminding myself that ITS JUST ONE FISH. ONE!
-Eric |
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| Lundbob - 8/21/2008 9:32 PM
Can you imagine the smell!!
The same thought crossed my mind too |
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Posts: 256
Location: MadCity Wisconsin | I'm surprized no one has mentioned this yet. Back then and long before game fish was considered food. Not only did you bring the fish home for a meal you also showed it off as bragging rights. If the photo was taken in the 1960s I would be willing to bet that more than half of those in the photo grew up during the great depression when food was scarce for many folks. If you caught a fish of any kind you didnt release it you took it home for a well deserved meal. That mentality doesnt change very quickly.
Like Steve W. and several others on this board I grew up in the 50s and 60s and catch and release was very, very rare. Our folks had gone through the depression as kids and the thought of me releasing a fish was a waste of a good meal to them, still is to a certain extent.
It's great that muskie fishing has evolved from bragging rights and food to a sport of excitement and conservation. |
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Location: St. Louis, MO., Marco Is., FL, Nestor Falls, ON | I am with Sworall. I HATE revionist history. Everything must be looked at in the context of its time. All things evolve over time. Some in a good way....some bad. Thankfully, muskie fishing has evolved in a good way. It evolved through teaching....not preaching. |
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| You learn from history. Bashing the past serves no useful purpose. Back then conservation was in its infancy. The idea that wetlands, animals, or muskies would run out was new. Very few knew or understood the ramifications of filling in wetlands, killing 48 musky in 2 days, etc.. Now we do.
Enjoy the old pics for what they are, a very cool image from a different era.
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| I'd venture to say that anglers as a collective whole kill more numbers of muskies today than back when this picture was taken. |
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Location: Elko - Lake Vermilion | This is Just one picture of those days, I,m sure more muskies were killed back then , then they are today.
Ever see some of the leach lake and that area photos ? How about some pic's from the Chip and Northern Wi.
No one ever released their fish . 32" and over were Trophys and worthy of hanging on the wall. It's just the way it was..........
Jerome |
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Posts: 221
Location: Detroint Lakes, MN | The evidence that anglers today do not kill more than in the past (whether by intention or delayed mortality) is indisputable.
LOW, Leech, Cass, Lac Suel, Eagle and numerous other lakes that DO NOT get stocked have more pressure than ever before, and the fisheries keep getting better.
That would not be possible if anglers were killing more fish today than yesterday.
JS
Edited by john skarie 8/26/2008 9:26 AM
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Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | esoxaddict - 8/25/2008 3:07 PM
I'd venture to say that anglers as a collective whole kill more numbers of muskies today than back when this picture was taken.
That's a pretty bold statement....what do you base this belief on? |
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Posts: 8865
| From a numbers standpoint I think it stands to reason. There are thousands more muskie anglers, with far better equipment, who are much more educated and knowledgable about how to catch muskies than ever before. Add to that the sheer number of fisheries that we have today in places like Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Southern Wisconsin...
While a majority of muskies are released, I think delayed mortality is a bigger problem that we realize. More people fishing in more places with better knowledge and equipment = more fish caught = more fish killed.
Yes, overall the fishing is better today, but in my opinion that's a combination of stocking and spreading what are still a relatively few number of anglers over a much greater area.
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Location: Detroint Lakes, MN |
That logic doesn't wash.
LOW sees more pressure than ever before, and guys who have been fishing there for decades will all attest to the vast improvement over the catch and kill days.
If we were killing more today than in the past our fisheries would be decimated, not thriving.
Look at Wabigoon, more people fish it than ever before, but it has come back from a crash to be an excellant fishery once again.
How could that be possible if C&R was killing as many as Catch and Kill did?
JS |
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