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Posts: 1316
Location: Lebanon,Mo | Well being most of you are in a closed season for musky right now,I want to see what your opinion is if you were in my shoes.I have the opportunity to move to central Florida.My wife and I have discussed this for about a year now and she is just waiting on me to make the "move". I have lived in the same area now for over 27 years now. (Im 36) and only thing keeping me here in Missouri is the musky fishing,or at least what the area has to offer.My wife and youngest will not move up north,and I dont blame them due to harsh winters that we are not use too here. We have some family in Florida,and have visited several times,but on March 1st,we head down for a few days to check out our options. I have decided I would be doing the saltwater thing,and with my own rig/gear. Our house will be on the market soon and we will be sufficient on funds once it sells to purchase a new home.She will have a job when we get there and Im sure with my background,I will follow soon.Anyway....does anyone get the urge to live in another part of the country if possible,or does the muskies keep you from exploring whats out there...?? Im giving in more and more each day..
Fred
And this being said and discussed,I will have a decision within two weeks of returning from our visit.
Edited by missourimuskyhunter 2/19/2013 7:54 PM
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Posts: 661
Location: Sussex, NJ | Saltwater has al lot to,offer. I only live about 2 hours from the Jersey coast so I have been fishing for fluke, stripers, bluefish and other species for years. I absolutely love it to death and it is a great time BUT there is just something about muskies that keeps me crawling back to them. You know the bug. However it is hard to choose a fish over family. Tough choice Fred hope it works out for ya man!! |
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Posts: 2097
| Go have fun. Take a week here and there to take a vacation back up north to muskie fish. |
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Posts: 33
| That is awesome, I would do it in a minute. Think of it like this you get the thrill of muskie type fishing with the salt water atmosphere. Good Luck. |
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Posts: 2325
Location: Chisholm, MN | I get a pain in my chest contemplating moving somewhere further away from my MN muskies. I live within an hour and a half of a few world class lakes north, south, east and west with some good lakes within minutes. That said, I am starting to see that there are more important things in life than fishing and compromise might be in order if I want to move on with my life rather than sitting in a boat chasing slime all by myself. FYI, winter here sux but the fishing far outweighs the cost. You can even learn to enjoy it. |
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Posts: 1638
Location: Minnesota | the ony thing i would not like is the hurricane season other then that i would love a chance to go tarpon fishing
Edited by muskyhunter47 2/19/2013 7:49 PM
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Posts: 292
| sounds like a great oportunity,go for it and good luck. |
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Posts: 87
| Fred,
Good question...I'm from the mindset that no matter where you live, you'll always find the silver lining. I moved from Maryland to Tampa, FL in 2009 and have been here since. I definitely don't get to musky fish as often, but I still take a trip once a year to LOTW. I've picked up tournament bass fishing, since there are a ton of clubs/trails to fish. It's not quite the same, but let's put it this way... I'm taking Friday off at work and going fishing for bass, because they're spawning. It's going to be a high of 82F. <--- that's not a typo. Short sleeves and a decent chance at a 10lb largemouth flipping grass in February (not entirely to bad).
If you do the whole saltwater thing on top of that (Snook, Redfish, Tarpon, Shark, Kingfish, Grouper), things are pretty good. Reducing your time Musky fishing is tough, but see if you can't swing a trip once a year. Makes that pill easier to swallow and your time spent doing it that much sweeter. At least that's my 2cents... |
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Posts: 89
| Went south for are honeymoon and don't need to go back. Way to hot and humid you stand in one spot and sweat and the bugs are huge, they grow year round. That is my opinion but it is all personal preference. |
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Posts: 252
| Fishing is the main reason that I like living where I live. Close to several good muskie waters, good largemouth, smallmouth, hybrid, striped bass waters; trout, walleye, and sauger waters. I like visiting Florida and fishing the piers and going deep sea fishing as well. A person can most likely find good fishing just about anywhere if they don't mind adjusting some.
Those King and Spanish Mackerel sure can be fun to catch. I guess they would be fun to release too, but I don't know because I always eat them.
I figure that if I lived near LOTW, no one could drag me away from there (in my mind, LOTW is paradise on earth), but since I don't, I could live about anywhere and not gripe any more than I already do. |
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Location: Sawyer County, WI | I have family in the Ft. Myers area and it truly is beautiful. There are, however, pros and cons to any location. Winter weather is great, but it is oppressively hot in summer. Winter tourist crowds are a PITA. You won't catch any musky, but the saltwater fishing can be fantastic.
Be sure you weigh all pros and cons when consider the move. At the very least it should be an educated, conscious decision. |
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Posts: 8782
| Well.. You may have to do without muskies, but you can fish year round. I've done a fair amount of bass fishing in the inland waters down in FL, and it's a lot of fun. Saltwater is a whole different experience. There's always something different moving in and out. Lots of opportunities for different types of fishing - snook, tarpon, redfish, grouper. That said, the only times I've ever been down to FL to fish are the months between October and April. From what my friends who live there tell me, May-September and into October are pretty brutal. Hot, humid, rain every day... You pretty much sweat whenever you are outside, morning, noon, and night. If the world were perfect, I'd probably live in FL for 6 months and spend the other 6 up North musky fishing. You won't have muskies, but you can sure fish a lot more than you can up here. |
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Posts: 537
Location: Gilberts IL/Rhinelander WI | Going fishing in the saltwater could be a great week of a vacation, on the other hand, living in that heat and humidity would be unimaginable. My opinion though,you guys may love it. Fishing soft water all year round would be cool though! |
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Posts: 456
Location: Kansas City BBQ Capitol of the world | Fred,
Whatever you decide I hope it's family first. Sometimes it's not. I have seen both sides of how these mythical Muskies can take a mans soul for the good and the bad.
If you do choose to make the move I want you to know you always have a place in my boat and a place to stay if you want to come back to your old stomping grounds to go knock em' out all over again. And who knows, I may be fishing with you one day off shore as well. I'm approaching that fork in the road too.
Good luck.
Ron
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Posts: 4343
Location: Smith Creek | Make enough $ in Florida to buy a 2nd home in Wisconsin. Become a snowbird. |
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Posts: 371
Location: Dixon, IL | I love Florida and I think about to move there but I stay in Illinois because my family live in Illinois. I like go to Florida twice a year!
Edited by ILmuskie 2/20/2013 8:19 AM
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Posts: 908
Location: South-Central PA | I think the sharks and tarpon down there will ease the pain of leaving your beloved muskies.
Talk to Vince of Migizi Rods, he has some great times down there chasing some monster fish! How does a 350lb goliath grouper on 400lb test sound? I've never worried that a musky would drag me out of the boat, these suckers will!
jeremy |
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Posts: 1416
Location: oconomowoc, wi | Flambeauski - 2/20/2013 8:11 AM
Make enough $ in Florida to buy a 2nd home in Wisconsin. Become a snowbird.
you got it! my folks live in marathon, florida (keys) december thru may 1st. there second home is 5 minutes from the chippewa flowage in hayward. best of both worlds when i take some litte vacations south or north.  |
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Posts: 1036
| You could always look at a timeshare or a 3 week rental in Wisconsin/Minnesota/Canada to hunt muskies.
Best of luck to you. Some of my clients have condos in Florida where they go in the winter. They love fishing down there. In particular they like the "reds" and every single one of them has cool shark stories that they tell. |
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Posts: 299
| The saltwater species will have you forget all about Muskies. I recently fished for Snook and Tarpon and heading back in a month for adult Tarpon. Haven't even once thought about my beloved Muskie since I hooked several Tarpon. There's so many other species of fish out there that will make you rethink why your so hung up on one particular species. I lived 5 years in S. Fla and loved every moment of it. My wife, kids and I would move down there in a heartbeat if we could live without and away from our families in Michigan. We're both just too close with family to give it up. Trust me, you'll forget all about Muskie when your deep in Everglades or inshore setting the hook on a 150# Tarpon. Family first but if everyone's on board and nothing's keeping you where you live ( excluding Muskie), sell your Muskie gear, get a bay boat and start chasing real fish that really fight. Orlando or the Central Florida area would not be my first choice if I was to live in Florida again. I'm not a fan of that area and there's so many areas to live down there besides Central Florida. Also, make sure to look at the school systems as well. A lot of decisions to be made outside of fishing activities... Good luck with the decision. |
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Posts: 4080
Location: Elko - Lake Vermilion | Living in Fla. from May thru Sept can be brutal with the heat and humidity, especially if you have to work outside or fish,golf,kids sports, ect.
Bugs are everywhere.
The positive side is cheaper real estate,golf courses,great fishing, working inside, the Sun, and the beach, ect.
The most Important thing is; what does your Wife and family want to do??
They come first,....not a fish.
Jerome |
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| Way more to life than muskie. I have been fortunate to live in quite a few areas of our country and it has been great. You meet good people, broaden your own education and experiences. I have lived in places that muskie fishing was much better than the midwest and some areas that had little to no muskie fishing. You always get out and enjoy the outdoors if that is what you like to do regardless of where you live. Saltwater fishing is pretty amazing, as far as strength of fish and opportunity. The more time chasing other fish has improved my muskie fishing when I do it now. My production in smaller time slots in much better than when I was always at it. Also by moving and taking on new opportunities I have been able to fish the best muskie waters in the world that were out of reach when I was living and fishing solely in the midwest. I agree with above, you do what is best for you and your family, but I can assure you life does not end once you leave the midwest. BR
Edited by BenR 2/20/2013 9:34 AM
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Posts: 415
| Do what is best for your family. Like some other have said there is way more to life than muskies. Don't get me wrong I love them too and it would be hard to give up, but you have to look at the bigger picture.
Plus from what most my friends or family tell me that have fished saltwater it sounds like once you get that saltwater fishing "bug" you will all but forget about muskies up north. |
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Posts: 373
Location: Maine Township, MN | Stay close to your family and friends. After college I moved only 7 hours away to Wisconsin. Loved it there, but no family; few friends... Made it back to MN and I'm a lot less lonely. Still not where I want to be. Stuck in the 'cities, but will make it back to god's country someday. |
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Posts: 299
| A wise well respected Muskie and all around amazing angler said it best....
"Freshwater fishing is just killing the time until you get back to the salt"
I now agree... |
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| Not to hijack the thread but in the same instance I am also looking at the possibility of moving from the Madison, WI area to the Indianapolis area and instead of starting a new thread, maybe some people could throw out the positives to Indiana with regards to other fishing opportunities.
Great discussion though regarding friends and family and can definitely relate to the OP regarding the decision. |
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Posts: 994
Location: Minnesota: where it's tough to be a sportsfan! | Dog-gone Fred I am just about ready to come down and fish with you down there trading the trip for you to come fish with me in N. MN. we have talked about. And now you are heading down to dringk the saltwater! All seriousness if you are going to make the move do it while you are young enough. It never gets any easier. But I have been told by many that " fishing the salt" regularly, will spoil you for freshwater fishing. |
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Posts: 785
| Top H2O - 2/20/2013 9:12 AM
The most Important thing is; what does your Wife and family want to do??
They come first,....not a fish.
Jerome
Yep. I've many times considered moving to MN, even looked into jobs at one point. About all summer I still find myself wishing I was up north... but when I really think about it musky season (up north) is 6 months... family is everyday. So I take as many trips as I can and try to forget about it the rest of the time. Florida is a long ways away but you can still get a week or two a year in the north woods or MO if you really wanted to... and salt water could be a very cool new adventure. |
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Posts: 265
Location: McGuire AFB, NJ | Fred,
Being in the military I move all the time. I had a BLAST in Southern Illinois chasing ski's, but when it was time to go...it was time to go. I now have the oppurtunity to chase some trophy bass out here on the CA Delta. Not quite musky fishing but it keeps me busy. I'm a fisherman and I will always fish regardless where I am. There are some stud lrg mouth fisheries in Florida! As for the musky...I still sneak off to LOTW every year to fish
Good luck! |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | Guest - 2/20/2013 11:03 AM
Not to hijack the thread but in the same instance I am also looking at the possibility of moving from the Madison, WI area to the Indianapolis area and instead of starting a new thread, maybe some people could throw out the positives to Indiana with regards to other fishing opportunities.
Great discussion though regarding friends and family and can definitely relate to the OP regarding the decision.
unless you like to watch basketball and go to chain restaurants ... Indy is, well ... Indy. i endured it for a year and couldn't wait to get out. nice people with about zero to do. |
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