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Posts: 49
| Here's my deal.....I have been metro fishing for about the past 8 years. I am beginning to realize how much of a gong show musky fishing has become over the last couple years. (each year is getting worse). Opener was ridiculous! On a small metro lake there had to been 30 " Muskie fisherman" with 4 guys to a 16ft boat. Here is where I have a problem guys are fishing out of pontoons with not the right tools, no net and are casting topwaters. I even found a broken off topwater that had a leader connected with about 10lb mono on it. If a musky were to break that off it could potential kill it. I knew that opener would be like that so I was optimistic about having a lot of these "amateur" musky fisherman give it up after a week or two of not seeing fish. NOT THE CASE. I have been out about 5 times even during the week and still the same results.
Bottom line is that I see a major problem in the near future with musky fishing and the amount of lakes we have in a small area. The reason why it is so good right now is that during the late 80's early 90's the DNR stocked some of these lakes. That was a time when musky fishing wasn't popular but that has completely changed. I know there are major issues with home owners throwing a fit about having musky stocked in there lake stating that musky's will eat all the walleye. That couldn't be further from the truth. My response to them would be look at the best walleye lakes in MN- Mille lacs, Leech, Vermillion, Cass, Bemidji. Guess what they all have musky's. Its just unbelievable. I really wish a lot of these guys would just give it up that don't know how to handle these awesome fish.
Your thoughts. |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | everyone should be required to wear a fishing jersey … ez pz |
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Location: Northern Illinois | Yeah I hear ya there. Everytime I go out I see handfuls of people targeting muskies. Ive never used to see so many people muskie fishing. The past 5 years the sport has exploded. |
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Posts: 431
| Give credit where credit is due, Face Book, Go pro, and the net. |
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Posts: 20229
Location: oswego, il | Yep and its not for us to say who can and who can't muskie fish. |
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Posts: 56
| Good luck. There are too many people with a vested interest in the expansion of the sport. Magazines, TV Shows & Personalities, Guides, Resorts, Lure Makers, Retailers, Rod builders, etc., all depend on--and promote--the growing popularity of musky fishing. And it probably isn't going backwards, unless everyone gets fed up with the crowded circumstances and increasingly challenging fishing. (Even then, people keep looking for the "next musky frontier" and exploiting it and promoting it until that water too becomes overfished. See: Lake St. Clair.) Lots of people made this bed, and now we lie in it. It is harder and harder to find relatively unpressured water, unless you are willing and able to drive to destinations in Canada.
Probably only 2 real options for places closer to home: continued education so people learn how to fish better/smarter; and find new lakes to stock and expand the fishable area. Otherwise, this is probably the direction for the foreseeable future.
(I also find it curious that people complain about the "new" people who musky fish. "New" generally seems to mean "anyone who started after me.")
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Posts: 2334
Location: Chisholm, MN | ToddM - 6/18/2014 2:54 PM
Yep and its not for us to say who can and who can't muskie fish.
Yup, and adapt our management and education to keep the fishery going. Fully agree, fishing pressure is getting out of hand. |
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Posts: 1037
| Kind of ironic that someone took to the net to complain about the "boom" in novice musky fishermen. |
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Posts: 750
Location: Minneapolis, MN | People looking to complain about dwindling Walleye populations need to look at themselves before complaining about muskies or other factors. Unless the DNR comes out with scientific data that says XYZ is why the fish population is dwindling, it’s all just hearsay and speculation. The DNR needs to start stocking more lakes and have the guts to stand up to the homeowner associations and the politicians. I know it’s not easy, but it’s what needs to be done. If they made Harriet and the Calhoun chain more accessible, that might also help with the pressure as these are really underutilized lakes. |
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Posts: 267
| Truth be known, it is probably a vicious cycle. Stock more lakes, you expose more people to muskies and recruit more muskie fishermen. I think one of the main reasons to start the muskie stocking program in the first place was to take some pressure off the natural waters. What happened was interest expanded to more anglers. |
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Posts: 49
| I think it would be a good idea to have a separate musky license (similar to duck license) and pay extra to have that money go towards stocking new lakes. Seriously even if they charged me 50 dollars a year to stock new musky lakes I would be all for it. |
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Posts: 294
| Not to take away from your Metro debacle, but you should have seen the Fox River here in Green Bay a few weeks ago. I was driving to a spot on a Sunday afternoon and when I rounded one of the bridges I kid you not there was at least 30 boats, 3-4 per boat fishing the same 300 yards of shoreline. We also saw a dude fishing from an elevated bridge roughly 15' about the water surface. There he is just tossing bucktails. And to top it all off you can watch some of these buttholes purposely snagging the spawning fish! I guess it's been nice to be able to fish the river around opener due to the springs we have had, but with all of this crap going on I hope for all the years to come these fish are way gone before opener. |
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Location: MN | You may want to get out of the metro to fish so you can have a more enjoyable experience. I see very few musky fisherman on the waters I fish and those that do target them are doing it right. When I lived in the metro years back I quickly realized hunting and fishing close to the cities was more frustration than it was enjoyment.
If you see these folks at the accesses try to talk to them nicely about release tools, proper equipment, etc. Give them some other tips on how to catch fish, ask how they were doing, etc. so it doesn't sound like a lecture. If you talk down to them you will get no where fast. Most musky fisherman new to the sport like talking with other musky guys and are usually open to suggestions. They are likely oblivious to the fact that they are fishing in a way that dangers the fish.
If you want to help our stocking programs join muskies inc and organize other interest groups. Look at the 54 inch rule recently passed. Organization + determination = results. |
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Posts: 619
| This year has really been a difference with crowding. Fish are going to be caught and handled that much more every year which some fish are gonna swallow baits and their gone. I think catch rates will get very very low and people will start dropping soon after. Last year there was some very horrible stretches of fishing and some of those lakes didnt get much pressure at all during those times. On the other hand, if you got on a decent bite last year so was about 10 other boats so the bites didnt last long.
Edited by Slow Rollin 6/18/2014 3:56 PM
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Posts: 1220
| There is a pretty good word to describe the kind of thing that's getting you down. And, all the vendors, guides, authors, and bait makers prayed for it from day 1. That word would be SUCCESS! Now, having said that, I can promise you that there have been several times I've chatted a guy up on water or ramp, and in a (Nice, Respectful) way let him know there was a better way to consider to benefit the resource he was enjoying. If the guy's an A-hole you just walk away to protect your personal peace, but if he's open to learning from someone a bit further down the path...you'll both be part of the solution. |
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Posts: 1360
Location: Lake "y" cause lake"x" got over fished | I really hope this post doesn't get pulled.... but it might
instead of complaining about what you think people should/should not do. When you see this stuff happening i.e. people with no tools or no net (btw, forgetting a net is one of the best good luck charms out there for this sport) take the time and try to teach them about what they should be doing instead of just looking down your nose at them. Every time a walleye guy says to me that the muskies took all their fish away, I laugh and try to explain to them that it is far from the truth. If I see a young guy tossing big baits with incorrect gear, I try to talk to them about it and see what (if anything) can be done to get them into this the correct way. You better hope that these newbies NEVER give up this sport. They are the future of the sport. Saying you hope they stop fishing muskies is like saying "kids are annoying, I hope people stop having them". Just doesn't make logical sense. Without new musky guys, eventually the ones we do have will die. Then no one will be fishing muskies, and no one will get to know how great of a sport this can be.
On the flip side, I agree that there are people out there that just aren't going to listen to what we think, even if we are right. Those people can't be helped. However, most can. It just takes a special person to step aside with said person and try to show them the safest way to fish. Not only for them, but for the fish as well. If you don't like what is going on, do what you can to change it. And if you see that there is a problem, but refuse to try and help the ones that are uninformed. IMHO I don't think you have any right to complain
For the record I have been in this sport for only a few years I think 6 or 7 now
Edited by FAT-SKI 6/18/2014 4:09 PM
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Posts: 158
| Maybe it's not worth the frustration this is causing you. Might be time to find a different hobby. If I follow, you've been fishing muskies for eight years and are upset about the "newbies" on the lake. Yeah, small metro lakes can get crowded real quick. I would look at fishing some of the bigger lakes and getting a bit out of town. I fished the metro on op'ner in the rain and saw about ten boats in ten hours. #lovenowakeontonka
TB |
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Posts: 49
| I fish all throughout the state including the angle. But those are special trips. I'm not able to make those trips every weekend like some do. I'm not trying to complain, I just worry about the sport/ethics I have people constantly cutting me off. I'm not a confrontational person. It just reaches a point where you couldn't make up some of the stuff you see on the water with some guys. I saw 4 fish out of one particular lake that people kept that were 49-52 inches. And they were musky fishing as well, not accidental catches. In all reality there is not that many fish over 50 inches in most lakes and when you take 4 out of a smaller body of water that's not good for the whole fishery in general. |
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Posts: 132
| I agree, the increase in Muskie boats over the past two years has been incredible. In the grand scheme of things, this is not a bad thing. But when those who take on the sport are not educated, that's when it isn't good either.
The education thing has been beat over the head a million times. Some are willing to listen and some never will. Hopefully those that don't listen give it up or just simply never catch fish. I still think the #1 item of importance is Management of the fishery, and it's not even close. This sport is booming to say the least, we need more lakes. We need to fill the regional gaps in the State where lakes are lacking. The DNR has been great for the fishery over the last 20+ years, and the recent 54" increase is awesome. But they need to be willing to accept rattling a few cages by introducing Muskies to some new waters. The fisherman/lake ratio is starting to take a bad turn and it will continue if changes aren't made. |
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Posts: 411
Location: Waconia,MN | I'm new to musky fishing, this will be my third year fishing for them. I have learned so much since I started and I can thank this web site and all of its member's. Maybe we need to start advertising muskie first more. I've only had opportunity to fish the same lake and I don't see many other people targeting muskies. Usually most people I see trying to fish bass or panfish sometimes I'll see a few but there usually in a different spot.
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Posts: 16632
Location: The desert | I wonder when musky fisherman will quit fishing for them in order to better the sport. It wouldn't shock me. |
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Posts: 162
Location: Metro, MN | bbradley1 - 6/18/2014 3:41 PM
I think it would be a good idea to have a separate musky license (similar to duck license) and pay extra to have that money go towards stocking new lakes. Seriously even if they charged me 50 dollars a year to stock new musky lakes I would be all for it.
I love this idea as well |
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| Perhaps everyone who has 10 yrs or less should quit fishing, they seem to be the problem....
http://muskie.outdoorsfirst.com/board/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=96... |
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Posts: 20229
Location: oswego, il | How about a lottery. You pick rocks. White rocks you get to musky fish, pick a black rock you get stoned to death. |
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| People wait a lifetime to draw certain tags to hunt, we could make musky fishing draw only and depending on points and such manage it that way. It is hard to see NR draw when residents don't though.... |
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Posts: 791
Location: WI | Funny I just was talking to a guy who has two years in and just for his first fish. He seems to have the bug and you can see the excitement and drive in the questions he asked. But he asked me about how many fish I've kept. Once again I was explaining replicas and there benifits.
This is not a shot at him but rather an idea of the amount of work still to be done with informing people about catch and release an the options they have for there Trophys. |
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Location: Oswego, IL | Everyone should feel lucky, I would almost best muskie fisherman are about 5% of the overall fishing population. Were actually a very very small group. Its seems crowded because there a fewer "good" spots to fish. Were also the group that has patience, most people was immediate results, hence bass and walleye and everything in between. Just my opinion.. |
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Posts: 540
Location: MN | BenR - 6/18/2014 7:09 PM
People wait a lifetime to draw certain tags to hunt, we could make musky fishing draw only and depending on points and such manage it that way. It is hard to see NR draw when residents don't though....
Pretty easy to circumvent that one... I'm just a trophy pike fisherman.. Go ahead prove I'm not. |
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| Tim Schmitz - 6/18/2014 10:35 PM
BenR - 6/18/2014 7:09 PM
People wait a lifetime to draw certain tags to hunt, we could make musky fishing draw only and depending on points and such manage it that way. It is hard to see NR draw when residents don't though....
Pretty easy to circumvent that one... I'm just a trophy pike fisherman.. Go ahead prove I'm not.
It was in jest:-) |
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