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Posts: 359
Location: SW Ohio | I’m a member but way above the age asked by the OP. We have no chapter close to me so I miss all the meetings and most of the outings. They mostly fish lakes on the other side of the state and only one tourney on my local lake (45 mins away). It seems like it’s an active chapter and I have no complaints.
As for on the water interaction, I’ve had more issues with long time musky fishermen than the young ones. God help you if you are between them and the water they want to fish even if you were there hours sooner. I think the younger guys are more respectful at this time than those who feel they’ve “earned” the right to fish anywhere and anytime they want. Most of the younger ones are full of questions, and while I’m not full of answers I will offer them help with the caveat that I don’t know much, and sometimes nothing, about musky fishing.
Edited by OH Musky 1/27/2020 5:50 PM
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Posts: 132
Location: WV | good question, I've heard a lot of talk about it. but never known a real good answer I know the older guys care and would do anything for younger members in my chapter. I found that out first hand years ago. Muskie inc means a lot to me and my family. I could never figure out why boys I fished with a lot would never join. Always promoting it, I finally gave up and signed them up myself. best thing I know is take em fishing, let em bust a easy one if you got it, and buy em a membership. seems like it would work.
when I was young it was bass/musky every day. fishing something every weekend. on the club bass side we would random draw co anglers. so you could come with your dad but fish with who knows who. I always thought that would be good on the local musky club fishing, mix it up, learn from more people and gather more contacts and friendships. |
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Posts: 626
Location: Madison, WI | Ruddiger - 1/26/2020 7:29 AM
Howdy,
I've been a MI member since the 90's but only went to two meetings in my life. Even then it was for a chapter that was starting in my area and then I moved for work.
I've always joined in an unafiliated status because I believe deeply in the sport and in continuing the work that MI has done to expand and protect the resource.
That said, I believe the old quote "we have met the enemy, and he is us" applies to this situation. Sadly, many of the muskie fisherman I have met over the last 30 years are jerks. They carry themselves with an arrogance that turns people off (even to other muskie fisherman).
Add in all the secrecy, the condescending attitudes towards other fisherman, lectures about proper holds and releases, not to mention the constant digs over a big fish that's "not as big as the person stays it is" and it all becomes fatiguing. All of the stereotypical millennial/snowflake comments that get repeated about younger fisherman only makes it worse. It's no wonder they tune us out and move on with their life.
For me, I'm still happy to donate and be a MI member, but I don't have the time or desire to wade through the nonsense to find the benefits to being active in a club.
Take care,
Ruddiger
This is exactly what turned me off to MI when I was 19-20. I inquired about joining a weekly league and the local chapter, and basically I was scoffed at and even laughed at about the league. Well I’m 33 now and have never considered joining again. Left a very sour taste with me. |
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Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | danmuskyman - 1/27/2020 8:34 PM
Ruddiger - 1/26/2020 7:29 AM
Howdy,
I've been a MI member since the 90's but only went to two meetings in my life. Even then it was for a chapter that was starting in my area and then I moved for work.
I've always joined in an unafiliated status because I believe deeply in the sport and in continuing the work that MI has done to expand and protect the resource.
That said, I believe the old quote "we have met the enemy, and he is us" applies to this situation. Sadly, many of the muskie fisherman I have met over the last 30 years are jerks. They carry themselves with an arrogance that turns people off (even to other muskie fisherman).
Add in all the secrecy, the condescending attitudes towards other fisherman, lectures about proper holds and releases, not to mention the constant digs over a big fish that's "not as big as the person stays it is" and it all becomes fatiguing. All of the stereotypical millennial/snowflake comments that get repeated about younger fisherman only makes it worse. It's no wonder they tune us out and move on with their life.
For me, I'm still happy to donate and be a MI member, but I don't have the time or desire to wade through the nonsense to find the benefits to being active in a club.
Take care,
Ruddiger
This is exactly what turned me off to MI when I was 19-20. I inquired about joining a weekly league and the local chapter, and basically I was scoffed at and even laughed at about the league. Well I’m 33 now and have never considered joining again. Left a very sour taste with me.
Much has changed in the last decade, might be worth another try. MI really does do a lot for muskie fishing and conservation, and it's worth supporting. I work with the Cap City chapter at the annual MI School in March, and that's a class organization all the way. I speak occasionally at MI clubs, and the general feel has transformed quite a bit in the last 10 plus years. Quite a bit indeed. |
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Posts: 1023
| Muskies Inc. is a club. And as such, a club is what you make of it.
I've been a member now for 11 or 12 years. As such I've seen the club change for the better with different folks being President of the club. New ideas, new ways of doing things....etc. Our club here in Milwaukee was blessed to have two outstanding individuals as the past Presidents...and they did so much for our club. Stocking, organization, communication, commradorie (if that is a word)....etc.
We shall see how the new President is now.....tough shoes to fill.
I've seen our culture as a club change over the years for the better. We have a bunch of "core" guys who love to fish, don't get me wrong, but they love bringing in new guys to the chapter and helping them catch fish.
At our last meeting, a past President welcomed in a new Chapter member in front of the group...it was a great moment.
I get some of the "angst" over Muskies Inc., but it is what you will make of it. And each local chapter will have it's own kind of "flavor". |
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Posts: 20180
Location: oswego, il | I was hoping to find out why the younger crowd I see at the shows isn't involved and how to get them involved to get M.I. to that next level. I think once it gets there it can keep bringing in that age group. I don't think its money, time kids, turned off by some members, those are exceptions. I see this group as a majority on the water and at the shows. I think getting them involved can only benefit and better focus on youth, fisheries and research the founding blocks of the organization. |
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Posts: 32798
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I honestly think it could be as simple as properly asking them to join. The MI Facebook page is WAY up over the last couple years at 34867 followers, so there's obvious interest.
Main issue is we need to reach out to them where they are, and that's new to most MI Chapters. Last Spring I addressed a few chapters in the North at the Wisconsin Musky Expo, and talked about how to utilize the media that will reach young anglers and the ladies. I'm not sure if what I presented was taken seriously, but I can report a cursory look through some Chapter social channels shows the issues remain. |
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Posts: 152
| Pay for an endorsement by marshmallow or ninja . You'll get all kinds of younger people to join |
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Posts: 1209
| 32- cost, why give up one dollar when it doesn't benefit me... I have no options within 100 miles is my real answer. But I have made it to fergus falls over the pelican lake muskie issue. Honestly I think many people my age are to busy chasing fish/tail to attend meetings/functions. |
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Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Fishysam - 1/28/2020 1:25 PM
32- cost, why give up one dollar when it doesn't benefit me... I have no options within 100 miles is my real answer. But I have made it to fergus falls over the pelican lake muskie issue. Honestly I think many people my age are to busy chasing fish/tail to attend meetings/functions.
MI benefits you and every other muskie angler out there in one way or another by promoting muskie stocking, conservation, CPR, education, symposiums, and more. My early involvement with MI beginning back in the early 80's is what brought me to get MuskieFIRST online nearly 20 years ago.
'Chasing tail'? Not a good excuse.....:) |
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Location: Neapolitan Chain Of Lakes | I know what many of the 25-45 crowd think first hand. I am always asking and looking to fish with others. Even had an ad online looking for people to fish with as in my opinion it's good to learn at any age (What to do or not to do). Many people responded to me and had one guy said he was 33 and asked me my musky bio! LOL, my musky bio? I understand if you're looking for a tournament partner you need to find out whether the guy can fish or not but bio? C'mon man! When I told him I was closer to 50 he immediately sighed with disappointment and went on to let me know through conversation his assumptions that the older age range was decrepit and unable to fish hard. Of course I told him if I choose to I cast all day and into the night if need be but that didn't seem to register with him. He went on to boast about his league fishing, the legendary bait shop he worked at, and how he tournament fished but didn't want an old partner all while never even fishing with me just an assumption. He was not alone and this was not uncommon with many younger guys I fished with and talked to. Granted there were a few of course that didn't act that way but the vast majority just think (Of course most wouldn't say it out loud) that older guys are used up, can't fish hard, and they don't see the value and musky intelligence they could learn from a more experienced angler. The guys that don't have that mindset usually don't have a buddy their age to go musky fishing with and are ok with fishing with almost anyone but are busy with families and other life things and feel lucky just to go fish once or twice a month let alone go to a meeting after dinner or a couple club outings a year going to a far away place that costs too much for them. With that being said most club cliques just aren't for everyone including me. I can and want to fish everyday (March-December)around my local area in northern Illinois/southern Wisconsin so if anyone wants a boat partner when they feel like it pm me if you can deal with an old decrepit experienced musky nut! (That can fish all day or night even tho I'm sooo old!) |
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Location: Hayward, WI | Or local club is mainly 60+. I will take my son, 13, to what meetings we can manage to make, normally only 2-3 a year. My son loves it, he is made to feel very welcome and everyone is friendly and talks to him. I think he enjoys the meetings more than I do. The "old guys" will often give him the small door prizes that they win. |
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| Fishysam - 1/28/2020 1:25 PM
32- cost, why give up one dollar when it doesn't benefit me...
Maybe because it is a good cause. Plus it's just good to do something that doesn't just benefit you. You, no doubt, have benefitted from things done by Muskies Inc. Without Muskies Inc., CPR probably wouldn't be as pervasive as it is, and there would be way fewer big fish. Probably fewer lakes with muskies. There's a good chance you have caught a fish that was stocked by Muskies Inc. or with Muskies Inc. money. $35 bucks a year to support an activity you enjoy, even if you never go to a meeting, aint much. I don't get out pheasant hunting much, and haven't hunted waterfowl in several years, but I send a small membership check to Pheasants Forever and Ducks unlimited, every year. Never been to any meetings or banquets. Just want to support their efforts. Also, just one more name to add to a member list. We had an idiot legislator here, that a few years ago, used the number of Muskies Inc. members in the state, to indicate that not very many people fished for muskies, as if every person that fished for them, was in the club. |
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Location: oswego, il | Muskies Inc benefits everyone in some way. We have two more Muskie lakes near Chicago, Geneva and Long because Muskies inc. clubs pursued it. Just an example. We buy stuff for the DNR much of it used for all species. You catch a stocked musky, good chance Muskies inc had an influence in getting that fish in there. That can be said for every Musky in the state of Illinois.
Edited by ToddM 1/28/2020 6:41 PM
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Posts: 2236
Location: SE, WI. | Todd; the musky community is a rare breed. Hard work, dedication and patience is needed in this sport. It’s a tough ladder to climb sometimes, and it seems like peer pressures of today’s world is just too much for the younger generation. The resources, Time, and all the other factors listed above like the clique groups, jerks, personalities, etc all play in. You need to look past all this bunk, be a little tough skinned, and be a part of MI because, It’s A GOOD CAUSE! Been a member for 37 years! I think Steve W is right. We need to go out and recruit new musky inc. members. It’s part of Sales, ask for the Sale!!! Get people interested! Back in the early 80’s, when I was recruited, we had a contest in our Milwaukee chapter MI. club, who could sign up the most members in a year. We were given membership brochures with our name as sponsors. An award was given to the individual that signed up most members. When I joined, we were about 30 members strong, early 80’s. JD
Edited by jdsplasher 1/28/2020 7:20 PM
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Posts: 177
| Young guy here. I fish a few times a year a couple hours from home. I may join in the future but no way I'm making any meetings any time soon. |
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Posts: 661
Location: Roscoe IL | This topic got me curious to know how many member there are compared to other fishing/Outdoor clubs and what’s different, outside of the obvious.
MI -Approx. 6000 Members
B.A.S.S - Over 20,000
Trout Unlimited - Over 300,000
Ducks Unlimited - Over 700,000
Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes - Just Fred & Barney remain.
Perhaps taking a page out of the other clubs approach to adding membership could be useful to grow?
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Location: Neapolitan Chain Of Lakes | Last dark had come and gone and the night dew had adhered itself to the boat seats. So my late 20 something buddy and I are setting up to troll to our next spot and he says "Can you drive I have some POF ing to do?" (For context please search the urban dictionary for definition of "Plenty of Fish" and "Netflix and chill") I obliged as his phone lit up the pitch black night sky and attracted the largest bugs in the state that blanketed us and the whirring outboard and he asked me where towns like Mukwonago were and if New Berlin was on the good side of the wall. Then he would show me a pic and a profile of someone from that town and ask "Do you think this person would like to Musky fish and chill?" And then scroll thru some more pics and profiles and repeat the questions. My point is that many of the younger guys seriously have different priorities and even tho MI benefits everyone immensely they may not be educated enough about MI or just have a different stage of stocking in mind quite often. I know it's not a good excuse but it happens. I think one thing like many guys above have said is that education through us and social media is a great way forward. That being said, I have seen firsthand at the shows walking around with my young buddies when someone puts the big Muskies Inc. patch on the back bottom portion of a hot pink jacket just above the part of pants that reads "Juicy" all of a sudden guys wanna know all about Muskies Inc. and how they can join "That" chapter. Just sayin' |
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| Which chapter is that BTW? |
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Location: Neapolitan Chain Of Lakes | Pretty sure it was the Twin Peaks chapter |
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Posts: 93
| The MI Facebook page is WAY up over the last couple years at 34867 followers, so there's obvious interest...Main issue is we need to reach out to them where they are, and that's new to most MI Chapters...I can report a cursory look through some Chapter social channels shows the issues remain.
I'm not sure that large numbers (typically young-ish) social media followers who are there to access muskie porn is the same as interest in participating IRL; that same line of thought failed MI with TV advertising. It's not solely a matter of reach or awareness - offering engaging activities IRL goes a lot further than page or picture likes. If you've got something appealing to younger people and families, then you can use your online reach to let people know about it. Hold events worth attending, hold events that make the club worth joining. If you don't offer interesting activities, no amount of reach or proper invitiations will matter.
For example, my club's typical monthly meeting involves a room full of older white guys sitting around drinking beer and listening to a slightly less old white guy talk about his figure 8 technique. Boring, and even the somewhat older white guys like me spend more time staring at their phones than at the speaker. But when my same club holds on-the-water activities focused on youth and families? It's a park full of parents and kids who don't all look exactly the same having a good time right alongside the core older members. Why would any of those younger folks join a club that only does the passive club speaker meeting thing? If you build it, they will come...
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Location: Duluth | Guys it's the money.
Of course people will come to a free muskie fishing event. Becoming an active member, own your own boat and carving out the time is not realistic for a lot of people. The issue is systemic, drops in participation are occurring across various hobbies, and the reason is always the same: Can't get enough PTO, I don't make enough money or my wife will kill me if I use my 10 days of PTO on fishing instead of family time. The economy sucks for the vast majority of younger anglers, and if the economy isn't sucking for them thats because they are in a geography that is far away from muskie.....thus making owning a boat not practical or smart. |
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| TCESOX - 1/28/2020 5:24 PM
Fishysam - 1/28/2020 1:25 PM
32- cost, why give up one dollar when it doesn't benefit me...
Maybe because it is a good cause. Plus it's just good to do something that doesn't just benefit you. You, no doubt, have benefitted from things done by Muskies Inc. Without Muskies Inc., CPR probably wouldn't be as pervasive as it is, and there would be way fewer big fish. Probably fewer lakes with muskies. There's a good chance you have caught a fish that was stocked by Muskies Inc. or with Muskies Inc. money. $35 bucks a year to support an activity you enjoy, even if you never go to a meeting, aint much. I don't get out pheasant hunting much, and haven't hunted waterfowl in several years, but I send a small membership check to Pheasants Forever and Ducks unlimited, every year. Never been to any meetings or banquets. Just want to support their efforts. Also, just one more name to add to a member list. We had an idiot legislator here, that a few years ago, used the number of Muskies Inc. members in the state, to indicate that not very many people fished for muskies, as if every person that fished for them, was in the club.
I understand that but many people don't, for instance if they stocked one lake with a billion muskies but it isn't my lake it's not helping as they are to concerned with getting gas in their truck |
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Location: oswego, il | CincySkeez - 1/29/2020 1:18 PM
Guys it's the money.
Of course people will come to a free muskie fishing event. Becoming an active member, own your own boat and carving out the time is not realistic for a lot of people. The issue is systemic, drops in participation are occurring across various hobbies, and the reason is always the same: Can't get enough PTO, I don't make enough money or my wife will kill me if I use my 10 days of PTO on fishing instead of family time. The economy sucks for the vast majority of younger anglers, and if the economy isn't sucking for them thats because they are in a geography that is far away from muskie.....thus making owning a boat not practical or smart.
I disagree, as I have stated, the demographic I see on the water and the Muskie shows are much younger than involved in M.I. |
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Posts: 596
Location: Duluth | The people on the water are in dads boat, people at the show are spending money on gear that they can use when the time comes.
My evidence is anecdotal, but I am in the target age range for new membership and they all don't muskie fish for previously stated reasons. Most of my buddies that fish actually have taken up fly fishing or kayak fishing because it's so much cheaper than musky fishing. |
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Posts: 3136
| If it has to do with finances that's even more reason to join a club,,and find people to share boat time with,split gas,expenses and take discounted club outings. |
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Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | ToddM - 1/29/2020 2:11 PM
CincySkeez - 1/29/2020 1:18 PM
Guys it's the money.
Of course people will come to a free muskie fishing event. Becoming an active member, own your own boat and carving out the time is not realistic for a lot of people. The issue is systemic, drops in participation are occurring across various hobbies, and the reason is always the same: Can't get enough PTO, I don't make enough money or my wife will kill me if I use my 10 days of PTO on fishing instead of family time. The economy sucks for the vast majority of younger anglers, and if the economy isn't sucking for them thats because they are in a geography that is far away from muskie.....thus making owning a boat not practical or smart.
I disagree, as I have stated, the demographic I see on the water and the Muskie shows are much younger than involved in M.I.
And that is a fact. |
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Location: Elk River, MN | ToothyCritter - 1/29/2020 7:37 AM
This topic got me curious to know how many member there are compared to other fishing/Outdoor clubs and what’s different, outside of the obvious.
MI -Approx. 6000 Members
B.A.S.S - Over 20,000
Trout Unlimited - Over 300,000
Ducks Unlimited - Over 700,000
Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes - Just Fred & Barney remain.
Perhaps taking a page out of the other clubs approach to adding membership could be useful to grow?
One item to review on these numbers is the availability of such groups, these groups span a much larger area, Muskies have a relatively smaller area of interest and availability. The number of fisherman associated with those species is much much higher.
You are right though, taking a look at how they are run and present themselves is still a point to pursue, you're not wrong about that at all |
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Posts: 596
Location: Duluth | Perhaps the older crowds resistance to take the word of the targeted demo speaks to the issue as well. Seeing younger people on the water or at shows is good. The explanation as to why certain chapters skew older is unique to each chapter.
The decline in participation (in outdoor activities) writ large is the issue, and the reason people can't access the outdoors is lack of financial resources. I'll stop beating my head against the wall now. |
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Posts: 8719
| Judging by the amount of money these young guys are dropping at the shows, its hard to believe that the $35 annual membership fee is a deal breaker. |
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