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Location: Northern Illinois | .
Edited by RLSea 6/3/2023 10:40 PM
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| I love it! |
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| sworrall - 6/2/2023 4:25 PM
Ranger - 5/26/2023 4:22 PM
So, you guys in muskie clubs, do you discuss the fate of muskie fishing? Are long term prospects ever on the agenda? If not, why not?
Organized stakeholders have the loudest voice. Tho sometimes it's hard to be heard over the softer voices of profit takers. Those soft voices, the guys in the shadows who pay politicians to sacrifice environmental health and long-term community prosperity to protect revenue streams, they are very effective.
Muskies Inc does. Getting louder all the time.
Muskies Inc. is very limited on how they can advocate, and has to be careful due to their non-profit filing status. The MMPA, on the other hand, is purely about the political advocacy of muskies. Our two chairs, are two of the most plugged in fishing advocates you can find, on the state level. They have basically sacrificed career and family for the last 15 to 20 years, to spend time at the Capitol, testifying, going to stake holder meetings, and more. We also have a paid lobbyist.
One thing that has been learned, is that there are times to be loud, and make noise, and there are other times it is better to pick your battles, in order to win the war. There have been many threats to muskie fishing in Minnesota, but not all, require immediate action. If you recall a few years ago, a call to arms was put out, to combat severe anti-muskie legislation. The sponsor of that legislation and the members of the Senate finance committee, as well as many other state politicians, were absolutely inundated with calls, emails, and letters, from the muskie community, not just in Minnesota, but from all over the place. These politicians were stunned by the response, and the legislation went absolutely nowhere. Other threats have been dealt with in a much quieter way, avoiding poking the bear, fanning flames, or publicly embarrassing legislators. Thus gaining more credibility and respect, in the process. Even thought our main threat(a particular senator) is no longer in office, there are still threats out there, that may require that call to arms, once again. Hopefully not.
Edited by TCESOX 6/4/2023 1:03 PM
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| Fate has played a role in this too. Back in the late 1990's the "No More Muskies" movement started on Lake Miltona after a man saw a Muskie swimming by his pier and was afraid it was going to eat his grandchild and with a bad Bluegill hatch and then same with the Walleyes, all heck broke lose. Minnesota Muskie Fishing has gone down hill since. |
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| chuckski - 6/4/2023 4:55 PM
Fate has played a role in this too. Back in the late 1990's the "No More Muskies" movement started on Lake Miltona after a man saw a Muskie swimming by his pier and was afraid it was going to eat his grandchild and with a bad Bluegill hatch and then same with the Walleyes, all heck broke lose. Minnesota Muskie Fishing has gone down hill since.
Actually, the first decade of the 2000's were incredible fishing. At least I don't think I'm the only one who had some of our best years, then. And thankfully, none of the anti-muskie noise over the last 20 years, has resulted in any legislation or rule making in the DNR. It has hampered progress and expansion, but nothing adverse, ever made it out of committee, due to serious effort by some, and a great response from the muskie community. |
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| Yes the first decade of the 2000 were best fishing for us too, but those fish were stocked in the 1990's. For us time on the water helped too. Two weeks in Canada and late June early July and week in either Minnesota or Wisconsin in the fall. My best fish ever was Minnesota 1999 and dad 2003 Canada. With good numbers and average size. |
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Location: oswego, il | chuckski - 6/4/2023 4:55 PM
Fate has played a role in this too. Back in the late 1990's the "No More Muskies" movement started on Lake Miltona after a man saw a Muskie swimming by his pier and was afraid it was going to eat his grandchild and with a bad Bluegill hatch and then same with the Walleyes, all heck broke lose. Minnesota Muskie Fishing has gone down hill since.
I still think no more Muskies was about the fisherman and not the fish. Some of us can be very inconsiderate and when the bite is on infest a lake like the white bass run on the wolf river. |
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Location: oswego, il | chuckski - 6/5/2023 10:31 AM
Yes the first decade of the 2000 were best fishing for us too, but those fish were stocked in the 1990's. For us time on the water helped too. Two weeks in Canada and late June early July and week in either Minnesota or Wisconsin in the fall. My best fish ever was Minnesota 1999 and dad 2003 Canada. With good numbers and average size.
So many fisheries were developing in that decade in Minnesota, Indiana and LSC was growing with the casting bite and more people realized they could take their musky boats out there. While there are still some hot bites it's not like it was then. |
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| There's nothing else like it when those first few year classes grow to maturity in anew system with no competition for habitat and forage. It's easy to blame everything under the sun but the kind of fishing we saw 20 years ago in MN and IN was artificial and unsustainable.
The only way to have that kind of fishing is to stock new lakes on a rotational basis, and stop stocking lakes that are already established until the muskie populations die off and then start over with an essentially "new" fishery again. If locals are worried about long term effects, just stock hybrids. It could work. I'd bet a real biologist could give me a million reasons why it wouldn't, though. |
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Location: Duluth | esoxaddict - 6/5/2023 2:34 PM
There's nothing else like it when those first few year classes grow to maturity in anew system with no competition for habitat and forage. It's easy to blame everything under the sun but the kind of fishing we saw 20 years ago in MN and IN was artificial and unsustainable.
The only way to have that kind of fishing is to stock new lakes on a rotational basis, and stop stocking lakes that are already established until the muskie populations die off and then start over with an essentially "new" fishery again. If locals are worried about long term effects, just stock hybrids. It could work. I'd bet a real biologist could give me a million reasons why it wouldn't, though.
This is correct, most people that I know that recently started musky fishing are oblivious to how limited muskies natural range is/was in Minnesota. |
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| I'm not saying they can't thrive or don't thrive outside their native range, but they sure do seem to do a lot better at home. |
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