STC LT Musky.8.5x11 1/2/13 10:23 AM Page 1 - … · Board of Directors Executive Committee...

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ContentsMUSKIE • VOl. 48, NO. 6

Join Muskies, Inc. ...or give a member ship as a gift.

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MUSKIE magazine is published six times each year and is the Official Publication of Muskies, Inc.Ellen Wells, Administrative Secretary, 1509 Stahl Road, Sheboygan, WI 53081. Ph: 1-888-710-8286.© Copyright 2014 by Muskies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Departments2 President’s Message, Jay Zahn3 About the Cover, Sean Landsman3 Index of Advertisers4 MUSKIE News5 Lunge Log, Jim Bunch10 Member Photos, Brad Waldera11 Figure 8, Sean Landsman18 Youth Zone25 Chapter News and Views33 Photo Contest, Brad Waldera

Features13 Dealing with Distractions, Ace Sommerfeld21 2014 Gil Hamm Memorial Chapter Challunge Recap, Jeff Young24 Muskellunge Myths Exploded, Charles Weiss

www.muskiesinc.org November / December 2014.....MUSKIE 1

About the CoVeRtwo anglers cast a shoreline on Lac Seul during

fall. this is such a picturesque, idyllic scene that I could not resist featuring it on the cover. I know that for many of us immersing ourselves in settings like this is one of the greatest draws to this sport. We are fortunate that muskies live in lakes that have landscapes like this around them! Image courtesy former Assistant editor, Juris ozols. - Sean

Board of DirectorsExecutive CommitteePresident, Jay ZahnPhone: 920-660-7655Email: [email protected]

VP Finance/Treasurer, Jim ShannonPhone: 763-434-9729Email: [email protected]

VP Fisheries & Research, Elmer Heyob Phone: 937-309-5359Email: [email protected]

VP Internal Affairs, Dan KoniewiczPhone: 847-682-9238 Email: [email protected]

VP Membership & Marketing, Greg WellsPhone: 920-457-3720Email: [email protected]

VP Communications, Ron TeschnerPhone: 701-640-0544Email: [email protected]

VP Youth Activities, Kevin BushnickPhone: 847-987-3622Email: [email protected]

Corporate Secretary, Carl PhillipsPhone: 763-972-8240Email: [email protected]

Past-President, Dan NarseteEmail: [email protected] Regional Representatives are also

Executive Committee Members

Regional RepresentativesRegion 1 Term Expires *Greg Kvale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2016 Eric Schultz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2014 Jeff Young . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2015Region 2 *Jeff Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2015 Robert Petzke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2016 Joe Heil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2017Region 3 *Max Machuta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2013 Jim Evers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2014 Robert Roe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2015Region 4 *Kimberly Cates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2014 Earle Hammond. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2015 Frank Walter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2016 * = Senior Regional Representative

SupportAdministrative Secretary, Ellen Wells1509 Stahl Road, Sheboygan, WI 53081Phone: 888-710-8286Email: [email protected]

Executive Accountant, Kathryn GoonPhone: 419-945-2940Email: [email protected]

Merchandising Director, Will SchultzPhone: 616-447-1688Email: [email protected]

Web Master, Randy loeweckePhone: 815-520-3628Email: [email protected]

Recently I traveled to Ottawa, Canada to represent Muskies, Inc. at the Muskies Canada International Muskie Symposium. Sean provides more detail in the news section of MUSKIE, but I’d like to share some of my thoughts on the symposium, as meetings like these are so important for our sport, and underscore at least one of the major operating principles (research) of Muskies, Inc.

On Day One, Muskies Canada President Chris Purdy and I were asked to open the symposium. Chris talked about the importance of developing a strong relationship with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR), not unlike MI’s relationship with many state DNRs. Working with a single goal in mind has made both organizations stronger. I followed with a brief history of MI, stressing how important it is to be a member because it gives us a stronger voice when working on issues related to our sport. It was a great two days and made me realize how important it is to hold these symposiums. Remember ours is less than two years away in March of 2016.

Our Lunge Log was also discussed at length. In fact, a conversation with organizer and former OMNR biologist, Steve Kerr, relayed that the OMNR considers our database highly important to them. “One has to realize how big Ontario is,” Steve said. “We can’t possibly get enough statistical data on our own; it is just not possible.” He said to get a better understanding of Ontario muskie catch rates the OMNR would use the data from our Lunge Log. Also, if that wasn’t enough, Dr. Casselman came up and asked me questions about our statistics. For those who don’t know Dr. Casselman, he’s one of the world’s most highly regarded fisheries scientists. His presentation was great and made even better by the inclusion of data from the Lunge Log. We some-times think data from the Lunge Log is only used for our own consumption, but as you can see our data is also important for researchers as well.

The symposium gave me the chance to sit down and talk with Chris about the obstacles that face both of our organizations. We realized not only are we after what is best for all things muskie, we also have the same problems when it comes to running the day to day business of our respective organizations. We vowed to stay in touch and help each other if there is an opportunity.

The President’s Messageby Jay Zahn, Muskies, Inc. President

Email: [email protected]

2 MUSKIE..... November / December 2014

MUSKIE Magazine StaffEDITOR & MAGAZINE DESIGNAmy Penza105 Fairview laneNekoosa, WI 54457Phone: (715) 213-7206Email: [email protected]

ASSISTANT EDITORSean landsmanPhone: (217) 649-4449Email: [email protected] CONTEST EDITORBrad WalderaPhone: (701) 642-1952Email: [email protected] LOG EDITORMembers Only Fishing ContestJim BunchPhone: (715) 226-0295Email: [email protected] SALES TEAMKevin Richards, Advertising ManagerPhone: (573) 280-2300Email: [email protected] Sales Representatives:Terri & Harlan FierstinePhone: (218) 252-0947 or (218) 255-3461 Email: [email protected] PischkePhone: (920) 676-7893Email: [email protected] ACCOUNT MANAGERSunray Printing Solutions, Inc. - Stacey ThielenILLUSTRATORS/CARTOONISTSRichard Gross, Charles WeissFIELD EDITORSPatricia Strutz, Ace Sommerfeld,Kevin Pischke, Kevin Richards, Rick Helm, Adam M. Glickman, David Cates

MUSKIE is published exclusively for the membership of Muskies, Inc. and subscriptions come with a paid membership. Muskies, Inc. is a non-profit organiza-tion. Membership classes and associated annual dues are listed on the form at the bottom of page one. Copies of MUSKIE magazine are available at $3.00 each from the Muskies, Inc. Administrative Secretary.Contributors grant rights for M.I. to publish once in MUSKIE Magazine, both the print and on-line versions, including archives and on the M.I. Web site.

Submissions toMUSKIE Magazine

Persons interested in submitting material for publication should contact the Editor.

Contributors grant rights for M.I. to publish once in MUSKIE Magazine, both the print and on-line ver-sions, including archives and on the M.I. website.

Since I have become active in Muskies, Inc. at the local and national level, I have met so many people I can call friends. I can now call Chris Purdy, Ian Young, and Peter Levick of Muskies Canada friends, too. I would also like to thank the members of Muskies Canada for making me feel at home while I was in Ottawa and the Ottawa Chapter of Muskies Canada for hosting the event. Thanks guys, hopefully some of you will be able to make it over to Minneapolis in 2016.

Hope everyone has a great late season, until next time. Grab em’ by the Tail, Jay Zahn

CHAOS TACKLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22CHICAGO & MILWAUKEE MUSKIE EXPO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14FITTANTE REPLICAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13LAKEWOOD PRODUCTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30LURE PARTS ONLINE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29OHIO MUSKY SHOW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24RED WING LODGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16SPORT SHOW LOCATOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27SPORTSMAN’S REPAIR SHOP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19ST . CROIX RODS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IFCT’S TACKLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA MUSKIE MAX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20YOUNG’S WILDERNESS CAMP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

INDEX OF ADVERTISERS


Thinking of Advertisingin Magazine?

Reach over 6,000 muskie enthusiasts with each ad.Your ad will have HIGH visibility in MUSKIE!

Your ad will support the goals ofMuskies, Inc. - Fisheries, Research &

Youth

MUSKIE Magazine –

Catch the Fever!!

Please contact a member ofour Advertising Sales Team:

Kevin Richards, Advertising ManagerPhone: (573) 280-2300Email: [email protected] & Harlan Fierstine, Advertising Sales Rep.Phone: (218) 252-0947Email: [email protected] Pischke, Advertising Sales Rep.Phone: (920) 676-7893Email: [email protected]

fascinating Wisconsin muskie management information and Ontario’s methods of managing muskies into two 30-minute presentations. That’s no small feat! Graduate student Jean-Paul LeBlanc (McMaster University, Ontario) revealed insights into nursery habitat characteristics in Georgian Bay. Similarly, John Farrell (SUNY-ESF) discussed the quality of available St. Lawrence River nursery habitat and its ability to help a damaged population (from VHS) recover. Chris Wilson (OMNR) and Loren Miller (MNDNR) discussed applications of genetic analyses to managing muskie stocks throughout North America, particularly as they guide stock-ing efforts (i.e., stock the most genetically similar strain to the target lake). It would take much more than this sum-mary article to cover everything that was discussed, but the take-home point is that there are many scientists and biolo-gists actively pursuing research aimed at improving muskie populations across North America.

But of course, no muskie conference that takes place dur-ing the peak of summer would be complete without some fishing. Volunteers from the Ottawa Chapter of Muskies Canada took conference attendants out on Saturday. However, conditions were less than ideal as massive amounts of rain hit the Ottawa area earlier in the week and a big cold front was still moving its way through the region (Ottawa set a record low for a high temperature during one of the days of the symposium). Despite that, several people hit the Ottawa River and Madawaska River. I had the opportunity to fish with our very own Jay Zahn and current Muskies Canada, Inc. president, Chris Purdy. We tried our best, but only managed a topwater blow-up from a mid-40 inch fish. The other boats reported similar results. I split my day with Jay and Chris by jumping into another friend’s boat. Conditions changed slightly and a window opened up, which produced four fish. On a personal note, it was won-derful returning to fish the waters I spent so much time on during my Masters program, and a nice reminder of what the Ottawa River can produce on a moment’s notice. If you ever have the opportunity to fish eastern Ontario waters, particularly the Ottawa, give it a shot!

Overall, we have much to be proud of as members of the muskie community. It was clear throughout the conference that our fisheries are in good hands.

- Sean Landsman, MUSKIE Assistant Editor

2014 International Muskie Symposium SummaryBetween August 14th and 15th, a group of muskie enthu-

siasts and scientists gathered on Carleton University’s cam-pus in Ottawa, Ontario for the 2014 International Muskellunge Symposium. The goal of the symposium was to disseminate relevant scientific information from across the fish’s range, with the theme being “Muskellunge Science and Management: Progress Through Partnerships”. The event was expertly organized and went off without a hitch. In addition, being a relatively small event, it was a great platform for interaction among anglers and scientists.

The theme of the symposium is one the muskie angling community should be proud of. We have absolutely increased our understanding of this species through the part-nerships forged between Muskies, Inc., state biologists, and academic researchers. Ditto for Muskies Canada, Inc. The fact is, muskies don’t receive a whole lot of attention (for a variety of reasons) and therefore dollars are not as prevalent as for walleye, bass, or other more popular North American freshwater game fish. One organization or institution can’t do it alone and so it’s crucial that we band together to further our understanding of the fish we love to catch. The presen-tations heard over the two-day symposium underscored the importance of these partnerships and nearly every one was a case study in successful collaboration. This is something to be proud of.

Speakers included Tim Simonson of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR), biologists from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR), Dr. John Farrell of State University of New York – College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry (SUNY-ESF), Loren Miller of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR), and famous muskie scientist Dr. John Casselman of Queen’s University in Ontario. Organizers Dr. Jon Midwood and Dr. Steven Cooke of Carleton University also held multiple panel discussions that generated great conver-sation on topics including catch-and-release issues (e.g., Where are our knowledge gaps? What issues do we need to address?), threats to muskie fisheries both in Ontario and beyond (e.g., spawning and nursery habitat degradation, juvenile survival), and a complex habitat rehabilitation proj-ect occurring in Ottawa that involves multiple stakeholders.

As diverse as the range of speakers was, so too was the range of topics. Arunas Liskauskas gave a breakdown of the distribution and population characteristics of Georgian Bay muskies from tagging over 1,000 muskies. Tim Simonson (WDNR) and Dan Taillon (OMNR) crammed 20 years of


From left to right: Peter Levick (Ottawa Chapter of Muskies Canada, Inc.), Chris Purdy (Muskies Canada, Inc. president), Dr. John Casselman (professor emeritus, Queen’s University, Ontario), Jay Zahn (Muskies, Inc. president), and Ian Young (former Muskies Canada, Inc. president) gather for a photo at the 2014 International Muskie Symposium held August 14 and 15th in Ottawa, Ontario.

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www.muskiesinc.org

Big Muskies!A relative of mine says that some people catch a lot of

muskies and some of them are big muskies, so why not me? What am I doing different? The question is, what are they doing different? I think it gets down to a person like Jeff M. Hanson. What is he doing different? Most of us sit around the house wish-ing we were catching muskies, while he is out on the water catching muskies. I think it gets down to the fact that if he isn’t catching muskies, well then he does something else. What that else is depends on his experience and his ability. Then again, he relies on time, which is every hour of the day that has light. Those who catch muskies use everything they have. Many of them do not use the daylight to master the craft. Many are in the dark about things and many are using the dark to master what they want. In other words, they are committed more than you and me. Throughout the years, I have learned that muskie fishing is a commitment most of us are willing to give.

Now, the main story this month is from Jeff himself. He is a prime example of what we are talking about. He is a guide on the Madison Chain most of the year, but in July it gets too hot, so he moves to a different body of water every year for about 2-4 weeks. He goes to Lake St. Clair and works as a first mate for Whopper Stopper Charters and Mr. Musky Charters. He gets a few days to fun fish. To fun fish means he gets to fish for himself. That is what this story is all about. The muskie was caught on July 26th at 6 p.m. and in Jeff’s words, goes like this.

“I was fishing with my good friends Captain Matt ‘Catfish’ Firestein, who runs Whopper Stopper Charters, Jason Bond and Brandon Percichini. We were fishing a big tournament called ‘The Annual Lake St. Clair Musky Bash’ at the time and we won first place with the muskie of the official length of 55 3/8 inches. We had caught quite a few fish that day troll-ing, but nothing real big yet. At about 5:45 p.m. the sun popped back out, I reeled a few baits in to change to lighter colors. I picked out a lighter colored Spanky Bait double 10 out of my tackle box and snapped it on, slid it down the planner board line, double checked the

drags, turned around and the reel clicker started screaming. I grabbed the rod out of the rod holder and knew it was a big one right away. I yelled up to Catfish to slow the boat down, because we had a big fish on. It came up about 25 yards from the back of boat, Bond and I shouted ‘It’s a big one!’ Catfish said it didn’t look that big and clearly wasn’t as excited as Bond and I were. The fish finally came up to the back of the boat, Bond did a terrific net job. By this time Catfish came to the back of the boat to see it and yelled ‘IT’S A GIANT!’ We got it verified for the tournament, took pictures, released it and

Matt “Catfish” Firestein (left), Jeff Hanson (middle), and Jason Bond (right) holding yet another gigantic St. Clair muskie caught

by Jeff. The fish measured 54 inches.

A bumpboard is an invaluable tool to quickly obtain an accurate measurement. Here, Jeff Hanson gets an

official measurement on his 54 inch fish.

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OG Chapter Length Date Caught Lake County State Lure

1 Matt Pelletier 59 48.5" 4/8/2014 Bluewater Lake Cibola NM Herky Jerky2 Leif Spilde 8 48.25" 7/26/2014 Lake St. Clair Ontario ON Spanky Fireball3 Kirk Bolles 59 48" 5/16/2014 Bluewater Lake Cibola NM Herky Jerky4 Pete Bergman 57 48" 7/12/2014 Mayfield Lake Lewis WA Mepps Musky Killer5 Pete Bergman 57 47.5" 7/13/2014 Merwin Cowlitz WA Savagegear 4Play6 Brett Anderson 3 47" 7/20/2014 Indian Lake Chain Ontario ON Phantom Jerk Bait7 Michael Floyd 57 46.75" 6/27/2014 Merwin Cowlitz WA Savagegear 4Play8 Pete Bergman 57 46.5" 7/19/2014 Mayfield Lake Lewis WA Savagegear 4Play9 Pete Bergman 57 46.5" 7/19/2014 Merwin Cowlitz WA Mepps Musky Killer10 Michael Floyd 57 46.25" 8/8/2014 Merwin Cowlitz WA Savagegear 4Play11 Pete Bergman 57 46" 8/15/2014 Merwin Cowlitz WA Savagegear 4Play12 Michael Floyd 57 45.75" 8/22/2014 Merwin Cowlitz WA Rapala Jerk13 Ed Fetzko 16 45.5" 6/25/2014 Lake St. Clair Ontario ON Wiley Crank14 Mike Crisanti 0 45.5" 8/7/2014 Merwin Cowlitz WA Mepps Musky Killer15 Michael Floyd 57 45.25" 6/27/2014 Merwin Cowlitz WA Rapala Jerk16 Ed Hoyle 60 45.25" 8/26/2014 Curlew Ferry WA Northland Tackle Spinner17 Fred Blaauw 47 45" 5/30/2014 Lac Vieux Desert Gogebic MI Mepps Giant Killer18 Michael Floyd 57 45" 8/8/2014 Merwin Cowlitz WA Homemade Bucktail19 Mark Podobinski 3 44.75" 8/15/2014 Pardee Iron WI Top Raider20 Jason D. Smith 6 44.5" 5/27/2014 Wissota Chippewa WI Ghost Tail21 Michael Floyd 57 44.5" 8/23/2014 Merwin Cowlitz WA Rapala Jerk22 Douglas Wood 60 44.5" 9/20/2014 Curlew Ferry WA Slopmaster23 Pete Bergman 57 44" 5/18/2014 Merwin Cowlitz WA Plastic Minnow24 Mark Modoski 22 44" 6/17/2014 Oxford Furnace Warren NJ Shadzilla25 Maurice J. Potvin 41 44" 6/27/2014 Lake St. Clair Ontario ON Homemade Jerk

Rank / MemberHybrid Top 25 for 2014

Chapter Length Date Caught Lake County State Lure1 Reily Sieren 35 52" 8/4/2014 Lake St. Clair Ontario ON Spanky Fireball2 Levi Metheny 16 51" 5/30/2014 Stonecoal Lake Lewis WV Cobb Jerk3 Seth Niday 8 51" 7/12/2014 Lake St. Clair Oakland MI Medussa4 Jesse Karau 12 51" 7/20/2014 Wabigoone Ontario ON Secrettail5 Kendall Hill 33 50" 6/15/2014 Island St. Louis MN Buck Tail6 Seth Niday 8 50" 7/11/2014 Lake St. Clair Oakland MI Spanky Fireball7 Kendall Hill 33 50" 8/29/2014 Island St. Louis MN Surface8 Kendall Hill 33 49" 8/24/2014 Island St. Louis MN Buck Tail9 Kendall Hill 33 48.5" 7/29/2014 Island St. Louis MN Jerk Bait10 Ben Sieren 35 48.5" 8/4/2014 Lake St. Clair Ontario ON Ziggy11 Richard Marnic 16 48" 7/28/2014 Kawartha Lakes Ontario ON Wiley Crank12 Robbie Jarnigo 8 48" 8/6/2014 Waubesa Dane WI Essox Assult13 Max Gibson 6 47.5" 7/29/2014 Lake Of The Woods Ontario ON Cowgirl/Double Cowgirl14 Aeden Bailes 9 47.25" 8/20/2014 Stonewall Jackson Lake Lewis WV Alley Cat15 Markus Klobe 21 47" 6/7/2014 Mille Lacs Mille Lacs MN Phantom Jerk Bait16 Ethan Cain 39 47" 7/3/2014 Miltona Douglas MN Grandma Crank17 Allison Klug 9 47" 7/6/2014 Stonewall Jackson Lake Lewis WV Homemade Crank Bait18 Jesse Karau 12 47" 7/23/2014 Wabigoone Ontario ON Stomper19 Kendall Hill 33 47" 7/30/2014 Island St. Louis MN Surface20 William Neville 41 46.75" 6/26/2014 Lake St. Clair Ontario ON Tuff Shad21 Collin Bowman 32 46.5" 7/18/2014 Lake Of The Woods Ontario ON Showgirl22 Cortland Spletter 6 46.5" 7/20/2014 St. Louis River St. Louis MN Buck Tail23 Cameron Short 41 46" 6/28/2014 Lake St. Clair Ontario ON Alley Cat Glider24 Carter Soma 8 46" 7/9/2014 Waubesa Dane WI Headlock25 Zachary Pflum 3 46" 7/27/2014 Lake Of The Woods Ontario ON Rapala Crank

Rank / MemberJunior's Top 25 for 2014

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It’s no secret that Lake St. Clair holds an abundance of big muskies. Reily Sieren of Chapter 35, left, caught this

52 inch fish with Captain Matt “Catfish” Firestein (middle) and his father, Greg Sieren.

Chapter City State Muskies Points Avg.1 Seth Niday 8 Oregon WI 34 438 392 Kendall Hill 33 Duluth MN 17 262 413 Jesse Karau 12 Mosinee WI 15 187 384 Robbie Jarnigo 8 Lake Mills WI 15 173 385 Ryan Sailer 2 Rosemount MN 22 173 346 Allison Klug 9 Proctor WV 12 166 407 Travis L. Pettis 30 Ettrick WI 14 136 368 Charles Neville 41 Summit Station OH 12 124 369 Richard Marnic 16 Butler PA 11 119 3710 William Neville 41 Gahanna OH 11 115 3711 Levi Metheny 16 Bethel Park PA 12 102 3512 Max Gibson 6 Elk Mound WI 5 97 4513 Caleb Handlogten 47 Middleville MI 9 91 3614 Luke Ault 41 Hillard OH 6 88 4015 Aeden Bailes 9 Guysville OH 6 81 4016 Ethan Cain 39 Gilberts IL 6 79 3917 Emily Olson 14 Antioch IL 7 74 3718 Sam Hall 6 Weyerhaeuser WI 6 69 3719 Madeline Frustereo 19 Chardon OH 8 66 3420 Kendra Hardy 2 Alexandria MN 7 65 3521 Cortland Spletter 6 Cornell WI 5 62 3822 Sydney Neville 41 Gahanna OH 5 62 3823 Jesse Sieren 35 Wind Lake WI 5 61 3824 Ravyn Swanson 21 New Richmond WI 6 60 3625 Reily Sieren 35 Wind Lake WI 4 58 41

Junior's Division for 2014Rank / Member Name

watched her swim away. Never thought I would get lucky enough to get a new personal best on a tournament day. When I got home and looked at my records, my previous best, 54 inches, was caught on the same day in 2011 at almost the exact time.”

I hope you understand, this was not a mistake. Now we must move to the Junior Division and it’s a dandy

story.“I managed to convince my wife that she should allow three

of my sons and me to book a charter on Lake St. Clair on the first leg of our family vacation. Reily had never caught a muskie before this trip. There is always quite a bit of competition within the family amongst the boys, on who gets the “biggest fish” no matter what species. Reily once caught a 20 inch bass and his brother Jesse caught the very same one a week later. Three years ago, I heard the cry of Reily at 10:30 p.m. one night when we lost a big catfish that would have surely put him on top of his brothers. Ironically, it was a man named Matt ‘Catfish’

Firestein of Whopper Stopper Charters who put Reily on his big muskie. We had already enjoyed a very good day and Reily had already boated three fish and his brother Ben stood at the top with a nice fat 48 inch fish caught just a few hours

earlier. Matt had just changed out the lure with a Spanky Bait Shocker in Larson Perch color, set the line and the fish was immediately on. It was Reily’s turn in our rotation. Reily was really starting to struggle with the fish in the fight and one point asked me ‘Why is this reeling so hard and taking so long?’ not realizing what he had on the other end of the line. Matt had the net ready and luckily I was GoPro videoing the event. Reily got the fish in close enough for Matt to net and the rest is history. Reily now holds the record of the biggest fish in the family including dad! Reily has been very humble about the event.”

Catherine LaToza has a monster 55 inch muskie. She had a 52 inch muskie last month. Husband Dennis has a 52 incher this year. So not only does she take the lead between she and her husband, but Catherine also leads the Womens Division in all categories.

Hey, the leaders in most of the divisions seem to spend the most time seeking the muskie. Get the point?

To close this issue’s Lunge Log, Pete Olson caught a great big 54 incher from Lake of the Woods at the end of July. Pete is 79 years old, and he’s caught 1,113 muskies in his lifetime. He might catch another next year. Get the point?

On a final note, as of October 1st, 2014 at 3:32 p.m. the entries went over 11,000 for the 204. Looks like another banner year for Muskies, Inc. members.

Date Member City / State Water State LengthJanuary 10th, 2014 Charles R. Carpenter Harrisville, WV NF Hughes River WV 42"February 1st, 2014 Daniel Haddox Harrisville, WV Tygart River WV 49.5"March 29th, 2014 Bernie Klug Proctor, WV Mid. Island Creek WV 48"April 8th, 2014 Matt Pelletier Albuqerque, NM Bluewater Lake NM 48.5"May 26th, 2014 Brian Zofkie Greenwood, IL Fox River WI 51"May 30th, 2014 Levi Methany Bethal Park , PA Stone Coal WV 51"June 20th, 2014 Joel Morrow Ford City, PA Lake St. Clair ON 54.5"July 1st, 2014 Kevin P. O'Connel Menasha, WI Green Bay WI 56.25"August 6th, 2014 Andrew Lacko (pending ) Kenmore, NY St. Lawrence River NY 55"August 27th, 2014 Scott Gille (pending ) Little Sumanica, WI Green Bay WI 55"September 3rd, 2014 Catherine Latoza (pending ) Burbank, IL Lake St. Clair ON 55"

Lunker of the Month for 2014

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Pete Olson with an enormous 54 inch muskie caught from Lake of the Woods in late July. Pete

says he was recovering from hernia surgery and because he couldn’t synch his belt tight, his pants fell down while fighting

the fish. Now that’s a fish story!

Dennis LaToza with

a 52 inch Lake St.

Clair giant.

Chapter Length Date Caught Lake County State Lure1 Kevin P. O'Connell 4 56.25" 7/17/2014 Green Bay Oconto WI Jr Cowgirl/Double Cowgirl2 Jeff M. Hanson 8 55.25" 7/26/2014 Lake St. Clair Ontario ON Spanky Fireball3 Jason Bond 19 55" 7/8/2014 St. Lawrence River St. Lawrence NY Muskie Train MX64 Andrew Lacko 69 55" 8/6/2014 St. Lawrence River St. Lawrence NY Bondy Bait5 Scott Gille 12 55" 8/7/2014 Green Bay Oconto WI Plastic / Miscellaneous6 Joel Morrow 16 54.5" 6/20/2014 Lake St. Clair Ontario ON Baker7 Peter R. Janik 1 54.5" 7/13/2014 Minnetonka Hennepin MN Slammer Crank8 Grant Lindberg 21 54.5" 7/27/2014 Rush Lake Chisago MN Cowgirl/Double Cowgirl9 Patrick Gowey 4 54" 7/26/2014 Green Bay Oconto WI Cowgirl/Double Cowgirl10 Peter W. Olson 61 54" 7/30/2014 Lake Of The Woods Ontario ON Jackpot11 Matt Andreula 22 54" 8/22/2014 Lake St. Clair Ontario ON Medussa12 William H. Wright D.V.M 28 53.5" 7/4/2014 St. Lawrence River Quebec QB DC‐1013 Paul Frustereo 19 53.5" 7/9/2014 Lake St. Clair Ontario ON Boss Shad14 Maurice J. Potvin 41 53.5" 7/10/2014 Lake St. Clair Ontario ON Alley Cat15 Jim Doyle 1 53.5" 7/20/2014 Waconia Carver MN Globe16 Casey Johnson 6 53.5" 7/25/2014 Mille Lacs Mille Lacs MN Topper Stopper17 Paul Kallman 4 53.5" 8/1/2014 Green Bay Brown WI Homemade Jerk18 Robert W. McCloud 19 53.5" 9/12/2014 Lake St. Clair Ontario ON Muskie Train Hi Rail19 Chad Lapa 69 53.25" 8/9/2014 St. Lawrence River Jefferson NY Lunge Lumber20 Jason Espedal 21 53" 6/7/2014 Detroit Lakes Becker MN Mega Trout21 Mike Brister 24 53" 6/8/2014 Cass Cass MN Homemade Crank Bait22 Ed Fetzko 16 53" 6/24/2014 Lake St. Clair Ontario ON Tuff Shad23 Roger Strang 56 53" 7/5/2014 Lake St. Clair Ontario ON Wiley Crank24 Leonard Sklaney 50 53" 7/21/2014 Lake St. Clair St. Clair MI Medussa25 Jason Basic 23 53" 7/29/2014 Lake St. Clair Macomb MI Medussa

Rank / MemberMen's Top 25 for 2014

Chapter City State Muskies Points Avg.1 Mark Seys 41 Wallaceburg Ont CN 93 1,186 392 Leif Spilde 8 Brooklyn WI 69 949 403 Dale Junk 47 Detroit MI 54 762 404 Dave Selle 21 Lino Lakes MN 41 709 435 Andy P. Schutz 8 McFarland WI 58 700 386 Trevor Hamann 8 Madison WI 65 674 367 Jim Breeden 23 Ashtabula OH 67 665 368 Beau Chumley 23 Hartville OH 63 637 369 Corey Pettis 30 Ettrick WI 55 622 37

10 Peter Kangas 8 Evansville WI 53 599 3711 Douglas Grahl 41 Clyde OH 50 596 3812 Mike Sandridge 19 Wadsworth OH 48 547 3713 John Ringenbach 19 Lakewood OH 40 529 3914 Don Varese 8 Oregon WI 42 480 3715 John P. Phillips 39 Wilmington IL 41 457 3716 Mike Woelfel 52 Huntington WV 37 439 3817 Harold Hall 6 Cornell WI 47 434 3518 Patrick Elza 3 Chicago IL 30 431 4019 Taylor Linkous 9 Blacksburg VA 32 423 3920 Timothy A. Smith 19 Rogers OH 32 407 3921 Daniel Haddox 9 Harrisville WV 31 398 3922 David Palo 69 Erie PA 39 390 3623 Pete Bergman 57 Bingen WA 28 377 3924 Mark Wright 56 Middletown OH 29 357 3825 Michael Holliday 19 Ravenna OH 32 357 37

Men's Division for 2014Rank / Member Name Chapter City State Muskies Points Avg.

1 Maurice J. Potvin 41 Baltimore OH 139 1,631 382 Jeff M. Hanson 8 Verona WI 122 1,535 393 J. Dean Davis 19 Coshocton OH 127 1,481 374 David White 18 Moundsville WV 115 1,392 385 George Weber 56 Kettering OH 99 1,230 386 Mark Pauling 41 Fremont OH 100 1,197 387 Bruce A. Ludke 12 Wrightstown WI 77 1,187 418 Adam Andresky 16 Gibsonia PA 103 1,126 379 Denny Latoza 39 Burbank IL 87 1,104 39

10 Tad Martinez 19 North Canton OH 99 1,037 3611 Bill Andresky 16 Pittsburgh PA 88 1,011 3712 Charles Schauer 12 Wisconsin Rapids WI 65 1,007 4113 Sam R. Butler 16 New Matamoras OH 72 858 3814 Mike Koepp 35 Pewaukee WI 72 763 3615 Michael Floyd 57 Auburn WA 64 726 3716 Bob D. Marshall 19 Bowerston OH 72 721 3617 Joe Hardy 2 Carlos MN 91 720 3418 Shawn Arndt 41 Elmore OH 57 687 3819 John Cade 9 Clarington OH 55 666 3820 Ed Fetzko 16 Jefferson Hills PA 50 614 3821 Bill Schultz Jr 19 Bolivar OH 57 572 3622 Frank Alcorn 16 Mt Jewett PA 49 568 3823 Charles R. Carpenter 9 Harrisville WV 47 565 3824 Dave Wenzel 9 Beckley WV 47 535 3725 Leo Kofoot 29 Spirit Lake IA 42 534 3925 Michael Holliday 19 Ravenna OH 32 357 37

Men's Masters Division for 2014Rank / Member Name

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Chapter Length Date Caught Lake County State Lure1 Catherine Latoza 39 55" 9/3/2014 Lake St. Clair Ontario ON Homemade Bucktail2 Catherine Latoza 39 52" 6/29/2014 Lake St. Clair Ontario ON Alley Cat3 Silvia Spitzer 50 52" 7/15/2014 Rowan Ontario ON Homemade Bucktail4 Nikki Swain 42 52" 7/24/2014 Lake St. Clair Ontario ON Tuff Shad5 Silvia Spitzer 50 51.5" 6/29/2014 Rowan Ontario ON Topwater6 Mary N. Arndt 41 51.5" 8/24/2014 Lake St. Clair Ontario ON Boss Shad7 Catherine Latoza 39 51" 7/19/2014 Lake St. Clair Ontario ON Zbait8 Cindy Hegdahl 1 51" 8/6/2014 Bemidji Beltrami MN Homemade Tandem Spin9 Silvia Spitzer 50 50.5" 7/5/2014 Rowan Ontario ON Homemade Bucktail10 Shannon Beaty‐Dingus 28 50" 7/18/2014 Lake St. Clair Ontario ON Muskie Train MX911 Margaret Pauling 41 50" 8/1/2014 Lake St. Clair Ontario ON Ziggie Crank12 Linda Welch 12 50" 9/1/2014 Dinorwic Lake Ontario ON Deep Raider13 Jody Young 24 48.5" 8/22/2014 Lake Of The Woods Ontario ON B. S. Willy Creeper14 Linda Knutson 1 48" 7/4/2014 Minnetonka Hennepin MN Headlock15 Nikki Swain 42 48" 7/11/2014 Lake St. Clair Ontario ON Homemade Bucktail16 Deborah S. Crossley‐Davis 19 48" 8/4/2014 Lake St. Clair Ontario ON Ziggy17 Pattie Miller 12 48" 8/28/2014 Lake Of The Woods Ontario ON Candy Spin18 Deborah S. Crossley‐Davis 19 47.5" 8/20/2014 Lake St. Clair Ontario ON Tuff Shad19 Silvia Spitzer 50 47" 7/7/2014 Rowan Ontario ON Cowgirl/Double Cowgirl20 Deborah S. Crossley‐Davis 19 47" 8/4/2014 Lake St. Clair Ontario ON Ziggy21 Jennifer Martinez 19 47" 8/9/2014 Chautauqua Chautauqua NY ICT‐Perch22 Catherine Latoza 39 47" 8/26/2014 Lake St. Clair Ontario ON Ziggie Crank23 Catherine Latoza 39 47" 8/29/2014 Lake St. Clair Ontario ON Custom X24 Catherine Latoza 39 47" 9/1/2014 Lake St. Clair Ontario ON Homemade Bucktail25 Pattie Miller 12 46" 6/25/2014 Lake Of The Woods Ontario ON Candy Spin

Rank / MemberWomen's Top 25 for 2014

Cathy LaToza posing with the business end of a 55 inch spotted St. Clair muskie.

Chapter City State Muskies Points Avg.1 Deborah S. Crossley‐Davis 19 Coshocton OH 129 1,538 382 Catherine Latoza 39 Burbank IL 74 1,031 403 Margaret Pauling 41 Fremont OH 84 1,013 384 Mary N. Arndt 41 Elmore OH 51 597 385 Silvia Spitzer 50 Chadds Ford PA 17 283 436 Charlotte Fuchs 19 No Canton OH 15 192 397 Sheila McCord 9 Roanoke WV 11 169 418 Allison Klug 9 Proctor WV 12 166 409 Pattie Miller 12 Eagle River WI 7 106 4110 Sonya Anderson 38 Alexandria MN 10 87 3511 Cindy Hegdahl 1 Bemidji MN 5 73 4112 Sharon Potvin 41 Baltimore OH 7 70 3613 Mary Hoernecke 32 Byron IL 4 66 4314 Lynne M Dembiec 35 Hartland WI 1 10 36

Women's Masters Division for 2014Rank / Member Name

Chapter City State Muskies Points Avg.1 Nikki Swain 42 Upland IN 25 340 392 Vickie Banks 52 Wellington KY 18 220 383 Jennifer Martinez 19 North Canton OH 17 214 394 Donna Bork 11 Davenport IA 17 156 355 Donna Ball 18 Hopedale OH 10 129 396 Holly Neville 41 Gahanna OH 10 120 387 Sandy Petrozzi 18 Wintersville OH 9 103 378 Darlene Kelley 9 Salem WV 8 95 389 Stephanie Neville 41 Summit Station OH 8 80 36

10 Shannon Beaty-Dingus 28 Ava IL 6 79 3911 Cheryl Ford 28 OFallon IL 7 77 3712 Linda Knutson 1 Hugo MN 4 72 4413 Anna Marie Land 19 Willoughby OH 7 70 3614 Gloria A. Roberts 19 Norton OH 5 69 4015 Beth Hulen McCumber 8 Fort Ashby WV 4 67 4316 Katherine Cooper 23 Geneva OH 5 66 3917 Janet Carr 18 Hopedale OH 4 55 4018 Margie Hollnagel 12 Princeton WI 3 52 4319 Emely Hamann 8 Madison WI 6 51 3420 Diana Nuyttens 14 Antioch IL 4 51 3921 Vicki Barber 13 Stone Lake WI 4 50 3922 Jody Young 24 Brainerd MN 3 48 4223 Claudette Kersten 13 Hayward WI 4 38 3624 Carol Heffner 12 Eagle River WI 3 37 3825 Donna Richards 5 Henley MO 4 37 35

Women's Division for 2014Rank / Member Name

www.muskiesinc.orgwww.muskiesinc.org November / December 2014.....MUSKIE 9


Dean Makstaller of Chapter 56 caught this 48.5 inch muskie back in April.

Here is Chapter 56 member, Terry Makstaller, with his second fish of the year.

His son Dean took the photo.Frequent contributor, Jason Smith of the First Wisconsin

Chapter, caught this naturally occurring tiger muskie in June on Lake Wissota in Wisconsin.

It measured 44.5 inches.

Chapter 47 member, Cyle Gizicki, caught this muskie while fishing Lake St. Clair in

Michigan on August 8th, 2014. On August, 6th, 2014, Chapter 47 member, Creg Gizicki,

caught this 41 inch muskie on Lake St. Clair in Michigan.

Fischer Smith of the 1st Wisconsin Chapter caught this 31 inch muskie on Lake Wissota

casting a Topraider, his first ever while casting. Nice job Fischer!

Catching ANY muskie is better than catching NO muskie.

Here’s one caught by Casey Johnson of the 1st Wisconsin

Chapter.Chapter 49 member, Mark Stuck, caught his personal best, this 43.5 inch muskie, in

Northeast Indiana on May 30, 2014.

“I got all of my muskie catching out of the way while prefishing the Gill Hamm,”

said Dave Jann, President of the 1st Wisconsin Chapter. He caught fish of 40”, 45”, 43.5”, and 39.5”. Hope he did as well

in the tournament.

www.muskiesinc.org

Research MusingsIn this issue you will notice we

mention the 2014 International Muskie Symposium held in Ottawa, Ontario multiple times. We do this for a very basic reason that I hope between Jay and me we ham-mer home that meetings like this are very important to the betterment and future of our sport. You can read the article in the MUSKIE news section for more details on the symposium itself, but one thing I’d like to use the Figure 8 for is to discuss the importance that Muskies, Inc. (MI) and Muskies Canada, Inc. (MCI) both play in the realm of muskie research. And not just from a logistical, volunteer perspective, but also from a financial point-of-view.

MI (and MCI), and particularly the Hugh C. Becker Foundation, give a tremendous amount of money, relative to the size of the organizations, to academia as well as to state and federal agencies. This becomes important when you consider how little attention muskies receive in the greater fisheries sci-ence world. And because of this, it can be difficult to convince granting committees to allocate you a piece of the pie, so to speak. This is where MI can fill the void and support research that others are unwilling to fund. I know my own studies dur-ing Project Noble Beast (the catch-and-release research) in 2009 and 2010 received a tremendous help-ing hand from MI and the Hugh C. Becker Foundation. So while I sat in the audience and listened to the various speakers, I gave a mental high-five to all MI and MCI mem-bers.Big Heavy Time

As we move toward mid to late fall, we encounter falling tempera-tures, increasingly unstable weath-

er, and short daylight hours. For many, this is the sad-dest time of the year; it means soon, if not already, we must hang up the towel, store the boat, haul the gear inside and store it down in the basement until 2015. For others the best has yet to come. I always find this angler group – the Die Hards – intriguing. Here they are, willing to subject themselves to wind-burned faces and digit numbing temperatures all in the name of maybe, just maybe, hearing that sweet melodious ZZZZZZZZZZZ-ZZZZ-ZZZZZZZZ.

But please, please, remember to be safe at this time of year. Tell your family where you’re going. Don your lifejackets. Have a fresh change of clothes. Did I mention to wear your life jackets? And of course there is one more thing: sharpen your hooks!

Please practice catch-and release and, even amidst all the layers, lather that sunscreen on when the sun makes a welcomed visit from its sojourn behind the clouds.

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November / December 2014.....MUSKIE 11

It’s been a long day. The boat rocked in two-foot swells for ten hours. You agree to make one more drift, but your heart isn’t in it. Half-way down the shoreline you come face to face with a big muskie. The Figure-8 is too late. You paid the price for fishing with your eyes instead of your brain. Casting without concentrating leads to few fish and lots of heartache. Work hard at focusing on every cast and you’ll solve a big piece of the muskie puzzle.

Muskies seem to have an inherent ability to catch us off guard. Part of the problem is the hours it takes to locate a hot fish. I’ve hung my head under the light of a lonely boat landing often enough to understand the “time on the water” part. We often get caught up on the idea that relentless pounding will produce fish. Trouble is, casting without thinking is a low percentage approach. When you learn the elements that create a feeding window you’ll shorten the interval between fish and you’ll increase your chances of reacting positively to a hot fish.

We know by now that change of light is a muskie trigger. Everything in the lake is in motion from sunrise to sunset. I’m not a morning guy, so I plan my day around being the sharpest for the last hour of the day. I’ll stay out at least an hour after dark on familiar water. You can go for hours without moving anything and see two fish just before dark. The situation reverses itself in the morning.

Muskies 101 tells us to pay attention to the atmosphere. Plan your day around the time a front is scheduled to move through. Three to four hours ahead of the front is the most popular approach. Shifting winds can also stir a bite. I make no excuses for missing important moon phases. I released a 51 and 47.5 from the same spot two nights apart during the July 2013 full moon. The November full moon

featured a four-fish afternoon. You get the picture. My best action comes 45 minutes on either side of moon rise/set.

Sometimes we don’t have a choice about when to fish. Driving a long way forces us to take the bad with the good and fish hard regardless of conditions. A mid-day break may be the best thing you do to keep your senses sharp on a long day. I fish with a couple of fellows who go ashore and take naps in the afternoon. It’s a sensible strategy. A good rest will refresh your brain as well as your legs. Your concentration level is bound to decrease when you are fatigued. I know it’s time to take a break when I catch myself watching the lure instead of looking four feet behind it.

Tournaments force us into long days. Chances are you won’t get much shut-eye in the hour break. You’ll have to depend on a good night’s sleep to get you through the afternoon and evening. I stick around a little while after supper to hear some stories and hit the hay. Late nights can wait until there’s nothing on the

DealingDistraction

wit

h

- Ace Sommerfeld


Staying focused and paying attention at all times is critical to catching muskies, and is something the

author has had to learn the hard way.

line. I don’t miss any meals on long days either. Hunger has the same effect on concentration as fatigue. Lunch isn’t always enough to tide you over. Bring something to snack on. An energy supplement might do the trick. Sucking on hard candy helps me focus for some odd reason.

The first few minutes in a new area demand strict attention. How many times have you moved a fish almost immediately and don’t see anything after that? Muskies detect activity from a remarkable distance. They are accustomed to their prey moving in numbers. Two or three lures churning water in a small area is a magnet to hungry fish. They’ll close in with astonishing speed. If you’re like me, you don’t Figure 8 every cast. It wears me out. I make sure the first ten casts in a new area are finished with a serious Figure 8. After that each one ends with an “L”.

Perking up as the lure approaches the boat isn’t getting the job done. You’ll catch more fish by paying attention every foot the lure is in the water. Many casts produce a fish seconds after the lure settles in. Previous casts probably brought the fish in. Muskies like to approach a top water or shallow runner and bulge the surface a little without giving chase. If you’re watching water-skiers you’ll miss it.

Stop thinking you don’t have a chance because an angler or two are casting in the front of the boat. Being the rear stick has its rewards. You have nothing to do but focus on every cast. You can be picking up fish they overlooked, while keeping the boat out of trouble. Your partner has a legitimate excuse for missing a fish in rough water, but you don’t. Experts are always telling us to cast behind the boat. It’s something only the rear stick can do. Make sure you are throwing a contrasting lure to the one in the front in some way. Many of my fish are caught by switching lures after a muskie showed itself. Your partner can bring a fish to the boat, but it may think

your lure is an easier target.Muskie anglers are incredible story tellers. Yarns

are part of the formula that keeps us going when time begins to drag. You don’t mind hearing a good adventure more than once. The trick is to know when to shut up and fish. You’ll never be at the top of your game when someone is talking to you. Most of the time if you stop talking, so will they. No one will be offended by a lighthearted reminder to buckle down and focus. For instance, I’ll say, “I’d like to chat all


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day, but I’ve got work to do.” If all else fails channel out the distraction. Learn to read your partner. If they want to concentrate, let them.

Going out unprepared is unfair to your partner. Many anglers need a companion to feel confident. Teamwork will always be more productive in a boat compared to fishing solo. If your partner is inexperienced your responsibilities increase. You might be the one who sees a fish following their lure. Novices often

overlook a fish that is coming in low. They get confused and often panic when a fish is blowing water behind a surface lure. Their chances of hooking a fish at the boat increase with good coaching.

Wise anglers start concentrating before their boat is in the water. Chuck Spletter is a perfect example. His accomplishments go back 30 years. He starts fishing as soon as we pull into the parking area. Our competition is identified by dealer stickers on trucks. Quite often he knows where they prefer to fish, so we’ll start on another part of the lake. He is always looking for an edge. Chuck doesn’t mince words when

it comes to concentrating, “Muskies are hard to catch because they don’t make many mistakes,” he said. “You can’t afford to blow good opportunities.”

One of the big attractions to muskie fishing is the degree of difficulty it takes to hook one. Everything has to fall into place. You may only get one chance all day. Keeping your head in the game will help to make your next moment of truth a good one.


Keep one eye on the lure and one eye on

everywhere else.

Chuck Spletter never drops his guard when it comes to muskies.

Another great Gil Hamm has come and gone. For starters, special thanks go out to the Star of the North Chapter and Red Wing Lodge for making it another success. Great job guys! The prizes, food and camaraderie scored high marks from everyone attending.

There’s nothing quite like Lake of the Woods (LOTW). From sunrise to sunset LOTW entertains the soul with its abundance of wilderness and wildlife. It is one beautiful place to spend the week fishing with our fellow muskie hunters. The weather wasn’t too shabby either. The wind wasn’t very strong and the temperatures were comfortable. Take out a couple days of rain and a few scary shots of lightning and you could call it just about perfect. If you didn’t make it to this years Hamm, well, you missed out as it was a great time!

Lake of the Woods, again, showed everyone that it’s a phenomenal muskie fishery. Thirty teams representing 16 chapters boated over 130 muskies in two and a half days. Those, my friends, are some very good numbers! Dave Frank of the Flatlanders Chapter scored the only 50 inch plus muskie of the Hamm. Dave hoisted a beautiful 52 inch out of the net to win Big Fish honors. That one well-placed cast, put $500 in Dave’s pocket. Way to go Dave! Jody Young also pocketed a little bit of cash. Jody’s photo of her chunky 48.5 inch was selected by Red Wing Lodge as best photo; congrats Jody! Multiple fish days were the theme all week. From pre-fishing to the end of the Hamm, there were many teams that turned in multiple fish. Chicagoland Chapter topped the multiple charts by exploding for seven on day two. Brainerd (1st Wisconsin) Star of the North, Flatlanders and Fargo-Moorhead had their share with 5-6 fish days as well. In the end, it was the motley crew of the Fargo-Moorhead Team 1 that was able to pull in multiple muskies per day to take this year’s title of Gil Hamm Champs. They scored 227.5 points, followed by Chicagoland Team 1 with 190 points and Brainerd Team 3 with 164.5 points. Congrats Fargo-Moorhead! Well done boys, well done.

After the awards ceremony, rumors were flying as

to where Fargo-Moorhead is taking the Hamm for 2015. A few hints were dropped that got many people itching for next year. By the time you read this, the decision has probably been made and posted to the Gil Hamm website www.gilhamm.com. Stay tuned to the site for all of your Hamm news, pictures and information!

The Gil Hamm Memorial Chapter Challunge is a great event that every Muskies, Inc. chapter needs to experience. The camaraderie is second to none. It’s a great time to meet fellow Muskie, Inc. members from around the country to share some information and stories. So round up your team(s) and we’ll see you all in 2015

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All participants in the Chapter Challunge gather for a quick photo op.

Chapter Challunge Recap

The members of the Fargo-Moorehead 1 team pose in front of Red Wing Lodge’s fish

board. Congrats, guys!

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November / December 2014.....MUSKIE 17

Jody Young with her 48.5 inch fish that won her “Best Photo” of the 2014 Chapter Challunge.

YOUTH ZONEIn the years ahead, Muskies, Inc. will be placing a

major emphasis on teaching children about the environment through the sport of muskie fishing. We are doing this not only to ensure the future of the muskie fishery, but also to provide youth with a tremendous opportunity for environmental education outside of the classroom. In this section of MUSKIE you will read about young M I members who are benefiting from the Youth Muskie Hunts and programs MI puts on. To learn more about these events please visit the Muskies, Inc. website .- Kevin Bushnick Muskies, Inc. Vice President & National Youth Fishing Director

Kids Catch Over 50 Muskies During Youth Fishing Event

- Kevin Bushnick For three days leading into Hayward’s beautiful fall sea-

son, over 40 kids, boys and girls ages 6-17, and their fami-lies participated in a Youth Muskie Hunt on Moose Lake in Hayward, Wisconsin. The kids caught over 50 muskies, including one rare tiger muskie not often seen in Moose Lake. Kids from Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota came out for this program, including several Hayward area chil-dren, as well as kids from the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe Indian Reservation and the Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation Boys and Girls Club.

The Youth Conservation Alliance and Muskies, Inc. were the primary sponsors of this event, which was headed up by Kevin Bushnick, Vice President of Youth Activities for Muskies, Inc., Kevin is also the Founder and Chairman of the Youth Conservation Alliance, a charity purpose built to teach youth environmental sciences through fishing pro-grams.

In the years ahead, Muskies, Inc. and the Youth Conservation Alliance will place a major emphasis on teach-ing children about the environment through the sport of muskie fishing. This is being done not only to ensure the future of the muskie fishery, but also to provide youth with a tremendous opportunity for environmental education out-side of the classroom.

On the education front, school teachers and college pro-fessors were present to assist the Department of Natural Resources with water quality testing. At this event, kids col-lected water samples from various locations on Moose Lake. To do this, they learned how to navigate using lake maps to ensure all the samples were from different locations. The key measurements taken here were pH and dissolved oxy-gen. Michelle Groves (VP of Education for the YCA) and Jim Onarheim (Owner, Mystic Moose Resort) also took samples for the DNR to compare the water health of the lake from ice-out through the fall. Initial testing concludes that Moose Lake is within normal ranges for a very healthy fish-ery. This was evident, as not only were muskies caught, but walleye, smallmouth bass, crappie and perch.

The YCA continues to use high-power biology micro-scopes as they deploy sophisticated tools to examine the environment while “keeping it simple” through the sport of fishing. This is great on the educational front and represents a “practical application,” which keep the kids highly inter-ested in what we’re trying to teach them. For documentary and educational purposes, four-time Emmy winning NBC field cameraman, Bill Nuyttens, filmed the entire event. The footage captured during these events is used throughout the year during various business, community and school presen-tations.

Several Hayward area businesses supported the event through donations or by providing items like tackle and life preservers. Key sponsors included the Round Lake Marina and Twin Bay Resort. The beautiful Mystic Moose Resort and Treeland Resort also lodged many of the families for this program. Food for the event was served up by Charlie’s and Louie’s Landing Restaurants in Moose Lake. Thanks to our Hayward area guides who supported the kids muskie fishing program, including legendary Guide Master Larry Ramsell, also John Myhre, Daryl Neibauer and Rog Williamson. Chuck DiVito, Founder of Fox River Lures and Rods also guided for us and had hats and sun-scarves made up for each of the kids.

A very special thanks to Lax Reproductions (www.laxre-production.com) who made a custom rubber muskie, which allowed us to safely teach each and every child how to prop-erly hold a muskie. This special muskie included fanned out gills and gill plates, which show the kids (and adults) where to specifically hold the fish without hurting it prior to release.

Closing ceremonies were held Saturday evening at Louie’s Landing where all the kids were recognized for their extraordinary effort and achievements both catching and releasing all the fish they caught. Watch for details on next year’s program on the YCA’s website at www.theyca.org or Muskie, Inc.’s website at www.muskiesinc.org.


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A rare Moose Lake tiger

muskie caught by young Ty Mursau of

Ogdensburg, Wisconsin. Ty’s grandpa gives

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Overall winner Matt Rytina of

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inches during the event.

The whole group waves at the camera after the “How To Hold A Muskie”

demonstration led by Larry Ramsell.

A group photo of the youth trophy winner from the event.

The photo was taken at Louie’s Landing on Moose Lake.

Haley Foulk and her family

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Gord Pyzer

In large parts of North America the muskellunge or muskie is king. No other freshwater game fish approaches the legend and lore associated with this fish. The muskie has limited distribution and their size potential, predatory habits and ornery personality have endeared them to us ever since prehistoric man’s first encounter with the long, toothy fish. I’d like to explore some of the myths surrounding muskie, but with less discussion of the fantastical aspects and more talk of beliefs that possibly originated from some truths, especially those beliefs that can influence actual muskie fishing.

There is no better time than now for this topic, with ever increasing interest in muskie fishing, to explore some of the more common muskie myths. To help me with this task, I’ve interviewed a few veteran muskie fishers who each have several decades of muskie fishing experience including: Gord Pyzer, Lake of the Woods muskie fanatic and former Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources [OMNR] fisheries manager; John Anderson of the Ottawa River Muskie Factory guide service; and Gord Bastable, owner of Vermilion Bay Lodge on Eagle Lake.1. Muskies are best caught on choppy water?

Gord Pyzer (GP): Absolutely untrue. While on some clear lakes, muskies become more easily spooked than on flat water conditions. Anglers with quality, polarized sunglasses will have a better chance to make pinpoint casts to structural elements at greater distances. Many of my most productive days casting throughout the entire season have been on flat-water days.John Anderson (JA): No, but it helps. The world underwater changes greatly when waves are on the surface. Light is refracted much differently and the coloring on the side of the muskie is harder to see.Gord Bastable (GB): I think there is some truth to this. Anything that adds to the presentation of your bait may trigger a strike. A surface bait is harder to scrutinize and may seem more elusive to the muskie. An extra element of calamity that means feeding time.

2. Muskies always hang out in weeds?GP: Absolutely untrue. In the late summer period, many muskies shift to rock or gravel area for two reasons. The first is that the forage species have shifted to these areas and second is the warming effect that the sun creates hitting the rock and the surrounding water. Some muskies will only visit the weeds during the spawn or to digest large meals.JA: Muskies are not always caught, but they are always in the weeds; at least this was a finding of Sean Landsman’s work during the “Project Noble Beast” study. In tracking muskies with transmitters over a season on the Ottawa River there was one constant: no matter what the conditions were, there were always muskies in shallow in the weeds.GB: Similar to cops always hanging out in donut shops (joking, of course), it is definitely an underwater element that gives predators the edge over their prey and therefore can attract and hold muskies, but if you limit your vision to only weeds you are missing opportunities. I would suggest that the bigger and older a muskie becomes the less time it spends in the shallows.

Muskellunge Myths Exploded

Article and illustrations by Charles Weiss

22 MUSKIE..... September / October 2014

Gord Bastable

3. Will the same muskie occupy the same spot?GP: Not true. Typically a structure that holds larger fish will hold multiple large fish. The reason for this relates to the quantity and quality of forage that is available in that spot. Scientific studies have shown muskies move considerable distances in their quest for food and in the digestive process. Of all the muskies that were recaptured in the tagging and tracking program that happened on Lake Scugog from 2000 to 2006, only 1 fish was caught multiple times in extreme close proximity to its prior capture. A detailed radio tracking program on Lake Wabigoon showed muskies travel long distances on a day to day basis.JA: It’s common to see muskies in the same spot, especially in the summer months. Radio telemetry studies have shown that during the summer muskies establish a “home range”. This is an area of perhaps a couple of acres that act as home. The muskie will wander off this range to hunt, but will always return. If you come across a muskie during the summer there is a good chance that the fish is living there.GB: They tend to have areas staked out that they move around in, most likely based on a food supply. As the food supply changes over the season, the spots they frequent will as well. One golden rule will apply… The true giant that only comes around once in your fishing career, will never be seen in that spot again… by you.

4. One-hundred pound muskies are caught regularly in the Natural Resources netting surveys in rivers and lakes.

GP: Not in the province of Ontario. Senior OMNR biologist, Mark Ridgeway, told me a number of years ago, that he had not seen documentation on

ANY muskie that had been netted, at any point in the season that would go much beyond 35 pounds in any Kawartha Lake. The famous muskie that was caught in the net by Bernard Lebeau on Wabigoon (and was subsequently lost before it could be measured) is believed to be the largest muskie ever caught in an OMNR net. Depending on who you talk to, that muskie was estimated to weigh between 60 to 75 pounds. The photo of it confirms it was indeed a big fish, but well short of 100 pounds.JA: I am a Sasquatch kind of guy. If you have a picture of you and a Sasquatch and the Sasquatch is on a weigh scale and it reads “100 pounds” then I will believe you.GB: A nice tale to give to the local Chamber of Commerce and area resorts, something to brag about. Giant fish are occasionally netted, but 100 pounds? Fantasy.

5. Muskies will eat prey too large to swallow?GP: Yes, it does happen, but not on a regular basis. Look at the number of large or even trophy-class muskies that are caught by panfish, bass and walleye


John Anderson

anglers every year on lures that represent a snack. Most are top predators or opportunistic hunters. If an easy meal comes within reach, it will get chomped.JA: True. I have come across muskies choking on fish that were too big to swallow and also seen muskies with the tail of another fish sticking out of their mouths.GB: Muskies through millions of years of evolution have refined their aggressive reaction strikes and will suddenly bite a moving object of larger size in the water.

6. Muskies eat up all the other fish in their lake or river?

GP: Absolutely untrue. Muskies can and will only eat as fast as their metabolism can digest the food that they have already consumed. Like any other apex predator, muskies will favor an easy meal, so they target the sick, the injured and the weak, because the forage in this state of health requires the least amount of energy to catch. So, in fact, the muskies are helping to cull out the unhealthy members of the forage population. Also, their targeting of panfish and baitfish helps to reduce size stunting in these species caused by over-population. Thus, muskies actually enhance the population and size of other species in the lake that they typically inhabit.JA: Muskies are opportunistic feeders and will eat just about anything so any fish that swims could look like a meal to a muskie at different times. That said, studies show that muskies prefer soft finned fishes when given a choice, so in most bodies of water their preferred forage is shad, mooneyes, cisco and the like.GB: In a natural lake like Eagle Lake in northwest Ontario, muskies don’t eat all the other fish in the lake. Only when a fish like a walleye or a northern pike is struggling, will it bite them. They appear to look like jerkbaits and that is why they are attacking fish other anglers target.

7. Big muskies don’t bite in the spring?GP: In geographic areas, where such fishing opportunities legally exist, it may be necessary to go to smaller lures and slower presentations, but muskies do eat year round. Interestingly, I have historically found that the 2nd and 3rd weekends of muskie season in Ontario, mark periods where I have consistently had some of my best ”numbers”

catches. This would appear to be driven by the fact that water temperatures are warming, increasing the muskies metabolism; many muskies have gone months without seeing a lure tossed their way, or without being spooked by heavy boat traffic.JA: In fact, Muskies Canada logs show it takes fewer hours of angling to produce a 50-inch muskies at the end of June and through early July than at any other time of the year. GB: Muskies bite when they want and that has nothing to do with the season. Muskie fishermen fish when they think the muskie will bite, which usually means the summer/fall; sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

8. Muskies have hard life when sharing the same waters as northern pike?

JA: Muskies and pike compete. They spawn in the same places and in general, one does not find waters with strong populations of both pike and muskies. One fish becomes dominant. Muskies still rise to become the top predator in any system and the one who wears the crown, rules the water. GB: Nothing like a small pike for a nice light muskie snack. Muskies and pike can co-exist, each having developed strategies for survival based on millions of years of evolution. Most of the best trophy muskie lakes in North America have pike as well.So there you have it folks, eight muskie myths

exploded. Now that you know some of the truth behind these little gems, you can consider refining your approach to muskie fishing and start catching the fish you’ve been missing. I sure hope you do because you’ve just lost eight great excuses for showing off your catch and release muskie photos.

No. Chapter, Address Phone #01 .......Twin Cities, 4012 Washburn Ave S, Minneapolis, MN, 55410 ................................................ 612-925-110902 .......Fargo-Moorhead, Box 2021, Fargo ND, 58107 ............................................................................ 920-207-544103 .......Chicagoland Muskie Hunters, 7600 Kilbourn Ave, Skokie, IL 60076 ................................... 847-677-001704 .......Titletown/Packerland, 901 Ethel Street, Green Bay, WI 54303 ............................................. 920-562-524405 .......Pomme De Terre, PO Box 5, Hermitage, MO 65668 .................................................................. 314-440-217306 .......First Wisconsin, PO Box 122, Chippewa Falls, WI 54729 .......................................................... 715-839-708907 .......South Side Muskie Hawks, 5211 S. Narragansett Ave., Chicago, IL 60638 .......................... 773-581-865008 .......Capital City, PO Box 8862, Madison, WI 53708............................................................................ 608-669-504609 .......West Virginia, 1270 Federal Road, Little Hocking, OH 45742 ................................................ 740-667-357110 .......Heartland, 239 8th St SE, Mason City IA 50401 .......................................................................... 641-424-082711 .......Mississippi Valley, 501 26th Ave, Moline, IL 61265 .................................................................... 309-797-180312 .......Headwaters, PO Box 652, Eagle River, WI 54521 ........................................................................ 715-891-557413 .......Hayward Lakes, PO Box 609, Hayward, WI 54843 ...................................................................... 715-634-454314 .......South of the Border, 28926 W. Big Hollow Rd, McHenry, IL 60050 ...................................... 815-385-902615 .......Star of the North, 16078 East Maple Drive, Pengilly, MN 55775........................................... 218-259-997016 .......Three Rivers, 119 Buss Lane, Renfrew, PA 16053 ........................................................................ 724-789-786617 .......Quad County, PO Box 185, Plano, IL 60545 .................................................................................. 815-695-149418 .......Hopedale, PO Box 118, Smithfield, OH 43948 ............................................................................. 740-769-726919 .......Akron-Canton Muskie Maniacs, 2211 North Park Dr., Wadsworth, OH 44281........................330-606-5374 20 .......Between the Lakes, PO Box 61, Sheboygan Falls, WI 53085-0061 ....................................... 920-564-322621 .......North Metro, PO Box 41216, Plymouth, MN 55441 ................................................................... 612-916-742622 .......New Jersey, 1524 Old Bethlehem Rd. Quakertown, PA 18951 .............................................. 908-319-220523 .......Cleveland, 5007 Starr St., Newton Falls, OH 44444.................................................................... 330-219-796424 .......Brainerd Lakes, 18031 Heritage Road, Brainerd, MN 56401 ................................................... 218-838-550926 .......Central Wisconsin, PO Box 263, Medford, WI 54451 ................................................................. 715-748-487428 .......Shawnee Muskie Hunters, 923 Reiss Rd, O’Fallon, IL 62269 .................................................. 618-628-420529 .......Upper Great Plains, 1788 Hwy 4, Estherville, IA 51334 ............................................................ 712-362-250130 .......God’s Country, PO Box 1461, LaCrosse, WI 54602 ...................................................................... 608-606-306531 .......Penn-Ohio, 309 Spring St, Jamestown, PA 16134 ...................................................................... 724-932-581532 .......Flatlanders, 6259 Walnut Grove Road, Loves Park, IL 61111 .................................................. 815-389-462233 .......Lake Superior, 2031 Hwy. 33 S., Cloquet, MN 55720 ................................................................ 218-879-271235 .......Milwaukee, PO Box 28842, Greenfield, WI 53228 ...................................................................... 262-250-644437 .......St. Cloud, 109 Greenstone Ln., Waite Park, MN. 56387 ............................................................ 320-656-116038 .......Alexandria-Vikingland, 106 Main Ave, P.O. Box 102, Carlos, MN 56319 ............................. 612-554-817039 .......Fox River Valley, 1253 Cobblers Crossing, Elgin, IL 60123 ....................................................... 847-741-977141 .......Central Ohio, 2716 Red Robin Way, Delaware, OH 43015 ....................................................... 740-225-115242 .......Hoosier Muskie Hunters, PO Box 501371, Indianapolis, IN 46250 ....................................... 317-372-011144 .......Colorado, 2031 Granger Circle, Castle Rock, CO 80109 ........................................................... 303-263-378345 .......Kentucky, 212 Linden Ave., Southgate, KY 41071...................................................................... 859-441-166646 .......Bemidji/Cass Lake, 16256 Andrusia Rd NE, Cass Lake, MN 56633 ....................................... 218-335-859747 .......Michigan Muskie Alliance, PO Box 512, Caledonia, MI 49316 ............................................... 616-447-168849 .......Webster Lake Musky Club, PO Box 670, No. Webster, IN 46555 ........................................... 574-834-166950 .......Penn-Jersey, 4 Shull Farm Rd., Erwinna, PA 18920 ..................................................................... 610-294-939952 .......Daniel Boone, 813 US 62, Maysville, KY 41056 ........................................................................... 606-759-761053 .......Huskerland Muskie Hunters, 15706 Hamilton St, Omaha, NE 68118 ....................................402-498-895954 .......Southern Crossroads, 850 Riverwood Place, Owatonna, Minnesota 55060 .................... 507-455-164456 .......SW Ohio Muskie Assoc., 524 Sterling Meadows Place, Brookville, OH 45309 ................... 937-833-183357 .......NW Tiger Pac, 20204 9th Ave. S., Des Moines, WA 98198........................................................ 206-870-067358 .......Lake St. Clair Muskies, Inc., 34047 Williamsburg Ct, Sterling Hts MI 48312....................... 586-873-915459 .......New Mexico Muskies, Inc., P.O. Box 65575, Albuquerque, NM 87193 ................................ 505-264-299960 .......Mountain Muskies, 6610 N. Hartley Spokane, WA 99208 ....................................................... 509-263-723561 .......Northwoods Chapter, P.O. Box 1090 PMB #204, Minocqua, WI 54548 ............................... 715-356-975862 .......Wasau Area Chapter, 5709 Canoe Street, Weston, WI 54776 ................................................. 715-297-757363 .......South Central West Virginia , HC61 Box 39B Frame Town, WV 26623 ................................ 304-364-887864 .......Nittany Valley Musky Alliance, 175 Industrial Park Rd. Edensburg, PA 15931 ................. 814-421-650269 .......New York Muskies, P.O. Box 10401, Rochester, NY 14610 ....................................................... 585-670-0422

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To list your chapter’s events,email to the address below.

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limit your photos to a maximum of four and be sure to include cap-tions with all photos. In the cap-tions please be sure to include the member’s name. If captions are not supplied, your photo will not be published (with this issue

being an except).


Our August and September meetings were held, as usual, at the Green Bay Yacht Club. Plans were finalized for our annual club event of hosting veterans for a weekend of muskie fishing, on Shawano Lake August 22-24 in conjunction with Take ‘Em Outdoors. Take ‘Em Outdoors is a non-profit charity dedicated to taking children with severe or terminal illnesses into the outdoors, as well as combat wounded veterans. Veterans were provided with lodging, meals, and equipment. Twelve Veterans caught two muskies and several other fish during the event. Veterans received a Quilt of Valor, which were made by club member Pat Brien’s Mother-in-Law, Barb Hoeft and others. A donation of $1,000 was made to Take ‘Em Outdoors at the September meeting.

Titletown officers were also invited to attend the Wisconsin Musky Team meeting held in Green Bay on August 26th. Wisconsin’s Muskellunge Management Team is a standing team of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Fisheries. Its members include state Fisheries Biologists, with representatives from Wisconsin’s major muskellunge fishing organizations. The Musky Team develops and reviews regulations, stocking, research, and management. Titletown members were able to take four members of the Musky Team fishing on Green Bay prior to the meeting.

A presentation was made on the status of this year’s fish at the Kewaunee Hatchery. Muskies averaged nearly 6.5 inches long in early August. They had increased to nearly 9 inches by early September. Current plans are for these fish to be stocked in Green Bay early to mid-October; Titletown members will assist. Final numbers of stocked fish will be published in a future issue.

Other business discussed at the August and September meetings included Musky Alliance ticket sales, upcoming speakers for future meetings, a donation for dock construction on Wabikon Lake, and financial support to the Boundary Waters Musky Club for stocking to increase the number of musky waters in Florence County.

Titletown was involved in the inaugural “Lure for a Cure” Musky Tournament held Saturday, September 6th on Green Bay. Twenty boats participated and six fish were caught by five different teams. The team of Trap and Guy Valleskey of Collins, WI won first place boating two fish, measuring 47 inch and 51inches. Proceeds benefitted the Ribbon of Hope and Breast Cancer Family Foundation. A pre-tournament meeting, raffle, silent auction, and banquet were held at the Stadium View on Friday night. Thank you to all who were involved in this successful event.

- Respectfully submitted, Bill Gerndt

Thanks to all the participants who made the 1st WI Chapters 38th Annual Tournament a success. Our main fundraiser is a total “catch and release” event held September 19-21. Of the 196 entrants, 60 anglers released 87 muskies, 34 inches and longer. The longest, a 49.5 inch, was caught by Tim Hillary from Lake Wissota. Lake Holcombe produced a 49 inch for Kasey Lueck. Lee Minnik took 1st place with a total of five fish (longest 48.5 inch), with a total of 60.25 pts. Josh Rabska placed 2nd with three fish and a total of 37 pts, Sam Hall (a junior member) placed 3rd with three fish and 35.5 pts, Shane McLaughlin placed 4th with three fish and 35.25 pts and Ace Sommerfeld placed 5th with three fish and 35pts. Further results are available on our website. A huge thank you to our many sponsors who donated prizes; also to the members on the tournament committee, headed by Don Maves and Joe Heil. The 39th

will be held September 18-20, 2015. Please mark your calendars and join us.

General meetings through April are held at the Fill Inn Station in Chippewa Falls on the first Monday of the month at 7 p.m. These meetings feature presentations on muskie fishing. October’s speaker was Ace Sommerfeld on river fishing, November will be Kevin Stahl of RFRG Outdoors on muskie fishing on Green Bay, December will be Kurt Schultz of Wausau on the Wisconsin River and flowages, and February will be Josh Brovosky of Pro Muskie Guide. Josh guides Lake Vermillion and the Twin Cities Metro waters. We will have speakers at the March and April meetings. These seminars are free and open to the public.

- Paul Gottwald

It has been a great year and a great fall, but it’s not over yet. Historically, some of the biggest fish of the year are caught by club members during November and December on local lakes. All major CCMI events and outings, however, are over for 2014. We still have two monthly membership meetings which we invite you to attend. Featured speakers always make our meetings interesting and fun.

The first ever CCMI Lake of the Woods (LOTW) Outing was from August 16 through August 23, 2014 at Mylie’s Place on Sabaskong Bay. The outing was a great success. Sixteen anglers participated and collectively caught 54 muskies. Only one was over 50 inch, but two-thirds (60%) were over 40 inches; what fun! Justin Gaudry, the owner and host of Mylie’s Place, did a great job of making us feel welcome. He even took some anglers out fishing who had never been to LOTW before. Thanks Justin, we had a great time. Also, thanks to Mike Winther, the club coordinator of this event. Mike went out of his way to keep things organized, to keep us informed, and to help us have a trouble-free trip. Thank you, Mike, for a job well done. We are looking forward to doing this outing again next year and making it even bigger.

The Gil Hamm Challunge held from August 20th to August 22nd, was at Red Wing Lodge, two bays over from where the CCMI LOTW outing was headquartered. Some club members taking part in the CCMI LOTW outing, also participated in the Gil Hamm Challenge, since there was some overlap in the scheduled dates of the two events. CCMI had two teams. Team 1 finished 7th out of 30 teams and consisted of Lee Bartolini, Shane Nesheim, Luke Breyer, Kent Sorenson, Kurt Southworth, and Michael Winther. Team 1 caught seven fish for 88 points. Team 2, consisting of Gerard Hellenbrand and Jeff Walker, finished 24th out of 30 teams. Team 2 caught one fish for 13.5 points. Congratulations to everyone who caught fish, and thanks to all members who participated.

CCMI’s first PIT TAG Challunge was held on Saturday, September 27, 2014. This outing was held on Lake Monona in Madison, WI with the purpose of catching and identifying as many muskies as possible, to add to the database of the club’s ongoing stocking study with the Wisconsin DNR. The results of this tournament were not available at the time this column was written. They will be reported on next time, but a number of anglers participating in this event had electronic wands, which, when scanned over a caught fish, produce a number. The number can then be used to determine the date and size of the fish when it was stocked. Data collected will ultimately provide information regarding rate of growth, ultimate size and longevity of Leech Lake strain fish compared to Wisconsin (Chippewa) strain fish.

The Vilas County Outing, the last CCMI outing of the year, was held on October 10 and 11, 2014. It was headquartered out of Fibbers Inn and Resort on Big St. Germain Lake in St. Germain, WI. Rob Manthei, the owner and operator of the lodge and the resort, did much to help make this outing a success. Thanks, Rob. The results of this outing were also not available at the time this column was written, but it is the most

Titletown/Packerland901 Ethel Street

Green Bay, WI 5433920-866-5244

Meetings held the second Wednesday of each 562, 7:00 p.m., at the Green Bay Yacht Club, 100 Bay Beach Road, Green Bay, WI. Follow us on Facebook at Titletown Muskies, Inc. Chapter 4

4CHAPTER

Capital CityP.O. Box 8862, Madison, WI 53708

608-669-5046 – Gerard Hellenbrandwww.capitalcitymuskiesinc.org

Meets 2nd Monday at the 5100 Bar, 5100 Erling Ave., McFarland, WI.

8CHAPTER

First WisconsinP.O. Box 122, Chippewa Falls, WI 54729

www.firstwimuskiesinc.org

Meetings 1st Monday, 5:30 PM, at Rod and Gun Club, Lake Wissota from May to September and at the Fill Inn Station, 104 W. Columbia St., Chippewa Falls from October to April.

6CHAPTER


popular CCMI out-of-town outing. Dale and Colette Anderson have been coordinating this event for a number of years and have been doing a great job. Thanks, Dale and Colette. Your leadership is much appreciated.

For information on all of our meetings and events, please visit our website at www.capitalcitymuskiesinc.org. Good luck during the remainder of the fishing season. Let’s hope we all get a personal best.

- President, Lee Bartolini

Greetings to all our Muskies, Inc. friends from the beautiful northwoods of Wisconsin! Summer never really got here this year, but while our heat index wasn’t exactly off the charts, the muskie fishing certainly was. The Headwaters Chapter has been busy, as usual, with their many activities and community involvement.

Our Spring Classic Tournament was a great success with 87 teams taking part. This was a 20 percent increase from last year and we look forward to similar success next June. The Chapter Outings were also very successful and there is still one more to go, but it will be over by the time you read this. We’re getting ready for our “Enduro”, the most popular outing of the year. The Enduro is our one day fishing event that takes place on October 25th, 2015. After a day of fishing, everyone meets at a local eatery for dinner and a good time.

The Headwaters Chapter’s last outing was a trip up to Lake of the Woods. The turnout was great and everyone had a good time. Thank you to our hosts at the Buena Vista Resort for the excellent accommodations and service.

We also had a busy year taking care of the many boat ramps and piers that need replacement or repairs. The chapter maintains many of the public ramps used by boaters in the Eagle River area and they get quite a bit of use!

The chapter is now getting to work on our Christmas Party, which always takes place the first week of the new year. We hope you will be able to join us as we get together for a fun evening of dinner, raffle prizes, and good fellowship with fellow chapter members.

The Headwaters Chapter still meets on the first Wednesday of each month, and all are welcome to join us. We meet at the Eagle River Inn on Highway 70 on the west side of town. Check out our website for the full

schedule of events, www.headwatersmuskies.com - PR Directory, Scott Samuels

The Hayward Lakes Chapter held its annual kids fishing day Sunday, August 3rd. We took 31 youngsters fishing on the Tiger Cat Flowage and had a barbeque at noon for everyone. Each youth got a bag of fishing goodies and we raffled off some bigger prizes. The weather was nice and everyone had a good time. If you’d like to join us next year’s kid’s day will be the first Sunday of August.

The guest speaker for our September meeting was our local DNR biologist, Max Wolter. Max had some excellent information on the feedback coming from the “pit tagged” fish and the planned stocking for this year, plus discussion on the requirements for producing big fish. Max has been working hard for muskies and other species in the Hayward area.The following fish have been entered in our club’s member contest as of September 17, 2014:

Youth: Tommy Tiffany, 2 fish-18 pts.Women’s: Vicki Barber, 4 fish-50 pts; Claudette Kersten, 4 fish-38 pts. Men’s: Ken Vesel, 17 fish-185 pts; Carl Langham, 14 fish-172 pts (includes a 48.5 inch from Vermillion); Emmett Brown, 9 fish-82 pts; Kris Gottwald, 5 fish- 64 pts; Tom Kersten, 7 fish-49 pts; ErnieThieding, 4 fish-44 pts; Steve Truver, 2 fish-26 pts. Men’s Masters: Larry Ramsell, 9 fish-111pts (includes a 48 inch from the St. Lawrence)

2014 Calendar of Events:November 5 (Tuesday): General Meeting (7 p.m.) - with election of officers and LURE SWAP. Bring your old lures or extras to buy, sell, trade or other fishing miscellaneous items. Meeting to be held at a new location, Coop’s Pizza in Hayward. December: Annual Christmas Party - Date to be announced.January 6, 2015: Business Meeting (7 p.m.) - To plan year 2015 projects, activities and budget. All board members are asked to attend. All interested members are welcome. The meeting will be held at Coop’s Pizza.Fishing Outings: Held every other Wednesday during summers – schedule set in May – Check website.NOTE: For more information call Mike Persson - 715-634-4543 or

(Continued on page 28

Headwaters923 Catfish Drive

Eagle River, WI 54521715-547-3340

www.headwatersmuskies.comMeets first Wednesday of every month. 7:00pm. Eagle River Inn. Eagle River, WI.

12CHAPTER

DATES EVENT NAME & WEBSITE LOCATION CITY STATE PHONEChicago Muskie Expowww.muskieexpo.com

The "New" Ohio Musky Showwww.ohiomuskyshow.com

Western Pennsylvania Muskie Maxwww.muskiemax.com

Milwaukee Muskie Expowww.muskieexpo.com

Rockford Illinois Fishing Showwww.rockfordboatshow.com

Madison Fishing Expowww.madfishexpo.comWisconsin Musky Expowww.wimuskyexpo.comMinnesota Muskie Expo

www.minnesotamuskieexpo.com

Jan. 23-25 Makoy Event Center Hilliard OH (606) 776-6567(606) 776-6729

Jan. 31 - Feb. 1

Feb. 13-15

Feb. 20-22

Feb. 27-March 1

March 6-8

April 3-5

(715) 891-8856WIWausauPatriot Center

Concordia University (763) 786-6031MNSt. Paul

(815) 997-1744ILRockfordIndoor Sports Center

(608) 245-1040WIMadisonExhibition Hall at the Alliant Center

Four Points by Sheraton (724) 494-0774PAPittsburg North

(608) 445-4645WIWest AllisWisconsin State Fair Park

SPORT SHOW LOCATORCalendar of upcoming events in 2015

Sears Centre Arena Hoffman Estates IL (608) 445-4645Jan. 9-11

Hayward LakesP.O. Box 609

Hayward, WI 54843715-634-4543

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November / December 2014.....MUSKIE 27www.muskiesinc.org

visit our club’s website www.muskiesinc-hayward.org Reminder: Register your muskie catches with Hayward Lakes Chapter

of Muskies Inc and be a part of the musky fishing spirit and a possible award winner! Register your release forms online at the Muskies Inc. website (www.muskiesinc.org) or send paper forms to Hayward Lakes Muskies Inc. P. O. Box 609 Hayward, WI 54843.

- Mike Perssons

Sam Reichenbach had one of the highest point totals to ever win a Chapter 18 Tournament, with 68 points at the June open. Sandy and Jim Petrozzi took 2nd and 3rd with 48 and 42 points respectively. Bert Colette and Joe Ball earned honorable mentions. Gordon Carr took top honors at the July open with 24 points. Chet Snezek and Sam Reichenbach tied for 2nd with 20 points and Herb Moore was third with 15 points. Mike Rouse captured first place with a 39 inch and a 31 inch catches at the August Piedmont tournament. Pete Sall had 33 and 35 inch fish for 2nd place and Larry Stullenburg took 3rd with a 38 inch catch. Sam Reichenbach earned an honorable mention. Chautauqua Lake provided first and second place for the September open. Chet Snezek and Mike Uscio fished the Empire State while Bert Collette earned 3rd place in Ohio.

A total of 107 kids fished the Pine Valley Sportsman’s Club family day fishing tournament. Chapter 18 donated several rods and reels for prizes. The Sportsman’s Club is very appreciative of our contributions to their event.

The December Meeting will be on the 11th do to deer season. Anyone wishing to donate a lure in new condition to go in a basket to be raffled off at the banquet, should give it to Bert Collette by the February meeting.

- Kevin Singhaus

On August 23, we hosted our second year of the Hatch-N-Catch, which included staff members from the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife (F&W) and several of our members participating and “guiding”. The lakes that were targeted were Oxford Furnace and Mountain Lake. This event is bifurcated, as it is a chance for our members to interface with F&W members and assist in stocking advanced fingerling muskies, as well as to give the

F&W employees a shot at catching the elusive musky that they raised and stocked. Our members, Mike Kopp and Jed Chingery worked with Ryan

Votta and Nick Healy from the hatchery staff on Oxford Furnace Lake. The two teams stocked 26 muskies that were 18-20 inches and then went fishing. Meanwhile on Mountain Lake, some members Mike Marzo and his son, Mason, Jim and Krista Dassau, Bob Mischka and Cal Huntzinger worked with Ron Jacobsen and Lauren Senn from the division of Fish and Wildlife, in stocking 46 advanced fingerlings and then they also went fishing. The conditions for the 2nd Annual Hatch-N-Catch appeared ideal for targeting muskies. Evidently the mature muskie didn’t get the memo. Only three muskies were hooked and one made it in the net.

Lauren from the Hatchery Staff, had the most to brag about for her first outing. She hooked and fought a nice 40 plus inch muskie to the boat, but alas it rolled off and returned to the depths. Next time, Laura!

This event is a product of the dedication of Craig Lemon and his staff at the Hackettstown Hatchery, who continue to maintain and improve the quality of our fishery in NJ. It is also a testimonial to how well our club maintains a relationship with the hatchery and its staff. Working with your F&W personnel is tantamount to the longevity of your fishery and is essential for the growth of your chapter. It is my recommendation that each and every chapter adopt a plan to keep the lines of communication open and reestablish your relationships at the state level.

Some interesting facts from our state hatchery are that the brood stock collection data from Greenwood Lake, for 2014, tallied 35 fish; 17 males and 16 females. These were combined with the hold over brood stock from 2013, afforded Craig and his staff ample resources to produce over a million muskie at the Hackettstown Facility. These fish were shared with other states and were also raised to stock New Jersey waters. In addition, to the 18- 20 inch advanced fingerlings, the Hatchery Staff raised and stocked thousands of 8-10 inch muskies, both true strain as well as tigers. An ever growing number of muskie will be held over the winter to once again allow our waters to be stocked with advanced fingerlings that have the highest rate of survival.

The members of our chapter want to thank the staff at the Hackettstown Hatchery for their hard work and dedication to making New Jersey a great fishery. We endured summer and will anxiously await closing out the year with a lot of muskies in our nets. The Hatch-N-Catch will be an annual event and we also look forward to hosting staff at the New Jersey Fish and Wildlife in 2015 at the 3rd Annual Hatch-N-Catch.

Tight lines and beasts in the net to all of you.- David Christinzio

We all had a good time at the Ed Garland Memorial Tournament at Pymatuning. We had 16 people fishing and 3 youth. There were five legal fish caught. John Savu slammed first place with a nice 44 inch fish he caught Saturday and also won the big fish pool. Great job John! John Riley landed second place with two fish. He caught a 35 inch on Saturday and two subs, a 25 and a 28 inch. Third place was grabbed up by Jason Basic with a 32 inch he boated Saturday. Other fish caught were as follows: Bob Basic - 31inch; Beau Chumley – 27 and 28 inch, Jarry Fisher - 29.5 inch; Danny Fisher – 28 inch; Sylvester – 28 inch. In the youth division, Evan Erb won with a 30.5 inch and Fisher Himes caught a 28 inch.

We would like to thank everyone for fishing our tournaments with us this season, and we hope to see you at our chili cook out on October 4th at West Branch on the West Ramp. We’ll fish from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. We will then meet in the parking lot for lunch and a few fish stories. There will also be a lure raffle.

- Danny Fisher

Check out our website (shawneemuskiehunters.org) for lots of good information. Thanks to Renee Johnson for taking over our website and

New Jersey1524 Old Bethlehem Rd., Quakertown, PA 18951

908-319-2205 • www.mi22.comChapter meetings are held monthly the last Tuesday of each month, September through May.

Summer meetings will be held on the water. Check our website for details.

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HopedalePO Box 118

Smithfield, OH 43948740-769-7269 – Jerry Pruneski

Meets 1st Thursday 7:30 P.M., Pine Valley Sportsman’s Club, Smithfield, OH..

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Cleveland5007 Starr St. • Newton Falls, OH 44444

330-219-7964Meets 2nd Monday of each month, 7:30 PM

at Westfall’s Family Restaurant, 18148 Mahoning Ave., Lake Milton, OH 44429, except June-August when meetings are at the East Boat Ramp Pavilion in West Branch.

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Shawnee Muskie Hunters923 Reiss Rd, O’Fallon, IL 62269

618-628-4205 – Jerry [email protected]

www.shawneemuskiehunters.org

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Muskies ready to be stocked

The Hatch-N-Catch crew!!

rebuilding it.The year is coming to the end. In a few weeks, a lot of the Northern

states will be iced in until spring and muskie fishing will be done for the year. Here in Southern Illinois, we will be fishing into December. After the turn over in mid-November, we will be trolling large baits for our muskies. A lot of big fat muskies are caught at this time on Kinkaid on 13 inch Jakes, grandmas and believers trolled in deep water under schools of shad. If you are up north and want to extend your season, come on down. Our muskies will be there waiting for your offerings.

This time of year our club activities are slowing down. We will have our Veterans Day outing on November 8th. Thanks to James of Tackle Industries, we have increased our fund for this event with the sale of special camo colored super D swimbaits. James is a very big supporter of the Shawnee Muskie Hunters and we thank you James for your support.

On December 6th, we will have our winter planning meeting. At this time we will elect our officers for 2015 and finalize our 2015 calendar of events. This year we will be having a changing of the guard. Jerry Ford, our present president is stepping down. He is the 4th president that we have had since the charter in 1996. He will surely be missed and has set the bar very high for our next president.

December 13th & 14th we will have our December trolling outing. This is if the weather permits it. Safety for our members is always the top priority in any event we hold.

I hope to see you on the water at one or more of these events this coming year.

- Remember, I’m in the other New Lund, Walt Krause

New to the LaCrosse, WI or surrounding area? Are you a new member of Muskies, Inc. and looking for a club to meet people dedicated to catching muskie, to exchange ideas to improve your fishing skills and improve fishing opportunities? Visit our website at www.lacrossemuskies.com. On that site you can visit and look around or leave your email address to get club notices and news of events that are scheduled as well as unscheduled events that come up. There’s no pressure or demands on your time. You can participate as your time permits.

On September 10th, club members answered a request to assist the DNR with clipping and releasing 8 inch to 12 inch muskies into Lake Neshonec just west of LaCrosse. The 10 members, who showed up wearing cold weather rain gear, were treated to learning the stocking process of placing the young muskie into a bath treated with a medication to make them lethargic so they would not thrash about while being handled and having their pectoral fin clipped. The fish were then placed in a protected holding area in the lake until they recovered to be released. Kim Smith took photographs which are available to those who provide an email address. Many thanks for those that showed up, as the two DNR employees had 1,400 muskies to process. Introduction of muskie into Lake Neshonec has been a project for our Club for several years as well as donating a Kiosk for Lake Association use.

The last Club outing for 2014 was held on the Holcombe Flowage the weekend of September 12-14. The event was headquartered at the flowage, but members also fished lakes normally fished at the First Wisconsin Club events to add variety. Unfortunately, Lake Holcombe yielded the only over 30 inch muskie caught. Jerry Wiltinger was the skilled muskie hunter who showed his mettle and timing by catching a 36 inch muskie ten minutes before lunch and a matter of a couple hundred feet from Big Swede’s, where lunch was about to be served. He managed to catch, measure, release the bruiser and still be seated as the food was being served. Weather had been unseasonably cold and rainy for several days before the outing. There was no forecast of rain or storms for that weekend, but somehow the weatherman missed a localized hail storm

which victimized two of our junior members Friday night. With high water and low night temperatures for camping, only 10 members attended. As I recall, last year’s September outing was also won by another senior club member who caught the only muskie, about the same size and in the same area. Once again, Leif Tolokken did an outstanding job hosting the outing and Big Swede’s consistently great food was a bright spot on a difficult weekend of fishing.

Just a reminder to mark your calendar for February 14th, to attend the LaCrosse Sport Show and attend the seminar provided by Pete Maina who is being sponsored by our Club.

- Respectively Submitted, Prairie Bob

Our September 18th General Meeting featured Justin and Rob Blanchar of Vibrations Tackle LLC (www.VibrationsTackle.com), whose slogan is “Any Fish …Any Water…Any Time”. Their presentation covered jigging, trolling and casting methods of their Echotails and was very in depth. Several of the techniques and situations that they covered could also be used with other similar lures. Justin is a member of Milwaukee Chapter 35 and Rob is a member of Capitol City’s Chapter.

Our future speaker line up has Gregg Thomas presenting on January 15th, 2015. Rob Manthei will be presenting on February 19th, 2015. Matt “Catfish” Firestein will be presenting on April 16th, 2015.

Muskellunge Club of Wisconsin (MCW), Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and the Milwaukee Chapter of Muskies, Inc. (MCMI) have teamed up to stock muskie fingerlings in Lac La Belle in the fall of 2014. Both clubs had agreed to split the cost of the stocking with MCW and MCMI each fronting up to $2,000 each. Scott Wilkie of MCW took the lead for stocking Lac La Belle. Scott received a stocking permit from the WIDNR for the stocking of up to 500 fingerlings. With Chapter 35 not able to use the Amron Pond this year, Mike Phelps of MCMI approached Scott and MCW about chapter 35 helping with the stocking efforts.

Lure Parts Online, Inc., 580 North Street, Springfield, IL 62704

“...build better baits...”

God’s Country MuskiesP.O. Box 1461, LaCrosse, WI 54602

608-792-7722 • Website: lacrossemuskies.comPresident: Jim Wiltinger

Meets 7:00pm every 4th Tuesday, American Legion Hall,Market and 6th, in LaCrosse.

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MilwaukeePO Box 28842 • Greenfield, WI 53228

Craig Ader – 262-250-6444www.milwaukeemuskiesinc.com

Meets 3rd Thursday January – May, & September – November, 6:00PM Board Mtg.; 7:30PM General Meeting, American Legion Post #449. 3245 N. 124th Street, Brookfield, WI 53005

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www.muskiesinc.org

(Continued on page 30

At 9:20 on September 22, Gollon Bait and Fish Farm from Dodgeville, WI delivered 387 muskies ranging from 10-13 inches to the Lac La Belle launch in Oconomowoc (picture shown above). Members from both clubs assisted in the stocking efforts, with some of the help having “dual citizenship” in both clubs. Dual club members assisting with the efforts were Dave Dawson, Tom Truebenbach, and Russ Ruland who were also joined by other Chapter 35 members Mike Phelps and Brian Mirek. Three Club boats and one DNR boat provided transportation from the holding pen to the stocking locations around the lake. Dave Dawson and Mike Phelps both provided the services of their boats for stocking. The stocking efforts were observed by 20 kids from a local grade school in Oconomowoc. Ben Heussner, DNR Waukesha County Fisheries Biologist gave an educational talk about stocking and water quality to the group.

This was an excellent joint effort between the two clubs for the betterment of muskie fishing in southeast Wisconsin and specifically the Oconomowoc River chain. Many thanks go out to those involved in the efforts from both club.

-Greg Sieren

Don’t winterize those boats yet, the best fishing is still to come! Here in Minnesota, November marks the final month of our muskie season and arguably the best time of the year to land a true giant. Things can get much more difficult in the late season and often times more comical as we try to utilize delicate equipment with numb limbs and heavily layered clothing.

It has been great to see so many members at our meetings throughout the summer with how busy things can be. In our August meeting, Marc Jefferson presented our Lake Of The Month and unveiled to us all of White Bear Lake’s deepest secrets and the tactics to his consistent success. Marc projected a map of the lake and everyone received a printed outline of information to keep us on key from spring to fall and how to properly fish White Bear. Information like that is priceless and very exciting to follow; thank you Marc.

The guest speaker in August was Rob Morine with Absolute Outdoors speaking on “Preparing for the Water”. Rob shared facts, statistics and equipment training on staying safe while we are on the water. He also promoted Onyx products including Arctic Shield and X-System. It’s very good to see all of the technology and comfort in these floatation systems and life jackets.

There were good reports last September from our yearly Cass Lake outing at the Cass Lake Lodge. Eight members attended boating seven muskies and a few nice ones got away. It sounds like they had the usual crazy weather that always comes with this trip so they made the best of it and had a great time.

Due to some unfortunate cancellations, September’s meeting was opened up to a Round Table Discussion. The topic being if you could only bring three lures, what would you select? We really enjoyed this function as it was basically everyone’s own mini seminar to success. It also got our members in the lime-light for a moment and a chance

to know each other better. Thank you everyone for sharing and listening that evening.

Be sure to contact us if you are in the area or if you would like some information on our club or the local lakes. Stay warm, dry and safe this fall and enjoy the holiday season. Keep sending those good vibes down the line!

- Eric Poissant

As the muskie fishing season starts to wind down on most waters in the upper Midwest, many us look forward to the opportunity to catch some of the biggest fish of the year. For many of us, this means taking advantage of the remaining time by hitting our local waters up until ice-up. To help out with that, FRV will feature local Fox Chain O’ Lakes muskie guide and expert Chris Taurisano at our Wednesday, November 12th chapter meeting. If you don’t know Chris or about his track record on the Chain, check out his website/guide business at tboneguideservice.com. Meetings are held at the Schaumburg Golf Club/Chandlers Chophouse. Dinner starts at 6 p.m. and the general meeting starts at 7 p.m.

With that anticipation of hooking up with a post turnover/pre-ice-up monster, we all probably considered the quality of our terminal tackle. Do I have the right tools for unhooking fish? Do I have enough split rings, leaders, or sucker-rigs to meet the conditions? If those are the kinds of things you consider, our Wednesday, December 10th speaker can provide recommendations on how to do better job of assessing your gear before the 2015 season. John Bettes of Stealth Tackle will be our speaker, so come prepared to soak up all the information he can provide. We’ll also use our December meeting to collect donations for the Elgin Battered Women’s Shelter, so if you have any extra box or canned food you can spare, please bring it along.

To start 2015 with a bang, we’ll be showcasing a marquee speaker at our January meeting on Thursday, January 8th…just prior to the Muskie Expo Chicago (held @ the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates). Our speaker will be legendary angler, TV show host, and lure-maker Larry Dahlberg. More details about this speaker and meeting details will be forthcoming, but make sure you clear your schedule so you can be there!

Please check out our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter, or visit our website, www.frvmuskie.com, for meeting/speaker information and generally to see how Fox River Valley Chapter 39 is making progress against our mission of Youth Fishing Education, Fisheries, Research and Community. We hope you all had a safe and great 2014 in the outdoors.

- Mark Lamont

St. Cloud312 18th Avenue N. • Sartell, MN 56377

Bruce Kitowski - (320) 656-1160www.stcloudmuskies.com

Meets: 3rd Tues. 7:30 PM, American Legion Post 428, 17 2nd Ave. N, Waite Park, MN.

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Fox River Valley1253 Cobblers Crossing, Elgin, IL 601230

847-741-9771 – Rich Gallagherwww.frvmuskie.com

Meetings and banquets: Chandlers Chop House at the Schaumburg Golf Club, 401 N. Roselle Rd. Schaumburg, IL 60194. Dinner will be available starting at 6PM.

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NEW

NEW


Six and a half years ago, a couple of people I had never heard of, decided to start a chapter of Muskies, Inc. here in Washington State. Little did I know that they would go on to become two of my closest friends. Jani and Perry Peterson poured their heart and souls along with endless hours of their own time, into developing the now thriving Tiger Pac, Chapter 57. For that, we all owe them a much deserved debt of gratitude.

As a club, we tried to not only have a lot of fun, but to also educate people about this somewhat new fishery in our state. Many of our members had not caught their first tiger muskie yet. There were guest speakers at our monthly meetings, some members put on seminars at various venues. We had a booth at the yearly Sportsman’s Show and even put on a Muskie School, which was a very successful event and a big hit for all those who attended. Everyone seemed genuinely enthusiastic and ready to take on these toothy critters from the Midwest.

One of my favorite things was the stories you would hear from visitors attending the Sportsman’s Shows. Everyone seemed to have a muskie story or at least knew of someone who had had a run in with one of these mythical beasts. One girl, in her mid-twenties explained to me in a way as if I obviously would already know this, how dangerous it was for girls to go swimming with an ankle bracelet on as the tiger muskies are attracted to the flash just as they are to bucktails. I could see her point. In fact, she KNEW a girl that had been wearing a toe ring while in the water at Tapps and, well, you can just imagine what happened to her. One of our own local radio talk show geniuses told the story on a live broadcast about how he was being towed on one of those giant inner tubes behind a ski boat on Lake Tapps. As they were leaving the dock, there was a section of tow rope with a metal ring attached to the end, hmm. A very large tiger muskie darted out from the dock and latched onto that ring. As the boat took off, the muskie held on and was skipping across the surface for nearly a hundred yards before letting go. He said it was hard to believe, Ya’ think?

My personal favorite though, was a guy who walked up to the booth, looked me right in the eyes and said, “you’re not going to believe this, but I was there and seen it for myself”. Seen it, really? I knew this was going to be a doozy. He went on to tell how he was at Lake Tapps (there’s something strange going on up there, I’m tellin’ ya!) and there was this guy (all crazy stories start out with “I know a guy who…”) in a canoe who was trolling for trout and hooked a giant tiger muskie that must have been close to five feet long. He somehow got it into the canoe when the thing went berserk. It was snappin’ and thrashing so hard the guy had to jump out of the canoe to get away from it. Somewhere along here he threw in a “No, really, I was right there when it happened”. The guy grabbed the canoe and began trying to swim it to shore, being careful not to get his fingers too far over the edge. But, about halfway to shore, the tiger muskie managed to chew through the plastic hull enough that it sank along with all of the guys’ tackle, cooler, etc. He swam back to shore where my story telling pal was waiting. He helped him to his car and gave him a lift back to wherever the fisherman had parked. Again, this was a true story and just one more reason why tiger muskies are so dangerous to have around.

Tournaments were always a source of great entertainment. Besides the fishing, we always looked forward to a good potluck and stories around the campfire where we solved many of the world’s problems from peace in the Middle East, space travel and even the crisis in North Korea. No issue is even the slightest bit intimidating given enough frosty beverages and a huge stack of firewood.

A lot of great memories, far too many to even mention here, from a lot of great people; many who have come and gone over the years. Throughout this article, you may have wondered why I speak of the

chapter in a past tense. Chapter 57 is still alive and well and full of some of the best folks I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing. But, sadly, it is my turn to leave. I thank you all for your support, friendship, and camaraderie. See ya’ at the ramp.

- Miles McDonald

It’s that time of year when muskie season is all but over for most of us, with the exception of a few diehards out there, who fish right up until season close. For me, the boat is put away for the winter and I am turning my attention towards hunting season. This is also the time of year to reflect back on the season, to see what worked and what didn’t work so well. A little time spent reflecting on the past season is a great way to sharpen ones skills and learn a little more about the sport we love.

Just because the season is closing and the snow will soon be upon us, that doesn’t mean we can’t still get our muskie fix this winter. The club has several great events planned for our members to get together and help break up the monotony of winter. Please see the below calendar of events for 2015 activities. As always, please check out both Facebook and our clubs website for more details on upcoming events.

- LSCMI Secretary, Adam Penzenstadler

Muskies, Inc. (MI) Chapter 59 (C59) operated an education booth at the annual New Mexico Outdoors Exposition. Catch & Release tools and proper muskie fishing gear was exhibited (group shown on right). Our chapter members manned the booth for the full two day event, answering hundreds of questions about fishing for muskies from the general public.

Chapter 59 joined with Global Opportunities Unlimited (GOU) to provide tiger muskie fishing education and assistance to disabled veterans. GOU is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating access to outdoor opportunities for persons who are mobility limited.

(Continued on page 32)

Lake St. Clair Muskies, Inc.34047 Williamsburg Ct

Sterling Heights, MI 48312586-873-9154 - Charles Legarski, President

www.lscmi.com

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NW Tiger Pac20204 9th Ave. S.

Des Moines, WA 98198206-870-0673 - Charles Legarski, President

www.lscmi.com

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Event Date Anticipated Topic or LocationUltimate Fishing Show January 8-11, 2015 Suburban Showplace, Novi

Outdoor Rama February 26 - March 1, 2015 Suburban Showplace, NoviAnglers Pointe Ice Derby February 14, 2015 Anglers Point, Chesterfield Twp.February General Meeting February 19, 2015 Salmon and Trout FishingMarch General Meetingx March 19, 2015 Jon Bondy – Jigging for Muskies

Bowling Fundraiser March 28, 2015 --not yet confirmed—April General Meeting April 16, 2015 MUCC & DNR updateMay General Meeting May 21, 2015 Bait Night, Spencer or CatfishLake St. Clair Opener June 6, 2015Opening Tournament June 7, 2015 Captain’s meeting the prior ThursdaySummer Tournament August 16, 2015 Captain’s meeting the prior Thursday

Early Fall Tournament September 20, 2015 Captain’s meeting the prior ThursdayCasting Only Tournament October 18, 2015 Captain’s meeting the prior Thursday


New Mexico Muskies, Inc.P.O. Box 65575, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87193

(505) 264-2999 • Matt Pelletier [email protected]

www.newmexicomuskiesinc.org

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Our chapter helped load and launch the “Goldie Ops”, the GOU wheelchair accessible pontoon boat, built specifically for adaptive fishing. Guided on the lake by C59, VP Tom

Nelson and member Greg Connors, at one point Veterans Larry Rodriguez and Paul Torres, both had a Tiger Muskie hooked up at the same time. It was a great day from start to finish and a total of 13 tiger muskies were caught and released. Dustin Berg of GOU noted “This trip was made possible by two New Mexico based non-profit organizations

working together to show support and gratitude for our veterans.” C59 members provided excellent knowledge, experience and equipment that was critical in the successful catch and release of this amazing fish.

Muskie Smiles to all.- John Williamson

As you read this, the tiger season is pretty well winding down in Mountain Muskie country. Hunting, getting in the firewood, and winterizing the boat and other items not as essential are at the forefront. Ice fishing is barely peeking over the horizon.

Our grand finale of the season, was the Curlew Lake 24 hour Essoxaganza on September 19-20. We had three teams from our chapter and two teams from Chapter 57 vying for the coveted honor of taking home the Golden Bucket traveling trophy. We have yet to get a “skunked” tournament since the beginning of our chapter. Things were looking a little grim by mid-day with zero takers. We also had a guest public relations employee from the Washington Department of Fish and Game doing a story on tiger muskies and their tournaments. By noon, he was getting bored and wondered what this muskie frenzy was really all about. You know the rest of the story; hours of sheer boredom followed by moments of sheer panic! A 44.5 x 18.5 inch blessing hits Doug Wood’s double cowgirl; salvation at last. The PR man gets dozens of pics and one is displayed nearby. That was the only landed fish, but it was enough.

First place and big fish went to the team of Doug Wood and Ed Hoyle. Ed had caught eight tigers in the prior two weeks on Curlew Lake so he unfortunately had used up all of his luck. Raffled second place went to brand new member Jeff Wagner and his 7 year old son, Matthew. He was a tough “little tiger” and roughed it all day fishing in a canoe with his dad. That team has caught about 20 tigers this year before becoming new members

several days ago. We are expecting exciting things from that duo in the future. We truly appreciated the four members that came over from Chapter 57 who rounded out our tournament nicely and gave us challenging competition.

- Chuck Gades

Got ice? Won’t be long now, but some of our members are still breaking skim at the launches on the bigger lakes in search of that last autumn giant. With all the outdoor sports at hand, there aren’t many of us who don’t feel the urge to fight off the deer hunt, the grouse flush, the duck splash or the pheasant cackle…. just to get one more big girl to eat this fall. Great time of year. Scratch that- the GREATEST time of year with so many decisions to make.

Having completed a busy season and finishing up our popular “on-the-water” meetings this summer and fall, we resume our late fall and winter schedule with regular meetings on December 9th and our Christmas banquet this year will be on January 17th at the Whitetail Inn on Highway 70 east in St. Germain, Wisconsin.

We always have things that our membership can help with. We encourage you to make this YOUR chapter. Jump on our Facebook page, website or come to a meeting and see how your talents can best serve the best chapter in Muskies, Inc.! We look forward to meeting you. As always, details on all of the chapter activities can always be found on our website at www.northwoodsmuskies.com.

Enjoy the Hunt!- Todd Berg

It’s mid-September and the WV waters are starting to cool with temps of low 70’s and the fish are starting for the fall frenzy. Fishing was slow in late August with dog day like humidity, but a lot of storm fronts making fishing still good. We would like to give a big shout out congrats to Brandon Buckner for catching not one, but two 47.5 inchers off the mighty Kanawha. I asked him if it was the same fish, different lure and to my surprise it was two fish on the same lure. Congrats again Brandon!

Our Youth Day Cookout for the Kids was a great success (photos on the right). Congrats to Mattie Campbell for winning the casting contests (bottom right); runner up was Kenlee Flint. Looks like the two young ladies put it on all the boys. Congrats to John Canterbury for winning the Elk River custom rod in the raffle. We plan on having a meeting in October to plan out next year raffles. Next two tournament dates are as follows: Burnsville Lake on October 25th and the Fall mail In

Northwoods ChapterP.O. Box 1090 PMB# 204

Minocqua, WI 54548715-356-9758 - Mike Sasse

www.northwoodsmuskies.com

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Mountain Muskies6610 N. Hartley Spokane, WA 99208

509-263-7235 • Email: [email protected]: www.mountainmuskies.com

Meets every 4th Tuesday at 6:00 pm @ the VFW, 300 West Mission Ave., Spokane, Wash.

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Chapter 60 president Doug Wood’s 44.5” Curlew Lake Tournament

winning tiger muskie

South Central West Virginia Chapter

HC61 Box 39BFrame Town, WV 26623

304-364-8878 - Jake Flint

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November / December 2014.....MUSKIE 33www.muskiesinc.org

I enjoyed the e-mail that came with this photo of Capital City Chapter member Travis Storch. Travis says, “I am a proud new member of the Capital City Chapter of Muskies, Inc. Chapter 8. We (my father and I) joined Muskies, Inc. finally after meeting some of the members at local landings, tackle stores, and the local exhibitions. We are very happy to be part of this great organization and we look forward to making friends, fishing, and supporting for years to come”. I think that’s great,

that we can help grow our membership by engaging with other muskie fishermen we meet out there. Good luck on the water Travis.

Sometimes it gets tough out there and even a smaller fish will be greatly appreciated. Dean Stoehr, of the Flatlanders Chapter, sent in this photo from a recent outing. He said, “During my second trip to Bay Store Camp we all struggled. I finally caught this 30 inch muskie, fooled by a black and silver double cowgirl. Jack Pertz was my net guy and we had really nice fish to the boat all week. This was the biggest, little fish I have ever caught.” Thanks for the photo and story Dean; I think this is a

great shot. You’ll get em’ next time.

Photo Contest by Brad Waldera, Photo Editor - [email protected]

FROM THE PHOTO EDITORI’m still getting WAY too many unusable pictures from members. This last month I received

pictures that were too small to be printed, pictures from people who did not list their chapter, and pictures from members not even listing their NAME. Please try to follow the photo rules we’ve set up, as I can’t always e-mail back and forth to get further information. Thanks, and good fishing.

You must include your name and all names of people in the photo submitted, chapter number, and a large enough photo to print if you want to be featured in MUSKIE. Send all photos to [email protected].

Looking for a great gift for the muskie enthusiast in your life? Look no further! Shop

the Muskies, Inc. online store today and get them a MI hoodie, shirt, and hat for an

affordable price. Follow the directions below to enter the site and get your I AM MUSKIES,

INC. gear today!

- Go to www.muskiesinc.org

- Click on the M.I. Apparel tab located at the top of the home page- Click on the MUSKIES, INC. tab in the left side bar- Click on the item(s) you would like the purchase and follow the directions to check out

Be proud to promote and advertise your association with Muskies, Inc.

MUSKIES, INC.1509 Stahl RoadSheboygan, WI 53081

MEMBERS: Please notify [email protected] of address change.

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

A lot has been happening with Chapter 64 since the last publication. On September 20 and 21, we held our first tournament at Curwensville Lake. Thirty-three people participated and eight fish were boated during the two day event. Top honors went to Chapter 64 member Dave Commons. His 42 inch tiger muskie earned him $255. In second, we had Dave McBride with a 41 inch tiger that brought him $153. The third place fish was boated by Ed Lewandoski, who traveled all the way from Maryland to participate. His 37.5 inch specimen won him $102.

A highlight from the tournament was Eric Painter’s 32 inch fish caught on a fly! I was fortunate enough to witness this and can clearly see what these fly fishermen are so hyped up about. Also, our second place winner, Dave McBride spent all of his winnings in one place. Dave handed me back his $153 and bought himself and his three fishing buddies Muskies, Inc. memberships! So, in all, our tournament did just what it was supposed to do; brought together musky anglers, garnered new members for Muskies, Inc., and helped spread the good word to the public! A big thanks to tournament director, Matt Dombrosky for his hard work on this event and everyone that participated.

In conjunction with the Curwensville Tiger hunt, we wrapped up our 50/50 fundraiser. The winner took home $395 with the rest going to the club. Now we continue to push forward. We’re still getting things more consistent when it comes to meetings. So, the best thing people can do if they wish to attend a meeting or event is check out our new website www.muskiesinc.org/chapter64. The site will be kept up to date with all events, and we thank Randy Loewecke of Muskies Inc. for assisting us with that project.

So while the temps begin to drop, things are heating up for the NVMA. We wish everyone safe fall fishing and a fall monster on the end of their line.

- Patrick Krumenacker

young ladies put it on all the boys. Congrats to John Canterbury for winning the Elk River custom rod in the raffle. We plan on having a meeting in October to plan out next year raffles. Next two tournament dates are as follows: Burnsville Lake on October 25th and the Fall mail In on November 8-9th. Were also making plans on upcoming awards banquet. Don’t forget to clean out your tackle boxes and donate your old lures for our fundraisers.

Last article, I wrote about the DNR and the implanted transmitters on Kanahwa River muskies. Well, I had a good look at one catching a 43.25 inch off the Kanawha a couple weeks later catching a 43.25 incher. You could see the stitches from where the transmitter was implanted. I have to thank the WVDNR again for their scientific studies and data. I do believe the dog days are gone and with Fall approaching the fish should start the fall frenzy, so better get out their boys and girls and cast a line! Good luck!

- Robert Thaxton

Nittany Valley Musky Alliance Chapter

175 Industrial Park Rd. Edensburg, PA 15931

814-421-6502 - Patrick Krumenacker

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