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Early Season Musky Locations – What’s Happening & Where to Look
Everybody in Minnesota can finally exhale… MUSKY SEASON IS HERE! 🙌
This week’s Musky Insider PRO Live Q&A featured Gus Mantey and Josh Borovsky sharing where they’re stickin’ fish right now - from WI rivers and lakes to Green Bay.
🔥 Key Takeaways:
🔹 Still some stragglers hangin’ near spawn zones, but Josh found most river fish had moved out and were relating to main channels or anything with current access or nearby deep water.
🔹 Gus has been burnin’ gas and coverin’ water across Northern WI and Green Bay. The common thread? Healthy green weeds — either thick patches or newly poppin’ growth.
💡 Gus Tip:
“Hit those spots that get too weed-choked mid-summer. They’re fishable right now and already holdin’ green stuff — and fish!”
Go-To Baits So Far:
• Gus: Twitchin’ minnow baits, rippin’ rubber, dive-rise baits, small gliders & bucktails
• Josh: An Angling Revolution prototype (🤫), plus action on a 6” Soft Tail Phantom
If you’re hittin’ MN waters this weekend, here’s what Josh is seein’:
🌡️ “Water temps are climbing — upper 60s in the metro, low 60s further north. Most metro fish have likely left spawning areas. Think deep weed edges or open water suspending. Western Minnesota will likely be on a similar program.”
“Big northern lakes like Vermilion, Mille Lacs, Leech & Cass? I think you’ll still have a shot at shallow fish. Try smaller bucktails, spinnerbaits, paddle tails, gliders, or minnow baits if they’re up shallow.”
“If the structure bite fizzles and fish slide out — break out the tubes, Beavers, Orbas, ‘Dawgs, and Medussas. If you’re a troller, SuperNatural Big Baits are always a safe choice.”
There’s way too much juicy info in the Q&A to squeeze in the newsletter, if you’re a Musky Insider PRO member and missed the Q&A, the full recording is waitin’ for you in the portal.
Not a PRO member yet? You’re in luck — we just reopened registration through Father’s Day, perfect timing if you wanna hook your pops up. Click here to learn more and sign-up.
Long Overdue: MN’s New Musky Plan Is Here — And Needs Your Voice!
FINALLY — the Minnesota DNR has released a draft of their new Long Range Plan for Muskellunge through 2040.
But here’s the deal:
We only have until Thursday, June 12 to share feedback. After that, the door closes.
Luckily, there are two quick & easy ways to have your voice heard:
- ✅ Take the quick check-the-box online questionnaire → (There’s a spot for written comments at the end)
- 📧 Email your feedback directly to: mnmuskieplan2025@state.mn.us
This plan is way overdue — but the rollout? Not ideal.
It’s 57 pages long, and if you’re a detail-oriented person, you’ll notice most stocking quota and historical stocking data were left out. To really understand the plan, you’ll probably need to dig up additional info — like past stocking quotas — on your own.
So if you’ve been procrastinating because you want to do a deep dive first… you’re not alone.
But here’s the good news:
You don’t need to read the whole plan to give meaningful feedback. The survey itself walks you through the key goals and objectives — and asks if you support each one.
Here are a few examples pulled directly from the survey:
✅ “Sustain and improve muskellunge fisheries on Mille Lacs, Minnetonka, and Vermilion lakes.”
✅ “Increase muskellunge recruitment in waters that appear to be underperforming.”
✅ “Consider adding new muskellunge waters after management of existing waters and production capabilities have been improved.”
✅ “Pursue avenues for acquiring/appointing a topical expert to assist management personnel and synthesize muskellunge data.”
✅ “Strengthen existing protocols to consistently achieve production goals.”
✅ “Evaluate muskellunge rearing procedures to improve efficiencies and quality of product.”
✅ “Invest in infrastructure to increase production capacity.”
✅ “Continue managing and stocking 11 lakes in the Metro area with hybrid (tiger) muskellunge.”
✅ “Determine interest in expanding the hybrid (tiger) muskellunge management program.”
Sound like things we should support?
We think so too. But don’t forget — the anti-musky crowd has access to the same survey. And they’ve been known to rally opposition.
Let’s not let them drown out the voice of serious anglers.
You don’t have to live in Minnesota to take part. If you:
• Fish Muskies in MN
• Have fished here in the past
• Want to support the future of MN’s musky fisheries
Take 2 minutes and let the DNR know where you stand.
Pro Tip:
Take the quick survey now and check the boxes. If you want to go deeper later, send more detailed comments by email before the deadline.
Although you might want to read the next section of this newsletter before dropping’ any comments. 🤔
Josh Borovsky’s Take on the New Plan: Progress, but Gaps Remain
Here’s what our resident musky nerd Josh Borovsky had to say after reviewing the new plan:
“I see lots of positive changes in the new plan. Prioritizing the largest acreage lakes like Mille Lacs, Vermilion, and Minnetonka is something I’ve been campaigning for over the last 10 years. It’s been a long road, but it’s nice to see it finally happening.”
👏 That’s a win. But there are some major missed opportunities, especially when it comes to the next tier of large lakes — those in the 5,000 to 10,000 acre range.
⸻
Let’s Break It Down (with Surface Acreage):
Gull Chain — 10,010 acres
Currently stocked with 2,000 fingerlings every other year —
Nowhere close to what this size lake needs.
⸻
Island Lake Reservoir — 8,000 acres
Poor stocking. Poor results. The DNR’s own population estimate shows how far behind this fishery is.
They need to ramp things up aggressively, accounting for escapism.
📉 If we went back to the more aggressive 1988–2000 stocking strategy — or went even harder — it could become a viable fishery again.
⸻
Lake Pokegama — 6,710 acres
This one hits close to home. It has the potential to produce the biggest muskies in the state… but current stocking is way off.
• Only 1,630 fingerlings per year
• Worse yet, they stocked it just 5 times in 10 years, then stopped for 6 years.
Now we’ve got a giant year-class gap.
🎯 Reasonable starting point:
3,355 fingerlings (or yearling equivalent) every other year (½ fish per surface acre)
📢 Let’s get this one back on the map.
I wouldn’t mind seeing some supplemental tigers thrown in right away either (just because they grow faster and could help fill the void of missing year classes.)
⸻
Lake Bemidji — 6,596 acres
Same issue as Pokegama. Similar acreage, similar mistake.
• 1,860 fingerlings every other year just doesn’t cut it.
• DNR estimates show low density
⸻
Miltona — 5,724 acres
Getting 1,400 fish every other year, which is low for a lake of this size.
Here’s the kicker: Miltona has an outlet, and so do all the lakes above. These outlets lead to other bodies of water that have become muskie fisheries if they weren’t already. Increasing the stocking on these lakes wouldn’t just help these fisheries be more viable options, it would help the other fisheries connected to them flourish and help spread everybody out further. Either way, escapism should be accounted for with extra stocking on these lakes.
🎯 Final Thought
“I honestly think the DNR could be way more aggressive with all the above lakes and never worry about overstocking. If any of them hit their carrying capacity, the fish would just swim down to other connected lakes and help build even more musky acreage for us to fish.
At the bare minimum, it would be nice to see Pokegama, Bemidji, Island, and the Gull Chain get at least the [3,000] fingerlings every other year (or yearling equivalent), which is what 3,000 acre Detroit Lake currently receives. They are all more than twice the size of Detroit, yet receive significantly less muskies.
Personally, until we see these larger lakes receiving more stocking than a 3,000-acre lake, I think we need to keep making some noise."
Josh had a lot more to say about other fisheries in need, but that’s about all we can squeeze into the newsletter. Guess we’ll keep our eye’s peeled for his manifesto on Facebook this week. 👀 😂
This Week's Mashup:
Mashup time!
#1 – Musky Mango Madness? The crew at Wisco3 Ice Fishing Co cooked up a fake Mountain Dew Musky Mango can, promising “a splash of tropical chaos and a tail slap of Midwest madness.” The comments section delivered too:
👉 “Takes 10,000 cans before you get hooked.”
👉 “A crisp mango flavor with a strong, pungent fishy aftertaste.” 😂
QUICK HITTERS:
– Metro Muskie Tournament Happening June 14th (link)
– Archer Films Co Presents: The Freight Train | Chasing Giant Muskies in Ontario (video) w/ Adam DeMachi
– First MUSKY 2025!!! (video) w/ Todays Angler
– Exploring Uncharted Waters: Cold Front Muskies Unleashed! (video) w/ Musky Mastery
– Fly Fishing for the Hardest Fish to Catch in Freshwater!! (Musky Hunt Ep 7) (video) w/ Hardman Fishing Adventures
– Minnesota Muskies with Chase Gibson of Mayhems 10000 Casts (video) w/ WannaBOutdoors
This Week's Monster Muskies:
This is what musky dreams are made of right here! Dylan, age 9, catching not one, but two over 50” in one day to start off the season while fishing with his Dad. This kid is crushing it, congrats little dude!!!👊
Mike Thoreson with an absolute beast to top off his wild opening morning! He was workin’ a swimbait when this monster hit em’ hard at dawn.
How bout’ a French River slob-o-saurus sent in by Brayden Boivin. It won’t be long before our pals to the north get to chase these again.
This gorgeous Colorado tiger was caught by Justin aka FishGuy. “Catching it was insane, my favorite bite I’ve had.” It ate a chatterbait right at his feet, lunging out of the water on the strike.
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