Fall Musky Tips - Halloween Musky Style - Big Stocking News

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Turnover Got Ya Spooked?

The fish disappeared. Your confidence is circlin’ the drain. And your buddy already has the diagnosis…

“Lake’s turnin’ over. We’re wastin’ our time.” 🙄

Well… maybe pump the brakes before loadin’ the boat.

During his latest Musky Insider PRO Q&A, Ryan McMahon pointed out that turnover is real, but it can also become a convenient excuse. Once you convince yourself the lake is screwed up, it’s pretty easy to stop lookin’ for answers.

Ryan and Josh Borovsky kicked around several ways to keep connecting with the ’skies through the fall shuffle. Here are a few nuggets… 👇

✅ Same lake, different chapter

On bigger, multi-basin waters, the whole lake doesn’t necessarily go through the fall transition together.

Josh uses that to his advantage. Shallower basins can cool faster and get farther along, while deeper basins may hang onto warmer water and productive weeds longer.

Early in the transition, that deeper basin might help you squeeze more life out of an existing bite. Later, a shallower basin that’s already through the messy stretch might be the better play.

If you’re not fishin’ bigger, multi-basin lakes, you can take a similar approach by hoppin’ between lakes. Try a larger, deeper lake to find conditions lagging behind, or a smaller, shallower one to find conditions farther along.

✅ Stake out the intersections

When fish start roamin’, Josh leans hard on channels, bottlenecks and pinch points between basins.

Fish movin’ between sections of the lake have to squeeze through those areas. Might as well be waitin’ with something tasty. 

Don’t just run your favorite channel on autopilot. Josh gives priority to the ones with wind pushin’ current through them that day.

No current? He’ll often check the deep weed edges around the mouths instead.

We dug further into this approach in a previous issue, including why Josh treats turnover as a process rather than a one-day event.

✅ Get her address. Come back at dark.

Found a big girl that followed but wouldn’t commit? Ryan likes that situation in the fall. In his experience, those fish can be homebodies this time of year, makin’ a return visit worth pencilin’ in.

And he specifically likes first dark. Other times of year, he might wait an hour or two after sunset. In fall, he’s ready to knock on her door as daylight fades.

One of his go-to presentations? Slow-rollin’ big blades along outside weed edges. Think Super Model-sized blades.

Rather than lettin’ her inspect half the baits in your boat during daylight, changing the appointment time might do more for you than another bait or color. 

Want more nuggets like these? Ryan’s full Q&A is waitin’ in the Musky Insider PRO member portal, along with our Late Fall Tactics class with Josh and legendary guide Steve Herbeck. The class includes four hours of musky goodness coverin’ everything from turnover to ice-up. 👀

Both are included with a PRO membership. Learn more and get signed up here, or grab the Late Fall Tactics class individually here for a taste of what PRO is all about.

Halloween Musky Style

📸 Credit: Chad Harmon

One common denominator among us musky heads? We’re obsessed! And one of the fun, weird ways that obsession shows up is how we manage to infuse our love for muskies into just about everything, holidays included. Halloween is no exception.

So let’s take a look at some of the fun ways muskies have gotten mixed into the Halloween madness.

For some of us, it’s a tradition to chase muskies on Halloween and bring along a costume for the fish pics.

Sam Scott shared this Halloween outing with the Yuchas. Apparently, a little clowning around doesn’t hurt your chances of putting a musky in the boat. 🤡👇

Meanwhile, Steven D took the pumpkin-head approach, chasing muskies from a kayak.

Limited room for tackle? Sure. Room for a giant pumpkin on your head? You make it work. 😂

And Charlie Scott brought Popeye along for a Halloween float with Luke Bogdanovic.

Let’s not forget the Musk-o’-lanterns!

Bentley Kammerer said he’d wanted to carve a musky pumpkin forever before finally tackling this one. From the scales to the teeth, he didn’t skimp on the details. 👀

And Gregg Virgwa got into the Halloween spirit with this trio of toothy pumpkins. 🎃👇

If you’re out trick-or-treatin’ with the kids and walk up on one of these jack-o’-lanterns, there’s a good chance you just found a new fishing buddy in the neighborhood.

Got a good musky-related Halloween pic or video? Send it our way by replying to this email and you just might see it featured on our socials or in next year’s Halloween issue. 🎃

Nearly 9,000 Reasons to Smile

Remember that Wisconsin musky stocking story we shared this spring? The one with “70% cut” in the headline that probably made you wanna throw your phone? 😬

Well… we’ve got some much better news.

First, a quick update on that earlier chapter. Following approval of supplemental funding, Outdoor News reported in August that the Wisconsin DNR expected to meet roughly 98% of its original 2026 musky stocking quota.

That’s a pretty big turnaround.

But another encouraging story was takin’ shape, too…

Four musky clubs, a tribal hatchery and the DNR teamed up to put 8,963 muskies into Wisconsin waters this October.

Their original goal?

About 3,000.

Apparently, somebody forgot to tell the muskies. 👀

DNR fisheries biologist Greg Matzke helped connect the effort with Mole Lake Fisheries, part of the Mole Lake Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

The idea was straightforward. The clubs would provide funding, the state would supply musky fry, and Mole Lake’s hatchery crew would handle raising them.

The fish would go toward unmet stocking needs in northeastern Wisconsin waters.

Mole Lake had an experienced fisheries team, but this was its first time raising muskies.

Safe to say… they figured some things out. 🔥

One pond. Nearly triple the goal.

After starting the fish indoors, the hatchery crew moved 10,000 fingerlings into an outdoor rearing pond.

When harvest time rolled around, that pond delivered 8,963 muskies averaging 11.5 inches, which crews stocked on October 13–14.

Production was high enough to fill the identified inland stocking needs and still send 2,611 of those fish to the Peshtigo and Oconto rivers.

The Vilas and Oneida County Musky Fund calls it the largest private, non-DNR musky stocking event in Wisconsin history. And while the clubs supplied the funding, state and tribal fisheries crews were central to makin’ it happen.

That’s a whole lot of new baby ‘skies swimmin’ around because people worked together.

Hey Minnesota… 👀📝

Remember our earlier breakdown of Minnesota’s new long-range musky plan?

One of the big questions was how to increase production capacity to support its stocking goals.

This Wisconsin project gives that conversation something interesting to chew on.

These were fall fingerlings, not the larger yearlings emphasized in Minnesota’s plan. But the partnership itself raises a worthwhile question:

Could more arrangements like this help Minnesota expand its musky production, too?

Club fundraising along with tribal and DNR fisheries management all comin’ together to produce fish for waters that need them?

That’s worth takin’ a few notes.

📸 Credit: Vilas and Oneida County Musky Fund

Already plannin’ the next round

This year’s fish were Great Lakes-strain muskies, so stocking was limited to waters within the Lake Michigan drainage.

For 2027, the partners plan to raise Upper Wisconsin River-strain muskies, opening the door to Oneida County lakes and other waters in the Wisconsin River drainage.

The long-term plan is to alternate strains and drainage areas each year.

More work ahead, for sure. But nearly tripling the first year’s goal is a pretty dang good way to get things rollin’.

Huge thanks to the clubs, Mole Lake hatchery team, JVR, DNR staff, volunteers and donors who made it happen. 👏

Want to help keep it rollin’? Learn more about the project and how to support future Wisconsin stockings at WisconsinMuskyStocking.com.

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This Week's Mashup:

Mashup time!

#1 – Blue Ridge Musky gives us a front-row seat to this beast heading into the bag. Ten out of ten on the finish! 😂 Even threw in a little celebration splash for the judges.

#2 – Paddle tail or curly tail? Musky anglers have opinions. The fish get the deciding vote. Wolfcreek’s Shad and Curly give you a little of both to put in front of ’em. You can check out both styles over at Ezoko.

#3 –  When the ambush predator uses the leaves for cover while you’re in a kayak tryin’ to pull off something that remotely resembles a figure 8. 😂 Talk about an unfair advantage! But Brandon Reefer still manages to give us one sweet boatside eat.

#4 – Kenora’s iconic 40-foot Husky the Muskie just reeled in the title of Canada’s Greatest Landmark for 2026 from Municipal World! 🇨🇦 Beating out 18 other nominees, Husky proved once again that muskies rule the food chain! 💪

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QUICK HITTERS:

– Took My WHOLE LIFE To Catch This Fish!!! (video) w/ Todays Angler

– 7 BEST Late Fall Musky Presentations | Canadian Shield (video) w/ 54 or bust

– October MUSKY FISHING Northern MN (ft. Angling Anarchy) (video) w/ Ben Stone Fishing

– Fall 2025 Muskie Video Final (video) w/ Fishcamp Creative

– MUSKY GUARANTEE GUIDE SERVICE!! - Fishing for Northwoods Muskies (video) w/ Angling Anarchy

– The Legendary Chippewa Flowage Muskies (Ty Sennet & Luke Ronnestrand) (video) w/ Thorne Bros. Custom Rod & Tackle

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This Week's Monster Muskies:

First year chasing muskies and already puttin’ a 51” in the bag! 🔥 Zach (@zbfishies) hooked into this tank just two hours into his morning, setting the bar pretty darn high for his rookie season. Talk about a dream start to your musky career!

Sometimes a second chance is all it takes! Mason Vanlaanen made a cast back with a tube and sealed the deal on this thick 49” musky. 

No big deal, just Lilly Grace Tyran stickin’ this beauty right off the dock at Century Lodge on Eagle Lake, Ontario!

Who needs a boat when you’ve got a sucker and giant musky cruisin’ by.

Sean Bruce kicks off the fall bite in style with this chunky 47” while fishing with Cole Martin. Not a bad way to get the autumn musky season rollin’.

Wanna be featured in Musky Insider? Send in your recent trophy musky photos by replying to this email. You might just see your pic in next week's newsletter. 🤙

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