Moon Debate - Musky Season Extension - Chase Gibson
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The Moon Debate
An interesting debate popped up this week on the Musky Anglers of North America Facebook page. Does the moon truly effect musky behavior or do we create a self-fulfilling prophecy by targeting muskies at these times?
It’s a fair question. Some may argue the scientific research is inconclusive. Others argue the research done hasn't taken all the potential lunar factors into account including phase, distance of the moon from earth, and the specific times of events like moonrise, moonset, moon overhead, and moon underfoot.
Our resident moon aficionado Josh Borovsky weighed in with a long winded post that was way too in depth to squeeze into the newsletter. So here’s a few highlights . . .
I think there is a misconception about the day of the full moon or new moon and the fish or game being more active.
What makes the full moon and new moon unique along with the three days before and after those events, is that those are the only days of the lunar cycle when moonrise or moonset will happen within 1.5 hours or less of sunrise or sunset.
So when you take these events and stack them together in a smaller window of time, it has the potential to intensify the window and make it more predictable. So it’s not a whole day of increased activity. It’s very small windows of time sometimes less than 15 minutes. And yes weather, the barometer, and other environmental factors play a bigger role.
I think it’s possible the moon and most life forms on earth are all connected in many deeper ways than any experiment has shown thus far.
One of the biggest things getting in the way is gravitational/moon cycles are not being accounted for in scientific experiments that otherwise control for various environmental factors in the laboratory.
There are millions of “controlled” experiments that have been done. But you can’t put a “control” on the moon and gravitational cycles. So every “controlled” experiment on living organisms that hasn’t accounted for the moon/gravitational cycles within it is essentially flawed. If every experiment done on any living creature took this into account, we would have a much deeper understanding of how it all connects.
If you look at the experiments that do pay attention to the the moon, the evidence is there.
A study in 1965, demonstrated that, in a laboratory with controlled water conditions and without the influence of ocean tides, crustaceans maintained a pattern of behavior and swimming consistent with the timing of the tides in the locale near where they had been collected. (So their behavior was influenced by the moon vs the tide itself.)
A 1985 study showed that the coral Pocillopora damicornis maintains its rhythm of reproduction according to the phases of the moon even inside a laboratory with a controlled environment.
There are also studies showing that the moon effects plants, zooplankton, insects, and birds. So basically the whole bottom of the food chain which affects everything else above it.
But, here’s the real kicker . . .
Extending the Musky Season
It looks like some of the northern states including Minnesota are going to see the musky season close with the majority of the musky waters still free of ice.
It’s always tough when some of the best days of the whole season end up being off limits because of the date on the calendar.
Since this seems to be more of a recurring theme in recent years, there has been more chatter about whether states like Minnesota should consider extending the musky season at least through December 15th.
The musky season in MN used to extend through ice fishing season. However, the season closing date was changed to reduce the number of muskies that were being harvested by ice fisherman. Back then, the size limit for muskies in MN was just 40 inches and some lakes were experiencing significant harvest through the ice.
So it made sense to try to end the season before ice fishing season started up. But, nowadays we have a 54 inch size limit essentially making almost all ‘skies caught through the ice catch and release only.
Is now the time for the DNR to consider extending the musky season? Many think so, and there is talk that an extended season could be part of the DNR’s new long range musky management plan projected to be released sometime in 2025.
What do you think? Should the season be extended? Chime in on our Facebook poll to voice your opinion on whether the season should be extended or remain unchanged.
Taking the Show on the Road
We had a great Musky Insider PRO live Q&A session with Chase Gibson this week.
Chase spent the lion's share of his stint in Minnesota this year learning a new body of water (Leech Lake) and shared some great insights on how he went about the process. One of the unique approaches he took to learning the lake was refusing the help of other guides and resort owners for the most part. Here’s his take on it . . .
“I told them I don’t want to know nothin’. Do not tell me anything. If I haven’t caught a fish in a month, I’ll call you."
The reason was . . . I didn’t want anything in my head that would make me think like everyone else up there.
I wanted a clean slate on Leech and I think it was a good thing. I tried some weird things and some of my West Virginia tactics produced fish.
One example Chase gave was catching fish on the shallow sand by burning Llungen Lures Rattlin Shads past them. He also talked about breaking the rules and fishing rocks when nobody else was fishing them because you weren’t supposed to fish them in flat sunny conditions. That one worked out OK for Chase as well.
It’s a great example of what Gord Pyzer referred to as “bringing the show on the road” during his previous Q&A session with us.
Sometimes bringing a proven pattern or presentation from one body of water to another can turn into the hot new pattern. There were a lot of great late season nuggets including some cold weather tips in this session as well.
If you’re an Insider PRO member and missed the live version, be sure to login to the member portal and check out the recording of this goldmine of info. If you’re not an Insider PRO member yet and would like to be, make sure to get your name on our waitlist.
This Week's Mashup:
Mashup time!
#1 – How bout’ a fly rod loading up on a 53” boatside? Check out the clip Thorne Bros. posted of this super tanker!
#2 – Take a look 👀 at Jerry Ross’s metal tiger muskie. Super cool how the bars catch the light in different ways! 😎
#3 – Kristine Fisher had a great fall day on a Taps and Tackle Co. custom Swimmin Dawg. It produced some dandy TN fish.
#4 – Raise your hand 🙋♂️ if your Thanksgiving dinner has a legit chance of looking like this. 👇
QUICK HITTERS:
– NOVEMBER MUSKY FISHING - THE STRUGGLE BUS (video) w/ Smith’s Fishing Outdoors
– CONTROVERSIAL Fish Finder Location….is it any good??? - Marine Electronics Review! (video) w/ Musky Mastery
– FALL MUSKY HUNT, SUPERNATURAL EDITION (video) w/ 54 or bust
– Brad and Jeff talk about catching November musky (link) w/ Back Lash Podcast
– Giant November Sunset Musky!! (link) w/ Todays Angler
This Week's Monster Muskies
Joe Cooper popped this monster 54.25” on an OG walleye white tail Red October Bait in the 8! #beastmode
This 52" pot bellied porker caught by Jeremy Logan fell for a Squirrely Hellhound. Great Catch, Jeremy!👊🏻
Get a look 👀 at Erik Jacobson’s November full moon fatty while trolling a headlock over deep rock breaks on “da woods.” Keep up the good work!
