Tough Day Tips - Tourney Results - MN DNR Survey Summary

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Tough Conditions + The Jersey Retrieve = Success

Our Musky Insider PRO  live Q&A session with Canadian guide John Anderson last week was a dandy.

One question we like to ask all of our Insider PRO instructors during their first appearance is the “tough day” question.

It’s flat and sunny and/or the bite has been tough for everyone on the water . . . What’s your strategy?

Here’s what John had to say about how he handles that scenario on the Ottawa River.

“If the barometer is over 103 [kPa], I would say you should just stay home. Obviously, as guides we can’t do that and still have to produce."

“I am going shallow . .  . down and dirty in 1-3 ft of water in heavy weeds. I would come back to visit located fish more often because they are less likely to roam on those days."

“I would be contacting weeds when possible. The tougher the conditions, the slower we’re fishing an area, making pinpoint casts with slower retrieves."

"Using glide baits and pausing them, letting them sit and shimmy between jerks, can be very effective. "

"Another thing I like to do is use a Bulldawg or Medussa and do what I call “The Jersey Retrieve."

"Some guys from New Jersey taught me this. No offense to people from New Jersey . . . But, you make that cast, you drop your jaw, you stick your belly out, and start reeling man . . . real slooooow."

“Your retrieve is matching the mood and aggression of the fish.”

John also mentioned he likes to use bright colors like sherbert on bluebird days. Obviously, there was way too much great info in the session to squeeze into the newsletter. John had some interesting insights on musky behavior, home ranges, and migrations we can look forward to in the near future as the water cools and summer home ranges break down.

If you’re an Insider PRO member and missed the live session, you can find the recording in the member portal. If you’re not a Musky Insider PRO member and would like to be, make sure to get on the waitlist.  We plan to let 10 new members from the waitlist into PRO this month.

 

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Frank Schneider Memorial Tournament Results

The 57th Annual Frank Schneider Memorial Tournament took place last week. “The Frank” is the longest running musky tournament in the world. 

The tournament waters span a 50 mile area in northern Minnesota and include over 20 lakes to choose from.

Per Casey Friskney, Co-Tournament Director:

“So, as much as this event is a tournament, it’s more than that. It’s a muskie fishing event for friends and families to come together, have a good fishing weekend, and try to catch a 40”+ fish to get their name in the grand prize drawing, held on some of the best waters in Minnesota during one of the best weekends for these beautiful beasts.”

Congrats to Alex McLean, on taking home the first place hardware 🏆 with three Leech Lake muskies measuring 52, 48, and 41 inches. Alex scored a trifecta by having the most overall points, biggest fish, and also won one of the grand prize drawings. His partner,  Jacque Labarre,  also finished in 10th place with two fish of his own.

Alex and Jacque caught their fish on Phantom gliders and swimbaits designed by Jacque. They targeted small pods of fish in 16-20 foot sandgrass during the day and shallow weed flats in the late afternoon window.

Second place went to longtime Leech Lake guide Roger Larson. Roger also boated three muskies including a 50 incher. Roger fished with his son Eric. Eric also caught two ‘skies (including another 50”) and finished in 5th place. So had this been a team event, they would have had a combined five fish with two being 50’s! 👀 The Larsons were trolling small Mepps spinners around structure.

Third place went to Eric Johnson, who caught three ‘skies out of Wolf Lake with Aaron Ebbighausen, who also finished 8th with a pair of his own. 

Fourth place went to John Holmgren, who caught two 48’s on Leech. His partner Sam Stone also caught a 48 incher and finished in 21st. 

The top female was Sierra Toll with a 40.25” to win the ladies bonus cash. 

The Junior category was a tight finish between brothers Chase Whitney with a 41.5” and Chael Whitney with a 40.” One of the boys had a giant hooked up on Sunday, but it jumped and spit the hooks.

Overall, 311 anglers were registered with 73 muskies over 40” caught by 57 of those anglers with an impressive 44.5” average. There were 16 fish registered over 48” and 9 of those went 50” or bigger. The top 4 boats (8 anglers) registered 18 muskies, representing 25% of the fish! #Dialed 

Here’s what the rest of the top ten looked like.

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MN DNR Long Range Musky Plan Survey Summary

This spring (2024) The MN DNR gathered public input through a web-based questionnaire to gather information on topics to be considered for the next Long Range Plan for Muskellunge currently in development. Open for six weeks, it included “multiple-choice” and open ended questions and 4,083 surveys were submitted.

What were the results?

Respondents were split on their satisfaction of musky angling where 46% were satisfied, 19% were neutral, and 35% were unsatisfied. Of these, only 7% responded 'very satisfied'.

Respondents were split when asked if lakes are too crowded with Muskie anglers (33% disagree, 26% neutral, 41% agree).

Interestingly, a large majority of answers to the open essay questions commented upon increased fishing pressure over the past decade. 

A vast majority (91%) indicated that the DNR should invest more resources in improving and evaluating musky production and management strategies. A large number of these supported stocking new waters, and the majority also indicated that the DNR should prioritize stocking existing waters if resources are limited.

There was considerable support for increasing hybrid Muskie opportunities in the metro area as well.

There were five major themes that were identified in the essay section re

The first is that musky fishing has become more challenging, with fishing pressure up and numbers of fish down. Variables suggested that could be contributing to the more challenging fishing were . . . changes in or failure to meet stocking goals, lower numbers, quality of what is stocked, increase in knowledgeable fishing pressure, and likely increased catch and release mortality. 

Some respondents (104) specifically commented that they no longer fish or fished less in Minnesota due to declining fishing quality.

The second theme was that the most recommended solution to improve the musky population and fishing is by increased stocking. There was also an emphasis on prioritizing an increase in stocking on the large lakes (Mille Lacs, Vermillion, Minnetonka), as they aren’t the destinations they used to be. 

The third major theme was that the musky fishing community misses and/or wants additional hybrid (tiger) musky opportunities in the metro.

 The fourth theme was that Forward Facing Sonar is an emerging concern. The sentiment here is that forward facing sonar is damaging to the fish populations, violates fair chase ethics, and should be regulated. It leads to more catches, more fish harvested, and more fish unintentionally killed upon release due to stress, particularly when the water is warm.

Theme five was that outreach and education about the role of muskies in fish communities is needed.

While this is only a summary of public input, it’s positive to see that the musky community’s opinion will hopefully help shape the long range management plan in Minnesota.

 

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This Week's Mashup:

Mashup time!

#1 – The Duluth Aquarium shared a little feeding frenzy when these little ‘skies couldn’t get enough baby chicks (yes, baby chicks). Must be like cotton candy to them!

#2 – Taps and Tackle just stocked up on some killer custom Suicks colors. 😍 Those things are going to get chewed this fall! Get ‘em while they’re hot! 🔥

#3 – Come to find out, even in ‘Bama they show us some musky love. (Shared by Patrick of Alabama Burning.)

#4 – Probably a better chance of winning the lottery than this . . .  

That’s Musky Insider PRO member Matt Schultz and his buddy Jace Olson with one heck of a double caught with the aurora borealis dancing around to boot! #onceinalifetime

 

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QUICK HITTERS:

– Bob Landerville - Post-Labor Day Strategies w/ Back Lash Podcast (link)

– Leech Lake Musky Fishing w/ Thorne Bros. (video)

– Muskies on Bucktails in Shallow Weeds w/ Angling Anarchy (video)

– CHASING GIANTS - LAKE ST. CLAIR MUSKY w/ Smith’s Fishing Outdoors (video)

– Fishing Super CLEAR WATER for Muskies! w/ Musky Mastery (video)

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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