Musky Ad.8x10.5 Layout 1 1/14/15 3:13 PM Page 1 · MUSKIE Magazine Staff EDITOR & MAGAZINE DESIGN Amy Penza 105 Fairview lane Nekoosa, WI 54457 Phone: (715) 213-7206 Email: [email protected]

Musky Ad.8x10.5_Layout 1 1/14/15 3:13 PM Page 1

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MAIL TO: MUSKIES, INC. 1509 Stahl RoadSheboygan, WI 53081

1-888-710-8286

Regular Membership: ❑ 1 Year-$35.00* ❑ 2 Years-$65.00 ❑ 3 Years- $95.00Family Membership: ❑ 1 Year-$47.50* ❑ 2 Years-$90.00 ❑ 3 Years-$132.50Junior Membership (Under 18): ❑ $20.00* ❑ For Donation $________ * Addresses outside the U.S. must add an additional $15 per year (U.S. funds) to cover postage.

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(to find the number of the Chapter you wish to join, see the Chapter News & Views section)

ContentsMUSKIE • VOl. 49, NO. 4

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

❑ VISA ❑ MasterCard

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 2015 by Muskies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Departments1 About the Cover, Sean Landsman2 President’s Message, Carl Phillips3 Index of Advertisers4 MUSKIE News6 Lunge Log, Dan Koniewicz11 Figure 8, Sean Landsman13 Member Photos, Brad Waldera19 Photo Contest, Brad Waldera23 Chapter News and ViewsBACK COVER Youth Zone

Features12 Muskies, Inc. Hall of Fame Class of 2015, Steve Budnik14 Sun Induced Skin Cancer: One Fisherman’s Nightmare, Erik Jacobson16 Surviving as a Senior Muskie Hunter, Lorin Nevling Jr. 20 Tournament Lessons for Everyday Fishing, Marty Forman

www.muskiesinc.org July / August 2015.....MUSKIE 1

About the CoVeRMichael handlogten sent in this image of his son,

Caleb, making a cast at sunset. Michael reports that shortly before this photo was taken they released a 45.5 inch fish. I’d say this sunset is a pretty great way to cap off a fantastic day! It’s fleeting moments like these that we should all cherish while we’re on the water.

- Sean

WouLD You LIKe to be oN the CoVeR? e-mail your photos to Sean at

[email protected] include your name, chapter number and

brief explanation of your submitted photo.

Board of DirectorsExecutive CommitteePresident, Carl PhillipsPhone: 612-709-8066Email: [email protected]

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

VP Fisheries & Research, Dan Crooms Phone: 507-744-4265Email: [email protected]

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

VP Membership & Marketing, James AshtonPhone: 636-227-5248Email: [email protected]

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

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

Corporate Secretary, Thomas ArdolfPhone: 320-260-2262Email: [email protected]

Past-President, Jay ZahnEmail: [email protected] Regional Representatives are also

Executive Committee Members

Regional RepresentativesRegion 1 Term Expires *Eric Schultz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2015 Jeff Young . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2016 Greg Kvale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2016Region 2 *Jeff Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2015 Robert Petzke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2016 Joe Heil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2017Region 3 *Jim Evers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2015 James Moore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2015 Jack Moga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2017Region 4 *Earle Hammond. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2015 Frank Walter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2016 Kimberly Cates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2017 * = 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]

Happy belated opener. Hope is in the air. By now we are hard at it and have been so for a bit.

ABM - We had our Annual Board Meeting (ABM) in April in Green Bay. My special thanks to the Green Bay Chapter for hosting this event. We had a very positive meeting. We said goodbye and thanks to the outgoing members and hello and welcome aboard to the new. The minutes and presentations are on the website. Please let me know if you are looking for a particular item. The proxy to increase the board size did not pass. We needed 50% plus one vote and we received about 20% back. Of those received, the vast majority were in favor of increasing the Board size.

50th Anniversary Celebration and Hugh Becker Symposium - Nice segue into the 50th Anniversary Celebration and Symposium. Muskies, Inc. celebrates its 50th Anniversary in 2016. The Celebration Banquet is being put on jointly by the Twin Cities and North Metro Chapters and will be held on March 12th, 2016. In conjunction with this celebration, we will be holding our ABM that same morning and the 2016 Hugh Becker Muskie Symposium begin-ning Sunday, March 13th and ending Tuesday, March 16th, 2016. This is an action-packed five-day event. There will be much more to follow, but we want you to save the dates now and all are invited! We would like every Chapter pres-ent if at all possible. We will conduct our ABM differently to allow Chapter to Region communications if and when it becomes necessary. We really want to involve our Chapters in this meeting and into this weekend event. The 50th Anniversary of our organization is a big deal. Please join us.

Open Positions - We are still looking for volunteers for Vice President Finance and Legal Counsel. Position responsibilities are on the website. Please check with your membership and call me if you have any questions.

You will notice in this issue a Calendar Appeal letter from me. The Calendar is our major fundraising event for the year. The current format is to send a cal-endar to everyone and request a donation. If you have not contributed please try.

The President’s Messageby Carl Phillips, Muskies, Inc. President

Email: [email protected]

2 MUSKIE..... July / August 2015

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) 403-5882Email: [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:Harlan FierstinePhone: (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

MUSKIE is published exclusively for the membership of Muskies, Inc. and subscriptions come with a paid membership. Muskies, Inc. is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization. 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.

I had the opportunity to attend a Trout Unlimited (TU) Regional meeting this past March. Many attendees were surprised to find a Muskies, Inc. guy in atten-dance. Although I am a TU member, my name badge mentioned Muskies, Inc. I was asked what my favorite fishing was. My response was – “fishing”. What fishing gear I happen to have in my hand is secondary to being out and being with friends and family. We all need to focus on what we have in common with others, whether it is a fellow Muskies, Inc. member or someone outside the orga-nization. If we focus on differences, we will quickly become mired in an emo-tional quagmire. Stay focused on commonalities and get things done.

Happy belated Father’s Day. Give your father a hug. I miss mine.Tight Lines,- CP

CHAOS TACKLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20CHAPTER 6 TOURNAMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25CHAPTER 13 TOURNAMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27FITTANTE REPLICAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19FISHHARD CLOTHING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15HUGH BECKER MUSKIE SYMPOSIUM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 JOE BUCHER OUTDOORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17LAKEWOOD PRODUCTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13LURE PARTS ONLINE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10RED WING LODGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14ST . CROIX RODS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IFCT’S TACKLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4TIMBER BREEZE RESORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9YOUNG’S WILDERNESS CAMP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

INDEX OF ADVERTISERS

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 versions, including archives

and on the M.I. website.

Submissions toMUSKIE Magazine


twelve issues to six is done and all issues are available online. The reduced expense from this and other cost cutting will result in an under-control budget. We are living within our means. There is always more that we would like to do, but that has to come with growth.Advertising with Keyes Outdoors: This was a budgetary risk that was not without controversy. Advertising on Keyes may have saved Muskies, Inc. from aging out of existence. Before we start-ed, the average age of a Muskies, Inc. member was approaching 60, but is now in the mid-40s. Although our total membership has remained consistent, we are younger. Advertising with Keyes will continue next year. Episodes and videos are available online and are free to the public. Their website will direct you to the episodes and more, www.keyesoutdoors.com.

The retention of members continues to be a problem. We are all encouraged to meet with former members and ask others to join Muskies, Inc. The board decided to use Teuteberg (a marketing/mailing company) to compile a promotion to reach out to past members. If this is successful, we may do more in an effort to increase membership. Through muskie shows/expos and feed-back, there is an awareness that the great muskie fishing today is largely due to the efforts of the Muskies, Inc. membership and is being encouraged as a way to increase muskie fishing opportuni-ties.

Kevin Bushnick, VP Youth Activities, has started an amazing program running youth camps for Muskies, Inc. These camps are being recognized by community and state leaders with rave reviews. Kevin is looking to expand the program in the future from Wisconsin to other states. Youth participation is our door into the future of Muskies, Inc.

Communication within Muskies, Inc. is improving greatly. The use of online meetings is becoming an ever increasing resource. We do all Executive Committee meetings with Go to Meeting. Region 3 is meeting monthly and all regions are going to be encouraged to meet quarterly. President Carl Phillips is setting up a monthly meeting with Chapter Presidents. These are all great opportunities for solving problems and opening the lines of com-munication. Please take advantage of this option. We have the tools, but we need to seize the opportunity. Along the same line,

Corporate Attorney Position AvailableMuskies, Inc. is seeking someone to take on a position as our

Corporate Attorney (Legal Counsel) position. The Legal Counsel shall provide legal advice to the President and Board of Directors of Muskies, Inc. as the need arises. This includes the review of proposed contracts, such as those for independent contractors and insurance. He/she may also provide interpretation of the bylaws as requested.

If you are interested in applying and/or seeking more infor-mation about the position, please contact Ellen Wells at [email protected] or Carl Phillips at [email protected].

Impressions From an Outstanding Annual Board Meeting, April 2015

Thank you to Bob Volm and the Titletown Chapter for hosting the 2015 Annual Board Meeting at the Tundra Lodge in Green Bay, WI.

Meeting minutes from the meeting and all other meetings are online for those who want specific details and vote results. The effort to amend the Articles of Incorporation to expand the size of the Board was withdrawn because of a failure to follow proper procedure. The response was overwhelmingly positive, but there was not enough time to receive the proper amount of member participation. This item will most likely be revisited in the future with higher probability for a successful outcome.

Muskies, Inc. is coming of age. Through countless volunteer hours, from many longtime board members, the transition to regional format has been accomplished. Bylaws and Policies are up to date and the framework is in place for our organization to grow and prosper. Under the leadership of President Jay Zahn, Muskies, Inc. has evolved into a very functional entity. Thank you. Through the years there have been many hot button issues. Reflecting on this, these have been largely resolved and have put the organization in a better place. Meetings are productive and pro-fessional where best options are the nor-mal result.

Looking Back at Controversial IssuesThe website: After several false starts and much expense we finally have a func-tional website. It is now a tool for MI that meets our requirements and can be changed as needed. Randy Loewecke deserves a ton of thanks for what he’s accomplished. We need to take advantage of the website and use it more.MUSKIE Magazine: The transition from


July / August 2015.....MUSKIE 5

we are not using social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, etc., anywhere near their potential. This is something for all members to work on.

I would like to welcome Tom Aldorf (Corporate Secretary), Jim Ashton (VP Membership and Marketing), and Dan Crooms (VP Research and Fisheries) as our new board members.

There is a big celebration coming, as Muskies, Inc. turns 50 in 2016. March 11th and 12th will be the Anniversary Celebration, hosted by the Twin City and North Metro Chapters. The Hugh Becker Muskie Symposium will follow on March 13th through the 15th. Both events will be amaz-ing. Details of both events will be in MUSKIE Magazine and on the website. Plan to help us celebrate any way you can.

Muskies, Inc. is in a good place. We are coming to 50 years of age and have the tools and leadership to achieve greatness. Let’s communicate and make it happen! My glass is half full, let’s celebrate and fill it to the top in the next 50 years.

- VP Communications, Ron TeschnerFollowing a Dream

The leadership of Illinois Muskie Tournament Trail had a dream. And a challenge. The Illinois Muskie Tournament Trail (IMTT) is a not-for-profit organization in Illinois. Founded in 2003, the organization’s mission is to promote interaction and camaraderie among muskie fishermen in the State of Illinois and help maintain and expand our Illinois fishery. While the IMTT is not affiliated with Muskies, Inc., a majority of IMTT members are Muskies, Inc. members, and annual tournaments conducted by three Muskies, Inc. chapters (Fox River Valley - Chapter #39, Shawnee Muskie Hunters - Chapter #28, and Quad County Hawg Hunters - Chapter #17) are part of the IMTT’s annual tournament trail. The IMTT conducts three programs – a Scholarship Program for fishery biologist students, a Youth Program to encourage young anglers to develop an interest in muskies, and a Fishery Support program that funds projects like purchasing equipment for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Fishery Division.

It’s good to know that even though this isn’t a tourna-ment created by MI, some of our chapters have joined in on co-hosting the IMTT and those chapters are: Chicagoland

Muskie Hunters (Chapter #3), South of the Border Chapter (Chapter #14), Shawnee Muskie Hunters (Chapter #28), Fox River Valley (Chapter #39), and Quad County Muskie Hunters (Chapter #17). Additionally, two independent muskie clubs - Midwest Musky Club and Lake Shelbyville Muskie Club - are also co-hosting.

The dream led to a challenge, and the challenge to a unique solution. Now all the IMTT and the co-host clubs need are for muskie anglers from all over the Midwest to join them on October 24th and 25th for a weekend of fun, camaraderie, and supporting the fishery we love. For more information on the 2015 Illinois Muskie Tournament Trail and the Illinois State Championship Tournament, visit www.ILLMUSKIE.com.

- Chapter 28 member, Randy Hilger Donate Today!

Your donation to the Muskies, Inc. Calendar Program is criti-cal to the success of Muskies, Inc. as well as our local and nation-al projects. The Calendar Program is our major fundraising pro-gram. Please help us meet the challenge by sending your tax deductible donation to MI today. Your contribution is critical to helping to support the chapter based programs and projects for Youth, Fisheries, and Research. Our 2014 calendar donations were $6,000 less than the donations in 2013. So far the donations in 2015 are trending at less than 2014. We need your help.

Because of the support of our members, we were able to con-tribute $10,000 towards two Youth Muskie Hunts in Hayward, Wisconsin. Without your continued support we would not be able to sponsor these outings. The Youth Fund is one of the funds you can aim your donation towards. Gil Hamm, Kermit Benson, Perry Smith, the Symposium fund are a few more. Your support is greatly needed and greatly appreciated.

If you have already contributed, we want to thank you very much. Your personal donation, and the special support of a hand-ful of the Muskies, Inc. chapters, can put the Calendar Program over the top this year.

Remember, for every $50 donated, you will receive a gift card of $10 from Gander Mountain. If you lost your slip funds can be mailed to Ellen Wells at

Muskies, Inc. Administrative Secretary 1509 Stahl Rd. Sheboygan, WI 53081-8894Thank you for your support.

- President Muskies, Inc., Carl Phillips

www.muskiesinc.org

Ed Fitzgerald and Brian Paasch are the 2014 IMTT Illinois State Champions. Participants in the 2014 IMTT State Championship gather for

a group photo.


Hello fellow members and welcome to this edition of the Lunge Log. Year to date, membership has registered 958 muskies releases. At this same time last year we had amassed a total of 1,132 releases. It looks like we need to get out there and fish. As for the quality of the catches in 2014, we only had two 50s being caught, but now in 2015, the membership has caught and released five. Please keep the catches coming in so we can surpass that 2014 release number.

Instead of highlighting the big catches of the past few months, I am going to try something different and bring your attention to some interesting members of Muskies, Inc. I will catch up with the lunker stories in the next issue.

In Search of 100When you receive an email entitled “Press Release, It

Finally Happened” it gets your attention. That is the subject line used by member Dave Dawson, of the Milwaukee Muskies, Inc. Chapter 35, calling attention to his 100th release. Well, that got my attention, and I knew that I had to chat with Dave.

Dave started fishing for muskies in 1994 at the age of 12. His high school buddy, Phil Stoberl, whom he still fishes with today, turned him on to the toothy creatures. It took Dave a few years to get his first recordable release. That first release came in 1998. It was a 33-inch fish and was caught two days before his first son, Nick, was born. I can tell you that there was no way my wife was letting me fish two days before her due date, so I guess you can call Jane, his wife, a saint. Either that or she really wanted Dave out of the house. Spring forward 17 years and a total of 71 fishing partners, and muskie number 100 happened this year.

This momentous fish did not come easily, however. When entering 2014, Dave only had to catch three fish for the number to reach 100, and it turned out that he only

boated two for the year. Then there was the one that got away in 2008 on Crow Lake in Canada. It was a fish that Dave caught and estimated at about 52 inches, but it jumped out of the net before Dave and his partner had a chance to get a measurement. Being an honorable guy, Dave did not count that catch because he did not get a proper measurement.

Dave, like most members, loves to talk about his muskie fishing exploits and his 100th release was no exception. For the record, it was caught May 7th on Pewaukee Lake and measured at 35.25 inches. It was caught on a homemade bucktail that Dave calls a “puke” color. Congratulations Dave on the life achievement of catching number 100. And Dave, get those boys Nick and Ben out fishing more.

A Man and His BoatWhen we think about how we present our lures to

muskies casting, trolling, rowing, and position fishing all come to mind. But when you introduce a new method and you get Jim Bunch to add a new category, there has to be something special about it. I am talking about kayaking.

For the past two years, when I have been out fishing on the Fox Chain of Lakes here in Northern Illinois, I have noticed a crazy individual paddling his kayak and pulling muskie baits. For the record, the Fox Chain is the busiest inland waterway in the United States. I often have thought to myself, who is this crazy individual? Let me introduce you to Muskies, Inc. South of the Border (Chapter 14) member, Jeff Batt.

So, where do you start when talking to an individual who you have perceived as being crazy? The first thing I spoke with Jeff about was safety. Power boats all around and Jeff in his small non-powered kayak, I asked if he has had any close calls. Jeff said he’s yet to have one, but he does take safety seriously. His kayak is bright orange with a large orange flag on a pole and he always wears a life vest. Jeff says he always gets off the

Unique among Muskies, Inc. members, kayak muskie fisherman, Jeff Batt of the South of the Border Chapter

(#14), holds a dandy 45 incher.

Chapter City State Muskies Caught Points Date Caught

1 Matt Pelletier 59 Albuquerque NM 48 441 2/4/20152 David Goodrich 59 Prewitt NM 26 244 2/2/20153 Mike Woelfel 52 Ona WV 16 207 1/11/20154 Shaun Cox 52 Sandy Hook KY 12 153 1/3/20155 Seth Davis 52 Hazard KY 10 146 1/18/20156 Bryan T. Smith 52 Huntington WV 12 130 1/11/20157 Brandon Schorle 39 ELGIN IL 14 121 1/23/20158 Aaron J. Bork 11 Davenport IA 12 118 4/15/20159 Roger Wayne Hinkle Jr. 19 Akron OH 9 111 4/5/201510 Steve Bates 21 North Saint Paul MN 13 109 5/2/201511 Robert W. McCloud 19 Kent OH 9 100 4/16/201512 Randy Huizenga 11 East Moline IL 9 93 4/17/201513 Sam Reichenbach 18 Cadiz OH 7 91 3/25/201514 Jason Chalmers 19 North Canton OH 7 87 4/17/201515 Greg Knight 9 Harrisville WV 8 80 3/19/201516 Zachary Kirkpatrick 19 Reno OH 6 79 3/26/201517 Taylor Linkous 9 Blacksburg VA 5 77 1/2/201518 Chuck Kuhlman 19 Cuyahoga Falls OH 6 77 4/16/201519 Luke Armitage 39 Beach Park IL 6 65 3/20/201520 Sylvester Trunkett 19 North Ridgeville OH 6 65 4/17/201521 Nick Gibson 9 Philippi WV 4 64 1/9/201522 Ed (James) Walzer 64 Damascus OR 4 64 5/9/201523 Tim Connoy 21 Mound MN 5 60 4/4/201524 Jason VandeKopple 47 Grand Rapids MI 5 60 4/25/201525 Matt Dixon 64 Port Matilda PA 4 56 2/8/2015

Rank / Member Name

Men's Division for 2015

July / August 2015.....MUSKIE 7www.muskiesinc.org


1 Nikki Swain 42 Upland IN 12 167 4/17/20152 Donna Bork 11 Davenport IA 10 81 3/17/20153 Darlene Kelley 9 Salem WV 3 37 5/5/20154 Vickie Banks 52 Wellington KY 3 26 3/21/20155 Beth Custer 9 Coolville OH 1 18 5/3/20156 Leah Pelletier 59 Albuquerque NM 2 17 5/4/20157 Debbie Bever 9 Harrisville WV 1 14 5/3/20158 Jennifer Martinez 19 North Canton OH 1 10 5/3/20159 Stephanie Neville 41 Summit Station OH 1 9 3/21/2015

Women's Division for 2015Rank / Member

Name


1 Chase Gibson 9 Philippi WV 6 57 1/3/20152 Charles Neville 41 Summit Station OH 3 26 3/21/20153 Aaron James Eric 59 Prewitt NM 4 25 5/11/20154 Madeline Frustereo 19 Chardon OH 3 18 5/2/20155 Kyle Williamson 59 Albuquerque NM 2 16 4/12/20156 Ethan Cain 39 Gilberts IL 2 14 3/25/20157 Ian Jakob Erb 23 Mineral Ridge OH 1 14 5/16/2015

Rank / Member Name

Juniors Division for 2015


1 Matt Pelletier 59 Albuquerque NM 27 252 2/4/20152 David Goodrich 59 Prewitt NM 26 244 2/2/20153 Ed (James) Walzer 64 Damascus OR 4 64 5/9/20154 Kevin Menicucci 59 Alburquerque NM 3 21 5/8/20155 John Ringenbach 19 Lakewood OH 1 17 3/1/20156 Leah Pelletier 59 Albuquerque NM 2 17 5/4/2015

Rank / Member Name

Fly Division for 2015


1 David White 18 Moundsville WV 23 264 3/21/20152 Charles R. Carpenter 9 Harrisville WV 21 262 1/15/20153 John Cade 9 Clarington OH 14 193 1/2/20154 Rick Swain 42 Upland IN 14 191 4/17/20155 Bob D. Marshall 19 Bowerston OH 12 144 3/22/20156 Rusty Welker 42 Kokomo IN 16 140 4/22/20157 George Weber 56 Kettering OH 11 129 4/4/20158 Kevin LaRoche 19 Aurora OH 12 129 4/18/20159 Michael Floyd 57 Auburn WA 9 110 4/10/201510 Bill Boggess 9 Vienna WV 9 108 3/31/201511 Danny Kurttila 0 Riverton WY 10 88 3/8/201512 Bill Looney 9 Amma WV 6 83 1/1/201513 Michael J. Sall Sr. 18 Martins Ferry OH 7 66 3/21/201514 Edward T. Lawton 9 Blacksburg VA 4 64 2/27/201515 Tad Martinez 19 North Canton OH 5 64 4/28/201516 Sam R. Butler 16 New Matamoras OH 5 58 4/14/201517 Walter Krause 28 Collinsville IL 6 56 1/28/201518 John Ringenbach 19 Lakewood OH 4 54 3/1/201519 Jeffrey Aromi 12 Laona WI 6 52 5/15/201520 John Kaltenecker 9 Parkersburg WV 4 51 3/31/201521 Ray H. Elkins 19 East Canton OH 3 44 3/25/201522 Phillip Gutmann 39 Lake In The Hills IL 3 43 3/22/201523 Cliff Honeycutt 41 Westerville OH 3 42 1/2/201524 Frank L. Maus 31 Kittanning PA 3 35 1/4/201525 Stephen J. Koreski 9 Mineral Wells WV 5 34 4/29/2015

Rank / Member Name

Men's Masters Division for 2015

Dave Dawson (Milwaukee Chapter #35) with his 100th muskie caught from Pewaukee Lake on May 7th.

The fish fell to a homemade bucktail and was 35.25 inches long.

Jeff Batt’s kayak sits atop his vehicle.

water before all of the powerboat activity really heats up.

I then asked Jeff, “How would someone get started fishing for muskies from a kayak?” The story started about 12 years ago when Jeff got hooked on muskie fishing. Jeff would fish out of his friends’ boats in the absence of his own. Then in 2012, Jeff booked fellow Chapter 14 member, Nick Cammarata, to take him fishing on the Fox Chain. Nick started teaching him about the Chain and Jeff had success with Nick. Jeff read Tom Gelb’s book Musky Strategy and was inspired. Jeff put together the basics he learned with Nick, the teachings he got from Gelb’s book, and added a kayak.

In 2013, Jeff and his kayak made their maiden voyage. Rigging up and figuring out where to put the two rods, the net, the camera, and GPS were all decisions that Jeff had to make that first year. All of these riggings did not turn out well the first time, and Jeff has made many refinements along the way, and with them has come success. Jeff caught four muskies in 2013, seven in 2014, and has five so far in 2015. His biggest is a 45-inch fish he caught this year.

Then I had to ask, “Why a kayak?” Jeff told me there were two reasons. The first being the cost of entry in a fishing kayak versus a boat. The second being it gets you into shape. Jeff told me that he will burn as many as 3,000 calories during a day of kayak fishing for muskies.

So, if you are out fishing the Fox Chain and see Jeff in his kayak, slow down, give him a break from the wakes, say “Hi,” and visit awhile. If you are interested in knowing how to set up a kayak for this sport, look Jeff up and he will be more than happy to help you get started.

Until the next issue, happy hunting.


Chapter Length Date Caught Lake County State Lure

1 Chase Gibson 9 41.00 3/22/2015 Tygart River Barbour WV Homemade Glider2 Ian Jakob Erb 23 40.00 5/16/2015 West Branch Reservoir Portage OH Xtreme Shad3 Chase Gibson 9 36.00 1/3/2015 Tygart River Barbour WV Bull Dawg Jerk4 Charles Neville 41 36.00 3/21/2015 Piedmont Lake Guernsey OH Homemade Crank Bait5 Ethan Cain 39 36.00 3/25/2015 Kinkaid Jackson IL Baby Depth Raider6 Chase Gibson 9 36.00 3/29/2015 Tygart River Barbour WV Shum Shum7 Charles Neville 41 35.00 4/5/2015 Salt Fork Lake Guernsey OH Homemade Crank Bait8 Kyle Williamson 59 34.00 4/12/2015 Bluewater Lake Cibola NM Ducktail Warrior9 Madeline Frustereo 19 34.00 5/2/2015 Pymatuming Reservoir Ashtabula OH Wiley Crank10 Aaron James Eric 59 34.00 5/11/2015 Bluewater Lake Cibola NM Whopper Plopper11 Chase Gibson 9 33.00 1/3/2015 Tygart River Barbour WV Bull Dawg Jerk12 Charles Neville 41 32.50 3/21/2015 Piedmont Lake Guernsey OH Homemade Crank Bait13 Madeline Frustereo 19 32.00 5/2/2015 Pymatuming Reservoir Ashtabula OH Boss Shad14 Chase Gibson 9 31.00 3/22/2015 Tygart River Barbour WV Homemade Jerk15 Aaron James Eric 59 31.00 5/17/2015 Bluewater Lake Cibola NM Whopper Plopper16 Ethan Cain 39 30.00 3/25/2015 Kinkaid Jackson IL Bucher Depth Raider17 Madeline Frustereo 19 30.00 5/2/2015 Pymatuming Reservoir Ashtabula OH Boss Shad18 Aaron James Eric 59 30.00 5/17/2015 Bluewater Lake Cibola NM Whopper Plopper

Juniors Top 18 for 2015Rank / Member

Name

Chapter Length Date Caught Lake County State Lure *

1 David Goodrich 59 47.25 4/10 Bluewater Cibola NM Fly2 John Williamson 59 45.00 4/12 Bluewater Cibola NM Ducktail Warrior3 Pete Bergman 57 44.75 4/18 Mayfield Lewis WA Savage Gear Freestyler4 David Goodrich 59 43.00 4/21 Bluewater Cibola NM Fly5 Pete Bergman 57 43.00 5/2 Merwin Cowlitz WA Mepps Musky Killer6 Ed (James) Walzer 64 43.00 5/9 Merwin Cowlitz WA HM Fly7 Matt Pelletier 59 42.00 4/20 Bluewater Cibola NM HM Fly8 Michael Floyd 57 42.00 4/24 Mayfield Lewis WA Savagegear 4Play9 Ed (James) Walzer 64 42.00 5/9 Merwin Cowlitz WA HM Fly10 Matt Pelletier 59 41.50 4/17 Bluewater Cibola NM Warrior11 David Goodrich 59 41.00 2/6 Bluewater Cibola NM Fly12 Ed (James) Walzer 64 41.00 5/16 Merwin Cowlitz WA HM Fly13 Matt Pelletier 59 40.50 2/4 Bluewater Cibola NM HM Fly

14 Matt Pelletier 59 40.50 3/23 Bluewater Cibola NM IRaizor Action Lures BarFighte

15 Michael Floyd 57 40.50 5/15 Mayfield Lewis WA Savagegear 4Play16 Michael Floyd 57 40.25 5/1 Mayfield Lewis WA Savagegear 4Play17 Bill Looney 9 40.00 3/31 Little Kanawha River Calhoun WV Amma Bamma18 Steve Alan Walker 19 40.00 4/18 Piedmont Belmont OH Strike King Spin19 Michael Floyd 57 40.00 5/1 Mayfield Lewis WA Savagegear 4Play20 William Gorman 59 40.00 5/3 Bluewater McKinley NM Suick

21 Matt Pelletier 59 39.00 3/30 Bluewater Cibola NM IRaizor Action Lures BarFighte

22 Pete Bergman 57 39.00 5/16 Mayfield Lewis WA Mepps Musky Killer23 Michael Floyd 57 38.75 5/1 Mayfield Lewis WA Ducktail

Hybrid Top 23 for 2015Rank / Member

Name

* HM = Homemade


1 Charlotte Fuchs 19 No Canton OH 2 24 4/6/2015

Rank / Member Name

Women's Masters Division for 2015

Date Member City/State Water Length1/1/2015 Bill Looney Amma, WV Elk River, WV 50.50 Inches2/27/2015 Edward T Lawton Blacksburg, VA New River, VA 44.50 Inches3/30/2015 Zachary Kirkpatrick Reno, OH Piedmont, OH 49.00 Inches4/19/2015 Shaun Cox Sandy Hook, KY Cave Run Reservoir, KY 49.50 Inches

Lunker of the Month



1 Bill Looney 9 50.50 1/1 Elk River Braxton WV Amma Bamma2 Rick Swain 42 50.50 5/12 Sawmill Lake Kosciusko IN Harasser3 Rick Swain 42 50.00 5/5 Webster Kosciusko IN Poe's Jackpot4 Shaun Cox 52 49.50 4/19 Cave Run Reservoir Rowan KY Phantom Jerk Bait5 Zachary Kirkpatrick 19 49.00 3/30 Piedmont Belmont OH Crank Bait6 David White 18 48.50 4/6 Piedmont Belmont OH Tuff Shad7 Bob D. Marshall 19 48.00 3/25 Piedmont Belmont OH Tuff Shad Jerk8 Bruce Jameson 52 48.00 4/11 Green River Lake Adair KY Super Stalker9 Matt Pelletier 59 47.50 5/6 Bluewater Lake Cibola NM HM Fly10 David Goodrich 59 47.25 4/10 Bluewater Lake Cibola NM Fly11 Brian Skaife 8 47.25 5/2 Monona Dane WI Medusa12 Daniel Buzzard 9 47.00 3/21 Mid. Island Creek Pleasants WV Grandma Crank13 Matt Dixon 64 47.00 4/24 Cave Run Reservoir Rowan KY Shad Rap14 Luke Armitage 39 47.00 5/8 Fox Chain Lake IL Dadson Bullet15 Brandon M. Buckner 63 46.75 5/16 Stonewall Jackson Lewis WV HM Bucktail16 John Cade 9 46.50 1/2 Stonecoal Lake Lewis WV Bull Dawg Jerk17 Seth Davis 52 46.50 1/25 Kentucky River SF Clay KY Red October18 David White 18 46.50 4/6 Piedmont Belmont OH Tuff Shad19 Robert A. Basic 23 46.50 5/17 West Branch Reservoir Portage OH Lunge Lumber20 Bryan T. Smith 52 46.25 1/11 Jackson River Alleghany VA Red October21 Frank L. Maus 31 46.00 1/4 Allegheny River Armstrong PA Rapala Magnum22 Walter Krause 28 46.00 1/28 Kaskaskia River Shelby IL Storm Wild Eye23 Derek Wenzel 9 46.00 3/28 Mid. Island Creek Tyler WV Sidewinder24 Nick Adams 52 46.00 3/29 Kinniconick Creek Lewis KY Medusa

Men's Top 24 for 2015Rank / Member

Name

* HM = Homemade

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1 Nikki Swain 42 46.00 4/17 Tippecanoe River Kosciusko IN Harasser2 Charlotte Fuchs 19 45.00 4/6 Piedmont Belmont OH Tuff Shad3 Darlene Kelley 9 45.00 5/9 Mid. Island Creek Pleasants WV Battle Shad4 Beth Custer 9 44.00 5/3 Stonewall Jackson Lewis WV Cowgirl/DBL Cowgirl5 Nikki Swain 42 43.50 5/5 Webster Kosciusko IN Live Bait6 Nikki Swain 42 42.00 5/3 Tippecanoe River Kosciusko IN Harasser7 Nikki Swain 42 40.50 5/3 Tippecanoe River Kosciusko IN Harasser8 Nikki Swain 42 40.50 5/13 Sawmill Lake Kosciusko IN Harasser9 Donna Bork 11 40.00 3/17 North Spring Tazewell IL Grandma Crank10 Nikki Swain 42 40.00 4/17 Tippecanoe River Kosciusko IN Harasser11 Debbie Bever 9 40.00 5/3 Stonewall Jackson Lewis WV Tuff Shad12 Nikki Swain 42 39.50 4/17 Tippecanoe River Kosciusko IN Harasser13 Nikki Swain 42 38.50 4/18 Tippecanoe River Kosciusko IN Harasser14 Nikki Swain 42 38.00 4/18 Tippecanoe River Kosciusko IN Harasser15 Darlene Kelley 9 38.00 5/5 Stonewall Jackson Lewis WV Big Chimney Slab16 Nikki Swain 42 37.50 4/18 Tippecanoe River Kosciusko IN Kickin Minnow17 Donna Bork 11 37.00 4/11 Johnson Lake Peoria IL Grandma Crank18 Nikki Swain 42 37.00 5/15 Webster Kosciusko IN Harasser19 Vickie Banks 52 36.00 3/21 Cave Run Reservoir Rowan KY Suick20 Jennifer Martinez 19 36.00 5/3 West Branch Reservoir Portage OH Tuff Shad21 Vickie Banks 52 36.00 5/3 Cave Run Reservoir Rowan KY Tuff Shad22 Leah Pelletier 59 36.00 5/4 Bluewater Lake Cibola NM HM Fly23 Donna Bork 11 35.50 5/17 Storey Lake Knox IL Nimmer Swimmer24 Stephanie Neville 41 34.50 3/21 Salt Fork Lake Guernsey OH HM Crank Bait25 Donna Bork 11 34.50 5/17 Storey Lake Knox IL Nimmer Swimmer

Women's Top 25 for 2015Rank / Member

Name

* HM = Homemade

Chapter Length Date Caught Lake County State Lure*

1 Matt Pelletier 59 47.50 5/6 Bluewater Cibola NM HM Fly2 David Goodrich 59 47.25 4/10 Bluewater Cibola NM Fly3 John Ringenbach 19 43.00 3/1 James River Botetourt VA Fly4 David Goodrich 59 43.00 4/21 Bluewater Cibola NM Fly5 Ed (James) Walzer 64 43.00 5/9 Merwin Cowlitz WA HM Fly6 Matt Pelletier 59 42.00 4/20 Bluewater Cibola NM HM Fly7 Ed (James) Walzer 64 42.00 5/9 Merwin Cowlitz WA HM Fly8 Ed (James) Walzer 64 42.00 5/9 Merwin Cowlitz WA HM Fly9 David Goodrich 59 41.00 2/6 Bluewater Cibola NM Fly10 Ed (James) Walzer 64 41.00 5/16 Merwin Cowlitz WA HM Fly11 Matt Pelletier 59 40.50 2/4 Bluewater Cibola NM HM Fly12 David Goodrich 59 40.00 3/13 Bluewater Cibola NM Fly13 David Goodrich 59 38.00 2/2 Bluewater Cibola NM Fly14 David Goodrich 59 38.00 3/1 Bluewater Cibola NM Fly15 Matt Pelletier 59 38.00 3/25 Bluewater Cibola NM HM Fly16 David Goodrich 59 37.00 3/13 Bluewater Cibola NM Fly17 Matt Pelletier 59 36.50 4/29 Bluewater Cibola NM HM Fly18 David Goodrich 59 36.00 3/9 Bluewater Cibola NM Fly19 David Goodrich 59 36.00 3/12 Bluewater Cibola NM Fly20 Matt Pelletier 59 36.00 3/15 Bluewater Cibola NM HM Fly21 Matt Pelletier 59 36.00 3/25 Bluewater Cibola NM HM Fly22 Matt Pelletier 59 36.00 3/29 Bluewater Cibola NM HM Fly23 Matt Pelletier 59 36.00 3/30 Bluewater Cibola NM HM Fly24 Matt Pelletier 59 36.00 4/20 Bluewater Cibola NM HM Fly25 Leah Pelletier 59 36.00 5/4 Bluewater Cibola NM HM Fly

Fly Top 25 for 2015Rank / Member

Name

* HM = Homemade



This is my favorite time of year and has been for as long as I can remember. The days are long, the foliage a vibrant green, and the weather is generally cooperative. More importantly, muskie activity is at its peak. At times, it hard-ly seems to matter what lures you toss; the fishing can be that simple.

However, July and August always posed a problem for me as a resident of Illinois. Like many states in the Midwest, it is not uncommon for water temperatures in Illinois to exceed 80F for extended periods of time. Interestingly, most residents (myself included) created a self-imposed muskie fishing moratorium during the peak of summer in an effort to reduce the likelihood of causing angling-related fish mortalities.

The solubility of oxygen in water declines as water temperatures increase and because tissues require oxy-gen to function properly, warm water temperatures thus place physiological stress on fish during the summer months. What does this mean for anglers? It means that angling for the fish we love to catch – and release – could potentially kill them. Unless, of course, we are smart about how we handle them.

There are several things we can do to ensure a good release. First, have your release tools handy at all times. You shouldn’t be fishing around in your boat’s compartments for the pliers or hook cutters. Second, use gear appropriate to the task. Avoid light lines, if possible. And per-haps most importantly, keep air exposure to a minimum.

I realize that I am likely preaching to the choir here. Be that as it may, let this simply serve as a reminder. Speaking of reminders, Marty Forman pens an article in this issue with some good ones aimed at those of us

who enjoy fishing tournaments. His advice extends beyond the tournament trail and should have value for the weekend warrior. Lorin Nevling offers true words of wisdom for the older anglers out there to make days on the water more enjoyable and safer. Eric Jacobsen’s personal brush with skin cancer serves as a pertinent reminder of what can happen when we don’t take proper care of our skin.

I would like to extend a heart-felt congratulations to Greg and Ellen Wells as well as Frank Walter for being inducted into the latest class of the Muskies, Inc. Hall of Fame. These three have set quite an example for others to follow.

Remember two things: 1) practice catch-and-release and 2) wear your sunscreen.

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20152015


* Steve Budnik is MIHOF Committee Chair, and can be reached at [email protected] and at 715-686-7852. Nominations for the Class of 2016 open September 1st each year with a deadline of November 30th. Please contact Steve for a copy of the

HOF criteria/qualifications before submitting a nomination

Muskies, Inc. Hall of FameClass of 2015

- Steve Budnik

Regional Vice President and served as the chapter’s primary fundraiser. He became very active in stocking efforts on the Fox Chain, and continued to be a one man PR firm in spreading the catch-and-release message.

In addition to serving as his chapter’s Outing Chairman, he became the Chapter Delegate to the Illini Muskie Alliance and eventually became Vice President of that organization. Frank has also chaired a number of Illinois muskie tournaments. As Regional Vice President, Frank attended virtually all spring and fall MI Board meetings for a period of 20 years. During the 1998-2001 timeframe, he took on the massive job of rewriting the MI Bylaws and General Policies. He also served MI as Parliamentarian from 2001 to 2008. In 2008, the Board elected him Parliamentarian Emeritus. He has served on the Bylaws Committee since 2009.

Frank has continued to serve MI in a marketing capacity by representing the organization at many shows and meetings. He currently serves MI as a Senior Regional Representative for Region #4. Frank has long been involved with youth activities in his chapter as well as helping out the MI VP of Youth Activities. He continues to be a resource at every level of the organization. He has served at every level over a very long period of time. Enough said!

The doors of the 25 year-old Muskies, Inc. Hall of Fame swung open back in January to admit its 66th and 67th members. Greg and Ellen Wells, nominated as one entity, and Frank Walter were inducted and became the class of 2015.

Greg and Ellen have been active in the Between the Lakes Chapter for many, many years in a wide variety of positions. Greg has been both Chapter President and served as chairman of their very successful banquet. He has also been involved with their chapter’s annual youth event. Greg has also served in a leadership capacity in the Wisconsin Chapters-Muskies, Inc. organization.

Greg became President of MI in 2005 and served in that capacity for two years. Since that time he has served MI as VP of Membership and Marketing. In this capacity he represented MI at countless winter sport shows around the Midwest. Greg has also served as an MI representative on the State of Wisconsin Muskie Management team.

Ellen has served her chapter in numerous capacities over the years including their annual banquet. She has been Merchandise Director of MI and currently serves on the Finance Committee. Ellen has also represented MI at many winter sport shows. She currently serves MI in the critical position of Administrative Secretary, taking care of much of the MI day-to-day business.

Together they have served MI well at every level and continue to do so today. Due to their longtime association with MI, they have been a valuable resource and respected mentors to many junior leaders coming up through the ranks.

Frank Walter joined the South Side Muskie Hawks around 1985 and by 1990 he joined the South of the Border Chapter near his home and became a board member that same year. Soon after, he became Chapter

Steve Budnik (far left) and Jay Zahn (far right) flank Greg and Ellen Wells following their induction into the

Hall of Fame Class of 2015.

New Hall of Fame inductee, Frank Walter (left), and former inductee, Lenny Szulc (right).

Jack Tipping of Chapter 57 caught this 43-inch tiger muskie from Mayfield Lake.

Brett Olson of Chapter 57 caught this 44-inch tiger muskie from Merwin

Reservoir.

First Wisconsin Chapter member, Jason Smith, caught this 46.5-inch

muskie on LOTW last year.

Mike Crisanti moved from Arizona and joined Chapter 57. He had a lot of

success, catching 22 tigers in August, with 11 of them over 40 inches.

Chapter 64 VP, Phil Smeal, caught this tiger muskie on a

fly while fishing Curwensville Lake in PA.


NEW

NEW

Chapter 57 member, Pete Bergman, caught this 39.5-inch tiger muskie from

Merwin Reservoir.

Chapter 57 member, Mike Floyd, caught this 44.5-inch tiger muskie from

Merwin Reservoir.

During the North Metro/ Twin Cities Red Wing Lodge Outing on LOTW last year,

Mark McHugh caught a 49 incher and also this 48-inch muskie.

Akron – Canton Chapter member, Paul Frusetreo, caught this 53.5-

inch muskie on a Boss Shad while fishing Lake St. Clair.

Never get in a knife fight with a surgeon, because they’ll probably win. It started out as an annoying patch of dry skin. Then it rose up, turned a pinkish color and started to itch. I figured it was time to go to a dermatologist. So I called for an appointment and they said the soonest I could be seen would be six or seven months and instead of waiting, I went to an MD. He told me it was sun damaged skin, and not to worry about it. He gave me a cream to put on it for the next month or so. I got home and started reading the directions on the tube and it said to avoid direct sunlight while using the cream. It was mid-June, prime fishing time. This was an easy decision. I was going to wait until fall to use it. Well, summer turned to fall and fall turned to winter. Since so much time had gone by, I

figured I’d better go back to a doctor again just to make sure using the cream was still the right thing to do.

Well, this doctor decided he wanted to do a biopsy. A punch biopsy he called it, he took a small sample of skin and closed it with a stitch. It came back positive for skin cancer – sun induced skin cancer; basal cell carcinoma is the formal term. Not to be confused with melanoma, a metastasizing skin cancer that can spread to other parts of your body. That’s the bad kind. Basal cell carcinoma is a non-metastasizing form of cancer, which will rarely, but not normally, spread to other parts or organs. Nevertheless, it’s definitely alive and will grow larger and larger on whatever part of your body you have it on unless it’s surgically removed.

I had it on my temple and the upper portion of my chest. I made an appointment for the surgery. It was going to be a minor surgery with a local anesthetic, and an excision to remove the cancerous areas. Little did I know how difficult it would be for the doctor to get it all the first time. Six stitches in my temple and five stitches in my chest later, I got the news that he did not get it all in either area. To make matters worse, it turned out the basal cell I had was a sclerosing kind. In other words, it was the obvious visual spot, but also had branches that extended out under the skin that were undetectable visually.

The doctor asked if I wanted to let him have another go at it or if I wanted to have a procedure called Mohs done to it. After inquiring about what a Mohs procedure is, he told me it was when they would remove some tissue from the area, and would test it - right on site - to see if the cancer extended to the edges of the sample. If it did, the surgeon would go back in and take some more, and so on and so forth until the cancer terminated short of the edge.

I immediately inquired as to why he did not tell me about this procedure prior to cutting me open himself, so I would have only been cut up once instead of what appeared to be at least twice now. He apologized and


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Sun Induced Skin Cancer: One Fisherman’s

Nightmare- Erik Jacobson

This photo of the post-surgery wound on the author’s left temple

stands as a reminder of what can happen when

we neglect skin care while spending so

much time under the sun.


Matt Pelletier of the New Mexico Chapter (#59) sports a Buff sun scarf as he poses with a nice tiger muskie. Buffs and those manufactured by others,

such as FishHard, are made of UV-resistant material and can be worn a number of different ways. Their

biggest advantage is the large amount of skin coverage they can provide.

referred me to a doctor that could do Mohs. Two months later I’m finally on the table for the Mohs procedure. The surgery only took about 30 minutes and then I had to wait for the results. An hour and a half later the nurse informed me that the doctor got it all on my chest, but they had to go back in on my temple for some more.

The second time was a charm and they informed me they got it all. They bandaged me up and sent me on my way. The next day I went to a surgery center to have it closed up – or repaired as they called it. Since the one spot was on my face, they felt more comfortable having a plastic surgeon do the repair. I had no idea how much tissue they had removed. I saw the pictures, but it was hard to judge the size of the areas. When the dust settled the next day I now had twelve stitches in my temple and fifteen more in my chest. I couldn’t believe how much more tissue they had removed.

I now realize I waited way too long – out of denial and ignorance. I should have requested a biopsy the first time I went to the doctor, but I didn’t know any better. I’m now going to go to a dermatologist twice a year for the rest of my life because I never want to go through that again. The cancer I had removed was probably caused by sunburn I’d gotten 20 plus years ago, maybe even longer. The doctor said a good base tan is the best defense – just don’t get burned getting the base tan.

The point of this article is to prompt anyone reading this that has any questionable area of skin on their body to get it checked immediately – the specialist I saw said “I see this a lot in farmers and fishermen and you don’t look like a farmer”. He also told me it’s not normal for a person to have a dry or pink/red spot on their face or body. So don’t think it’s going to magically go away like I did.

Be smart, use sunscreen regularly, apply it properly, and wear sun protectant clothing. If you have kids, make sure they have it on too. I’ve been putting it on every morning - in the spring, summer, fall and winter - for the last ten years rain or shine. I was 47 years old at the time of the surgery. Don’t think it won’t happen to you like I did.

A beautiful natural Canadian tiger muskie caught slow-rolling a spinnerbait on a bluebird day in July. Notice the author’s hat with the neck extension to

protect this easily-exposed part of the body.

SSS

SSS

SS


We are living longer thanks to advances in medicine and nutrition. Muskie hunters are no exception.

The major goal of a senior muskie hunter is to keep fishing as long as possible. For most of us seniors our bodies have lost much of their former abilities, a process that seems both inevitable and irreversible. Given that we have lost some of our former physical attributes such as strength, (particularly in the hands, arms, and back) balance, flexibility, and stamina, we may need to make adjustments. This physical decline is too often accompanied by a decrease in mental capabilities. What can be done to slow the decline? Here are a few modest suggestions based largely on personal experience.

Ever have the experience of telling someone that you are going fishing and getting the response

“That’s good, it will be relaxing”? They, of course, picture you sitting quietly in a boat watching a bobber and occasionally dozing off. Then you have to try to explain that it will be the very opposite of relaxing – muskie fishing is both a physically and mentally challenging endeavor. In preparation, consider undertaking an exercise and stretching regime, but only after consulting with your physician. For specific exercises for fishermen, start with Troy Lindner’s Fit 4 Fitness and check online for other resources. You may wish to consider CPR (real not fishy) training and certification.

Don’t kid yourself; we all have occasional lapses in memory. There are a lot of suggestions out there

as well as medical remedies, but for the muskie hunter the most productive exercise is to make and use checklists. What do you need to go fishing? A fishing license, first aid kit, personal flotation device, rods, reels, lures, release tools, large net, polarized sunglasses, etc. Don’t forget your passport, medications, insect repellent, sunscreen (make sure you use it and not just take it), raingear, and a variety of clothing, which you can use in layers, depending on the time of year. Include a ball cap with a bill as it, together with sunglasses, provides extra protection for your eyes in the event of a wayward cast or unsuccessful hook set.

Going to do your own cooking? You’ll need a provision list. Make sure you know of any food allergies in your party prior to preparing your list. A boat list is necessary as well – get gas, check trailer wheel bearings, charge batteries, put in the drain plug at the ramp, drinking water, safety equipment, etc. Some find a boat ramp checklist helpful for last minute reminders before putting the boat in and for taking it out. Remind yourself to check that ramp for solid footing. Ice or the gelatinous sheath of blue-green algae can make a ramp super slick.

Hazards will occur with ground access to remote lakes; trails may be rudimentary and with steep

inclines. Do not attempt to carry too much at one time. At the end of a tiring day, the trails always seem uphill! Try to limit trips on such a trail as much as possible, to lessen the falling hazard. When fishing remote lakes, my goal is one trip down to the lake, and one trip back up when done. Let younger members of the party carry the majority of the gear. They won’t mind if it will keep their fishing buddy safe. Falls are to be avoided as they can lead to serious or fatal consequences in seniors.

There is no way you can regain the stamina that you had when you were 25. Casting a full day may no

longer be possible. It may be helpful to switch to trolling for part of each day. It may also be necessary to downsize your rod and lure selection. Make certain that you keep well hydrated, especially in warm and

The installation of a hand assist bar and an extra step up to the front deck makes moving around the boat

safer and easier. Photo courtesy Robert Kerans.

S - Lorin I. Nevling, Jr.

urviving as a enior Muskie Hunter

SSS

SSS

SSsunny conditions. Water and sports drink bottles may

be frozen and will stay cool in the warmest temperatures for an extended period. Use them on a regular basis whether you feel the need to or not. Leave the alcohol ashore. A drinking water sanitizing straw might be useful in an emergency.

If at all possible, fish from a boat with seats not benches. It will allow you more fishing time before

your back and neck begin to complain. Sit down at every opportunity. For those of you who regularly fish from a seated position, use a boat seat cushion as it will give you a bit more height.

If you try casting large baits for long periods, like double 10s or large soft plastics do not be surprised

if you develop pain in places you never knew existed. Try switching part of the time to a lighter spinning rod and reel while using smaller baits. You may lose some casting accuracy with a spinning setup, but being able to cast for a longer period of time is worth it. Many of the new spinning rod models have the fore grip reduced in diameter, and incorporated as part of the reel seat locking apparatus, and may cause older users hand/

finger-fatigue problems. If this is the case, wrap the fore-grip with tennis racket handle wrap or some sort of tape (duct tape will do in a pinch) to increase the diameter and comfort. Finger strength is going to diminish and opening and closing snaps is going to become increasingly difficult. Try switching to Stringease Stay-Lok snaps that seem to require less strength to open and close.

The general advice about fishing solo is to not do it. If you are absolutely compelled to fish without a

partner, let someone reliable know where you are going and when to expect you back. Let them know when you return. Take your cell phone, although it may not work in many on-the-water localities or if it goes into the water. A small, waterproof, short wave radio may be a better choice. Wear your personal flotation device (PFD) at all times. Those who are unwilling to do this should seriously consider at least wearing it every time the boat is under power.

Staying in the boat is always a winning idea. Your balance will become less reliable over time. As

you get into or out of your boat use a dock that has an


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NEW for

2015!

Zig-zags back and forth at both fast or slow speeds enabling you to trigger fish in a wide range of water temperatures and weather conditions.

SSS

SSS

SS

assist bar if possible. If not, have someone give you a hand, grip forearm-to-forearm and not hand-to-hand for significantly increased control and safety. If you feel the least bit uncomfortable on a casting deck do not hesitate to step off of the deck and down into the well of the boat.

Falling out of the boat is easier than it seems and it happens without warning. Ask anyone that has

gone overboard. For those of you enamored with urinating off the back of the boat, consider using a container instead. In the event of a solo-drowning incident, officials will check to see if the victim’s fly is unzipped as standard procedure. If you do go out of the boat, get back to the boat and then to shore as quickly as possible as hypothermia is an unwelcome and an extremely dangerous challenge any time of the year. Getting back into the boat is far more difficult than it might seem. Boats equipped with a boarding ladder may provide the easiest re-entry. One effective emergency alternative for boats with larger engines is to get back to the shut-off engine, place a foot on the anti-cavitation plate and use the engine tilt mechanism to help lift you into the boat. Once in the boat or ashore, the next priority is to get dry and warm as quickly as possible. Carrying a space blanket in your boat bag may prove welcome. A hand sanitizer with a high-alcohol content may prove useful for starting a


fire if necessary following an out-of-boat experience. This requires caution, as the flame is nearly colorless. Other emergency fire starters, such as flares, lighters, waterproof matches should be considered.

In addition to the usual boat safety equipment such as a throw float and rope, fire extinguisher, and flotation

device check the local boating regulations for additional required equipment. Always attach the engine cut-off switch lanyard to your clothing. Falling out of the boat with the engine running is a recipe for disaster, as boats under power will usually circle back toward you.

Use your lights at night, in fog, or in other difficult-to-see conditions. Excuses about not being able to

see well when the lights are on does not justify not using them. Boat collisions do occur, sometimes with fatalities. In addition to the unfortunate and unnecessary loss of life, the legal and financial complications of fatal collisions can go on for years.

For those that have other specific and more challenging physical disabilities than aging,

additional accommodations will have to be made. These range from custom handholds or special steps in the boat to wheelchair clampdowns.

Finally, make your lists and use them. If help is offered, graciously and gratefully accept; don’t let

pride stand in your way. The goal is to keep safe and live to fish for another day, week, or year.

Special thanks to these members and supporters for their recent

donations to Muskies, Inc.:

• Tony Sworsky• James Cullen• William T. Evans• Tom Wilke• James Evers• James Jensen• Greg E. Adams

DONATIONS A local boat ramp at Lake Shelbyville, Illinois sporting hand bars that facilitate entry into and exit

from boats. Photo courtesy Robert Kerans.

Photo ContestBy: Brad Waldera, Photo Editor - [email protected]

July / August 2015.....MUSKIE 19

Greg Sieren sent in this photo of his sons Jesse, on the left, and Ben, on the right, with a nice double. Any time you get a “muskie double”, it’s a memorable event. They are all members of Chapter 35 and were fishing on lake St. Clair through Whopper Stopper Muskie Charters. Greg said it was fun to see the boys double up at the same time, and mentioned that they landed 15 of 19 hooked fish on this particular trip. The boys’ younger brother, Reily, even caught a 52-inch fish. Nice job guys, and thanks for the photo. We do not receive many pictures of double ups, so thanks for submitting it.

Justin Birch of Chapter 15 caught this beauty. It measured 52.25 inches with a 25-inch girth. With the glare from the water, you don’t always get to see the fish this clearly, so I thought I’d spotlight this photo this month. Be sure to take a few pictures this year during the battle, and also try to get a few shots like this after taking pictures while holding the fish. It can make for some great memories.

I’ve fished more than 50 muskie tournaments in the last five years and there’s no question that tournament fishing is very different. Most of you have never fished the tournaments and have no intention of doing so. That’s great, probably a good idea! It’s very competitive, nerve wracking, costly and you mainly don’t win. We also don’t get to choose the days we fish, the “hot” lakes, or the times. And, a lake filled with tournament anglers following a week of serious pre-fishing is the textbook definition of pressured water. So, if you are looking for just that perfect day when moon phase and weather is just right for having a prime muskie spot all to your lonesome to enjoy, forget tournament life. That said, there is a whole lot to learn from what the tournament anglers do to make your “everyday” fishing a whole lot more enjoyable and productive.

EQUIPMENT PREPARATIONTournament guys spend a lot of prep-time on their

tools. And, it’s not just sharpening hooks. Interestingly, most of us find a whole lot of everyday anglers that take a bait from the package and just tie it on. Ninety percent of the time, it’s a non-sharpened hook not sharp enough to make a good hook-set. Thirty percent of the time, it’s not even the right hook in the first place, or really poor quality. Muskies are just too hard to catch

and you can’t give them the ball and field position too. And, Equipment means a lot more than rods and reels. I’ll grant that most of you planning your big muskie trip will change the oil in your truck, maybe even make a pretty good tire inspection including the spare. What about the spare for your boat trailer, with what’s likely a different sized lug nut on the trailer wheel, and a jack for the trailer? How about your wheel bearings? I promise you that sooner or later wheel bearings will take a turn at ruining your trip. Tournament guys always have a spare prop, the right sized wrench for the prop-shaft nut and a collection of spare parts that you should have too. Sure, we have only one chance to be prepared for a tournament day, but what about your day—or your trip? We look for stuff that can ruin our day because we’ve had ruined days. Stuff, like the little ceramic circles inside the line-guides on your rod can break your heart worse than the last three minutes of the Packer game in Seattle. You can take a Q-tip and rub the cotton swab in the line guide and quickly find a rough edge. Or, you can discover it after your braid was slowly but surely worn away and your fish swims away with the last ten yards of line, your leader, a thirty dollar crank bait, and a piece of your heart.

Did you just put your reels away at the end of the season and expect they would be fine next spring? I assure you that every tournament angler I know does not. Some guys like to tear them all down themselves, something to do on a cold winter night. I like to send them to Sportsman’s Repair up in Mosinee, but my reels are not going to see two seasons without serious maintenance, and that goes double for the braid. Have your trolling motor batteries been in the boat for three or four years? If so, I’d say you are poised to live with

TOURNAMENT LESSONS FOR EVERYDAY FISHING

- Marty Forman

disappointment. Do you have a spare blade for the trolling motor, a really good anchor if you break down on a windy day, and a first aid kit all ready to remove a muskie treble deep in your partners arm? It’s all in my boat because I’ve already needed it in a tournament. But, it’s there for just fun days too. Cork rod handles and grips are pretty easy to clean with a little alcohol and will look nicer while providing a better surface to grip. Trust me, I’m just scratching the surface here. So, to summarize the first part of the lesson, look closely at the equipment you’re going to depend upon and admit that what can possibly go wrong—eventually will go wrong. Plan for it, and you will save your day on the water, maybe your one big trip to Canada all year.

DO YOUR RESEARCHOne thing common among tournament anglers is a

thirst for research. You can probably find three sites with a hundred fishing reports each for the lake you’re planning to visit. Sure, you need to establish a filter for separating the outright BS from the comment containing truth or a code you can hopefully solve. Here’s a great secret: Every full-time muskie guide on that lake has a website with a section full of big fish photos. He may have 150 individual photos on that site taken with clients who caught fish in his boat. Study those photos and you can likely pick out homes, beaches or docks in the background. You might even pick up on seasonal stuff, and what the weather was like, maybe even time of day if a wristwatch is visible or a shadow. The totally bent up bait he was tossing might also be lying nearby on the deck with a part visible you can recognize.

You can study Google Earth or even buy satellite weather photos that can be super-imposed onto your lake chip to help place vegetation or weed lines that are not visible the day you are there, but were clear on the day the photos were taken. Don’t forget your chip also holds a lake library. You can go home tonight and bring

up that map and start s t u d y i n g m o n t h s before your trip. And, you can put in waypoints too that will stay on the map until you erase

them. As you do your studying, you can enter what you learn right on the lake chip with all sorts of customized icons to remind you when you see them on the water. You can take a paper copy to your fishing club on the night when your favorite pro is speaking and get there early. Help him set up for his seminar, maybe carry a few boxes of stuff in from his truck, and I promise he’ll get chatty for you. Sure, you can always ask at the bait shop too like everybody else (and you should), but the bars and restaurants will often be full of folks with a good story and no baits to sell.

Every June, the Professional Muskie Tournament Trail (PMTT) event in Eagle River is exactly one week after the Spring Classic of Champions on the very same chain of lakes. Anglers who take the trouble to look on the web for results of the Classic, will see how many fish were caught last week, the sizes, and on what lakes, maybe the baits too if the truth was told. No question, you can always just show up and follow some other boat down a shoreline, but I promise you’ll find this research to be fun as well as totally rewarding. The fish you net as a result of your study will feel just like a diploma.

NOT JUST TIME ON THE WATERI hear you, “Time on the water” is one of those

sayings you can get sick and tired of hearing repeated. Every dummy already knows the anglers who have a lot of time on the water have learned a lot. Personally, I know more young guys who have maximized their time, expanded their learning potential, and know a whole lot more than most of the old guys on the lake. But, I’m not talking about that kind of time on the water—I’m talking about the actual time in hours and minutes your bait is moving through the water on this particular day. The real truth about why a lot of fish are caught trolling is in these minutes that define when fish can be caught. The dark side of the truth is in how many minutes when fish can’t be caught. The boat has no challenge keeping your bait in the water unless it hits something or runs out of gas. There’s probably not a whole lot of research to back this up, but I personally have fallen asleep while trolling and woken up to my partner yelling, “Fish!” The time when you’re learning to line up your trailer at the ramp or get it parked evenly between the yellow lines, and the time you have trouble starting an un-tuned motor are fish catching minutes you squandered. Time near the ramp studying your map and arguing with boat partners also can’t catch fish. Endlessly leaving spots to drive around the


It’s only a matter of time before you will have to change a spare prop, so carry one

just in case.

lake aimlessly and sometimes an hour or more of daylight bent over your bait box looking for a silver bullet to cast are also fish catching minutes in the garbage.

There’s probably no better place to learn from a tournament pro than from the way he manages his time on the water. He only has a set number of hours to fish and he’s laid his money down on the line against the field to prove he’s going to make the most of that time. Put simply, it’s not about tournament fishing; it’s got to be about catching. People who marvel at Kevin VanDam’s bass winnings maybe don’t know that photographic evidence exists to show his finely tuned motion gets his bait back into the water faster than any other pro on the circuit. It translates into dozens more casts per day against anglers at the very highest level. Naturally, he casts farther too and that just adds to the possible fish catching time. What are you doing with your time? Are you rusty at boat handling? Are you picking out more backlashes than the next guy? Are you using tackle that’s too heavy for you and you’re just plain tuckered out? If you are, you’re wasting time, you should thank the Lord that there’s some level of luck in muskie fishing. You’re going to need it!

IN SUMMARYI think a fair approach here is to look at what

you want to take from the tournament guys and gals like navigating a menu at a Greek restaurant. There is simply too much to choose from and you might turn ten pages before you find a cheeseburger and fries. I’d suggest you take what you want and leave the rest. We don’t get a lunch break in a muskie tournament, (not a bathroom break either) and there is simply no need for you to miss out on a nice shore lunch. After all, you’re on vacation. Still, your day too has only so many hours and you shouldn’t just kick them away. Take a good gander

at a tournament guy on TV sometime. See how it’s just a very few seconds from when the motor shuts down, his trolling motor is deployed and his bait is being pulled through the water. That’s just practice and you can do it. Watch how easily he picks up the next rod on the deck without missing a beat and he’s got a whole different presentation; you can do that too, or you can be fumbling in a rod locker. The pro muskie angler isn’t sitting in his chair staring at a hopeless birds nest in the middle of his reel. He’s laid that rod down out of the way, is casting with a ready spare, and picking the backlash after dinner in the cabin. There’s no clutter visible on the deck, and nothing that looks like the day after a tornado hit the muskie shop. The pro has four or five baits out and all of them have caught fish or initiated follows in the pre-fishing. A great tournament pro is like a great quarterback following a two-minute drill to get points on the board. It’s equipment management, time management, talent, conditioning and hopefully a little luck. No great player will ever tell you he’s not looking for a little luck or hoping for a helping hand from above. After a while you just sort of notice how the fellow with all the hard work and preparation seems to grab a bigger share of that stuff.

It just might help to imagine that all your muskie fishing is very much like a tournament. You may be all alone on the lake, there may be no rules, regulations or money on the line, but you know there is a competition going on. It’s a competition that’s ongoing with every muskie angler and the better angler who lives within you. It’s not just catching your personal best; it’s being the personal best you know you have in you!


If you feel overwhelmed

like the author here

in a tournament,

it’s game over! You

simply can’t spend all day trying to pick

a bait.

Your spare rods with appropriate throwback baits should be right where you can easily pick them up.

No. Chapter, Address Phone #01.....Twin Cities, 2024 Idaho Ave. E., Saint Paul, MN 55119 ...................................651-353-376902.....Fargo-Moorhead, Box 2021, Fargo ND, 58107 ................................................920-207-544103.....Chicagoland Muskie Hunters, 2801 Old Glenview Rd, Wilmette Il 60091.......847-256-932204.....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, 14 26th St. SW Mason City, IA 50401 .............................................641-430-696111 .....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 .................................................740-733-814419.....Akron-Canton Muskie Maniacs, 3907 McTaggart Blvd. Kent, OH 44240 .............. 330-221-7617 20.....Between the lakes, PO Box 61, Sheboygan Falls, WI 53085-0061 ................920-602-141921.....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 ..........................815-703-936533.....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, 1094 Eastmoor Blvd. Columbus, OH 43209 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, PO Box 6, Bemidji, MN 56619 ..........................................218-766-669747.....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, 31900 104th Ave. SE #F205 Auburn, WA 98092 .................253-833-172558.....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

Chapter News and ViewsATTENTION

CHAPTER CONTACTS:Please make sure

your chapter addressand phone number

is correct on this pageAND on the M.I. website.

Whenever you update chapter information on

the website, please send an email to the Editor so we can

keep this page current. Thanks!

Special Events2015$10,000 Payout From Chapter 5The longest muskie recorded in the

Lunge Log for Pomme de Terre Lake is 48 inches and the local MI chapter would like to see a larger fish recorded. During the Fall Tournament on October 2nd - 4th, 2015, the chapter is offering $10,000 for a 48.25 inch or longer muskie. Most fisher-men in the area believe that muskies this size exist in the lake, but haven’t been caught recently because most fishermen don’t fish “big fish waters” very often.

If you would like a shot at the big pot and the regular tournament payouts, join us this fall in southern Missouri for three days of muskie fishing. For complete information about the tournament and the $10,000 special prize, check out our web-site at www.MissouriMuskies.org or con-tact Wayne Humphrey, 314-440-2173, or George Donner, 816-678-1623.


Joe Cook holds a nice 41 incher caught

during the tournament in

2014.


For ten years, Muskies, Inc. worked out an arrangement with various lure manufacturers to produce a limited amount of a specific lures each year, in which Muskies, Inc. sold to member chapters and individual members as the Commemorative Lure. These lures were marked with the specific year and also numbered. Chapters had the first option of purchasing the lures with their chapter numbers. This commemorative lure also functioned as a fundraiser for the International. The Twin Cities Chapter purchased lure #1 of each series.

After ten years, this program was stopped and individual chapters had to figure out what to do with the lures. The Board of Directors of the Twin Cities Chapter contacted Rory Potter from the Bemidji/Cass Lake Chapter and asked if he would be willing to make a display case for the

lures. The Board felt this collection of lures should be displayed for historical reasons as well as being an attractive presentation to help to educate the general public.

Rory developed a method to display the lures and included it in a beautiful case (shown here). You can see his outstanding work in the attached photo. We will display these lures at shows and banquets in the future. The Board would like to thank Rory for his exceptional work. If other Chapters would like to purchase a similar case to display their lures, they should contact Rory Potter at the Bemidji/Cass Lake Chapter.

- Tom Keith

The Chicagoland Muskie Hunters are on the move, literally. Our meeting location for the past many years, the Park Ridge VFW, is being sold. Fortunately, we were able to find a new location that seems to perfectly fit our needs. Our new meeting location is Giuseppe’s La Cantina Pizzeria at 1062 Lee Street in Des Plaines, not very far from our previous meeting location. We’ll continue to meet the second Tuesday of the month. The new location has ample free parking, a bar, and it also has food service; an amenity which the old location did not have. Our first meeting at Giuseppe’s will be Tuesday, August 11.

In other chapter news, we held our Members Only Fishing Contest (MOFC) Awards ceremony at the April Meeting. Congratulations to all the winners who are pictured to the right. The awards ceremony must have inspired some members to hit the water with added vigor, as our 2015 MOFC entries started to increase quite a bit after that meeting. Of course the stable weather and warming water probably helped, too. As of mid-May, we have 23 fish logged by 11 anglers, from 13 different lakes. These numbers are sure to increase as the season continues to open across the muskie range as well as on some of our chapter’s most productive and popular destinations, such as Lake St. Clair and Lake of the Woods.

We were treated to a highly informative presentation on bait modifications from Sean Bermingham at our May meeting. Sean is one of those guys who doesn’t fish any bait ‘out of the box’. He inspects each bait and modifies it to get the exact sound and action he wants. From putting the right bend on a Suick fluke, to up-sizing hooks and split rings, to noticing the eye placement on a bait on the rack at the store, it all matters. Sean gave us some great advice on what to look for and how to tune a wide variety of baits.

We’ll look to put Sean’s advice, as well as all the other great advice we received from our presenters this past winter, to good use this season or at of our upcoming Chapter Outings. Outings Director Joe Pavilonis, has put together a nice line-up of fun events, starting with the 6th Annual Bilka Blow-Out on the Fox Chain on June 13th. We’ll meet up again on the Fox Chain on July 11th. We’ll also be sending at least one team to the Gil Hamm Chapter Challunge on Leech Lake in August. On October 24th and 25th, we’ll be co-hosting the IMTT Championship (read about it in the MUSKIE News section of this issue) on the Fox Chain, and we’re also looking to have a Vilas County Outing sometime in late fall.

We also have a Youth Event scheduled for June 6th. We’ll be working with the Buffalo Grove Park District to help put on the 32nd Annual Huck Finn Fishing Derby on Green Lake, in Buffalo Grove. Our members will be providing on-site manpower by assisting kids with casting, landing and unhooking fish. This event is a fun way to get kid’s involved in fishing. Every kid that participates will receive a gift bag at the event and awards will be given for the longest fish, most fish caught, most unique catch and the most colorful fish.

We’ll be taking a break from our monthly indoor meetings in June and July, but you can keep up with all our Chapter’s activities and catches by following us on Facebook, facebook.com/chicagolandmuskiehunters.

- Keep on chuckin’, Frank Loye

As we hit the summer months, the Capital City Chapter of Muskies, Inc. (CCMI) is as busy as the local lakes that we fish. Our May membership meeting speaker was CCMI’s very own Matt “Catfish” Firestein of Whopper Stopper Guide Service on Lake St. Clair (LSC). We had a good turnout and “Catfish” did a great job sharing his knowledge and tactics of both casting and trolling for muskies. He specializes in catching monster muskies on LSC, but he did a great job in conveying his fishing knowledge to the group, so that it can be applied to any kind of water that our members might be fishing throughout the season. It was another terrific monthly membership meeting for CCMI and it always makes for a good night when you have one of your own headlining the show.

May also included a very popular event with our club members, the CCMI “Madison Chain Outing”. It was a well-attended event, with 45 participants; there were four muskies boated during the day. The winning fish was a very healthy 38.5 inch, Lake Waubesa muskie caught by Jason Williams. Luke Vike, Sr. took second with a beautifully marked 38.25 inch Lake Monona fish and Chad Niday came in third with a nice looking 37.5 inch Lake Waubesa fish. Matt Vike caught the fourth muskie, a 32.25 inch, Leech Lake strain muskie from Monona, which provided value in that we had a successful PIT Tag scan on the fish and gained some valuable data for our ongoing stocking study. A big thank you to Karen Phillips for running the event and I also want to thank all of those who participated in what was a really a fantastic day of fishing fun.

June marked our first “On-The-Water” Meeting. We met at Goodland Park, on the shores of Lake Waubesa. We had a good group of people at the meeting and a fine mix of both new CCMI members and more tenured club members, as well. We held a short business portion for the meeting, shared some fish stories, enjoyed a cookout and then hit the water for a little Monday night muskie action. The following weekend brought the Wisconsin Youth Muskie Championship on June 13th. It’s an excellent event to get kids out on the water and get them fishing and enjoying some of the local waters that we are so fortunate to have. The WI Youth Muskie Championship is a high quality event year in and year out, and so much of the credit for that goes to Michael Winther, who has also been our Release Contest Chairman and a member of CCMI Board of Directors.

June wrapped up with a third CCMI event, the 32nd Annual Bill Wood Memorial Lake Winter Outing on June 20th. This event honors one of our founders and our first President, Bill Wood. This was yet another fun event and a classic example of CCMI camaraderie at its finest. The event

Twin Cities204 Idaho Ave E., Saint Paul, MN 55119

615-353-3769 - Eric Schultzwww.twincitiesmuskiesinc.org

Meets 2nd Tuesday 7:00 PM, Knights of Columbus, 114 W79th St Bloomington, MN, near the SE corner of the intersection of I-494 and I-35W.

1CHAPTER

Chicagoland Muskie Hunters7600 Kilbourn Ave. Skokie, Il 60076

847-256-9322 – Dean [email protected]

Meets the 2nd Tuesday of each month @ 7:30 PM, Giuseppe’s la Cantina Pizzeria @

1062 lee Street in Des Plaines

3CHAPTER

Capital CityP.O. Box 8862, Madison, WI 53708608-669-5046 – Gerard Hellenbrand

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

8CHAPTER

was open to all Sawyer County Lakes and not just Lake Winer and gave the attendees the liberty to go fish some of their favorite Northern Wisconsin waters. The event concluded on Saturday evening with a dinner at the Trailside Tavern and Grill, where the good times continued to roll. Congratulations and a big thank you go out to Geoff Crandall and John and Sue Eversoll for coordinating the event, which was a great time and another wonderful Lake Winter outing.

CCMI takes a break over the summer to allow for its members to take their fishing trips, enjoy the Madison Chain, and spend time with their friends and family. Our events resume on August 10th for our August On-the-Water meeting. We will have a short meeting, complete with fish stories, raffles, and a cookout at the Goodland Park shelter and then it will be time to fire up the boats and get out on the water for the rest of the night. The 2nd Annual CCMI Lake of the Woods Outing occurs August 15-22 and as I write this, the event has been full for quite some time and quite possibly even has a waiting list of potential attendees. Thank you to Michael Winther for doing a terrific job in running the Lake of the Woods outing.

As time goes on, life presents us with opportunities, changes, challenges, and new chapters; this does not always allow for the extra time required to meet the many demands that come with being active in a Muskies, Inc. Chapter. I would like to take the time to thank some of the people who have contributed a lot of time, talent, energy, and ideas to this club and are now either going to be cutting back on their responsibilities in the club, moving on from the Board of Directors, or are just taking a well-deserved break to enjoy life a little bit more. CCMI owes a great deal of gratitude and extends a big thank you to: Don & Liz Hollatz, Gerard Hellenbrand, Matthew Newman, Dan Reim, and Michael Winther

I encourage everyone to check out our website www.capitalcitymuskiesinc.org for all of the latest Capital City Chapter Muskies, Inc. news and events. The site also includes our latest Release Contest standings as well as photo gallery, packed with a ton of good looking fish caught by our many members. I wish you success in your summer muskie fishing pursuits and I hope you catch a monster.

- President Luke Vike, Sr.

Scott Morrison, District VI Fisheries Biologist and Chris O’Bara, Warm Water Fisheries Hatchery Manager of the WV DNR spoke at our Annual Meeting. Scott told us about studies underway on the New and Kanawha Rivers. Time and date of movements of muskies implanted with transmitters are recorded. On the New River, the study area includes water from Sandstone Falls to Hawk’s Nest. There are nine muskies (five male and four female) are carrying transmitters and six of them are over 40 inches in length.

The Kanawha River study area covers about 12 miles from London Locks and Dam upstream to Kanawha Falls. Seventeen muskies that were implanted with transmitters are recorded as they pass stationary receivers strategically located throughout the study area. Most of these fish were collected near Kanawha Falls in the spring. Two of them reappeared at the Falls on the same day in October. They seemed to relocate or move the most when water temps are between 53 degrees and 60 degrees.

On December 27th about half of the fish were holding in deep water a short distance upstream from London Dam within a small area in the middle of the river unrelated to any shoreline structure. Chris O’Bara said that transition to advanced fingerling stocking is complete. Only advanced fingerlings averaging 10 to 12 inches were stocked in 2014. They generally average stocking about 2,000 muskies per year although slightly more than 2,000 were stocked in 2014.

Chris suspects there is a possible viral infection (Esocid Lymphosaroma) in WV muskies. He requests that if we catch a muskie with a tumor or lesion, we immediately call or text Jeff Hansbarger, Katie Zipfel or Chris O’Bara and send a picture. If possible, DNR will dispatch a qualified staff member to obtain a tissue sample for diagnosis. The fish needs to be alive or recently deceased when the sample is taken. This condition is not

Mail registration form by September 14th or register in person Thursday September 17th

The 1st WI Chapter of Muskies Inc. 39th Annual Musky Tournament

September 18-19-20, 2015

TOURNAMENT WATERS Lakes and Rivers in Barron, Chippewa, Eau Claire and Rusk Counties

THIS IS A TOTAL RELEASE TOURNAMENT Muskies 34” and longer can be counted on all tournament waters

TOURNAMENT REGISTRATION After Sept 1st

Single …………………………………… $ 50.00 ……… $ 55.00 Husband & Wife …………………………… $ 70.00 ……… $ 80.00 Juniors (under 18) …………........................ $ 20.00 ……… $ 20.00

2014 TOURNAMENT RESULTS 195 PARTICIPANTS

87 TOTAL MUSKIES CAUGHT AND RELEASED 31 MUSKIES OVER 40 INCHES

49.5 INCH LONGEST RELEASED

PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE @ WWW.FIRSTWIMUSKIESINC.ORG



September 18-19-20, 2015











September 18-19-20, 2015









West Virginia1270 Federal Road • little Hocking, OH 45742

740-667-3571www.westvirginiamuskiesinc.org Meets: No definite schedule-call

9CHAPTER

(Continued on page 26)

believed to be harmful to humans and is not always lethal to the fish.Recent Tournament Results:Spring Mail-In: A total of 19 members representing 12 teams fished our first tournament of the season. The father and son team, Dave and Derek Wenzel, won with a great 46 incher brought to the boat in Middle Island Creek.The Odie Cutlip Memorial on Stonewall Jackson Reservoir: This outing attracted 48 members and guests competing as 24 teams on a fabulous weekend to be on the water. A total of 11 fish were caught and released (five fish were over 40 inches) with the team of John Bever and Greg Knight winning with two fish measuring 39 and 38inches for a total of 25 points. Thanks to all who participated in our outings and to those serving as

chairpersons to make them a success.- Secretary, John Kaltenecker

Greetings to all of the old, current, and future friends of Heartland Muskie Chapter 10. We have undergone several changes since you heard from our chapter last. First, I would like to take a minute to let you all know that one of our founding members, as well as a longtime friend and 2nd President of this chapter, Chris McCabe passed away last June. We salute his service and dedication to this chapter; he will be greatly missed, such as the forefathers before him.

With that said, we greet you from the following board members: President – Ryan Wilcke; Vice President – Brian Buehler; Treasurer – Ron Lafrenz, and Secretary – Scott Pingel. Along with some new leadership, our chapter has also added a new website and Facebook page, please take a few minutes to check us out.

We held our 15th Annual Stan Harrison Spring Tune-up this year on April 11 and had a great turn out. Thanks to all who participated and made this one of the clubs best tournaments yet! We had 58 entrants, with a record 23 fish caught during the tournament. We would like to recognize our winners: 1st Place-Scott Yaeger, 3 fish (2 – 36 inchers and a 34 inch) total 28 points; 2nd Place-Matt Olson, 2 fish (39 inch and 31 inch) total 18 points; 3rd Place-Lee Rankin, 2 fish (38 inch and 31 inch) total 17 points; 4th Place-Grant Lodden, 2 fish (36 inch and 32 inch) total 16 points; and 5th Place Shane Boeshart, 2 fish (34 inch and 32 inch) total 14 points. While these were the tournament leaders, 12 additional anglers made catches during the tournament. Thanks for a great tournament and look forward to seeing you next year.

We are already working on planning for next year’s tournament to make the Spring Tune-up even bigger and better. Our sponsors out do themselves each year and continue to contribute very generously to our club; we are always looking to add new ones on as well.

We have talked about having some short notice side-pot events this summer, so keep Chapter 10 on your radar and we would love to see you there. That’s all for now and hope for those warm summer evenings when you can’t throw a bad cast, thanks again.

- Scott Pingel

Greetings to all our Muskies, Inc. friends from the beautiful Northwoods of Wisconsin! As we write this, we are in the early stages of summer and the muskie fishing didn’t take long to heat up. As this edition of Muskies, Inc. hits the newsstands, we are putting the finishing touches on the Headwaters Chapter Spring Classic of Champions Catch and Release Muskie Tournament.

The Spring Classic is the oldest, most prestigious muskie tournament in the Northwoods and this year’s event will be no exception. We are on

track to have the largest number of teams in several years for the Classic, which takes place June 13th- 14th on the Eagle River Chain of Lakes. Please check our Facebook page for pictures of all the action - “Spring Classic Muskie Tournament”.

In addition to the Classic, the Headwaters Chapter is keeping busy with our exciting schedule of Club Outings. These are fun, one day events, where two person teams can fish anywhere. Then at the end of day, we get together for a fun evening of food, drinks, and raffle prizes. The first Outing took place over Memorial Day weekend and we met at the Oneida Village in Three Lakes. Our next Club Outing takes place up in the uncharted wilds of Conover, on July 11th. We hope you will be able to join us. For more info please contact Bill Jacobs at [email protected] or by phone (715) 891-5574.

Along with the tournaments and outings, our chapter is once again involved in the popular Flea Markets taking place though out the summer in St. Germaine. If you haven’t been to one of these, you’re lucky. No seriously, you really need to check it out. Our chapter has a 10 x 10 display booth with more inventory then you’ll find in Macy’s basement. You’ll find all kinds of lures and tackle, previously used, but still in great condition. Participating in the Flea Market is a great way to raise funds for our chapter, and our thanks to Joe and his crew for all their hard work.

Finally, we are back at work repairing or replacing many of the heavily used boat ramps and public docks in the area. Much of the money raised by our chapter goes to maintain these heavily used boat ramps. If you’ve ever launched at one of the more popular lakes in the Eagle River area, chances are we had a lot to do with maintaining the ramp!

We still meet 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.

Tom White and Dale “Musky Pete” Peterson conducted a rod building class for six members of the Headwaters Chapter of Muskies, Inc. on April 11th. Before class, “Musky Pete” turned some wood handles out of basswood to look like fish. Thanks to Bill Ballou for his class last year at the North Central Regional Rod Guild conducted at Park Falls, WI. His handles were beautiful and I decided to give it a try. I turned the handles round and then sanded the tails flat. Wood burned the gills and tail and then drilled and put in fish eyes. Matt (11yrs. old) and Isaac (12 yrs.old) Vedder came over to my house and air brushed the fish. They did a great job and they had their handles ready for class. Matt and Issac are shown in the picture to the right with Musky Pete. Ron Waller, Andy Hendrickson, and Fred Brogle built muskie rods, while Matt, Isaac, and Brent Kiedrowski built spinning rods. Most of the builders applied marbling to their rods. We started at about 8:30 a.m., at Brent’s shop and everyone finished by 5 p.m. The rods dried overnight and everyone came back Sunday morning to pick up their new custom made rods. Matt and Isaac were especially excited to get their rods and their mother said they haven’t stopped talking about them since.

- PR Director, Scott Samuels

The Hayward Chapter’s June meeting had DNR research biologist, Jeff Kampa, as the guest speaker. Jeff has been running the “Pit Tag” project in Sawyer county. There are now over 18,000 tagged fish, which are being caught and scanned by not only DNR staff, but also local guides who have scanners purchased by our club. The result is that new and very accurate information is being gathered on growth rates, population density, movement within and between lakes and even the number of fish going over or through dams. This information can help with decisions on stocking, size limits and potential for fish of different genetic backgrounds. We expect to be able to continue to support this project as we go into the future. During the last few months, the Hayward Chapter has donated


Heartland14 26th St. SW Mason City, IA 50401

641-430-6961 - Ryan Wilckewww.heartlandmuskies.org and Facebook @ Heartland

Muskies, Inc. Chapter 1010CHAPTER

Headwaters923 Catfish Drive

Eagle River, WI 54521715-547-3340

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

12CHAPTER

Hayward lakesP.O. Box 609

Hayward, WI 54843715-634-4543

13CHAPTER


38th ANNUAL

MuskieTOURNAMENT

EVERYONE WHO RELEASES A FISH 34” OR LARGER WILL RECEIVE A PLAQUE

Hayward Lakes Chapter Muskies, Inc.Presents the:

$30,000in prizes

GRAND DOOR PRIZE: Boat, Motor & TrailerAGAIN THIS YEAR! Boat, motor & trailer to be awarded as the

Grand Door Prize at the Sunday Awards Ceremony.Only tournament entrants are eligible. You MUST be present to win.

2015 Lund 1725 Pro Guide Tiller with aShoreLand’r Trailer, a 2015 60hp Mercury Motor

PLEASE PRINT

NAME PHONE

STREET

CITY STATE ZIPAll people in boat must be paid contestants.

NO ENTRIES ACCEPTED BY MAIL POSTMARKED AFTER SEPTEMBER 19, 2015. Register in person at Hayward Bait & Tackleor Jenk’s Bait & Tackle (or via phone & fax, call Hayward Bait at 715-634-2921) until 11pm, October 1, 2015.

WAIVERIn consideration of being permitted to participate among and on boats under the auspices of Muskies, Inc. International and Hayward Lakes Chapter, I acknowledge, appreciate, and agree that:1. “I am aware of the inherent risk associated with fishing and boating, including but not limited to the risks of collisions with other boats and stationary objects in and around the lake, including rocks, reefs or piers orother vehicles and trailers at landing areas. I am familiar with other risks up to and including death by drowning associated with rough water, changing weather patterns, heavy winds and lightning storms. I expresslyassume all risks associated with this tournament and hereby release Muskies, Inc. International and Hayward Lakes Chapter of Muskies, Inc., the host, sponsors, and tournament officials from all claims of negligenceresulting from injury and/or property damages incurred in connection with the tournament.”2. I knowingly and freely assume all such risks, both known and unknown, even if arising from the negligence of those persons released from liability below, and assume full responsibility for my participation; and3. I will comply with all rules and regulations. If I have any question, or observe any unusual or unnecessary hazard during my participation, I will immediately bring such to the attention of the nearest official;4. I, for myself and on behalf of my heirs, assigns, personal representatives and next of kin, hereby release, indemnify and hold harmless the Muskies, Inc. International and Hayward Lakes Chapter, the owners and lessorsof premises used to conduct the tournament, their officers, officials, (“Releasees”), with respect to any and all injury, disability, death, or loss or damage to person or property, whether caused by the negligence of theReleasees or otherwise, to the fullest extent permitted by law.

I have read this release of liability and assumption of risk agreement, fully understand its terms, understand that I have given up substantial rights by signing it, and sign it freely and voluntarily without any inducement.

X____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Date Signed: ______________________________

FOR PARTICIPANTS OF MINORITY AGE (UNDER 18 AT TIME OF REGISTRATION)This is to certify that I, as parent/guardian of this participant, do consent and agree to his/her indemnification, release and hold harmless as provided above of all Releasees, and I, for myself and behalf of my heirs, assigns and next to kin, hereby release, indemnify and hold harmlessthe Releasees from any and all claims incident to my child’s involvement in these programs even if arising out of the negligence of the Releasees, to the fullest extent permitted by law.

X (PARENT/GUARDIAN’S SIGNATURE) ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Date Signed: ______________________________

Hayward Lakes Chapter Muskies Inc. reserves the right to reject any registration. For more information, visit us on the web at www.muskiesinc.orgMAIL TO: Hayward Lakes Chapter Muskies, Inc., Box 609, Hayward, WI 54843 • 715/634-2921 or 715/634-4543

2015 REGISTRATION BLANK

TOURNAMENT FEE_____ $80 Open Entry ($90 after Sept. 19)

_____ $25 FOR AGES 16 & UNDER (Eligible for all major prizes)

Boat, motor and trailer to be awardedas the Grand Door Prize at the SundayAwards Ceremony. Only tournamententrants are eligible. You MUST bepresent to win.

AGAIN THIS YEAR...

Prizes & Trophies Awarded to First 10 Places$1,500 Gift Certificate to Cabela’s

$1,000 Gift Certificate to Hayward Bait & TackleTrolling Motors, Depth Finders, GPS Units, Rods, Reels, Cameras, and much more!

GRAPHITE REPLICA FOR LARGEST FISH RELEASED!!

October 2-3-4, 2015TOTAL RELEASE TOURNAMENT

Saturday Night - GIANT RAFFLESaturday, October 3, 7-8:30PM • hors d’oeuvres and drinks

Raffle starts at 8:30PM at the FLAT CREEK INN & SUITESSunday - Awards, Ceremony & Grand Door Prize Drawing

Sunday, October 4, 1-2:30PM • hors d’oeuvres and drinksAwards & Drawing 2:30PM at the FLAT CREEK INN & SUITES

• Chippewa Flowage • Spider Chain • Moose Lake• Lac Courte Oreilles • Ghost Lake • Clear Lake• Lost Land-Teal Lakes • Callahan Lake • Lake Hayward• Eau Claire Chain • Whitefish Lake • Tiger Cat Flowage• Grindstone Lake • Sand Lake • Big Sissabagama• Lake Namakagon • Round Lakes

17 Tournament Lakes

money to the DNR. For the Spooner hatchery, we provided $5,000 for a new 50-HP out board to replace an old 40-HP used on the boat used for spring netting. We supplied $4,000 and the Hugh Becker fund supplied $4,000 in fencing around rearing ponds to keep out otters. We purchased two locators/GPS units, one for the hatchery crew boat and one for our local biologist and crew. We bought three pit tag scanners for DNR use. We purchased three new nets for the electro fishing boat. The Muskie Alliance is supporting a project with a biologist who is implanting transmitters in muskies, we donated $500. We have offered to donate $1,000 to a handicap fishing pier to be installed on the Chippewa Flowage. All of this funding is possible because of the fishermen who participate in our annual fall tournament. This year’s event is will be on October 2nd – 4th so come out and join the fun (ad on previous page).

The events for our chapter are shown below, but we also have fishing outings every other Wednesday, the times and locations are shown on our website if you’d like to join us. Also note our kids fishing day, we always have room for more kids and guides.

Upcoming events calendar is as follows:Sunday, July 12th - Fishing Outing and Picnic – Fish during the day and meet at 6 p.m. at Mike and Deanna’s house for beer and brats provided by the club. Bring family, friends or prospective club members. Please RSVP to Mike Persson (715) 634-4543Sunday, August 2nd from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. - Annual Kids Fishing Day. Club members guide youngsters on Tiger Cat Flowage. Shore lunch at noon with prizes for kids. All club members and friends are encouraged to help as guides and cooks. The event is to be held at the Beer Bellies. Fishing will be on Upper Twin and other nearby lakes. For more information call Mike Persson (715) 634-4543.Tuesday, September 1st - Business Meeting @ 6 p.m. (to prepare for tournament). General Meeting @ 7 p.m. with Guest speaker Neal Rosenberg the manager of the Spooner Fish Hatchery. Neil will cover all aspects of hatchery operation and fish stocking for muskies and other species. Meeting is at Coop’s Pizza*Friday, October 2nd – Sunday October 4th - 38th Annual Fall Tournament. Saturday night raffle, Sunday awards ceremony at the Flat Creek Inn - Hwy. 27 – ½ mile south of Hayward. For more information call Mike Persson (715) 634-4543 or visit our website. Tuesday, November 3rd - 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 at Coop’s Pizza*.December - Annual Christmas Party - Date to be announced.January 5th, 2016 - Business Meeting @ 7 p.m. - To plan year 2016 projects, activities and budget. All board members are asked to attend. All interested members are welcome. The meeting will be 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

visit our club’s website www.muskiesinc-hayward.org.*Coop’s Pizza is at 10588N California Street in HaywardReminder: Register your muskie catches with Hayward Lakes Chapter

of Muskies, Inc. and be a part of the muskie 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.

- Good fishing, Mike Persson

Twenty members fished the April 20th tournament without much cooperation from the fish. Pete Sall caught a 40 inch and 38 inch fish to walk away with first place. The only other fish caught, was a sub-legal that earned Chet Snezek an honorable mention. I tried to confirm the results of the May tournament before submitting this article, but Tournament Director Sam Reichenbach was in Columbus performing his civic duty serving on a jury. Un-officially Jim Petrozzi took first place,

Chet Snezek in second, and Pete Sall in third. Congratulations to Sam Reichenbach for receiving recognition from

the Ohio State Senate. District thirty State Senator Lou Gentile was at the May meeting and made the presentation. Sam had received the Lou Vidoni Man of the Year award at February’s Awards Banquet. Senator Gentile is the co-chair of Ohio’s Sportsmen’s Committee. The Senator was treated to the chapter’s famous May chicken BBQ and received an invitation to the October fish fry.

Submitting catches to Ohio’s muskie log is essential to tracking stocking success. There are forms available at the meeting for those that don’t submit their catches online. If a particular lake doesn’t show expected catch results, there is a risk it could be dropped from the stocking program.

- VP, Kevin Singhaus

The fishing season finally opened in our area and everyone is glad to be back on the water. There has already been a few nice catches reported. April was a busy month for the chapter. Our youth director, Luke Mancl - 13 years old, along with his dad Mark, organized a bus trip to The Wild Rose Fish Hatchery. They took 24 kids from the Sheboygan Boys and Girls club and the Big Brothers and Sisters (see group photo above), along with some chaperones and club members, to the Hatchery. This was a 100 mile trip each way. The kids got to see the inner workings of a large hatchery where are muskies, northerns, salmon, walleyes, trout, and sturgeon come from. The salmon spawn in fall, so there were lots of them to see. They also got to feed a bunch of 20 pound brown trout in the outside ponds. They stopped in a park along the way for lunch and each kid received a gift bag from the club and door prizes. It was an interesting trip for a lot of kids who don’t get a chance to get out of the city much.

On April 14th, the club held our annual banquet, we had 283 attendees. At the banquet, the Sheboygan County Food Pantry collected a whole truck load of food, and in addition, the club presented them with a check for $1,000. The club also donated $1,678.10 to the Children’s Hospital. This is our main fundraiser for the year.

The club has built two small and one large floating fishing piers for the Camp YKoda YMCA camp pond. Greg Wells has engineered and spear headed the project.

On April 25th, The Sheboygan County Conservation Association (SCCA), which is made up of 28 Conservation clubs in the county, held their annual Awards Night and Chapter 20 Muskies, Inc. club was awarded the Club of the Year. Our youth director, Luke Mancl, was awarded Youth Conservationist of the Year for his work on getting fish stocked back in the Sheboygan Marsh after a winter kill.

The club muskie league started May 14th and alternates between Elkhart Lake and Random Lake. It is every other Thursday night. Last year there were 42 members that fished it and you switch partners every time. It’s a good way to get to know all the members. It’s organized by Rich Kammerer.

Well I’m going fishing now, - Mike Scholler

George’s Muskie Expo has come and gone. It was a great privilege to award beautifully done LAX`12 muskie mounts to our chapter’s Members Only Contest winners, Grant Lindberg and Markus Klobe. These awards showcase an advantage of being a member of North Metro Muskies, Inc.

We helped enlist 10-15 new members into Muskies, Inc. at the expo


HopedalePO Box 118

Smithfield, OH 43948740-733-8144– Jerry Pruneski

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

18CHAPTERNorth Metro

P.O. Box 41216Plymouth, MN 55441

612-916-7426 • www.nmmuskies.comMeets 3rd Wednesday at Coon Rapid VFW 1919, Coon Rapids Blvd NW, Coon

Rapids, MN 55433 from 7-9pm

21CHAPTER

Between the lakesP.O. Box 61 • Sheboygan Falls, WI 53085-0061

920-602-1419 - Kevin Rortvedt,[email protected]

Meets 3rd Thursday 7:00 pm at Chizzys Pub in Waldo WI.

20CHAPTER

Cleveland5007 Starr St. • Newton Falls, OH 44444

330-219-7964Meetings are held 2nd Monday @ 7 p.m. at Westfall’s Restaurant 18148 Mahoning

Avenue, lake Milton, Ohio 44429

23CHAPTERand hope they can hook up with another NMMI member for our League nights. It is a great way to build friendships and learn local lakes and techniques from each other.

Good luck to Carl Phillips and the new team at MI National. As Carl mentioned, the 80/20 rule, I encourage you to become part of the 20 percent who do the work. Maybe raise the percentage to 30 as we go into the Symposium year. Many hands make light work. I have made many friends, guys I choose to fish with by dedicating time, effort, treasure to keep the muskie resource as good as we can.

Check out our website at www.nmmuskies.com for more information on League nights and other news from the chapter

Hope you catch your personal best this year.- Mike Riha

Greetings to all of you muskie madmen and ladies. Chapter 22 has quite a bit going on besides fishing. We are hosting our muskie school on May 16th, 2015 and have a full roster. As usual, muskie expert Steve Scornavacca will be giving the seminar portion and then the students get a ride with “guides” on Lake Hopatcong, which is New Jersey’s largest lake. All of the proceeds of muskie school go right back into the resource, as it is really a fundraiser to assist the state. It’s our way of giving back to the state that has provided us all with a world class muskie fishery. It is so successful that we have many students that return year after year. Some of them have cited that the seminar portion alone is worth it, as Steve has forgotten more about muskie fishing than most of us will ever learn. Tune in to the next News and Views as we will have the results of Muskie School 2015.

MI 22 will also host our “in house” tournament this spring, on June 13th, 2015. It will be held concurrently on three lakes, Monksville Reservoir, Echo and Greenwood lakes. Food, refreshments and awards will be at Lake Greenwood VFW. It will be a fun time had by all.

As mentioned previously, MI 22 has introduced laptop and SKYPE presentations at our monthly meetings and they are a hit with members. The use of this technology makes it a great interactive feature to the monthly meetings. This month’s “guest” was Loren Miller who is a research scientist at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and who is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology of said state. His SKYPE was especially interesting to MI 22, because he has immense knowledge of Leech Lake strain muskellunge and we have tried to keep a pure strain of Leech “lakers” in one of our lakes. That lake is Echo Lake.

Jim Evers, Region 3 Representative, reported from the Annual Board Meeting that he attended, that Pittsburgh, PA will be the site of the 2017 Annual Board Meeting to coincide with the Muskie Maxx Show. He also stated that regional sport shows in Harrisburg, Canton, Pittsburgh and others in PA will be used by Region 3 to market Muskies, Inc. Chapters in those areas. In addition, there is a search on for an “Ambassador” for our Region - a guide, lure manufacturer or TV person to be the “face” of Muskies, Inc. in our Region to promote the message and enlist new members. Do you know anyone?

What about the fishing, right? Some nice fish were boated by Norm Small and his brother on April 26th, 2015 on Lake Hopatcong. The boys picked up a hefty 51 inch while trolling, followed by a 48 inch casting just a hundred yards away; both within twenty minutes of each other. That will give students something to strive for on May 16th! Fishing is in full swing here, water temperatures are perfect, and the conditions are just right. Hopefully those reading this are as lucky as we are here in New Jersey.

That’s all for now. Tight lines and beasts in the net.- David Christinzio

I would like to thank you all for coming out to the Tom Bishop Sr. Memorial Tournament at West Branch on May 15th and 16th. Saturday we had rain off and on and Sunday started with rain, but finished great. Thanks to everyone who fished with us. It was a great weekend and I think a good time was had by all. We had 28 fishing and one youth fishing. A total of 19 fish were caught over 30 inches.

Russ Roberts took first place with three fish, a 40.5, 37.5, and a 35-inch. Bob Basic landed second place with a 46.25 and a 36.5-inch. Third place went to Scott Chapman with a 37 and a 36.5-inch. Bob Basic walked away with the big fish pool with his 46.25 inch fish. Ian Erb won the youth division with a fat 40 incher.

Other fish caught are as follows: Beau Chumley (36 and a 37-inch), Gloria Roberts (44.25-inch), Sherman Champlin (42-inch), Tom Morris (34-inch), John Savu (42-inch), Richard Daniels (39-inch), Kevin Proffitt (39-inch), John Rivera (35-inch), Jason Basic (32-inch), and Jason Chalmers (33-inch).

The next tournament is our Chapter Challenge, co-sponsored with Chapter 19, on May 30th and 31st at Salt Fork Reservoir. This is an open challenge for all area chapters and we hope to see you all there.

The Cindy Dean Memorial Kids Fishing Derby will be held Saturday, June 6th from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Lake Milton Light House Park. Check in starts at 10:30 a.m. Try to make it and help show the kids in the area a good fishing experience. And finally, our next tournament will be at Lake Milton June 27th – 28th. The check in will be at the Point View boat ramp Saturday 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.

I hope everyone has a great and safe summer, FISH ON!- Dan Fisher

It has been some time since Chapter News and Views has received an update from the Brainerd Lakes Chapter (BLC). As the new Vice President, I am excited to have the opportunity to pen the content and share what is happening with our group. We are certainly looking forward to a great year.

Our excitement began in March with a hugely successful banquet, which provided us with ample operating funds to support the projects and programs we have planned. The efforts of the volunteers to round up donations and creatively reduce our expenses, resulted in one of the most profitable banquets to date. We thank the businesses and individuals that support us through their donations and the attendees who turned out for a great night of fun.

Recipients of funding this year include several DNR projects, continued support of the Central Lakes College Natural Resources Program, and four youth programs: Brainerd Parks and Rec Youth Fishing Clinic, Outdoor Youth Expo, BLC Youth Night at Camp Vanasek, and the MN High School Muskie Tournament. These events will not only see money and prizes donated from the chapter, but many volunteer hours as well.

Leech Lake is going to see a lot of attention from the BLC this season, as we have three events planned. The first is appropriately named the Scouting Outing and will be held in July. The name alludes to the next big event, which is the Gil Hamm Memorial Chapter Challenge on August 26-28th based out of Horseshoe Bay Resort. This will be a great venue for the event and many members of the BLC are familiar with the great accommodations and amenities of the resort. Why you may ask? Well, they have fished the Annual Muskie Shootout Tournament, which is hosted by the BLC at Horseshoe Bay each fall. This year the tournament will be held October 3rd and 4th and will complete the triad of events on Leech for the BLC. The tournament is open to the public so consider joining us for some serious competition and over $6,000 in cash and


New Jersey 1524 Old Bethlehem Rd., Quakertown, PA 18951

908-319-2205 • www.mi22.comMeetings 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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Brainerd lakes18031 Heritage Road • Brainerd, MN 56401

218-838-5509 – Donny Hineswww.brainerdmuskies.com

Meets 2nd Tuesday 7:00 PM, Old Water Fall Inn Brainerd, MN

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prizes. Get details on the Muskie Shootout Tournament from the website at www.muskieshootout.com or find us on Facebook.

Club members will be vying for the coveted Muskie Hunter of the Year honors again this season. Participants at the chapter outings accrue points during the season for attendance, netting prowess, and of course catching fish. The competition is intense through the season with the final event called the Iceman in mid-November. If you have ever fished Minnesota in November, you will understand the reason behind the name. Presentation of the award to the winner is conducted at the annual banquet, where they are showered with accolades and revered with the utmost respect. Well, something like that.

One note for those of you out there who are considering fishing Mille Lacs this year, there is an exception to the night fishing ban put in place to protect the walleye population. This season, muskellunge anglers may fish at night with artificial lures longer than 8-inches or sucker minnows longer than 8-inches. Check the MN DNR regulations for the details to insure compliance before heading out. There are still big fish in the big pond and it should be a relatively quiet place after dark.

If anyone is in the Brainerd area and would care to meet our group, our monthly meetings are the 2nd Tuesday at the Old Waterfall Inn, Brainerd, MN, 7:00 pm. Have a great season everyone, and be safe out there.

- VP Brainerd Lakes, Brett Sande

I hope everyone is enjoying the summer after a never ending spring. My home water of Lake Kinkaid has not been very kind to the muskie fisherman this spring. The fish have been scattered and not in their normal locations. The weather has been one of the main reasons fishing has been so tough. We have had extreme water levels, muddy water, temperature swings and cold fronts that seem to come through every other day. In fact, I have not seen this type of weather and water conditions in the 35 years that I have been fishing this lake. It can only get better.

Now that our water temperatures have climbed to the danger level, all our attention will now focus on the northern waters to pursue our mighty muskie. Our first outing will be on July 17th and 18th, when we go on our Annual St. Clair trip with Captain Jason Quintano of Finns and Grins Charter. Jason has been our charter for a few years now and he has provided us with many 50 plus inch muskies. If you want a new adventure, contact Jason for a trip of a lifetime. He has both casting and trolling trips on one of the best muskie fisheries in the world.

August 26th to the 28th is the Gil Hamm Chapter Challenge on Leech Lake. We will be sending at least one team to the challenge this year. We have a few cabins reserved for the week and hope to see some of our old friends at the challenge. If you are at the challenge, come over and have a cold one with us. We would love to meet new friends. We will have our Shawnee Muskie Hunter Banner outside.

I hope to see you on the water at one or more of these events this coming year. And if you see me fishing on the water, stop by and chat. Remember I’m in the other New Lund.

- Walt Krause

The first outing for the year was held on the Madison Wisconsin Chain on May 2nd. A good number of fish were moved, but only a 33-inch and a 41-inch made it to the net; at least we worked out the bugs and two members got fish on the board. Travis Brady came up with the first fish of the year from Illinois water, Piece Lake. The Squaw Lake/Squirrel Lake trip in June and the annual Lake of the Woods trip in July have always been favorites. They should produce a good number of fish and the outings contest should be in full swing.

The Outing Contest has changed this year with a two prize format. The angler with the most points for all outings will remain the same as in past

years for one prize. The new format has been developed to include more members in the pool for increased participation. One chance will be awarded for attendance at each outing with additional chances earned with each fish registered. This allows even those feeling the pain of the skunk, to still have a good shot at the second prize. Most of the outings are on action lakes, which should give everyone a better shot at winning.

Our fall outings are as follows:September 18th – 20th - Deer, Bone, Apple, Wapogasset October 9th – 11th - Eagle River ChainAs in previous years, the host for each trip will make a presentation at

the monthly meeting prior to the next outing. The host will coordinate the recommended lodging, furnish marked up lake maps, and discuss successful presentations for that body of water. We encourage new members to join the outings and get to know the Flatlanders’ members. We share information that will help make everyone successful and the outing fun for all. Our chapter is actively looking for new members and welcomes anyone interested in muskie fishing to attend the Flatlanders events.

- Dick Cholke

This past April, we saw some changes to our board. Mike Phelps stepped down from our board due to personal reasons. We started to divide up the projects that Mike was working on and handling and we found out that it is taking more than two people to try and replace Mike. Brian Mirek took over the email newsletter and Greg Sieren took over Pond and Stocking. Both Brian and Greg are trying to keep up with the web updates. We still haven’t found anyone to take on the artwork/layout work for our various brochures/announcements that Mike handled. We are still looking for someone to handle the behind the scenes work on the website that Mike also handled. Mike was a fixture on the board for several years and is a valuable resource to all in the club. We all would like to thank Mike for his invaluable service to the chapter’s board and club membership. Thanks Mike, you are already missed!

The 29th Annual Milwaukee vs. Quad County Challunge is all over, but the crying about lost fish and miss opportunities are still here. Brian Mirek scored a 35.5-inch on Saturday, May 2nd and Steve Van Lieshout scored a 34-inch on Sunday, May 3rd beating Quad by a half inch to keep the trophy with the Milwaukee Chapter. Thanks to Smokey’s Muskie Shop for hosting us as we enjoyed a cookout at Smokey’s facility after fishing Saturday.

The 31st Annual Pewaukee Lake Muskie Classic was a great success on May 9th. We had about 90 entrants and six muskies that were caught and released with the largest being 40 inches, 37.5, 37, 36, 34 and 33.5-inch. The weather was beautiful and everyone had an outstanding time. Thank You to Minnkota for donating a Terrova trolling motor. This year’s


Shawnee Muskie Hunters923 Reiss Rd., O’Fallon, Il 62269

618-628-4205 - Jerry [email protected]

www.shawneemuskiehunters.org

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Flatlanders6259 Walnut Grove Road, • loves Park, Il 61111

815-703-9365 Jeff Blanckwww.flatlanderschapter.com

Meets the 4th Thursday of every month, 7:30 PM, loves Park VFW

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MilwaukeePO Box 28842 • Greenfield, WI 53228

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

Meets the 3rd Thursday of every month Jan. - May and Sept. - Nov.Board Meeting @ 6:00 p.m. General Meeting @ 7:30 p.m. at the American legion Post #449.

3245 N. 124th Street, Brookfield, WI 53005

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Brian Mirek is holding his 35.5-inch Quad County Challunge fish

on opening day on Pewaukee Lake.

Largest release winners from left to right: Bryan L. Blanke (Tournament Director), George Kasch (2nd Place with a 37.5-inch), Bill Drumm (1st

Place with a 36 and 40-inch) and Tony Werner (3rd Place with a 37-inch).

Minn Kota trolling motor winner, George Kasch, and Tournament Director, Bryan

Blanke, stopped to take a quick photo.

Steve Van Lieshout holding the trophy for the Milwaukee

Chapter.

Minnkota winner was George Kasch and he also placed 2nd with a 37.5 inch muskie release. The three raffle tables brought in over $2,600 for future club outings, stocking programs, activities and guest speakers.

We are on a meeting break for the summer and will resume meeting at the American Legion Hall in September as our speakers will be Luke Roffler and Ben Heussner from the WI DNR. Here’s our lineup for fall:

August 29th - Veterans OutingSeptember 17th - Meeting Speaker - Luke Roffler/Ben Heussner –

State of SE WI MuskiesSeptember 26th - Fall Championship Tournament

- Greg Sieren

We had a perfect spring here in Central MN and our summer fishing patterns should be established by now. We hope you’ve made time to get out, enjoy the warmth and maybe even logged a fish or two.

April’s monthly meeting met us with a Lake of the Month presentation sure to produce for anyone who gets a chance to fish Detroit Lake (DL) in Becker County. Ryan Hoffman cut to the chase and handed out maps as we followed an awesome presentation full of photos of his success and more information about the DL lakes; job well done, Ryan. April’s meeting was also the 2014 Chapter Contest Award Ceremony and dinner. As always, a very fun meeting to attend and its good to hear from some of the top contest placers. April 24th was our Annual Banquet and Fish Fry at the American Legion in Waite Park. A huge ‘thank you’ to our coordinators and volunteers for yet another very successful fundraiser and for hosting the best fish fry in our area.

Spotlight time! Congratulations to our very own Thomas Ardolf for his new position as Corporate Secretary for Muskies, Inc. International! Tom is our Chapter’s Webmaster, a very dedicated member, a great fisherman and a friend to all of us.

Every year St. Cloud Muskies, Inc. hosts a Big Brothers Big Sisters fishing outing at Rock Island Pond. This year it was held on Saturday, May 2nd and the weather was simply beautiful. Every “little” received a rod, reel and tackle box. Many fish were caught and everyone had a blast as they all had a story to tell by the end of the day.

May’s monthly meeting was loaded with knowledge critical to any fisherman. Several Chapter members brought their boat rigs to the meeting as Randy Pierson of Avon Marine troubleshot their concerns and helped improve the function of their boats, trailers and literally anything pertaining to marine equipment. I was able to make immediate improvements to my boats performance by making the slightest adjustments and following Randy’s advice. The questions carried into the night and everyone learned something valuable and helpful.

This summer would be a great time to meet you on the water or at a monthly meeting. Feel free to contact us with questions or information on our area fisheries, get a report and see what we are up to. Be safe and keep sending those good vibes down the line!

- Eric Poissant

On Saturday, May 16th, Fox River Valley hosted their annual “Challunge on the Chain” Tournament. Sixty-nine boats fished the tournament during some prime conditions. Water temps were in the low 60s, in the middle of a warming trend, with a light breeze and cloudy skies. The fish were very cooperative, with fifteen boats boating 19 fish over 30 inches. Six boats boated fish over 40 inches, with the largest being a beautiful 47.5 incher (caught by the 3rd place team of Mark Steuer and Greg Denny).

First place honors went to Nick Ellis and Luke Armitage with 35 and a 45-inch fish. With the great weather, one of the highest catch totals in tournament history, and a fantastic after-tournament ceremony and

celebration, we consider this event another great success. If you weren’t able to make the tournament this year, we hope you take a shot at it next year if possible. Thanks again to all who participated and assisted with the event.

As you may already know, FRV is giving another shot at an on-the-water format for summer chapter meetings. Anyone who can make it is welcome to show up and fish on the first Thursday of the month (July 2 and August 6), from 4 to 9 p.m. at the Thirsty Turtle on Channel Lake in Antioch. Details should be available on the website, but we typically conclude our “off-site meeting” with some fish stories and refreshments at the Thirsty Turtle bar! We’ll resume regular meetings at our normal Schaumburg location in September (Indiana guide Bill Bennett will be our speaker).

Fox River Valley will be hosting a chapter outing on the Canadian side of Lake St. Clair from July 11th - 15th. Fishermen are generally gathering and launching out of Belle River Ontario, with plenty of accommodation options in Belle River or Windsor. If you’re interested in more details, please visit the website or contact organizers John Kretchmer (815-519-2924) or Tom Maki (847-712-3474). By all accounts, Lake St. Clair is one of the hottest and most consistent lakes around for steady muskie fishing. Consider giving this outing a shot!

Please check out our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter, or visit our website, www.frvmuskie.com for all meeting/speaker/event information.

- Mark Lamont

Fishing and tournaments are in full swing in this month of May; The John Fisher Memorial, The West Branch “Minnow Fund” and the up-coming Salt Fork Chapter Challenge are giving the guys and gals plenty of opportunities to get out and land a muskie, while enjoying the sportsmanship among our fellow fishermen.

The Fisher Memorial tournament had over 40 participants, from Chapters 41, 56 and 19. First place went to Mike McDonald from Chapter 56 with two nice fish (39 and 40-inch) while casting. Second place was our own Chapter 41 Mark Steinert (41.5-inch) and third place, also a Chapter 41 member, Chuck Wilbert bringing into the net a 32.5-inch and a 31.5-inch. As usual, the weather was a challenge, but we all expect it and dress to handle it. The Boy Scouts provided a warm lunch of pulled pork and lots of other good stuff, which was appreciated as always. Several subs were landed and Gary Solomon and Chuck Wilbert were able to scan three fish. These may very well be the first-hand, scanned fish of the escapement study in the state of Ohio. This is significant progress towards doing our part as stewards of the resource, and with these fish beginning to show up, the ODNR can begin learning and putting a profile together. Another thing we learned, was that the dorsal tags that were reported, looked infected. If you catch one of these fish please take a picture of the tagged area in addition to recording the tag number (if readable). I’m sure anything we can do to help the learning process would be appreciated.

Coming June 5th, the chapter will hold its second event with our local wounded warriors. A day of muskie fishing, along with a breakfast at the ramp and lunch, and we’ll have free tee shirts to hand out to all the participants as a gift to remember the day. Chapter President Bob Sisson said, “Last year we had a great time, but the muskies didn’t get the memo. Hopefully this year will be different.” If not, there’s always crappie and saugeyes for the guys to fall back on for a fish.

June 6th and 7th is The Russ Dodridge Tournament at Alum Creek Reservoir. The Ohio Huskie Muskie Club will also be holding their spring outing at the same ramp. The OHMC will be putting on a steak dinner Saturday night and everyone is welcome to attend with a preregistration. There’s going to be lots of lures in the water, that’s for sure! Good luck on the water!

- Dan Collins


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 are the 1st Thursday of the month (July 2 and August 6), from 4 to 9 p.m. at the Thirsty Turtle on Channel lake in Antioch.

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Central Ohio1094 Eastmoor Blvd. Columbus, OH 43209

www.centralohiomuskies.wix.comMeets second Tuesday of every month at:

PJ’s Pizza, 571 West Cherry St., Sunbury, OH 4307441CHAPTER

Many muskie hunters plan trips and outings based on Lunar and Solar timing. Yet, as many of us know, weather trumps all. That was the case for Chapter 42’s Brookville Reservoir outing scheduled April 25th. A weeklong forecast of promising weather had one bad day of thunderstorms predicted. It happened to coincide with the club outing, so it was cancelled to a future date yet-to-be determined. Go to the Hoosier Musky Hunters link on Facebook to keep abreast of club activities. Another club outing is scheduled for June 13th on Eagle Creek Reservoir in Indianapolis. Let’s see if Mother Nature cooperates for this one.

The 2015 Indiana Muskie Classic was held the weekend of May 15th – 17th. Seventy-seven teams participated in the 19th Annual Tournament. Thirty of the seventy-seven teams landed fish. The top four teams took home the trophies and all that goes with them. In first place was Adam and Dan Grunewald, second place was Tony Mahn and Ryan McBroom, third place was Michael Handlogten and Jason Vandekopple, and fourth place was Sean Bergsma and Curt Mobley. Congratulations to not only these four teams, but to everyone who landed fish. Special mention must go to Michael Sweeney for big fish of the tournament. He accomplished something no one else has in the previous 18 outings. He broke the 50-inch mark with a beautiful 51-inch muskie on a homemade lure. That makes the accomplishment more impressive. For more information and pictures, see the Indiana Musky Classic page on Facebook. We would like to thank John Bette of Stealth Tackle for being the Tournament Title Sponsor. We want to also thank the other sponsors, too numerous to mention here. It is their support that makes this event the premier event it is. Again, we recommend going to those Facebook pages for all their names. There has also been preliminary discussion on setting up a fall tournament as well. More information to follow as it becomes available.

Brian Schoenung, DNR Chief of Fisheries for Indiana, has announced a new state law for a minimum size limit of 44-inch has been established for Webster Lake. This is great news as this will help this fishery grow a larger “big fish” population as well as improve the Fisheries broodstock source. So Hoosier Musky Hunters, the future is looking better and better for the fish of our dreams. As you go out on the water this year, remember to be safe, wear your sunscreen and to leave the place a little cleaner than you found it.

- Musky Ed Myshak

By the time this is posted, our 17th Annual Muskie Tournament has happened. You can check out the results on our website www.bemidjicassmuskies.org. If you missed it, be sure to come out next year.

In May, we had our first clean-up of boat ramps around Bemidji. We had a good turn out and we will be having another in October for those of you who missed out. It is one of the qualifications to be eligible for the replica. So don’t miss the opportunity to help your community and miss out on the chance to get a free replica, if you catch the biggest fish during the 2015 muskie season.

The 2015 Gil Hamm Chapter Challunge needs you! We are looking for teams, so if you are interested contact Ethan Rogers, [email protected]. The tournament is August 26th-28th on Leech Lake.

2015 Outing Schedule is as follows (We have added Wednesday’s to our outing schedule to allow ten opportunities to earn points):Wednesday, July 1st – 6 p.m.- 10 p.m. - Lake BemidjiSunday, July 12th – Noon - 8 p.m. - Mantrap LakeWednesday, July 22nd – 6 p.m.- 9:30 p.m. - Pike BayWednesday, August 5th – 6 p.m.- 9:30 p.m. - Big LakeSunday, August 16th – Noon - 8 p.m. - Lake PlantagenetSunday, September 27th - 11:30 a.m.- 7:30pm - Cass Lake

lake St. Clair Muskies, Inc.34047 Williamsburg Ct

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

www.lscmi.com OR www.facebook.com/lscmi5858CHAPTER

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

Albuquerque, New Mexico 87193(505) 264-2999 • Matt Pelletier [email protected]

www.newmexicomuskiesinc.org59CHAPTER


Hoosier Muskie HuntersP.O. Box 501371

indianapolis, IN 46250317-372-0111

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Bemidji/Cass lakePO Box 6, Bemidji, MN 56619(218) 766-6697 - Ethan Rogerswww.bemidjicassmuskies.org

Meetings are the 3rd Thursday of the month @ 7 p.m. @ Cattails - 6405 Bemidji Ave N, Bemidji, MN 56601

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A 45-inch Bluewater beauty released by John Williamson

Member, Kyle Williamson, with a 34-inch tiger.

David Goodrich with a 47.25-inch tiger caught on a fly.

Sunday, October 18th – 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. - Leech LakeSunday, November 1st – 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. - Lake BemidjiDon’t forget about the chapter’s replica contest. Who will be this year’s

replica winner? Be sure to check out all the details on our website to be eligible.

- Secretary, Denise Strickland

I hope that everyone is having a great start to this year’s muskie season! Hopefully you are able to apply some of the tips and advice we received from our speakers. A big thank you to all of our speakers who came out to talk to the club. We heard presentations from Captain Andy Kuffer, Captain Jon Bondy, Fisheries Biologist Mike Thomas, and Captain Matt “Catfish” Firestein. We also heard from Ellen Spooner, who is doing research at the University of Michigan on muskie diets. If you are interested in helping out with Ms. Spooner’s research, please contact us on Facebook and we will put you in touch with her.

This is the time of year that we take our summer break from our general membership meetings, since most of you are out on the water. We will start up again this fall and I will post the schedule in the next issue. As far as summer events, we hope to see you at one of the following tournaments: Sunday, August 16th; Sunday, September 20th; Sunday, October 18th.

We are still looking for someone to fill our Tournaments Director position, so if you are interested please send us a message on Facebook or you can reach us at our website; both are listed above.

Please watch the website and Facebook page for details on our upcoming Family Fun Day. This is a great opportunity for all of our members to get together for a picnic and to share some fish stories. I would also like to encourage you to keep posting your musky pictures to the Facebook site. We love getting pictures from our members.

- Adam Penzenstadler

Bluewater Lake, one of only two muskie lakes in New Mexico (NM), has very little bottom structure. Charter 59 (C59) purchased 12 plastic fish tree structures to help improve structure and the fishery. C59 members assembled the structures at Bluewater Lake State Park on April 4th and installed them in the lake on April 15th. The plastic, weighted trees will give smaller fish a place to hide. The chapter worked with NM State Parks and NM Game and Fish to accomplish the project. Additional improvement projects are planned.

Some C59 members enjoyed early year success. The C59 Secretary (yours truly), caught and released a 45-inch tiger muskie, which happens to be my very first over 40 inches. I was fishing with my son, Kyle and C59 President, Matt Pelletier and together the group caught and released six tigers on a lovely, Bluewater Lake morning in April. Muskie Smiles to all.

- John Williamson

C59 volunteers assembled the structures at Bluewater State Park.

Our first tournament this season was on May 16th at Silver Lake. It is in the net and it was a rousing success. A total of 27 tiger enthusiasts showed up, which is a new record for one tournament. We were glad to see some of the visitors at our March Big Horn booth join with us also. The apparent hatchet overhead in the picture, is actually one of our two newly secured fish PIT tag locators primarily funded by a Hugh C. Becker Foundation award. We scanned nine fish with them that day. The acquired information consisting of fish age, condition, and longevity, will assist the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife in tiger muskie management. The muskies showed up for the tournament as approximately 20 fish were landed. They weren’t large, but were numerous enough to give action to most of the tiger tamers. Big fish (32.5-inch) went to Todd Reiss and his teammate, Mark Kendall, who also took first place with that fish. Second place went to Ed Hoyle with a 32-inch catch. Ed forgot to bring along his fish stretcher that day. As the third place team came forward, a storm hit sending us scattering and I missed their names. Sorry guys. Come again and get first place.

The baby tigers are going into our lakes this week; Newman Lake (570), Silver (300), and Curlew (250). Ed Hoyle has been doing a yeoman’s task traveling with the stocking truck to each lake and patting them on the tail as they hit the water to get them off to a good start. Thanks for representing Muskies, Inc. Actually, I think he is leaving his scent with each of them so they are attracted to his boat as they grow up!

The next tournament is Saturday, August 8th; registration is at 6:30, at Curlew Lake headquartered at the state park. This should be prime time there for tigers, so all members and friends (it’s an open tournament, a first there) are encouraged to get geared up and show up to chase the big guys.

- Chuck Gades

It’s that time again in May. Trees and flowers are blooming, the mountains are starting to turn green with growth. My favorite event in May, is to see little baby ducks swimming with their mothers and I do believe everybody catches my drift.

February through April have been some of the worst muskie fishing I’ve ever experienced, due to the tremendous rain and snow melt off, but things have turned from bad to good. Muskies are finally being caught everywhere and has everybody jumping for joy. I do believe this is the worst cabin fever plague in muskie history. The lakes have turned on just about everywhere here in WV along with the rivers and the spawn is just about through.

I would just like to thank Scott Morrison, Jeff Harsbarger, and Lila Warren of the WV-DNR for inviting me to be a net man as they did the electroshocking and surgical implants on Kanawha River muskies (photos below). That’s one experience I will never forget and will probably be my highlight of my experience with muskies. The muskies are rather tough trying to net after being shocked; they go crazy. We managed to net two, well let’s say Lila got two and none of us men even

came close. She is great at what she does and did a great job with the transmitter surgery on the fish. All in all, it only takes her about five minutes for the whole procedure.

A big shout out, thanks again, to the WV-DNR for doing what they do. I hear a lot of gossip and degrading on the DNR over different subjects, including fish and animals like the stocking of coyotes and mountain lions etc. Without the WV-DNR, I guarantee WV wouldn’t have half as good hunting/fishing, so next time you see one of these guys/gals- shake their hand and thank them for making WV one of the top fishing/hunting states in America. That is all for now. Good luck to everybody the rest of the year.

- Rob Thaxton

The first Muskies, Inc. fly-fishing only tournament has come and gone. The Beast of the East, opened on April 10th, to 59 participants and extreme conditions. Despite water flowing up to 18,500 CFS, anglers boated six muskies and the Chapter brought in over $2,500 for conservation efforts.

First place went to team River Sharkin’, comprised of Mike Marisa and Mark Thomas, for their 35 and 47-inch fish. In second, was team Streamer Junkies Too made up by Ben Marzullo, Eric Painter and Keith Ferraro. They put two 34 inchers in the net. Paul Krott, Matt Leininger and Tom Kingsmore, of team Stripping for 50s, took third place with a 43-inch specimen.

Justin Damude and Fred Christensen of team Hip to the Strip, landed the first catch and third largest fish of the event with a 41-inch. We paid out $1,770 to the three top teams and anglers catching the three largest fish, received physical prizes such as rods, reels, guide trips and much more. Most importantly, we gave this brotherhood of anglers a chance to come together. Anglers traveled from Wisconsin, Vermont, Michigan and Virginia to Warren, PA for the event. Muskie fly-fishing is on the rise and it would be wise for all Chapters to look to these anglers to grow membership.

In other tournament news, members and brothers Matt and Gordon Dixon made their yearly pilgrimage to Cave Run for the first PMTT qualifier (photos on right). This year, the boys decided to make their presence known and took second place in the big event. Each brother took a turn catching a qualifying fish! Even better, Matt wore his brand new Muskies, Inc. tournament jersey with our Chapter logo on it. Good press for the chapter and organization. Congrats from all at the Chapter to the Dixon Brothers for their success!

Before we close here, I just need to thank the people and companies that made the Beast of the East a success. So, thank you to members David Hegburg and Corey Siple. Also, thank you to the following: Redington, REPYOURWATER, Sage, Rio, Scientific Angler, Streamer Junkies, Temple Fork Outfitters, Towee Boats, Allegheny River Fly Fishing Company, Fishpond, Hip to the Strip, Cliffs Outdoors, everyone that donated flies, and fly casting instructor Gary Kell.

- Patrick Krumenacker

Mountain Muskies6610 N. Hartley Spokane, WA 99208

509-263-7235 • [email protected]

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

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South Central West Virginia Chapter

HC61 Box 39BFrame Town, WV 26623

304-364-8878 - Jake Flint

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64CHAPTER Nittany Valley Musky Alliance Chapter

175 Industrial Park Rd. Edensburg, PA 15931

814-421-6502 - Patrick Krumenacker

MuSkIeS, INC.1509 Stahl RoadSheboygan, WI 53081

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

ADDReSS SeRVICe ReQueSTeD

YOUTH ZONE

Even though there are a million complex interactions going on around you as you fish, most go unnoticed. At the Youth Conservation Alliance (YCA) we see every outing as an opportunity to start unveiling these mysteries and immerse our participants in all the wonders the wild world has to offer. We really like understanding an aquatic food chain. Depending on where you are in the world, a food chain can change dramatically, but the basics are still there. Just fill in the specifics and you get the picture.An example of a food chain would be:Sun → Primary Producers (Plants) → 1st Consumer (herbivores) → 2nd Consumer (omnivore/carnivore) → 3rd Consumer (Omnivore/Carnivore sometimes an Apex Predator) → Decomposers.The Muskie food chain would be:Sun → Plants/Algae → Phytoplankton/Macroinvertebrates → Little Fish → Big Fish → Decomposing material giving nutrients to water/soils/plants.

Apex predators are a species that is at the top of the food chain, but are significant to the health of an ecosystem. Why the science lesson? Well, this past fall the YCA participated in the releasing of over 1,000 young muskies into Big Round Lake. We were able to take some great underwater videos of this and received very positive feedback. We did, however, get some comments that releasing these predators to the waters will ruin the fishing of other species because they fear the muskies will gobble-

up all the other fish.

Here at the YCA, we call this an educational moment. Muskie can be considered apex predators and are essential for the actual health of some aquatic ecosystems. One way they help is by keeping other faster growing predators from overpopulating and thus taking over and reducing desired fish populations.

First and second consumer species always reproduce more quickly, with first consumers being made up of many more species than second consumers. This allows the whole chain to flourish, plenty of food for all, but not too much so that one species will dominate. It’s the job of the apex predator to ensure there is a proper balance among species in an ecosystem. They are the top dog and keep other species from taking over. Every species in an ecosystem has a job, or several jobs, and each species keeps the other in check. Removing apex predators or allowing numbers to be too small can be catastrophic to an ecosystem.

Interestingly enough, humans are the influencing factor in the balance of nature. We have been, in large part, responsible for the disruption of many food chains from their natural cycles. This can cause serious problems within some ecosystems. In order to try and make things right, the DNR and Fish and Wildlife Biologists get the difficult job of trying to fix these problems. Releasing muskies into Big Round in Hayward was a decision based on historical data and research and is supporting the entire fisheries of Round Lake.

As conservationists, it is our role to live among all species and contribute to the health and stewardship of our air, land, and water. If the muskie populations are stable, we know the ecosystem is healthy and you can follow this all the way up the chain to us humans!

The food chain and getting back to the basics.By: Professor Michelle Groves, SVP of Youth Environmental

Education for the YCA

A fantastic underwater photo of young muskies at a hatchery in Spooner, Wisconsin.

A group of adult volunteers and youth affiliated with the Youth Conservation Alliance assemble for a quick photo

during a muskie stocking event.

Documents

Musky Ad.8x10.5 Layout 1 1/14/15 3:13 PM Page 1 · MUSKIE Magazine Staff EDITOR & MAGAZINE DESIGN Amy Penza 105 Fairview lane Nekoosa, WI 54457 Phone: (715) 213-7206 Email: [email protected]