The Muskie Truth

[Fish&Fowl]

Why would you argue that FF? Is it only because you've possibly not gotten into good fishing? Ask anybody that has fished the lake on even a semi-regular basis over the last several years - the walleye bite they've enjoyed in just the last couple years, with muskie fishing good and muskie fishing pressure at a high point, has been nothing short of spectacular. And bass fishing is phenomenal. Makes me wonder...

The last time I fished it was a couple years ago with a friend who knows the lake well. We caught more rusty crayfish than walleyes when we fished for them. I'm not saying there's no walleyes out there, but to say it's one of the best walleye fisheries in the state is a stretch. I'm not sure about other species of fish, I only meant about walleyes in my first post-I guess I worded it incorrectly.

[Shawn Kellett]

$.06 to produce a walleye fingerling?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

I call B.S. Show me the quote. I buy fish from all the major fish farmers in the state and there's no way they're charging that little for a fingerling. A walleye fry possibly. But then only maybe 1 in several hundred fry make it to maturity. So if you take that .06 x 100= 6.00/fish or 200= 12.00/fish. This for a fish that is usually kept within the first 2x it's caught in most systems.

Muskies in the metro are caught and released roughly 2-4x/year according to the numbers. I think Dan had his numbers low, at least in the metro area so you're really getting a value of around $.25 a catch for each fish. That's a value! Not to mention all the money that local clubs spend on the resource. I know that our club has spent over $30,000 over the last 4 years and have a $25,000 commitment for this year.

Many of the new waters we're looking at stocking are also being evaluated by their ability to support natural reproduction. We (DNR and muskie interests) are hopeful that the new water Pokegama will support natural reproduction. If it does then we won't need to stock it on a regular basis once the population is established thereby creating a new fishery at very little cost.

The walleye interest on the other hand is just trying to figure out more ways to more efficiently fill their freezers with new legislation (ie 2 line).

[Shawn Kellett]

G-man, try fishing the sm bass or pike. It's your #2 chance for a 20# pike in the state and there's 3-5# smallies like you wouldn't believe.

As far as walleyes, get away from the crowds and troll cranks in the open water. That's where you'll find the big ones out there. If you fish with the masses you're going to catch the little ones. They're easier, but if you want quality you need to trail blaze a bit.

[Nick Kuhn]

$.06 to produce a walleye fingerling?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

I call B.S. Show me the quote. I buy fish from all the major fish farmers in the state and there's no way they're charging that little for a fingerling. A walleye fry possibly. But then only maybe 1 in several hundred fry make it to maturity. So if you take that .06 x 100= 6.00/fish or 200= 12.00/fish. This for a fish that is usually kept within the first 2x it's caught in most systems.

[Croix]

It's your #2 chance for a 20# pike in the state

You got that right, on our trip we caught alot of nice pike, 4-8lbs and caught two that were over 40 inches.

[Musky Buck]

Bingo Propster, thanks for clarifying my mess !

[Musky Buck]

The % of anglers I wish they'd do an 2009 Do you fish for muskies ? What % of our non-resident crowd out of Fargo ND area and everywhere else come to MN to fish the muskie as well, go to Mantrap on a weekend and it's a 50/50 MN license plates vs. Iowa/Indiana/Illinois. We need Muskie Cam-track a ski in each water and watch what he eats through a yearly cycle.

[DHanson]

Don't forget all the WI, ND, and SD license plates and have even seen Montana, Ohio, and Kentucky. The sport is growing nation wide. I have been to landings last summer where there was more out of state license plates than MN license plates. There are more and more every year showing up and a lot of them stay for at least a week at a time. Good for the local businesses though.

[50inchpig]

The Fargo boys do enough for the musky program in their area to qualify as honorary Minnesotans if you ask me.

Now whether that's an offical title they want or not, I can't say....

[Musky Buck]

Right on 50 inch. And DHanson, I hear ya, I see many, many non-resident plates at all the Ski lakes I fish and they are predominantly muskie anglers which they certainly can travel and fish as they desire.

[Musky Buck]

Quick ? on non-resident licenses, what is the price of a non-resident angling license here in MN ?

[cbrooks]

it was 38 dollars last year I do believe.

[DHanson]

Fargo guys do a great job. I don't think of them as out of staters anyway. There is nothing wrong with people visiting from out of state, the point was directed towards the added pressure on MN lakes which only have a limited amount of fishable population muskie lakes.

[50inchpig]

For sure, I know the intent of the post was not to separate the out of staters, although it would be nice to have a license survey to see how many of them are chasing muskies.

I even see a Sconnie license plate at Sugar quite regularly during the summer, poor guy.

[DHanson]

I even see a Sconnie license plate at Sugar quite regularly during the summer, poor guy.

LMAO. That is funny right there. I hate that lake with a passion even though I have caught some decent fish out of it.

[50inchpig]

And people wonder why I'm anxious to move down to the north metro area.

[dcmusky]

Yeah Shawn my numbers are low becouse I only catch "the smart ones". But can anybody put a price on their value to the RESOURCE! Dan Crooms

[Shawn Kellett]

That makes sense. When I hear fingerling I'm thinking fall fish in the 4-5" range. Fry are very cheap to produce, but the yields are very low (less then 1:100 survival).

There's a middle size too called a "fryling" that's between the fry and fingerling size that the DNR has experimented with as well. I'm not sure how successful those were since they would stock them towards August.

[Muskiefool]

If anyone would like this document for their group or an individual e-mail [email protected]

[Musky Buck]

38 bucks, that is ridiculous in my estimates.

[Nick Kuhn]

38 bucks, that is ridiculous in my estimates.

A non-resident license is $50 in Wisconsin...

[cbrooks]

I guess if you compare 38 dollars for a license to whatever it cost for resident it may seem expensive but it is probably one of the cheapest expenses for fishing.

[propster]

I think, and hope, that he was saying $38 is pretty cheap...

[caseymcq]

35% of MN waters are already managed for 14% of our anglers. No need for new muskie waters.

[dcmusky]

This is why we need new lakes, one of the big arguements is muskie lakes are crowded. Well DUHHH! You put 14% of the states anglers[who by the way are diehards] on 2% of the states waters and whatdo you expect to happen? Southern MN only has 3 lakes & thier so spread out it would be too time consuming to lake hop. Just my thoughts.