Warm Water Temps, Giving the muskies a break

One of the disappointing aspects of muskie fishing is that when the surface water temps get above 80 degrees it is time to give the fish a break and stop fishing. Muskies just don't do well when caught and released in 80deg+ water temps.

This has been especially true with our extremely hot summer we are experiencing. In the past we would lose about 3 weeks to a month of fishing in the Southern part of the state. The past few years we have been putting the muskie gear away for 6 to 8 weeks.

I would like to thank the majority of muskie anglers who are respecting the resource and refusing to fish in these conditions. The word is getting out and even those who were unaware of the dangers are being educated on LakeLink, Muskiefirst and Muskyhunter websites.

Steve R

Nice to see that the water temps dropped early last week with cool nights and days in the 70s. The fish are active also.

Jeff Hanson reported catching a Leech Lake strain with PIT Tag verification, a 33.5" on Monona this week. That makes at least 3 verified Leech strain caught so far and verified with Scanners.

Good luck to everyone.

Steve R