2012 Musky Season Opener - Part I

“Musky fever” is a serious condition shared by many anglers here in Wisconsin, myself included. It entails sweaty palms while driving past a favorite lake, a compulsion to collect lures larger than most Shih-Tzu’s, and even rogue hook-sets while sleeping; there is hope however as this Saturday, May 26th, marks the Northern Zone musky season opener! This is great news to musky-aficionados like me, as of the 667 lakes and 100 river segments that contain fishable musky populations in the badger state, almost 90% of them are found in Northern Wisconsin.

There truly is nothing quite like going musky “hunting” – especially when the king of freshwater finally accepts your challenge and engages you in literal hand-to-fin combat! Although disputed, Wisconsin continues to officially hold the world record, a 69 pound 11 ounce specimen caught from the Chippewa Flowage in 1949. While Canada and Minnesota have garnished plenty of headlines in recent years with the veritable continuum of giant muskies being caught from their waters, Wisconsin has certainly been producing plenty of toothy beasts from the upper end of the size spectrum.

For example, my close friend and guiding colleague Captain Brett Jolly recently had a client release a late-fall 55+ inch monster sporting a 28 inch girth that crushed a Double D crankbait, produced by Esox Research. Not only was this fish one of the largest muskies caught and released in Wisconsin in a long time, but in the entire United States! Using the standard formula and plugging in the length and girth, it’s fair to estimate this brute in the mid 50-pound class!
While I have not had the privilege, at least not yet, of sliding the net under a 50 pound behemoth like Captain Brett, I do see my fair share of 30+ pound muskies in my Frabill Big Kahuna net annually. The waters I fish and guide extensively, including the Wisconsin River system, are home to numbers of trophy-class muskies and from my observations and review of my fishing logs, the fishing has only gotten better over the past 20+ years.

Terry Margenau, a fisheries supervisor stationed in Spooner, shared some interesting and intriguing commentary recently via the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources website. According to Terry, “Twenty-five years ago our musky populations were growing in numbers but many fish were mid-sized, or 32-36 inches long; however, with the continued practice of live release by sport anglers and more restrictive regulations, there has been a shift toward more larger fish.”
This is good news if you’re a Wisconsin musky angler, but it only gets better as Mr. Margenau goes on to point out, “Over the past several years our crews are seeing more and more 30-plus pound fish in our nets, not to mention that occasional 40 pounder and larger. Some of our populations in the North have more than 50 percent of the adult musky population over 40 inches.”

Sharpen those hooks, re-spool the reels, and get ready – the 2012 musky season is almost here! To all members of the musky fraternity, best of luck, tight lines, and I’ll see you on the water…

Tight lines,