Photo Contest – December Dec MUSKIE.pdf · one that is, please submit a resume for publication in...

Photo Contest – Decemberby Brad Waldera, Photo Editor • [email protected]

Photo #2 Just look at the head on this fish! FirstWisconsin member Jim Everett caughtthis beauty on Lake of the Woods in 2008.It measured 51.5 inches, and looks like avery healthy specimen. This is a verytricky shot to get decent results in with thebright sun. It may have been a better shotif the sun wasn’t so bright on Jim’s face,but if the camera was set for that lightingthe fish would have shown up too dark tobe able to see any detail. It’s just one ofthe crosses we bear as muskie fishermen,but most of us probably don’t mind if thefish shows up in the picture better than wedo. Great catch Jim, thanks for sharingthe photo with us.

ssPhoto #1 This is a fantastic photo sent in by member Chuck Weier. Pictured are Chuck and his brother-in-law

Kent Reiter. Chuck says they were checking out some new territory in upper Michigan when they came across this loca-tion. Chuck had a print of this photo made which hangs on his wall with the caption, “With all of this, there’s just got to bea muskie in here someplace”. Chuck didn’t mention if they scored here, but I’m sure he’s happy to be able to look up andsee this scene whenever he wants. Please take a moment when you’re on the water to take in your surroundings and getsome nice scenic shots such as this. Toomany of us only take the camera outwhen we have a fish in the net, so wemay be missing opportunities such asthis. Thanks for submitting this Chuck; it’sreally a nice capture.

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December 2009.....MUSKIE 1www.muskiesinc.org

DepartmentsIFC Photo Contest, Brad Waldera

2 President’s Message,Dan Narsete

3 Magazine Notes, Juris Ozols

3 Index of Advertisers

4 MUSKIE News

6 Lunge Log, Jim Bunch

15 Sport Show Locator

24 Figure 8, Kevin Richards

25 Chapter News and Views

34 Member Photos

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ContentsMUSKIE • VOL. 43, NO. 12

Join Muskies, Inc. ...or give a membershipas a gift.

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MUSKIE magazine is published monthly and is theOfficial Publication of Muskies, Inc. InternationalOffice: Ellen Wells, International Sec., 1509 StahlRoad, Sheboygan, WI 53081. Ph: 1-888-710-8286.© Copyright 2009 by Muskies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Features10 World Record Muskies of the Past 99 Years,

Kevin Richards

14 Muskie Christmas Ideas,Kevin Richards

16 The Best Place to Fish on the Lake:The Stories of Joe Arends,

Juris Ozols

20 Hooks, Line, and Sinker – Part I: HooksPatricia Strutz

InternationalOfficers

President, Dan NarseteEmail: [email protected]

Vice President/Finance, Jim ShannonPhone: 612-670-8943Email: [email protected]

Vice President/Fisheries, Research & Youth,Dr. Tom Betka, MDPhone: 920-544-5868Email: [email protected]

Vice President/Internal Affairs,Perry PetersonPhone: 253-850-5889 Email: [email protected]

Vice President/Membership & Marketing,Greg WellsPhone: 920-457-3720Email: [email protected]

Vice President/Communications,Dale VercauterenPhone: 920-826-5810Email: [email protected]

Treasurer, Kathy GoonPhone: 419-945-2940Email: [email protected]

Members Only Fishing Contest, Jim BunchPhone: 715-226-0295Email: [email protected]

Web Master, Ron GroeschlPhone: 262-271-1002Email: [email protected]

Int. Administrative Secretary, Ellen Wells1509 Stahl Road, Sheboygan, WI 53081Phone: 888-710-8286Email: [email protected]

Regional Directors Term Expires

Region 1

Brad Waldera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Fall 2009

Rory Potter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2011

[ Vacant ] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2011

Region 2

Bob Timme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2010

Fred Brogle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2011

Robert Benson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2012

Region 3

Joel Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fall 2009

Doug Dibble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fall 2009

Chad Theesfeld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2012

Region 4

Kimberly Cates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fall 2009

Rich Gallagher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fall 2009

Earle Hammond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fall 2009

The President’s MessageThe President’s Messageby Dan Narsete

Muskies, Inc. International PresidentEmail: [email protected]

2 MUSKIE.....December 2009

Some time ago I mentioned the concept of us having a new website and am happy tosay it’s almost done. Though it was due some six-plus months ago I have a good excuse. . . or perhaps at least something to keep me out of detention. The powers that be

(including me) had initially thought we could launch a new site and then build up variousfunctions one step at a time. This turned out not to be the case as we cannot launch the newsite without moving all of the information such as the Lunge Log, membership database, etc.- meaning the current site would be inoperable. In addition the current site is hosted on ourprivate server which only has a couple of gigabytes capacity, leaving us unable to reallychange anything on it. So as to make light of a difficult situation we should have the newwebsite up “soon”. I should specify that it will be a work in progress, but it should give us amuch needed facelift and boost to an already great organization.

I noticed something that really is quite astounding in the October issue of MUSKIE.Look at how long a fish someone would have needed to actually get into the top 25 as ofthe end of August, which doesn’t even count the mongo fall fish. If you look at the longestreleases (thanks to Mr. Jim Bunch) on page six, the smallest muskie on there is fifty-threeinches . . . that’s crazy! To get in the top ten you have to catch and release a muskie overfifty-four inches. Have you dared to look past the top five? The number five catch wasfifty-five inches and to place at the top of the list you would need a fish over 58.5 inches- could you even imagine the U-Boat sized MONSTER that would be? Let’s keep in mindthat the current record sits around 63 inches and only a handful of muskies have comeclose to that in over fifty years, until now.

Before I forget, I was supposed to talk a bit about scent, right? Here’s a ponderousthought for you. Given we have gone over sight, sound/vibration, and presentation, haveyou ever seen a muskie that seems to be using all of those senses? Many times I’ve seen fishfollow and it would seem that the bait looks, and sounds, like a meal, but maybe it doesn’tquite smell like prey. Much like the trout mentioned a few months ago, the bait is actinglike food, but there is something now quite right with it and the fish won’t commit.Have you ever had that happen? Please let me know.

We are approaching show season. Next month I plan to be in Chicago working along-side fellow members to promote our fine organization at the Tri-Esox Chicago MuskieShow. If you are in town and planning to be there, please stop by our booth and intro-duce yourself. Thanks for your support - without people like you this great organizationwould not be here.

Tight lines, Dan v

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MUSKIE Magazine StaffEDITORKevin Richards7618 Sunrise Ridge RoadHenley, MO 65040Phone: (573) 280-2300Email: [email protected] EDITORJuris OzolsPhone: (612) 747-0178Email: [email protected] CONTEST EDITORBrad WalderaPhone: (701) 642-1952Email: [email protected]

LUNGE LOG EDITORJim BunchPhone: (715) 226-0295Email: [email protected]

ADVERTISING SALES TEAMKevin Richards, Editor / Ad ManagerPhone: (573) 280-2300Email: [email protected] Baker, Advertising Sales RepresentativePhone: (701) 866-9393Email: [email protected] Fierstine, Advertising Sales RepresentativePhone: (218) 252-0947Email: [email protected]

PRINTING ACCOUNT MANAGERSunray Printing Solutions, Inc. - Stacey Thielen

MAGAZINE DESIGNSunray Printing Solutions, Inc. - John Windschitl

ILLUSTRATORS/CARTOONISTSRichard Gross, Sherry Hunt, Charles Weiss

FIELD EDITORSPatricia Strutz, Colby Simms, Sean Landsman,Adam Glickman, Bob Chochola,Steve Budnik

EMERITUS EDITORSRod Ramsell, Keith Ogden, Jim Smith

MUSKIE is published exclusively for the member-ship of Muskies, Inc. and subscriptions come witha paid membership. Muskies, Inc. is a non-profitorganization. Membership classes and associatedannual dues are listed on the form at the bottomof page one. Copies of MUSKIE magazine areavailable at $3.00 each from the Muskies, Inc.International Office.

Contributors grant rights for M.I. to publish once inMUSKIE Magazine, both the print and on-line ver-sions, including archives and on the M.I. Web site.

Submissions toMUSKIE Magazine

Persons interested in submitting articles forpublication are directed to our website www.muskiesinc.org for a link to MUSKIE Magazine,where you will find links on the left side of thepage providing information necessary for submis-sions to MUSKIE Magazine. Further questionswill be answered by Kevin Richards, Editor.Submissions may be sent to: 7618 Sunrise RidgeRoad, Henley, MO 65040 or by email:[email protected]. Phone: (573) 280-2300.

ABOUT THECOVERThat’s Joe Arends, a Fargo/Moorheadman who’s been fishing and catchinghuge muskies for fifty years, mostly onLeech Lake. The cover shows Joe inhis basement with a picture of himwater releasing a fish of enormousproportions. The first of two articlestaken from an interview with Joe startson page16.


INDEX OF ADVERTISERSANGLE OUTPOST RESORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

GREEN RIVER LAKE, KY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

GREEN RIVER LAKE, KY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

MANITOU WEATHER STATION FISHING LODGE . . . . . . . . . . 5

MOREHEAD TOURISM COMMISSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

MUSKIES, INC. CALENDAR FUNDRAISER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

MUSKIES, INC. MEMBERSHIP CHALLENGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

TRI-ESOX PRODUCTIONS-CHICAGO MUSIE SHOW . . . . . . . 22

YOUNG'S WILDERNESS CAMP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Nominations forSpring Board Meeting ElectionFrom the Executive Committee

Muskies, Inc. will hold an election for President-elect at the2010 spring board meeting. If you are interested, or know of some-one that is, please submit a resume for publication in MUSKIEMagazine by January 25, 2010. Send the resume to VP PerryPeterson via email to: [email protected]

The President-elect will take over as President at the 2011 springboard meeting when the term of our current President, Dan Narsete,ends. This is a very important election and we hope to a lot of inter-est from qualified applicants. Please step forward and help Muskies,Inc. grow!

Seeking Nominations for2009 President’s Award

You certainly must know a leader from your chapter who shouldbe nominated for the 2009 President’s Award because of their out-standing accomplishments. If so, please write a letter of nominationand send it to Dale Vercauteren, VP of Communications, byDecember 31, 2009.

Contact Dale at: [email protected] or byphone at: 920-826-5810.

New MUSKIEAd Sales Representative

Please welcome Terri Fierstine as a new member of ourAdvertising Sales Team! Terri Fierstine is excited to join theMUSKIE team. Her background includes over 30 years experiencein business, advertising, and photography.

Terri joined Muskies, Inc. earlier this year. She lives in beauti-ful Walker, MN with her husband, Harlan. They enjoy fishing formuskies, sturgeon, northern pike, bass, yellow perch and walleye.Contact Terri at: 218-252-0947 or [email protected]

Hugh C. Becker2010 Foundation Awards

Many MI members remember Hugh C. Becker. Before hisdeath, Mr. Becker worked with fellow MI member George Selcke toestablish the Hugh C. Becker Foundation. Seventy-five percent ofthe dividends from this multi-million dollar foundation go toMuskies, Inc. each year! The funds are channeled by the foundationboard through the Twin Cities Chapter. Many worthwhile projectswere funded in 2008 and 2009, the first two years of the grants.

The annual grant application process is open to chapters andconservation agencies throughout the North American muskie range!

The grants can be used for projects such as muskie prop-agation, stocking, habitat, water quality, andprofessional research. The 2010 grant applica-tion period will open on November 1st.

What an amazing legacy Hugh Beckerhas left for the benefit of muskies andmuskie anglers! Here are the details.

All requests are to be received betweenNovember 1, 2009 and January 31, 2010.

Address all requests to Hugh C. BeckerCommittee of Twin Cities Chapter ofMuskies, Inc., c/o George Selcke, 13004Shady Dale Road, Minnetonka, MN 55343-4904.

Requests are not to be more than five (5)legibly typed pages; send an original and five(5) copies, to include all the following criteria:1) Name and address of the group, and a his-

tory of group’s accomplished projects todate, if applicable.

2) Demonstrate need - how will this projectbenefit the Muskellunge program(s) inarea, region, or range (Canada included)?


Got Marketing Experience?Membership and Marketing VP Greg Wells is

seeking members with marketing backgroundswho might be interested in joining the marketingteam. You can contact Greg at:

[email protected]

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3) What is the project and what is purpose of project?4) Where is this project taking place?5) What is the duration of this project? Include start and finish dates.6) What are the costs? Itemize equipment and labor, and provide

quotes.7) Who will be involved? Provide names and contact information

(addresses, phone numbers, email) for the project team andproject manager/coordinator.

8) Submit “milestone” dates for progress reports and accountability.9) Can the requesting group match funds from another source?

Please list.

Other Considerations:• Cap on any individual grant/fund will be $10,000; incremental-

ly within year or over the course of years.• Credit to the Hugh C. Becker Trust Foundation will be incurred

in funding.• The Hugh C. Becker has priority rights to all press releases and

publications.• If this project fails to reach its purpose, through false reporting,

deceit, and/or other unprofessional acts, the requesting groupmay be responsible for restitution (committee determination).

Addendum:Like projects/activities that may qualify per the wishes and con-

ditions of Hugh C. Becker include, but are not limited to:• Muskie propagation by chapters, similar to what the Twin Cities

Chapter #1 has done in the past.• Stocking, by either raising muskie fingerlings or purchasing fin-

gerlings, yearlings, or adults for public use in designated waters.• Habitat protection and improvement.

• Clean water (quality) protection and improvement.

• Professional research by qualified personnel (not limited toMinnesota, but must include accountable data).

• Expansion of the present muskellunge range (special considera-tion for the Missouri river system in North/South Dakota).

The Twin Cities Chapter #1 Committee will consider projects basedon their respective merits per criteriaabove; awards will be published in theMuskie Magazine.

Gil Hamm ChapterChallungeFrom Jeff Young

The Brainerd Lakes Chapter, cour-tesy of the Star of the North Chapter, isbringing the 2010 Gil Hamm ChapterChallunge to Lake Vermilion in NorthernMinnesota!

Vermilion Dam Lodge is hosting theevent. It will be during the week ofAugust 21-28, with the ChapterChallunge fishing from Wednesday the25th - Friday the 27th. The rates at VDLwill be: $230/person/week or $45/per-son/day. A $50/person deposit is required

with your reservation. Rates include evening dinner Wednesday andThursday nights and a lunch after the Challunge on Friday after-noon. Here’s the contact info:

Vermilion Dam Lodge - call Ed at 218-666-5418 or 800-325-5780 www.vdl.com

We also are in the process of locking up another resort to helpwith the overflow as we expect VDL to be fully booked.

Muskego Point Resort, in the Wakemup Narrows, is about fourto five miles west of VDL and has 7 cabins which sleep 2-10 people.The rate will be about the same as VDL. Here’s their contact info:Muskego Point Resort - call Joe or Jenny at 218-666-5696 or 800-347-4461 www.muskegopoint.com

Both Vermilion Dam Lodge and Muskego Point Resort willblock off all of the available cabins until February or March forChallunge attendees. After that time they will open them back up toother summer vacationers.

Both resorts would like a person from each cabin as a “leaderor contact” that will get the names, deposit, etc together and sentin together so there is no confusion of who is in what cabin.

Please send me your team member names, what Chapter theyare representing, and a $25 check made out to “Muskies, Inc.” to theaddress below. Please include a team contact number and emailaddress so I can respond back when I receive the entry fee. The entryfee will be $25 per 6 man team. Chapters can have as many teamsas they want.

We’re looking forward to a great Gil Hamm Chapter Challungeon one of the most beautiful trophy muskies lakes in the country!

Jeff Young 9143 Lone Pine Road, Brainerd, MN 56401 [email protected] v


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Wesley Worel 55.5 Vermilion!This is junior member Wesley Worel of Grand

Rapids, MN. He is a big boy; he was big when he was only10 years old. Today he is only 17 years old. He has madea shambles out of the Junior division the last 10 years.Relief is on the way though for the Junior’s as onDecember 20th he will turn 18, which means on Jan. 1,2010 he will go right from the Junior’s to the Men’sMasters Division. As of today he has amassed 350 all timeentries, of those 37 are fifty plus. Of course he lives innorthern Minnesota and his father is Ken Worel. Whenyou have a little time look that name up in the data base.The Worels are kind of laid back and humble, I had to askfor this picture. Wesley did email back with the pictureand made these few comments.

“This is my 55.5 muskie from Vermilion. This fishwas caught on a hot sunny day, and this fish hit as soon asthe bait hit the water. I knew this fish was big when I setthe hook. When the fish was halfway to the boat itjumped out of the water, this reminded me of a jawsmovie so I knew the fish was big. We have the biggestFrabill net made and we had trouble netting this fish. Thisyear has been my best year for fish over 50 inches, I havenot caught as many fish as past years but I caught 8 fishover 50 inches. All of these 50 inch plus fish were caughton a Zippity-Do-Dah or Big Kahuna made by Inhaler,and I helped design both of these baits.”

Kevin LaRoche 55 LSC!Kevin lives in Aurora, Ohio and is a long time mem-

ber of the Akron-Canton Chapter. His 302nd lifetimemuskie was his all time best. Kevin sent me a number ofpictures that were not the best. He apologized for them.However, the last picture in the email was this waterrelease shot. As I stared at it I thought this is what it is allabout. This is so unique, the water is clear, one hand haslet go, and the other hand is about to. The muskie isupright and this 55 incher’s body is fat. When Kevinentered this muskie, he had a tough time getting into thelakes within Ontario so for 2 or 3 months it was just list-ed as Ontario. He assures us that it should be Lake St.Clair, so we fixed that. His girth measurement of themuskie says 26 inches. Looking down from the top wehave no problem with that. This would make this beast

the Lunge Log

by Jim Bunch


Wesley Worel, Chapter 15, 55.5, 7/8/09.Vermilion, MN. Zippity-Do-Dah. Fish I.D. 271323 (Junior Member)

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weighing in at 46.48 pounds. Here are just a few notesfrom Kevin.

“Hi Jim, the Lake was St. Clair. I was fishing theOntario side. I get a cabin up there every year for a week.This fish is our new club record after 20 years; our last clubrecord fish came out of Buffalo Harbor, NY. My fish wascaught on a custom Wiley Lure that Dale Wiley paintedfor me. It was our third 50-plus inch muskie for the week.My buddy Jack Whyde was with me, he got a 50.25 and a51; he lost 2 others we know were 50-plus fish. I will senda few pictures for you to pick from; they not the best pic-tures in the world but I love the water release shot.”

Three Bare Chested Old Menand a Naked Muskie

Ed Hepburn now has one muskie in the Lunge Log.Ed is from Saint Clair Shores, MI. He is brand new toMuskies, Inc. His chapter is brand new; it is the LakeSt.Clair Chapter. I saw the size of his muskie and wanted apicture. My email to him got a response that said he wassorry because the only picture he had included three barechested old men. Well Ed, I see your birth date in themembership section and you are not very old compared tomany of us. Left to right in the picture is Ed Hepburn, JimLockemy and Joe Lockemy; Joe is the president of this newchapter. Kenny Grand was also on board and I assume tookthis picture. This muskie is 54.5 inches and big enough forthree men to stand behind. Ed had a few comments.

“It was a beautiful summer evening on Lake St. Clair.Our port is on the Michigan side, but we headed for theCanadian side in the middle of the lake to fish since wehad received good reports from our friends regarding fishactivity. The water was very calm that evening. I remem-ber wishing that the waves would have been a foot or bet-ter. We trolled around for an hour or two with no luckusing an assortment of buck tails and body baits. At thetime, Joe was driving the boat and I was resetting lines. Ihad put a white with chrome Hi-fin bucktail back in thewater at the outside planer position. As soon as I started

(Continued on page 8)


–(Cont’d)

"Three Bare Chested Old Men"Ed Hepburn, Chapter 58

54.5 Inches, 07/31/09, Lake St. Clair, ON. Hi Fin Bucktail

Fish I.D. 276034

The hands belong to Kevin LaRoche, Chapter 19, 55 Inches, 6/20/09. Lake St. Clair, ON. Wiley Crank. Fish I.D. 269787.

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to set the next bait in the water the rod with the Hi-fin buckled overand the drag ripped. I reached for the rod, still having the rod that Iwas re-setting in my hand. I was struggling to get the leverage to hoistthe rod out of the holder until Jim Lockemy took the un-set rodfrom me. The fish stayed down towards the bottom for a long time. Icould feel the head shake as it tried to throw the hook. The battleensued for a long time. It was a great fight from a beautiful fish.”

Housekeeping!With this 30/ 60 day reporting period, a number of you have

had some entries rejected. Most of you simply want them listed inyour muskie entry list. You may re-enter those rejected entries dur-ing the up coming month of February when we will allow lateentries. Muskies, Inc. is in the process of coming out with a new website. We hope that this new system will allow late entries at any timebut they will not be allowed in the contest. This is not cast in stoneso please be patient with us. In the mean time please get them in ontime. Thanks!

Jim BunchThe Lunge Log715 [email protected]

LUNGE LOG (continued from page 7)

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Any of us who are serious about this crazy sport have dreamtabout catching THE fish, THE world record muskie. In thepast 99 years there have been over 25 muskies which were

either deemed to be the world record by one or more sanctioning bod-ies or reported to exceed the world record. Even today there are sev-eral muskies which hold this title, depending upon who you talk to.

In the early years Field & Stream magazine took the lead in main-taining the list of record freshwater fish, including muskies. There wasno official muskie record prior to 1911, the year Field & Stream sanc-tioned the first world record, a 59-inch, 48-pounder.

In his Compendium of Muskie Angling History (Vol. I; 3rd Edition)Larry Ramsell presents a chronological list of world record muskies.The list includes “credible muskellunge caught prior to formal recordkeeping, as well as large muskellunge that were documented but notentered into the Field & Stream (F&S) contest.”

Ramsell also explains that F&S maintained a list of freshwaterworld records from 1911 until 1978 at which time they turned theirfreshwater records program over to the International Game FishAssociation (IGFA). The IGFA had been maintaining saltwater

records since 1939. However, in 1970, the Fresh Water Fishing Hallof Fame (FWFHF) initiated its own freshwater angling record pro-gram. The IGFA and FWFHF actually merged their record systemsin 1980, but just for one year.

To complicate matters a bit more, each state and province main-tains local records; not all of which are fully accepted by the IGFAand/or the FWFHF.

A quick look at Ramsell’s chronological list indicates only five ofthe big muskies were reported to be over 60 inches long, includingone that was reported to be 74 inches (however that fish was neverentered into the F&S contest and was never sanctioned by any officialagency or organization).

That leaves four muskies on the list reported to be over five feetlong. The most recent three of those (caught in 1949, 1949, and1957) were each reported to be over 67.5 pounds. All three of thesemuskies are still accepted as records by at least one sanctioning body.

There is also one fairly recent catch (1988) of a 65-pound, 58-inch muskie which is recognized as Canada’s All Tackle Record andwas recognized for a time by the IGFA as the world record muskie.

World Record Muskies of the Past 99 Yearsby Kevin Richards


A summary of Larry Ramsell’s chronological list of world record muskiesadapted from A Compendium of Muskie Angling History (Vol. I; 3rd Edition)

This shortened list includes date, angler name, body of water, state/province, weight in pounds,length in inches, girth in inches, bait, sanctioning status, and notes.

9/3/11 Dr. F. Whiting St. Lawrence Riv., QC 48-0 59 25 Spoon1911 Field & Stream contest winner. A photograph exists of the mount. The first sanctioned world record.

7/19/16 Art Jackson Little St. Germain, WI 56-0 56 na SpoonNot entered in the Field & Stream contest. Reported weight exceeded the Field & Stream record. Weight is unverified. Photographs existthat indicates the muskellunge was a hybrid.

9/13/16 F.J. Swint Chief Lake, WI 51-0 55 24 Spoon1916 Field & Stream contest winner and world record. A photograph exists.

1917 Wm. Fulton French River, ON 57-10 59 30 naNot entered in the Field & Stream contest. Reported weight exceeded the Field & Stream record. A photograph exits of the mount.Weight is unverified. The mount exists at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.

7/16/19 John Knobla Lac Vieux Desert, WI 51-3 521/4 251/4 Spoon1919 Field & Stream contest winner and world record. Photographs exist. The mount exists and is on display at the Minnow BucketSports Shop near Lac Vieux Desert, Wisconsin. Initially recorded as a muskellunge, this fish was not recognized as a hybrid muskellunge until1978. It is the current IGFA and NFWFHF world record hybrid muskellunge.

c/1919 Sam J. Martin Rideau River, ON 52+ 60+ na naNot entered in the Field & Stream contest. Reported weight exceeded the Field & Stream record. Photographic evidence exists. Weightis unverified.

c/1919 Alph. Allard St. Lawrence Riv., QC 60-0 na 27 naNot entered in the Field & Stream contest. Reported weight exceeded the Field & Stream record. No known photographic evidence orweight verification. Not recognized by Quebec.

1921 Bill Stalnaker Elk River, WV 69-8 74 na naNot entered in the Field & Stream contest. Reported weight exceeded the Field & Stream record. Photograph exists. Weight is unveri-fied. Not recognized by West Virginia.

1923 John J. Hoogan Shishebogama, WI 52-0 na na naNot entered in the Field & Stream contest. Reported weight exceeded the Field & Stream record. No known photographic evidence orweight verification.

9/30/24 L. Walker Jr. Conneaut Lake, PA 54-3 57 na ChubNot entered in the Field & Stream contest. Reported weight exceeded the Field & Stream record. A photograph exists. Length and weightaccepted by the PA. Fish Commission. The mount is on display at the State Fish Hatchery in Linesville, PA. Recognized as the PA. staterecord muskellunge.


We know that muskies can reach lengths of about 5 feet andweights over 65 pounds, but what was the biggest muskie ever caught?Controversy about the muskellunge records and about the recordkeeping has been fairly common, but the stories and photos are leg-endary.

Controversy often spawns ideas for resolving the controversy. In2004 the World Record Muskie Alliance (WRMA) was spawned by agroup of passionate folks who felt that the controversy over the legit-imacy of current world record muskies “could be resolved by the useof modern technology and unbiased methods of authentication.”According to their website, the pledge of the WRMA is to hold allworld and Canadian records to the same standard of measure by con-firming the length, weight, and method of capture for each. TheWRMA states that they hope their efforts will help unite muskellungeanglers by providing a general consensus regarding the various recog-nized muskellunge records (refer to sidebar).

In 2005 the WRMA produced a summary report about theiranalysis of Louie Spray’s 69 pound 11 ounce record, sanctioned bythe FWFHF. Now the WRMA has released their 2008 summaryreport about Cal Johnson’s 67 pound 8 ounce record sanctioned bythe IGFA.

MUSKIE Magazine and Muskies, Inc. are not sanctioningbodies and we have no desire to judge the legitimacy of any of thecurrently sanctioned records; that is the role of the existing

sanctioning bodies and of the states and provinces. Nevertheless,we feel modern professional photogrammetric methods are of valueto muskie anglers and all who seek future records. Modern method-ology coupled with increased scrutiny will make it more and moredifficult to pass a big fish off as a record fish. For this reason we shareLarry Ramsell’s summary on page 12 to help explain photogramme-try using a portion of the WRMA Johnson Summary Report as anexample.

Will the currently sanctioned muskie world records ever bebroken? I think so, but the next world whopper may not even be keptand weighed – it may just be photographed and released! Just take alook at the list of the longest M.I. releases of 2009 in the Lunge Log(see pages 8-9). Just this year (thru 10/25) our members have releasedeight muskies which were 55 to 58.5 inches. Then, while I waswriting this story, I heard of a 59 inch release on Lake Vermilion by afellow who I believe was a past member of M.I.

In my opinion all of the currently sanctioned world records arein jeopardy - mainly because there are bigger, heavier muskies swim-ming in our prime muskie waters today.

Special thanks to Larry Ramsell for allowing me to use material fromA Compendium of Muskie Angling History throughout this article.The 3rd Edition was published in 2007. For more information about hisbooks refer to: www.larryramsell.com


A summary of Larry Ramsell’s chronological list of world record muskies (continued)adapted from A Compendium of Muskie Angling History (Vol. I; 3rd Edition)

7/11/29 E.A. Oberland Pokegama Lake, WI 52-12 52 29 Spoon1929 Field & Stream contest fish and world record. Photograph exists. Length and weight were verified.

8/25/29 G. Curtis Lake of the Woods, ON 53-12 57 251/4 Spoon1929 Field & Stream contest winner and world record. Photograph exists. Length and weight were verified.

7/24/31 J.W. Collins Lake of the Woods, ON 56-8 55 295/8 Spoon1931 Field & Stream contest winner and world record. A Photograph of the angler with the mount exists. Length and weight were ver-ified.

9/24/32 G. Neimuth Lake of the Woods, ON 58-4 59 341/2 Pikie1932 Field & Stream contest winner and world record. Photograph exists. Length and weight were verified.

6/29/39 Percy Haver Lake St. Clair, MI 58-14 na na Bucktail1939 Field & Stream contest entry accepted. Length and weight were verified. The fish was never listed by Field & Stream as a worldrecord because the recorded weight was beaten before the annual world record list was published. Photographs and a mount exist.

7/27/39 Louie Spray Grindstone Lake, WI 59-8 581/4 321/2 Bucktail1939 Field & Stream contest entry accepted. Length and weight were verified. Witness affidavits exist. The fish was never listed byField & Stream as a world record because the recorded weight was beaten before the annual world record list was published. One pho-tograph exists; the mount was destroyed by fire.

10/3/39 J.J. Coleman Eagle Lake, ON 60-8 581/2 311/2 Pikie1939 Field & Stream contest winner and world record sanctioned by the American Museum of Natural History. Length and weightverified. Photographs and the mount exist.

6/28/40 Percy Haver Lake St. Clair, MI 62-8 59 321/4 Spoon1939 Field & Stream contest winner and world record sanctioned by the American Museum of Natural History. Photographs andthe mount exist. Length and weight were verified. Witness affidavits exist. The record was challenged and subsequently disqualifiedas the state record Great Lakes muskellunge by the Michigan DNR.

8/19/40 Louie Spray Lac Court Oreilles, WI 61-13 591/4 321/2 Pop1940 Field & Stream contest entry accepted. Length and weight were verified. Photographs and witness affidavits exist. Mount wasdestroyed by fire. Entry beat the 1939 published world record but a heavier muskellunge had been entered in the contest. Professionalphotogrammetric analysis of photos of this fish was commissioned by the WRMA (refer to: www.worldrecordmuskiealliance.com).

10/8/40 Ed Walden Eagle Lake, ON 61-9 59 31 Bucktail1940 Field & Stream contest entry accepted. Photographs, the mount and weight verification exists. Entry beat the 1939 publishedworld record but a heavier muskellunge had been entered in the contest.

Photogrammetry and theWRMA Johnson Summary Report

by Larry Ramsell, Muskellunge Historian

PhotogrammetryPhotogrammetry is the art, science, and technology of obtaining

reliable information about physical objects and the environmentthrough the processes of recording, measuring, and interpreting pho-tographic images. It can also be thought of as the sciences of geome-try, mathematics, and physics combined that use the image of 3Dscene on a 2D piece of paper (photograph) to reconstruct a reliable,and accurate model of the original 3D scene.

The Evaluation ProcessMr. Dan Mills of DCM Technical Services in Toronto, Ontario,

Canada, is an independent and unbiased expert/ instructor in pho-togrammetry who has carefully scrutinized the known photographs ofCal Johnson’s 1949 muskie to determine the maximum possiblelength.

The results (summarized here) of Mills’ evaluation determinedthat there were sufficient visible points in the images to complete adirect scale measurement of the length of the fresh muskie from somehard dimensions obtained from the mounted muskie. However, to

complete this direct scale analysis, dimensions from the mountedmuskie needed to be determined first. Fortunately, the mountedmuskie still exists in a glass display case available to the public.

Unfortunately, there was no way to make any measurementsdirectly from of the mount itself due to the display case. The techno-logically advanced solution was to take a series of photographs of themounted muskie using a calibrated camera. Using the calibratedimages, the software was able to provide an accurate length assessmentof the mounted muskie without having to remove it from its enclosure.

Considering the dimensions of the head bones (skull) could nothave been appreciably changed during the mounting process. Millscleverly used the head itself as a high-tech measuring device to obtainthe length of the fresh muskie. Once the length of the head was accu-rately determined, Mills was able to determine the maximum lengthof the actual fish from the fresh fish photographs. The software usedto obtain measurements from the Johnson skin mount is 100% vali-dated and Mills is unquestionably the number one expert in its use.This procedure is not an experiment, it is a proven science and itmakes no difference what the object is.

During the photogrammetric mapping of the skin mountmuskie, the overall length of the mount was determined to be 58.9”with an accuracy of +/- 1/4”. This measurement is for the upper jaw(snout) to tip of the tail overall length. The upper jaw was determinedto be more suitable for direct scaling purposes. It can be seen in themounted fish that the bottom jaw would extend slightly further thanthe top jaw.


WORLD RECORD MUSKIES(Continued from page 11)

A summary of Larry Ramsell’s chronological list of world record muskies (continued)adapted from A Compendium of Muskie Angling History (Vol. I; 3rd Edition)

5/17/47 Alois Hanser Favil Lake, WI 64-8 58 24* Vamp1947 Field & Stream contest winner and world record. Photographs, weight verification and witness affidavits exist. The mount existed atone time, but its current whereabouts are unknown. *Reportedly, girth was measured after 12-pounds of spawn were removed from the fish.

7/24/49 Cal Johnson Lac Court Oreilles, WI 67-8 601/4 331/2 Plug 1939 Field & Stream contest entry accepted. Photographs, weight verification, the mount, and witness affidavits exist. The mount is onpublic display at the Moccasin Bar in Hayward, Wisconsin. The fish was never listed by Field & Stream as a world record because the record-ed weight was beaten before the annual world record list was published. The catch is recognized by the IGFA as the All-Tackle WorldRecord muskellunge and is the FWFHF unlimited line-class muskellunge record in the conventional angling division. Professionalphotogrammetry commissioned by the WRMA is complete (see sidebar and refer to: www.worldrecordmuskiealliance.com).

10/20/49 Louis Spray Chip. Flowage, WI 69-11 631/2 311/4 Sucker1949 Field & Stream contest winner and world record. Photographs, weight verification and witness affidavits exist. The mount wasdestroyed by fire. The IGFA does not recognize this fish as a record because of various retroactive requirements. The FWFHF recognizesthe fish as the All-Tackle World Record muskellunge and Wisconsin lists it as the state record muskellunge. Professional pho-togrammetry commissioned by the WRMA is complete (refer to: www.worldrecordmuskiealliance.com).

6/28/51 Dolores Ott-Lapp Lac Vieux Desert, WI/MI 50-4 56 261/2 Musky Houn1950 Field & Stream contest entry accepted. Photographs and weight verification exists. The mount exists and is on display at NorthernOutfitters in Watersmeet, Michigan. The fish was recognized as the hybrid muskellunge world record by the FWFHF when they establisheda hybrid muskellunge category in 1975. In 1978, John Knobla’s 1919 world record muskellunge was positively identified as a hybrid andbecame the hybrid world record by a 15-ounce margin. Mrs. Ott-Lapp’s fish is the NFWFHF unlimited line-class hybrid muskellungerecord in the conventional angling division.

6/6/54 Robert Malo Middle Eau Claire, WI 70-0 55 32 Sucker1954 Field & Stream contest entry was rejected due to unacceptable weigh-in procedures. Photographs, weight verification and witnessaffidavits exist. The mount exists and is on public display at Dun Rovin Lodge, Hayward, Wisconsin. The FWFHF listed the catch as an unof-ficial conventional angling division record from 1987 until 2007.

9/22/57 Art Lawton St. Lawrence Riv., NY 69-15 641/2 313/4 Pikie1957 Field & Stream contest winner and world record. The fish was sanctioned by Field & Stream following a lengthy investigation.Photographs, weight verification and witness affidavits exist. The fish was not mounted. The world record was disqualified by the FWFHFand set-aside by the IGFA in 1992 following a challenge; it remains in set-aside status by the IGFA because their retroactive requirement foran appropriate photograph was not met in either 1992 or 2007. The challenge was rejected by the New York Department of EnvironmentalConservation and deemed inadequate by the IGFA. The fish is recognized as the New York state record muskellunge.

10/16/88 Ken O’Brien Moon River, ON 65-0 561/2 301/2 RapalaLine-class world record applications were accepted by the IGFA and the NFWFHF. Photographs, weight verification, witness affidavits andthe mount exist. The IGFA and the NFWFHF each recognize the catch as a line class record. The IGFA briefly listed the fish as the worldrecord after the Lawton record was set-aside. The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) recognizes the catch asCanada’s All Tackle muskellunge record. vv


The fresh muskie photographs were not suitable for use in a full3-D photogrammetric solution, mandating the fresh muskie lengthbe direct scaled from the photographs. The base concept behinddirect scaling is that once a real world dimension on the object in aphotograph is determined, it allows other dimensions of the object tobe accurately measured using proportions.

While almost every photograph contains some amount of per-spective, the overall effect is that the direct-scaled length will alwaysbe the maximum possible length that is calculated. In the case of theavailable photographs of Johnson’s fresh muskie, all photographs usedappeared to have minimal perspective present between the freshmuskie (which was hanging vertically) and the camera film plane. Toensure consistent results there were six length calculations made onthe three available photographs.

The results reported by the WRMAThe overall length of the Johnson fish (as shown in available pho-

tos) utilizing the upper jaw measurement was calculated to rangebetween 48.2 inches to 51.2 inches. This 51.2” represents the longestpossible length of the fresh muskie utilizing the top jaw. Adding anadditional 0.8 inches for the approximate additional length of thebottom jaw, the total length of the fresh fish would not have beenmore than 52”.

Again, any perspective present in the photographs would resultin the calculated lengths being an overestimation of the true length.However, the photographs did not appear to have appreciable per-spective present between the fish and the film plane so the calculationsare accurate representations of the fresh muskie length and not con-sidered overestimations. The accuracy of the resulting length calcula-tions is within +/- 2 inches. Using this upper maximum length (+/-2”), the maximum upper jaw measurement is 53.2 inches. If an addi-tional 0.8” is generously allowed for a lower jaw measurement, themaximum possible length of Mr. Johnson’s fresh muskie was 54”, well short of the 601/4 claimed.

SummaryFrom the expert calculations made by DCM

Technical Services, it is evident that the photo-graphs commonly said to depict Mr. Johnson’srecord muskellunge did not belong to a living60.25” fish. In fact, analysis of the photographsindicate the live fish had a maximum length of 54”.Another highly credentialed firm (ForensicImaging) in the field of photogrammetry peer-review these results to ensure that DCM adhered toprofessional standards.

I am satisfied after reading the remainder ofthe report that this particular fishing record shouldquietly join the list of “past embellishments” so wecan move forward with a clearer and better under-standing of the maximum growth potential of themuskellunge.

The WRMAThe WRMA authentication process has relied

heavily upon the work of independent experts whoevaluated known photographs and other remainingevidence. Historical eyewitness testimony state-ments and photographs are carefully scrutinized tohelp determine their relevance and accuracy.

For readers familiar with previous WRMAreports, there are many similarities which can bedrawn between the 2008 WRMA JohnsonSummary Report and the 2005 WRMA Spray

Summary Report.For anyone seeking further information or additional reference

material regarding the work performed by the WRMA and theirexperts, a comprehensive review of the 2005 and 2008 reports can beobtained free of charge. To review the complete WRMA reportsplease visit: www.worldrecordmuskiealliance.com

Special thanks to Larry Ramsell and Jerry Newman, WRMA Founder, forproviding the material for this summary and related information from theWRMA Johnson Summary Report.

In photos (A) and (C) stands a subject who is 5’9” tall with 60” and 54.50”cardboard mockups. In photo (B) stands Johnson who is approximately5’7” to 5’9” holding a muskie reported to be 60.25” muskie. The Johnsonfish looks to be about 52”, nearly identical to the professional results.

Having a tough time thinking of a great holidaygift idea for that muskie nut on your list? Here’sa little help from MUSKIE Magazine!

Muskies, Inc. StuffAt the top of our list is a membership in Muskies, Inc. If the

recipient is already a member, consider a renewal for them right now.Check out the membership renewal form on page 1 or our website:www.muskiesinc.org

If the person you are shopping for has never been a member dothem and yourself a big favor by signing them up in conjunction withour 2009 Membership Challenge which runs through December 31st.Check out the full page ad on page 33; each of you could benefit fromthis awesome promotion.

Another great MUSKIE idea is our 2010 Muskies, Inc. calendar.It’s only $12.95 (including shipping) and it is loaded with wonderfulphotos and information. Refer to our ad on page 17.

The pages of MUSKIE Magazine were filled with informationabout places to fish, things to do, muskie fishing tackle, and manyfishing accessories and ideas throughout the past year. For this list Iwill primarily highlight the products, places and advertisers who sup-ported our muskie mission with their 2009 advertising dollars.

Special Muskie Fishing DestinationsAlmost any muskie angler would love to get a special fishing

vacation as a gift, but how will you choose the right spot? I have bro-ken this section down into two categories: USA destinations &Canadian camps and houseboats.

In the USA, two of our best advertisers hail from Kentucky.They have beautiful natural resources, fine muskie lakes, and greatplaces to stay, fish, and vacation. They also have big muskies and lakeswhich almost never have ice on them. Sounding good? Please checkout the Green River Lake ad (page 13), the Morehead Tourism ad(page 19), and the Taylor County Tourism ad (page 32).

Another fine US destination is Vermilion Lake, MN. TimbuktuMarina has cabins, boats, gas, and a very good mechanic. VermilionDam Lodge will host the 2010 Gil Hamm Chapter Challenge and hascabins, boats, and many other amenities. If you’re thinking ofMinnesota also remember Grand Vu Lodge on Leech Lake; they host-ed the 2009 Chapter Challunge.

Many anglers would appreciate a muskie gift which might includea Canadian adventure on a Canadian Shield lake. No problem!

A number of ouradvertisers, including twoof our longest-runningsupporters offer accommo-dations on Lake of theWoods. Looking for anisland location with finefishing? You will find an adabout Young’s WildernessCamp in every issue ofMUSKIE Magazine (thismonth it’s on page 3).Looking for a drive-incamp with access to finefishing? Check out Red Wing Lodge. You can find their ads aboutevery other month in MUSKIE so check out the November issue.

How about a U.S. destination which allows you to fish both sidesof the border? Check out the Angle Outpost Resort. You can findtheir new ad on page 4.

If you’d like to consider a trip to Lac Seul as a gift we have hadtwo supportive advertisers from that big lake in the past 12 months.Both are houseboat rental operations. You can find an ad for Lac SeulFloating Lodges in the November issue of MUSKIE, and early in2009 we ran an ad for Sioux Lookout Floating Lodges.

How about a couple of good choices on other muskie lakes? Thismonth we have added another new advertiser to the MUSKIE family.Manito Weather Station Fishing Lodge is located on Lower ManitouLake, north of Ft. Frances. You’ll find their new ad on page 5. Finally,remember our old friends at Indian Lake Lodge, north of Dryden.

Muskie TackleNo muskie maniac’s Christmas could possibly be complete with-

out a few gifts of muskie tackle. Throughout the past year tackle com-panies large and small, tackle distributors, and fishing rod companieshave been strong supporters of MUSKIE Magazine and Muskies, Inc.The fairest way for me to list them will be in terms of ad frequencyand the level of support they have provided us. Please considerChristmas shopping with these folks as a way to say thanks for theirsupport: St. Croix Rods, Joe Bucher Outdoors, TackleDirect, BigWood Musky Lures, Simms Tackle, Mr. J’s Musky Lures, YakimaBaits, Ducktail Lures, Mouldy’s Hawg Wobbler, and Lake Lady Rods.You will find ads for most of these companies in either the Septemberor November issues of MUSKIE.

MUSKIE Christmas Ideasby Kevin Richards


How about a quality replica?A high quality replica of a released fish will be treasured for-

ever. If you call long-term advertiser Joe Fittante of FittanteReplicas you won’t be disappointed. Fittante’s ads appear in everyother issue of MUSKIE, so take a look at our November issue.

Off-season Muskie AdventuresA super gift idea would be to schedule a trip to one of the

upcoming sport shows which cater to muskie enthusiasts. Checkout our annual Sport Show Locator on page 15 of this issue. Theshows which normally advertise with us include the ChicagoMuskie Show (produced by Tri-Esox Productions), the RockfordFishing Expo, The Minnesota Muskie Expo, and the MadisonFishing Expo. You will enjoy these events!

Final thoughts . . .We’re all looking to catch a monster

muskie, but it’s not something we can pur-chase or promise. Back in February wepublished this photo of Dale MacNair withhis monster muskie caught in lateNovember 2008. It was 57 x 33. It wasprobably a 60-plus pounder and it wasreleased.

One wonderful gift idea you mightwant to consider is a full-floatation survivalsuit like Dale is wearing in this photo. Ifyour fishing buddy or loved one likes tochase big muskies in the fall keep them safeand warm in one of these suits. You mightcontact Stearns, Mustang Survival, orTackleDirect if you are looking for one ofthese suits. Honestly, I won’t leave home

without mine once the water temperaturedrops into the 32 to 45-degree range.

As I said previously, we can’t promiseanyone a catch such as Dale’s, not even as agift. However we can give gifts which aresomewhat intangible that may help othersrealize their muskie dreams some day. Takethe time to share the gift of knowledge.Teach others how to fish. Teach them howto carefully release the muskies they catch.Teach them to treasure and protect ouraquatic environments. Teach them, so theywill be able to understand and share ourlove of the muskellunge! v

SPORT SHOW LOCATORCalendar of upcoming events in 2010EVENT NAME/ &

DATES WEBSITE LOCATION CITY STATE PHONE

Jan. 8-10 Chicago Muskie Show Harper College Palatine IL 847/328-6200www.chicagomuskieshow.com

Jan. 7-10 Ultimate Fishing Show Rock Financial Showplace Novi MI

Feb. 12-14 Milwaukee Muskie Expo Wisconsin State Fair Park West Allis WI 608/445-4645www.muskieexpo.com

Feb. 26-28- Madison Fishing Show Exhibition Hall at the Madison WI 608/245-1040www.madfishexpo.com Alliant Center

Mar. 5-7 Rockford Fishing & Outdoor Expo Indoor Sports Center Rockford IL 815/877-8043www.showtimeproduction.net

April 9-11 Minnesota Muskie Expo Concordia University St. Paul MN 763/786-6031www.minnesotamuskieexpo.com



IntroductionThe man put in his time on the water for fifty years. He

caught more and bigger fish than almost anybody in Muskies,Inc. But Joe Arends hasn’t publicized himself in all this.

He’s just quietly gone out and caught and released thosehuge fish over the decades. Joe spent most of his time on LeechLake, which he knows better than anybody. He’s used lures andtechniques that are far from usual. But most important, he’s col-lected stories, lots of stories.

Last year after the Frank Schneider Tournament in September Isat down with Joe’s long time buddy, Steve Tooker. Steve gave me alot of background on Joe, including stories of his own.

On Monday September 13, 2009, the day after the tournament,I went to Fargo, ND to interview Joe. I wanted to find our how manyJoe had caught over the years, how he’s caught ‘em, and hear aboutsome of the big ones he saw.

Joe was fragile, not in the best of health. He was a bit uncertain,didn’t know if he could remember things. But as we got into it, hisspirit soared and we had a wonderful afternoon.

This is the first of two articles from that interview, a record of aman who’s had a memorable Muskie career.

And, by the way, about “the best place to fish on the lake?” Well,read on – Joe will tell you about that too.

InterviewJO: Welcome, Joe! Let’s start. Yesterday I recorded Steve

Tooker, an old buddy of yours, and among many, many things Stevetold me was that Joe Arends is the best muskie fisherman he’s everknown. What do you think about that?

JA: (Shakes his head, smiles) Well, I think he’s probably usingthe truth as the process of indiscretion (Laughs). But I hardly thinkthat. I think that there are so many that I’ve fished with that areequal.

JO: Well, let’s just ask then, who’s better than you?

JA: (Hesitantly, laughs) Well, in my day, I haven’t fished forthree years, I never fished in anybody else’s boat. I always had my ownboat and used my boat control completely and totally on locations. Idon’t think I ever caught a fish in anybody else’s boat.

JO: Well, that’s something. A lot of us fish out of other peo-ple’s boat. So how many muskies have you caught in your career?

JA: I’d hate to say, I never really kept a record, but I know in‘87 I caught 87. In ‘88 about 60 something, but back in ’87 and ‘86,in June I caught 35 and 34 in each month. When you hit the road,hit the lake in June, the 5th of June, the water was right, they were inthere where they were supposed to be, and boy oh boy, was June goodthose two years.

JO: When did you start muskie fishing and how, how did youget into it?

JA: 1958. A neighbor friend, a farmer, always went muskiefishing every time it rained and he went to Leech Lake and he’d takehis kids and he’d always come back with their limit of muskies (Joesmiles). And it was always in the Norman County Index. Pictures of. . . (Joe spreads his arms) . . . boy, I tell you what. When I could,when I had a chance in ’58 to go, I did. I started out with nothing,no depth finder, not even knowing any structure or anything.

JO: So ’58 – that’s 51 years ago. You’ve got half a century ofmuskie fishing, don’t you, and, you obviously have fished Leech Lakea lot.

What other lakes have you fished?

JA: Well, to be honest about it, in 1970, I read an article I stillhave, about Wisconsin, Cal Johnson’s world record at the time wascaught in Wisconsin on the Chippewa Flowage. So I thought, boy!But back then I only got two week’s vacation and that two weeks werespent for ten years on the Chippewa Flowage. (Joe smiles) I learneda lot on that lake.

But the odd thing about it is, I drove right by Leech Lake. I hadno idea there were muskie in Leech Lake (Joe laughs) until somefriends found out what I was doing in Wisconsin so they hauled meover there and right off the bat, the first day I fished Leech, I caughtfour fish. Those guys couldn’t believe it, they are the ones who start-ed the Muskies, Inc. chapter here.

JO: So you remember your first Muskie?

JA: Oh, yeah, very much! It was caught in Wisconsin, yeah,off the old Pete’s Bar. I was staying at the resort right off it, got toknow a guide, Bill Wright. One day he was done guiding at 4 and Iwas in the bar buying him a beer, “Come on, let’s go.” He said, “Youdon’t have a good rod!” He gave me a rod and reel – gave it to me!Anyway, that’s Wisconsin. And I hit some pretty nice fish.

JO: How big was that first fish?

Joe describingone of his

favorite spinnerbaits, as usual

with cut hair.

The Best Place to Fishon the Lake…

The Stories of Joe Arendsby Juris Ozols

I’ve fished,when Icould, andfished a lot.


JA: The first fish was (Joe laughs) about 35 inch-es, 6 maybe.

JO: I suppose that you kept it too?

JA: No, no, I let it go. Because, I remember, itwas dark, getting dark, and (Joe laughs) I’m trying torelease it and did release it, but the mosquitoes, oh man!So, anyway, it got away, yep (Joe nods with a smile).

JO: They didn’t release muskies in Wisconsin inthose days.

JA: No. And I couldn’t see keeping it. That wascaught on a yellow Mary Worth Spinner, what I call“offset.” But, we only had 5 or 6 lures.

JO: So, was it about 10 years later that you start-ed on Leech?

JA: Leech Lake, yeah. I spent some time on Lakeof the Woods and Eagle. And fished with a friend ofmine there, and I had two 8-fish days on the Lake of theWoods. But then it got to be too far, working and every-thing and I found out about Leech, you know. I thinkthat 15 years ago or so I always said that Leech Lake had about 5 ofthe best spots in the world to catch muskies, I’m talking the world. Ican go to those spots and just pull!

JO: Alright Joe, are you going to share those spots with us?

JA: Well, yeah, but they’re gone now, there’s no weeds. I’vefished them since ’99, when the cormorants came in, everything wentto heck there. Some of those spots where we caught all those fish withmy daughter (Joe shakes his head) even my friends that go back theredo not have any follows.

JO: Yeah, you know, what you say about the weeds is true. Thecabbage is gone.

JA: Totally different. Pelican Island weed bed is gone. Thatused to be something. You could go in there. . . son-in-law and I onemorning got 5. And the southwest weed bed is gone. That used to .. . I had such an ego in those days (Joe leans forward) that I had actu-ally had four rods and reels in the boat (Joe laughs) and I’d catch one. . . and boom, another one.

That was the inside the southwest weed bed, a drop-off goingone way, here and there, and then the small one in the inside, I’d dropanchor.

JO: One of the questions I gotta ask you, what’s the biggestfish that you ever got?

JA: The biggest one I had to keep was 36 pounds-13, but Iknow that I’ve probably released for a fact, on Leech Lake, probablyfour that went way into the fifties, fifty-fives. I got a picture of onethat I did have, that my stick was 57 inches, and it went to the end ofthat. But I let ‘em go. That one fish was big, and that was in the fallof the year, that was a good morning. But that was my fourth cast offof Five Mile Point, but back in the bull rushes, and that big old thingwas that wide (Joe holds his hands about a foot apart) – ah, awesome.And I’d throw this little Mepps (Joe holds up the lure) about like that,maybe, and she’d “floomp” (Joe makes the motion of a fish going aftera lure) and the fourth cast, she got lightly hooked in the side of themouth.

She comes swimming up to the boat, sat there, and (Joe holds hishands apart, shakes his head and laughs) it was huge, two feet ofwater. I picked the hook out and she kind of . . . (Joe turns his head

back and forth as if looking around). That was a gentle fish (Joe islaughing), she was a lady. I could have had her but this was the lastThursday of October. The morning was perfect and all of a sudden Ilooked across the lake here comes the wind. I had to buck waves, fiveto six feet, I just quit, and that was it. The next day I went home.

I got some more like that too.


Joe in his basement trophy room. Note the small Mepps in the mouth of thefish and the three others on the wall.


JO: Another question, what’s the biggest fish you’ve seenthat you didn’t hook?

JA: Oh, we had one up in Lake of the Woods in Johnson’sPassage. The one before that, well, that was big. (Joe nods andsmiles) You know, there were several.

On Leech, if you go to the weed bed straight off GooseIsland, this side of the island on Leech Lake, that weed bed hasprobably had more 40 plus pound fish or 55 inchers caught thananyplace through the years. I’ve kept . . . (Joe holds up one fin-ger and nods).

JO: You’re talking about the south side of Goose Island?We were up there during the tournament. The weeds are kind ofthere but not real big. We didn’t see anything though.

JA: A friend of mine called me yesterday on the phone andhe said he got three of them in there during this last tournament

JO: How about the phrase, “sapsucker water?”

JA: Well I always kept people that were ornery in sapsuck-er water.

JO: Where did that come from?

JA: Well, I think it originated with me, as far as I know. You’veheard the word “sapsucker.”

JO: Yeah.

JA: (Joe laughs) Guys get mean, so I can go along the struc-ture and they’re in the front of the boat and I’m in the fish and they’rein sapsucker water, no fish. Joe laughs again.

JO: That’s, what Steve said you’d say, “Look at that guy overthere, he’s in sapsucker water.”

JO: I didn’t realize until I talking to Steve that you were nevera guide.

But you took a lot of people out.

JA: Oh, a lot of people. I never would guide, I never, ever, evertook a nickel. I had one doctor with me one time, he had a guide fora couple of weeks and caught a little one, but then he watched me andhe knew what was going on. I was at Five Mile one day and hewatched me catch four, so he came over to the boat and he even knewwho I was, so I said, “Now I’m not going to let you fish in my boat.”

But I put him on a spot clear across the lake and I throw a mark-er out. I went over there and I said “I’m going to put a marker in, andit’ll be inside, and on the deep side of that weed bed. You get on thatside and cast to the shallow.” Well, he went in there. And I’ll bedarned, he made one pass. Did exactly what I said. And he comearound and he got a 51-incher! (Joe leans forward and laughs). AndI got pictures in here (Joe slaps his scrapbook). I got it off and tookpictures, but then he made another circle, next cast, a 44-incher.

JO: It sounds to me like you could have made a living being aguide.

JA: Well, I just enjoyed fishing with people and everything.

JO: I suppose being a guide you’d be under pressure every day,wouldn’t you?

JA: Every minute.

JO: Speaking of being employed, Steve says you were a cosmet-ic salesman?

JOE ARENDS (Continued from page 17)

A fish for the record books,water released, unmeasured.

After the interview we went through Joe’s scrapbook,some two inches thick. Joe talked about many of his fas-cinating, historic photographs. The one described here isa very special picture and a very special fish.

JO: Okay Joe, why don’t you go ahead with your scrap-book there. You were just showing me a fish thatlooked to me as about a foot across on the head.

JA: This fish here I caught was the third fish I caught thatevening, when I got this thing hooked.

JO: Was this on Leech?

JA: This is Leech Lake. It’s on “The Mailbox.” But any-way, the sun was up about a foot when I hookedthis one. And he kept going, kept going, keptgoing, fought and fought. Now it’s getting towardsreally dark. So, you know, I’m trying to get it off. Buthe finally behaved himself so I could do a waterrelease, that fish was pretty good size.

I didn’t know the people that took this picture. ButI had a person that seemed to think by measuringthe fishes head alongside the number on the side ofthe boat, and with the fish right up against the boat,it was 10 and a half inches wide.

JO: Do you think it’s the biggest fish you ever released.

JA: One of them. It was a dandy. This was a picturethat was sent to me. That was the 8th of August,1998.

And then Joe went on to talk about fishing with DocCotton, his daughter, and about other pictures …

JA: Yeah, I was with a division of Pfizer that was called CotyCosmetics, I was there eight years.

JO: And you gave up on that and said, “I’m going to fish.”

JA: Well, I kind of got out of it. But you know, it was kind offun going into Penney’s or all these department stores and talking to18 or 19 year old gals, and telling them how to use makeup and allthat. (Joe and Juris both laugh). I’ll tell you a story.

I was in the J.C. Penney store in Brainerd and these young littlethings (Joe dances his hand in the air) were there. I was explainingthe way you would plaster your face with mud (Joe rubs both sides ofhis face) and it gets rid of the wrinkles. Well, anyway, here come thisvery, very elderly lady down the aisle. She had, you know, wrinkles -very wrinkled. This one gal says, “Well, I’m only 19. Why do I needto use this stuff?” I pointed over at the elderly lady and said, “Listenyoung ladies, if you don’t use this stuff . . . ”

JO: Did you make a sale?

JA: Well no, I was educating.

JO: Laughing - Well, that’s not quitemuskie stuff, but I don’t know. Portage Bay, youfished Portage Bay a lot?

JA: Lots.

JO: The weedbed on the west side?

JA: All the way up and down there. Wehad certain spots, you know, The Mailbox, and .. .

JO: Two Points?

JA: Yeah, and then there’s another onestraight off from the Safe Harbor. Anyway, BobStrand, who used to be with the DNR - I was inthere kind of at the end of it, but he was on theend of it one evening with his buddy. And heand his buddy caught a fish. A nice one.

We called that, ever after that,Christianson’s bar, but we caught so many fishon that place, and then down a ways. And FiveMile Point is really something else, oh man.Pelican Island, even in Sucker Bay

And the rock bar that goes off, straight offfrom Gull Rock, I never see people fish that, andboy oh boy, there’s rocks in there as big as a bar,as a house, and they come tearing out of there(Joe shakes his head) it goes so far. Of courseRed Rocks is another one…

JO: Red Rocks used to have some niceweeds on it, but no weeds now.

JA: Nope, all gone.

JO: Pelican doesn’t have any weeds.

JA: They’re gone.

JO: I’ve had other Leech Lake people,guides and all, say the best spot on the lake isNorth Bar - if you want to catch “the” biggestfish, but you gotta work for it.

JA: It’s a place where, you know, it’s notevery day or anything, but boy oh boy, when youhit, they go.

But I think Doc caught his 40 plus pounder off of Pelican Island.Weed bed, rocks, . . . way on the end. It turns and goes out. But,yeah, North Bar is deadly.

Even when you go to West Bar, off Pelican Island, if you go alongthat west shore, stay out and cast, that’s a sleeper.

JO: How about the back side of Bear Island, you know theweed beds there?

JA: Back in there, yeah. And, let’s see, Battle Point, BattlePoint Resort, there’s a lot of weeds in there that are coming in. Butthen if you go out a ways on the end of Bear Island, the north end,you go out and there’s a trench there. And one day, I just killed ‘emin there. But it’s not much, it was full of weeds.

JO: You gotta have weeds, don’t you…?



We eye up a lure’s paint job and how itwobbles. We research the depth it willachieve. Yet, rarely do we scrutize or

understand the importance of the attached hook.In the following interviews, some of the industry’sleading hook manufacturers share importantinformation on one of a musky fisherman’s mostbasic yet integral tools.

Bends...Shapes...Points...Mustad Hooks

“There are a couple factors in the manufacturing process thataffect strength,” explains Robert Funk of Mustad. “First and foremost,it’s how the hook is tempered. Hook manufacturers hold their tem-pering proceses as highly guarded secrets. Other factors include thegrade of steel and whether or not the hook is forged.”

“Mustad uses a tempering process called Nor-tempering. Theresult is a hook that is up to 30% stronger than other fish hookbrands. In addition, we are the only manufacturer which draws ourown wire. This is important because it allows us to draw the wire atslower speeds, eliminating the potential for stress cracks in the steel. Italso allows us to purchase a proprietary blend of high carbon steel pro-duced to our specifications.”

“There are two types of acceptable tempering in the world. InAsia, a hook that has the perfect tempering will bend out about 90degrees before the shank snaps in two. This is considered too brittlein North America.”

“All of our trebles areproduced from high carbonsteel. We also offer a premiumtreble in our Ultra Pointrange. The 36329BLN is 3Xstrong with a unique hybridbend. This bend blends a trueround bend with aO’Shaughnessy bend. Manyanglers feel round bend hooksresult in a higher percentage ofhook up, while O’Shaughnessybend hooks hold the fish betteronce it has been hooked. Ourhybrid bend is the best ofboth worlds.”

“Our Ultra Point hooks feature a true needle point which resultsin the sharpest possible point. Traditional needle point hooks have along, slow taper. It is very sharp but tends to roll over at the tip whenpressure is applied. We use two separate grinding angles so we canhave a super sharp needle point while also producing a hook with amuch stronger point. This technology is fairly new. It was only last

year that one of our technicians discovered that maximum sharpnessand strength is achieved when the point length is 4.3 times the hook’swire diameter.”

“The only treble we offer with the hybrid shape is the36329BLN in our Ultra Point range. Our other musky trebles are allin our Classic range. Classic hooks offer an angler good value as theyare very strong hooks, though they aren’t as sharp as the true needlepoint. They are priced significantly less than a premium hook. AtMustad, we realize that some anglers are passionate about the sportand demand the very best while others love to fish but are not willingto pay the price of a premium product.”

“No matter which category you fit into, all anglers should lookvery closely to the hooks that come on a lure. Many are not the qual-ity that is needed to fight a big, powerful musky.”

Owner HooksDennis Yamamoto of Owner Hooks agrees. He remarks that

their Stinger trebles, particularly the ST66, are the strongest on themarket. “They are forged for increased strength. These hooks are usedby long range boats in San Diego. They catch up to 300- pound tunaon them; they will hold up to muskies.”

“We use short shanks so the fish can not leverage the hook out dur-ing the battle. Incidentally, Owner hooks are all sharp right out of thebox and do NOT need sharpening. They are made of high carbon steelwith a corrosion resistant finish. They simply stay sharp. If you insist onsharpening them you will simply take material off the point-whichmakes them roll more easily—and, you’ll take create a spot for corro-sion to begin. A light touch up with a file should suffice in all cases.”

VMC HooksCyrille Mathieu of VMC Hooks, concurs.

“Buy a hook that is sharp from the beginning.Trying to re-sharpen it removes the finish. Thepart exposed to direct contact with water willstart rusting—even in fresh water. Instead ofre-sharpening hooks add a new one. You don’tthink twice about spending $25 for a bigcrankbait, add a new hook when it needs it.”

“ V M Chas severaldifferent types of sharp trebles. Thespark point feature is the first com-pletely forged point. It has two back-bones. We forge the point and createtwo cutting wings on the side of thepoint and a backbone and front boneto strengthen the point. It is designedfor fish with powerful mouths to gothrough the bones smoothly andquickly, very fast penetration.”

“Cone cut is another technolo-gy that consists in having the tip ofthe point forged and retouched so itis conical in shape. Instead of sliding,

Hooks, Line, & SinkerPart 1: HOOKS

by Patricia Strutz

Cone Cut points combine sharp-ness and structural stability with aconical tip and a barb so fine thatit assures, without force, a cleanpenetration beyond the barb.

VMC Spark Point Hook

The Mustad 36329BLN withhybrid bend (on left).


it will stick into the fish’s mouth. Some hooks are chemically sharp-ened, they are dropped in acid which removes material from thepoint. It makes the point too thin to penetrate a bony jaw. Our idea

is to reach sharpness by a mechanical compres-sion forging process. The result is density ofmaterial that is highest on point, it is supersharp and very strong.”

“All serious manufacturers use high car-bon steel. We use Vanadium metal alloyedwith high carbon steel which is able to sustainpressure with a thinner diameter. So, we canuse thinner wire and still achieve maximumstrength. We offer a Vanadium Barbarianshape. It is angular, designed to help the pointpenetrate faster and lock in the fish.”

“ Another consideration is the shanklength, often dictated by the design of thelure. Longer shank hooks will bring pointsfurther from the lure body, giving more expo-sure to the points. However, it is importantthat you replace hooks with a hook very simi-

lar in weight, length, etc. or you may kill the lure’s action.”

Single hooks....Saltwater hooks...Lure manufacturer Bruce Shumway uses single hooks on his

spinnerbaits. “I use Mustad’s 3406, a standard spinnerbait hook. Youhave to touch these up lightly with a file as they are not razor sharpout of the box. For our Giant spinners I’ve been using a 9/0Gamakatsu. They are razor sharp and deadly.”

“Spinnerbaits are designed to go where straight baits with trebleswon’t go. Their application determines that one should put a singlehook on them. Sometimes folks are concerned about hook ups withsingle hooks over trebles. Well, actually, single hooks with deep bendsprovide deep penetration and excellent hook ups. You are only put-ting one hook into them so the fish has absolutely no leverage.”

Lure manufacturer Joe Puccio of Bait Rigs adds, “You choose ahook by the lure’s design. For instance, since the wire form of thespinnerbait is inherently weedless, adding a treble would be counter-productive. Also, for muskies you need to go with a big hook—I likea 9/0. If you put a grub body on the hook it eats up the gap and won’tleave enough gap for a hookset.”

“On our in-line bucktails we will use a larger treble on the backend (size 7/0.) That gives a maximum gap on the back end of the lurewhere the fish is most likely to get hooked up. That big hook isallowed to run free so it doesn’t get snarled up in the skirt. The mid-hook is smaller so it runs clean; we put it on a swivel so that the fishcan’t leverage against the main wire. Again, it’s taking the lure’s scopeinto mind when choosing the hook to accompany it.”

“For the most part we stick to bronze finishes. This is more fishfriendly. If you deep hook or lose your lure to a fish.” A bronze hookwill eventually dissolve; saltwater hooks are usually stainless or cadmi-um plated and will not.

Barbless?In some areas barbless hooks are a requirement. I personally have

never used them and contacted numerous other musky fishermen forinput, but found little. When fishing restricted areas, some guys saidthey use regular hooks and simply pinch the barb back toward theshaft. They all admitted that the fish were easier to get off the hook.Studies have conflicted on whether barbless hooks are truly healthieralternatives. I welcome any input from the Muskies, Inc. readership.

Puccio remarks, “We’ve had a few people ask us to add barblesshooks but the market share is too small to have a dedicated series. Agreat compromise can be found on our Esox Cobra Musky jigs. Wewent to a smaller barb without sacrificing hook set or hook holdingability. It is a modified Mustad Kahle hook. That’s the funny lookinghook where the bend comes out toward the tip and it is bent downwith the shaft. A Kahle hook creates a leverage against the hook pointso it cuts deeper and wedges into a fish’s mouth. With pressure on theline it is almost impossible for them to shake a Kahle hook. Mustadhas made them in walleye size but not in musky size yet. I have usedtheir smaller sized Kahles on early season lures (like Shad Raps) withgreat success.”

As with any piece of tackle, there are personal preferences andopinions about what works and what doesn’t. One thing is for certain,I’ll be making a list of my favorite hooks for stocking stuffer ideas thisholiday season. v

Patricia Strutz is a fishing guide, outdoor writer, and Field Editor forMUSKIE Magazine. For information, visit her website at:

www.ablondandherboat.com

Seeing Red?A confusing marketing strategy is the new “red” gear. For

instance, PowerPro says their red line disappears in water, yet,hook manufacturers tout red hooks as an attractant.

VMC’s Mathieu explains, “Red shows up when displayedhigh in the water column. So, blood red is visible when on sur-face lures or on baits that run just a couple of feet under thewater. Studies have proven that fish are more aggressive to redin these situations and it may trigger strikes. However, deeperdown in the water column tests show that red is the first color todisappear.

The VMC VanadiumBarbarian Hook’sunique design resultsin a faster and moreeffortless penetrationand up to 25%improved hooking rate.

Sharpening Hooks Even though many hook manufacturers

suggest replacing hooks instead of sharpen-ing them, most musky anglers sharpen whenneeded. Brian Anderson of Rapala suggestsusing their 2-Sided Hook Sharpener.

“This tool features a round, coarse filethat restores large or damaged hooks. Thesharpener’s flat, fine side hones hooks to arazor-sharp edge. Additionally, a V-grooveensures straight and accurate honing. “Touse the sharpener, simply hold it in onehand and the hook in the other hand, withthe hook pointing down towards the end ofthe file. Then, draw the hook through thegroove starting from the file end. Work thehook towards the handle a few times toobtain the desired level of sharpness.”

“This sharpener has three different-sized grooves to accommodate a variety ofhook diameters. A larger channel accepts increased wire diam-eters of big-game hooks. Once the hook has been drawnthrough the grooves, use the flat sides to hone the hook to per-fection.”

Rapala 2 Sided

Sharpener

www.muskiesinc.org December 2009.....MUSKIE 21

JO: Okay, I think we could talk about Leech forever, but wegotta talk a little about lures. (Juris picks up a lure and gives it to Joe).That lure that you have in your hands is one I got from Steve Tookeryesterday and it’s one of this prize possessions.

And, he says there’s been a hundred fish caught on that lure.

JA: Well, somewhat like that. Because, really, my two favoritelures were ones that I made, but I always used the Mepps front end. Imade several hundred with the purple tail and a silver cord end. Andthen, dark ones, the brass cord. I’ve got special short shank hooks thatI ordered, a thousand at a time, and I gave a lot of them away. Butanyway, I kept a coffee can . . . very rarely did I ever net a fish, justwater release ‘em. So my measurements are off two inches long orshort, it doesn’t make much difference.

But I used to cut hooks and throw ‘em in this coffee can. Andwhen I traded that one boat off I had 47 hooks in the coffee can, allpurple. And then when I cleaned the boat out, there were 17 more inthe boat.

JO: The blade looks bent.

JA: (Joe examines the lure) This is another thing, when you getthese Mepps blades or any leaf blades, you gotta bend ‘em to make ‘emwork. They pull much harder, but jeepers, that just makes the differ-ence with this particular lure.

JO: Steve made a point that you like short hair. You don’t likebig, long hair.

JA: Yeah, several of the really bigger fish. Basically, when you’refishing muskies you get northerns and they always rip the hair off andit works so good. Fact is, when I made ‘em I’d make ‘em and cut (Joeuses his fingers in a scissors motion to “trim” hair off the lure).

JO: You know, that’s really interesting, because a lure like thatisn’t sold or made these days.

JA: Oh no, but, boy, the last time I went I had my daughter withme and one of her friends. We went down there off The Mailbox andwe all three had a muskie on at the same time. That was a first. But weall had short tails, fact is, Anna had a number 5 small, and those twogirls later on that morning each had a double, twice. So that was 7 fish.And it totaled out to be 11, using . . . (Joe points to the lure in his hand).

JO: Is that good any time of the year? You know, spring, fall,whatever?

JA: I don’t worry much about that. I never did. I’m not thekind of person, that (Joe looks around in the sky) . . . oh, the moon isthis and that, and that’s just somethin’ else to worry about. I’ve fished,when I could, and fished a lot.

I know that on certain weed beds or certain structures the wind’sgotta be the way it’s gotta be. And the same way with rocks or what-ever. Another thing, if the wind is not right there’s no sense stayingon that piece or that structure, if you don’t feel comfortable with yourelectric trolling motor.

JO: Steve said you have this technique where if it’s really windyyou go anchor in the middle of a weed bed? Tell us about that.

JA: You know anchoring is the way I started out fishing. Wedidn’t have electric trolling motors. When you have a weed bed, you’dhave a corner here, and you got deep water there, and across you got12 foot, and then you come over here and you got another little dip.You don’t put your anchor in the weeds, but out, so the boat driftsback to the edge of the weeds.

Some of those spots are just dynamite. Doc Cotton would neveranchor. Well, this one time it was so windy, so terribly windy, and hewas in that big boat. I said, “Go to shore and drop anchor, and get inmy boat.”

So I put a marker down, right where my anchor was. Went andgot him. Come back, put the anchor down. That day we, he caught6 dandies. We had a total of 11 for the first time. And you know, thefunny thing, we had an awful fight that day, but that’s another story.

JO: What did you tell me earlier, you and Doc have caught 17fish in a day?

JA: We made that about four different times, 18th of July. Forthat reason we always tried to fish, and boy, we always hit it. We justhit the weed bed on Pelican, go to Two Points, go back to Five Mile,go on down by where the river goes up, and we worked. It was a 15hour day. And we always tried for 18 but we never made it.

JO: Well, I feel sorry for you.

JA: (Joe laughs) Well, anyway, that’s a fact, we sure did it.

JO: That’s a career for some, some of us, you know.

JA: Well, we worked and we knew what we were doing. Weknew where to go. Doc always fished in the back of my boat. I neverfished in his boat, I always had control. I had structure control, elec-tric motor. And we’d get done fishing, go in a bar or whatever, andthe people would ask, “Doc, where’s the best place to fish in the lake?”He’d say, “Back of Joe’s boat.” That’s the only thing he’d ever say! v


JOE ARENDS (Continued from page 19)

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!Merry Christmas, Season’s Greetings, and Happy Holidays

from all of us at MUSKIE Magazine! We appreciate your mem-bership and support. We appreciate your story ideas, chapterreports, and comments. We appreciate our advertisers and regu-lar authors and field editors. May the year ahead bring you thefish of your dreams.

That’s it for my column this month. This issue of MUSKIEis packed with good stuff, so read on. I hope you enjoyMUSKIE as much as we enjoy bringing it to you.

After the thrill of catching your next muskie do your best tocarefully release it to fight another day; the future of our muskieresource will literally be in your hands!

– Kevin v

8 8Figure 8by Kevin Richards

[email protected]

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Special Events

2010Aug. 25-27, 2010

2010 Gil Hamm Chapter Challungeat Lake Vermilion, MN. Contact: Jeff Young:

[email protected] or 218-821-3669

No. Chapter, Address Phone #01.....Twin Cities, 6311 Steller Circle, Excelsior, MN 55331......................................952-474-596702.....Fargo-Moorhead, Box 2021, Fargo ND, 58107................................................701-298-903203.....Chicagoland Muskie Hunters, 7600 Kilbourn Ave, Skokie, IL 60076 ...............847-677-001704.....Titletown Muskies, Inc., 3097 Inverness Lane, New Franken, WI 54229 .......920-866-970505.....Pomme De Terre, PO Box 5, Hermitage, MO 65668 .......................................417-993-003506.....First Wisconsin, PO Box 122, Chippewa Falls, WI 54729 ...............................715-864-226907.....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, 239 8th St SE, Mason City IA 50401..............................................641-424-082711 .....Mississippi Valley, 5301 11th Ave “C”, Moline, IL 61265 ..................................309-797-180312.....Headwaters, PO Box 652, Eagle River, WI 54521...........................................715-477-291313.....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, 16774 West Bay Drive, Pengilly, MN 55775........................218-885-167716.....Three Rivers, 119 Bus Lane, Renfrew, PA15136.............................................724-789-786617.....Quad County, PO Box 185, Plano, IL 60545....................................................815-695-149418.....Hopedale, 15 Township Rd 125, Dillonvale, OH 43917 ...................................740-769-726919.....Akron-Canton Muskie Maniacs, 10957 Northwood Ave NE, Bolivar OH 44612.330-874-277320.....Between the Lakes, PO Box 61, Sheboygan Falls, WI 53085-0061 ...............920-564-322621.....North Metro, PO Box 41216, Plymouth, MN 55441 .........................................952-469-215522.....New Jersey, http://www.mi22.com/ ..................................................................................TBD23.....Cleveland, 5608 Brave Chief Lane, Ravenna, OH 44266 ...............................330-296-239824.....Brainerd Lakes, 18031 Heritage Road, Brainerd, MN 56401 ..........................218-838-550926.....Central Wisconsin, PO Box 263, Medford, WI 54451 ......................................715-748-487427.....Central Illinois, 1191 Sandra Lane, Monticello, IL 61856 .................................309-264-373028.....Shawnee Muskie Hunters, 61 W. Jennings, Wood River, IL 62095.................618-610-500329.....Upper Great Plains, 1788 Hwy 4, Estherville, IA 51334...................................712-362-250130.....God’s Country, PO Box 1461, LaCrosse, WI 54601 ........................................608-786-406231.....Penn-Ohio, 309 Spring St, Jamestown, PA 16134...........................................724-932-581532.....Flatlanders, 5776 Vesper Drive, South Beloit, IL 61080 ..................................815-389-462233.....Lake Superior, 2031 Hwy. 33 S., Cloquet, MN 55720......................................218-879-271235.....Milwaukee, PO Box 28842, Greenfield, WI 53228...........................................262-542-999737.....St. Cloud, 312 18th Avenue N., Sartell, MN 56377 ..........................................320-656-116038.....Vikingland, 2909 Wicken Lane NW, Alexandria, MN 56308.............................320-846-797539.....Fox River Valley, 1253 Cobblers Crossing, Elgin, IL 60123.............................847-741-977141.....Central Ohio, 870 County Road 9, Fremont OH 43420...................................419-992-450442.....Hoosier Muskie Hunters, PO Box 501371, Indianapolis, IN 46250 .................317-577-805044.....Colorado, 3739 Sawgrass Trail, Castle Rock, CO 80109 ................................303-668-408945.....Kentucky, 212 Linden Ave., Southgate, KY 41071...........................................859-441-166646.....Bemidji/Cass Lake, 16256 Andrusia Rd NE, Cass Lake, MN 56633...............218-335-859747.....Michigan Muskie Alliance, PO Box 512, Caledonia, MI 49316 ........................616-447-168848.....Arrowhead, PO Box 603, Tower, MN 55790 ....................................................218-753-261249.....Webster Lake Musky Club, PO Box 670, No. Webster, IN 46555 ...................574-834-166950.....Penn-Jersey, 510 Bryton Ave., Pottstown PA 19465.........................................484-459-594052.....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, 1524 Country Club Rd, Albert Lea MN 56007 .............507-373-181856.....SW Ohio Muskie Ass’n, 524 Sterling Meadows Place, Brookville, OH 45309 ..937-833-183357.....NW TigerPac, P.O. Box 5515, Kent, WA 98064 ...............................................253-850-588958.....Lake St. Clair Muskies, Inc., P.O. Box 805915, St. Clair Shores, MI 48080....586-873-578159.....New Mexico Muskies, Inc., P.O. Box 65575 Albuquerque, NM 87193.............505-363-4624

Special events listings areprovided at no charge toMuskies, Inc chapters.

To list your chapter's event,

email to: [email protected]

or by ground mail:Kevin Richards,

7618 Sunrise Ridge Road,Henley, MO 65040

Please send announcementsat least 2 months

in advance.

ATTENTIONCHAPTER

CONTACTS:Please make sure

your chapter addressand phone number

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

Whenever you updatechapter information on

the website, please send anemail to the Editor so we can

keep this page current. Thanks!

Chapter News and Views


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Chapter Banner & Focus:West Virginia Chapter 9

After our successful first session with Advanced Fingerlings atBowden Hatchery, chapter members again worked with DNR per-sonnel to collect fingerlings at Bee Run and Falls Mills. EarlyOctober found several members assisting to drain the pond at BeeRun which was fairly successful. We collected 815 AdvancedFingerlings measuring an average or 9.8 inches. StonewallJackson Lake received 500 of these fish, East Lynn Lake received250 and Mountwood Lake got the remaining 65.

A couple weeks later we worked at Falls Mills; this pond inmuch tougher to work due to heavier siltation and emerging vege-tation. Even so, we did well with 827 fish recovered averagingclose to 12 inches in length. Burnsville Lake was stocked with 500fish, 200 went to the New River and Gauley River received theremaining 127. One more session at the Palestine Hatchery willcomplete this years’ efforts.

Our Chapter spent the last weekend of September manning abooth at the annual Hunting and Fishing Days Celebration hostedby DNR at Stonewall Jackson Lake. With an attendance of an esti-mated 15,000 avid hunters and fishermen, this is a prime opportu-nity to introduce the public to MI as well as our projects assistingDNR. We also have fun entertaining the young people with multi-ple handouts and our ever popular Coloring Contest.

Chris Burnette of Morgantown has been reporting the improv-ing fishery on the Monongahela River. He has caught several fishthere this season and recently reported an over 50” catch by a fel-low angler from Pennsylvania.

Chris is also representing our Chapter on a committee dedicat-ed to finding the cause and establishing guidelines to prevent fur-ther issues of the type that totally destroyed the fishery in DunkardCreek over a four week period in September. This stream whichstraddles the WV and PA borders east of Morgantown, was devas-tated by a reported Golden Algae outbreak probably accented bymine runoff with essentially a total fish kill. Muskies up to 48” werefound dead in fairly large numbers as well as other species. Thecommittee which includes PA and WV state agencies, Federalagencies as well as community and sports club representativesmeets monthly and continue to monitor the situation.

Jim Moore, President

Exuberance, UnrestrainedTwin Cities Chapter – The Happy #1

Chapter meetings are important events that support cama-raderie, learning, voluntarism, and much, much more. A success-ful chapter depends on good meetings that hold the attention of the

membership. The business part has to be done; however, themajority of the members don’t attend to discuss the budget andsuch matters. Certainly,planned tournaments, fish-ing trips, and stockingreports hold the attention ofmost. Beyond those agendaitems, a program is plannedand in most cases includesan expert or a fishing guide.

You’ve all heard it:• If you are working the

outside of a weed bedand there is no action, tryfishing the inside edge ofthe weed bed.

• If you are using light-col-ored lures and nothing ishappening, try dark lures.

• Bucktail, no: try acrankbait

• Etcetera, etcetera

Well, for the Twin CitiesChapter, the Lure Guruchanged all that. R. L. (Dick)Streater, of Mercer Island,Washington, came aloneand created an explosion oflaughter at the Octobermeeting. Dick describeshimself as a “Fishing TackleCollector,” however, he ismuch more. He is a most-humorous, niche comedian, collector, historian, and story develop-er/teller. He has built his program on dozens of bizarre pieces offishing equipment from the pre-1950 era through today. You’ve gotto see the collection to believe it. As the accompanying picturesshows, he made those in attendance lose their reserve and breakinto proverbial “belly” laughs.

Bottom line: Dick has collected unusual fishing equipment anddeveloped extravagant, laughable stories about each. We werevery well entertained. It was a memorable meeting and a changefrom talking about weather patterns and moon phases. Thanks,Dick!

Vince Trotta

Fall Tournament ResultsFishing was not what you wanted it to be for the annual Fall

Tournament. Multiple fronts moving through in the previous 7-8days left the fish in no mood to cooperate with the fishermen.

On Friday there were 37 teams on the water all day and only 5

Twin Cities6311 StellerCircle • Excelsior, MN 55331

952-474-5967www.twincitiesmuskiesinc.org

Meets 2nd Tuesday 7:00 PM, Knights of Columbus, 1114 W79th St Bloomington,MN, near the SE corner of the intersection of I-494 and I-35W.

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Pomme de TerreP.O. Box 5 • Hermitage, MO 65668314-878-7732 – Wayne Humphrey

www.missourimuskies.orgMeets: Various days-Call for schedule

05

West Virginia1270 Federal Road • Little Hocking, OH 45742

740-667-3571http://westvirginiamuskiesinc.orgMeets: No definite schedule-call

09


fish caught; even stranger was that three of these fish came fromone boat. Even stranger was that two of them came from the samedock. Earle Hammond and Randy Murawski figured something outand boated a 41.25, 41.25 and a 32. Earle caught both the 41 inchfish from the same dock and he said they looked just like twins.Makes you wonder if he had a really dumb fish that he caught twice.

Geary Kenneth and Daniel West boated a 35 for second placeand David Admire and Nick Admire finished in third with a 32.

Saturday started the scoring all over and everyone went into itthinking that one or two fish might get the job done. Fishing provedto be just as tough as on Friday with only 5 fish caught from 34boats.

Mark English and Toby English boated a 44 for big fish of theday. Also catching fish were Andrew Donner and George Donnerwith a 39, Billy Pitts and TJ Sawyer with a 36.5, Wayne Humphreyand Dave Brandt with a 34 and Don Allen and Dave Schneider witha 32.

Some people were convinced the fish would turn on Sundaymorning and the pessimists thought it would be tough again. Thepessimists were right with only one fish being caught. Dave Admireand Nick Admire caught a 34, their second fish of the weekend.May not have been very big but it was worth a lot of bucks as bigfish of the day.

There were additional fish seen and some hooked and lostover the three days, but even taking these into account, it was aslow weekend.

Our thanks to everyone that participated and especially to FredDearborn and Denis Ledgerwood for all the effort they put into thetournament.

Next year’s tournament will be the second weekend in Octoberand not the first. This is to avoid some scheduling conflicts withmajor sports events in the KC area.

Wayne Humphrey

Calendar of Events:Dec. 7, 2009 General Meeting, speaker Tom Gelb. Fill Inn Station,

Chippewa Falls.Dec. 21, 2009 6:30 PM Chapter Board Meeting, VFW, Starr Ave.

Eau ClaireJan. 11, 2010 6:30 PM Chapter Board Meeting, VFW, Starr Ave,

Eau ClaireJan 23, 2010 – Annual Banquet, Fill Inn Station Chippewa Falls.

We have a change in our Monthly Chapter Board Meeting loca-tion. They will be held at the VFW Club on Starr Ave. in Eau Claire.They are typically on the third Monday of the month in the winter.Starr Ave. runs parallel to Hastings Way (Business 53) they will startat 6:30 PM.

The 2009 Wisconsin DNR stocking of Wisconsin strainmuskies sounds like a success. Lee Goehring the Black RiverBiologist reports their were 2500 stocked in Lake Wissota, 2500 inLake Holcombe, 1052 in Long Lake and 796 in Lake Altoona. TheLeech Lake strain of muskies will be stocked in Lake Wissota onOct 28th, just 2 days after this report. Our chapter tagging programon Lake Wissota will be coordinated by Greg Hassmann for 2010.

The Fall Meltdown event on Lake Holcombe was a lot of fun onOct 17th. It was a beautiful day, kind of cool but nice. We had 22 totalfishermen show up and conditions were great for a nice fall day offishing. We all met up a Ted’s for lunch and Big Minnow afterwardsand swapping fish stories, although the Bunch’s had a good storyfrom the morning where Jeff got a 44” on a 9” sucker. Musky Bob

(Neidhold) had a whole day of stories... Musky bob was fishing inthe back of the Smith boat and never even let Jason get on his frontdeck before he heard “ I got one”….well they started off with a 35.5”in the net. Then an hour later Bob says “I got one” again….Bob gota 47” to eat boat side. Then later in the day Bob says “I got a bigone”, he fights this fish, its ripping drag and had massive headshakes…..it was about 52 inches when they released it boatside….too bad itwas a Sturgeon thathe snagged in thetail! 1st. Jason Smithand Bob Neidhold47” and 35.5”; 2nd

Jeff Bunch and JimBunch 44” and32.75”

I wanted toshare this photo ofGordy Roytek with a46” hybrid fromDairyland Reservoir.

At the December 7th general meeting we have a special treat.Tom Gelb, Wisconsin’s ultimate row troller will make a presentationto our chapter. It will be the “What-How-Where-When” – of sus-pended musky hunting. It is applicable to many inland waters in theUSA that have suspended musky. Tom is a very unique person. Hecaught his first muskie in 1952; recently he recorded a verified 51pound 2 ounce monster from Wisconsin. Before he retired he pro-fessionally was the Senior Vice president of operations for Harley-Davidson. Don’t miss this one.

Our Annual Awards Banquet is Jan. 23, 2010. Each year we doa slide show of muskie catching events throughout the year. If youhave pictures that would fit into this presentation please send themto Jason Smith at [email protected].

Jim Bunch

The October meeting of the South Side Muskie Hawks wascalled to order by VP John McNicholas. Following the usual fishingreports, including the one from Don Sobczak about gettingSKUNKED at Webster, our speakers for the evening, Scott andSean Bermingham, were introduced by VP Joel Janecek. The topicof their presentation was “Fall Muskie Techniques on Webster Lakeand the Barbee Chain”. As is usually the case with the Berminghambrothers, they gave the equivalent of a fundraiser-type seminar,using their great tag team approach, fielding many questions fromthe rapt audience, and even staying to answer more questions afterthe end of the meeting.

Sean started by talking about the fact that you have to know theright time to fish these bodies of water, and that they will not usual-ly fish them until the water temperature drops to 50 degrees orbelow. He went on to explain that when the temperature hits thatpoint, the water begins to clear of particulate matter, thus allowingmore sunlight to penetrate deeper and keep the underwater weedsgreen., and green weeds hold fish.

Scott then jumped in to talk a bit about the types of lures to useand some of the modifications that they make to them. He also cov-ered lure color for this time of year, stating that shad, perch, andwalleye-colored lures work best in these shad-based lakes.

They both touched briefly on sucker fishing and stated that


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First WisconsinP.O. Box 122, Chippewa Falls, WI 54729

Jason Smith - 715-726-9912 • 1-888-726-6733www.firstwi.muskiesinc.org

Meetings 1st Monday, 5:30 PM, at Rod and Gun Club, Lake Wissota from May toSeptember and at the Fill Inn Station, 104 W. Columbia St., Chippewa Falls fromOctober to April.

06South Side Muskie Hawks

5211 S. Narragansett Ave. • Chicago, IL 60638773-581-8650

Our meetings are held every third Wednesday of the month at MamaLuigi's located at 7500 S. Harlem in Bridgeview, IL starting at 7:00 pm.

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because of the VHS disease, you can no longer bring in suckersfrom out of the area, and that if you are caught sucker fishing anddo not have a receipt for purchase of the suckers from a local baitshop; you will be fined very heavily! Another point that they bothtouched on was the fact that at these shad-based lakes, you haveto get out on them at first light and the earlier, the better. Their hintto remember was “gray light, fat bite”!

It is always great to have the Bermingham brothers as speak-ers, as they give much more information than the average speaker,and are extremely generous with their time and knowledge, answer-ing questions and providing information until they are the last onesat the meeting. We wish them the best of success in the future, andthey will always be welcome at our meeting.

In other club news, our 27th Annual Fundraiser will be comingup on Sunday, November 29th at Marie Ashton Place, which is locat-ed at 75th St. and Clarendon Hills Road in Willowbrook. Doors openat 11 AM, and the fundraiser runs from noon to 5 PM. Over $20,000in prizes is in our giant raffle, including a boat, motor, and trailer. Ourspeaker will be noted fishing guide, Gregg Thomas, of Battle theBeast Guide Service. Workers are needed for the fundraiser, soplease sign up as soon as possible. Tickets are $8.00 in advance,or $10.00 at the door.

The South Side Muskie Hawks, a chapter of Muskies, Inc., area multi-species club. We welcome men, women, and children to ourmeetings, which are held on the third Wednesday of the month inthe banquet room of Mama Luigi’s Restaurant, which is located at75th and Harlem Ave. in Bridgeview, IL. Our meeting start at 7:30PM, and usually last until about 9:30 PM.

Respectfully Submitted, Lynn Polyak, RVP

It’s December, and many, if not most, lakes are frozen over, orsoon will be. Those of us in the southern half of Wisconsin, howev-er, still have the rest of this month to fish for muskies. The new reg-ulation extending the muskie season to the end of December wentinto effect this year, and many of us will take advantage of thisopportunity to put a few more muskies in the net. Big lakes will bethe last to freeze and may still offer open water late into the season.And don’t forget the rivers. It’s no secret that more and more CCMImembers are now fishing the Wisconsin River, for example.

Summer and fall club outings are now over. Dale and ColetteAnderson, the coordinators for the CCMI Vilas County outing onOctober 16 and 17 report that the event was a great success.Thirty-one club members, family, and friends attended. An editedversion of their report follows:

First, we would like to extend our sincere thanks to everyonethat participated in the outing! We once again held the banquetat St. Germaine Lodge (Fibber’s Bar and Restaurant). It was ahuge success and we send a very special thank you to Rob andKaye Manthei – the accommodations were great, and the foodwas fantastic! Rob generously donated numerous door prizes forour general raffle. In addition, Rob also donated a Frabill BigKahuna Net, a Lure Retriever and a Pheasant Mirror – Rob, yourock! We added those prizes to a soft-sided tackle box with traysthat was donated by Gander Mountain and decided to try some-thing new this year. With the blessing of CCMI board membersat the outing, we conducted a Grand Raffle. Thank you to Donand Liz Hollatz for running the raffle.

Once again, Indian summer-like weather alluded us in theNorthwoods. We had overcast conditions with temps in the upper

30’s to low 40’s on Friday (10/16) along with a few snow show-ers. Despite what appeared to be favorable conditions, themuskies were glued to the bottom. A total of six fish were caught.The 2009 Vilas County Outing winners were:

First Place: Dan Reim with a 48-1/2 incher!Second Place: Marv Kotney with a 43-incher!Third Place: Paul Knudson with a 42-incher! (This was also

Paul’s 1st muskie)Smallest Muskie: Colette Anderson with a 37-incher! Congratulations also goes out to Cameron Draws with a 38-

incher and Brian Linaberry with a 41-incher!Thanks, Dale and Colette, for the above report.

Scot Stewart, Regional Program Manager for the WDNR, gavea great presentation at the October 12 CCMI membership meetingon the status of muskie fishing in Wisconsin. Scot’s annual updateis always appreciated by club members. His report provided anexcellent opportunity to learn about the results of stocking efforts,as well as an opportunity to ask questions and receive answersabout WDNR activities affecting the muskie fishery in Wisconsin.

Tom Gelb, Musky Hunter Magazine Field Editor, will be the fea-tured speaker on December 14th. His presentation, called “MuskyHunting Strategy: The Big Fish Zone,” will provide details about the“What, How, Where and When” of suspended musky hunting.

Luke Ronnestrand, muskie guide and tournament angler fromElk River, Minnesota, will be the guest speaker at the CCMI month-ly membership meeting on Monday, January 11th. Ronnestrand isco-owner of Holcombe Tackle Company, Inc., the company thatmakes Premium Musky Buster lures.

Lee Bartolini, VP

Headwaters Chapter 12 had another busy October as ourMusky season is getting close to the end for 2009. Our regular busi-ness meeting was held on October 7th 2009. We had good atten-dance and participation by our members and directors. Normalbusiness items were carried out. Jim Chamberlin advised that wehave over 420 active members. Dale Peterson reported that as ofthe end of September we have 829 fish recorded. Members areencouraged to register fish for the end of the year drawing for a rodand reel.

A FEW WORDS FROM OUR PREZOn October 10th our Chapter hosted Region 2 Muskies Inc.

meeting. A motion that was submitted by our chapter for our inter-national to look at the probability of hiring an Executive Director byAugust of 2010 passed. We had a very good turnout, with 20attending the meeting. Louis Dreger, Bob Jacobs, Fred Brogle andI took five Regional members fishing on Friday. Louis, Fred andtheir partner had a number of follows, while Bob guided his partnerMark Kornsky to a nice 43 ?”. I guided Joe Heil to a 47”. Both caughton a sucker. And I caught a nice 48” on a Super D. I want to thankLouis, Fred and Bob for showing the regional members our northwoods hospitality. I heard nothing but thanks and good job for theway our chapter hosted this meeting. A job well done by all.

Our First 2009 Fall Classic of Champions October 3rd & 4th

went very well. While having only 47 entries, our chapter made over$2,400.00 after all expenses. The Three Lakes Chamber ofCommerce has really stepped up to help us put on this event.They donated the Donuts &Coffee each morning, SundaysMeal and a $550.00 Special Prize that was given to lucky tour-nament angler on Sunday. Special thanks to the Northern Airefor letting us have the Friday night check in, the Sunset Grill for put-

CHAPTER NEWS & VIEWS (Continued from page 27)

HeadwatersP.O. Box 652 • Eagle River, WI 54521

715-477-2913 – Paul Hansenwww.headwatersmuskies.comMeets 1st Wednesday 7:00 PM

12Capital CityP.O. Box 8862, Madison, WI 53708608-669-5046 – Gerard Hellenbrand

www.capitalcitymuskiesinc.orgMeets second Monday at the Coliseum Bar, 232 E. Olin Ave, Madison, WI

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ting on the free lunch on Sunday, and Anchor Marine for letting ususe their building for the Awards Presentation on Sunday. I don’t liketo use the word I, but I was put in the position of having to run thistournament. Having said that I would like to give a big thanks to ourcommittee: John Schmidt, Ed Martens, Art Anderson , Bob JacobsJay Hollnagel, Jim Heffner, Carol Heffner, Harvey Sadler, GlennHeidorn & Paul Hansen. Conditions were very tough with only 6 fishbeing caught.

Congratulations to the following winners:.1ST Place: Randy Peyer and Joe Mulanche with a 42 and a 37.5

inch. $4820.00 cash Prizes2ND Place: Bill Virkandt and Dan buss 44.5 inch. $2,070.00 Cash

Prizes3RD Place: Joe and Natalie Polinski with a 38 inch. $1,025.00 cash

Prizes4TH Place: Dave Quinn and Jerry Podmarsky with a 36.5 inch

$325.00 Cash Prizes.5TH Place: Dan and Mike Wojtusik with a 35.25 inch. $200.00 Cash

prizesLargest Northern: Curt Priefer 33.5 inch. $100.00 Cash Prizes

Headwaters Chapter is a very active year round Musky club.Anyone interested in joining please visit our web site at www.head-watersmuskies.com for membership, meeting and activities sched-ule. The officers and directors wish to extend a Merry Christmasand Happy new year to all.

Glenn Matula, Secretary

The 32ND Annual Fall Tournament was a big success in sever-al ways. First of all we had a big jump in entrants from 504 in 2008to 570 this year. The raffle at our Saturday night event and ourSunday awards ceremony both brought in more money than lastyear so we’ll have more money to invest in our projects in 2010.There was also a record number of fish caught this year, 93 werecaught and released compared with 57 in 08 and 76 in 07. This wasin spite of all day rain on Friday and Saturday. We want to thankeveryone who participated, since this is our major fund raiser.Thanks also go to all the volunteers who worked to put it all togeth-er and finally we thank all of our many sponsors including HaywardPower Sports and Hayward Bait and Tackle. Join us in 2010,October 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

The following entries have been received in our members con-test. Women: Tera Niebauer 7 fish-96pts includes a 47.5” fromLeach and a 51.5” !!! from Bemidji. Brenda Detloff 5 fish-64pts.includes a 45” from “The Chip.” Sandy Hackbarth 1 fish-5pts.Women’s Masters: Sarah Muntz 8 fish-87pts. Men: Emmett Brown19 fish-191pts., includes a 45” from LOTW and a 45” from UpperClam. John Ryan, 10 fish-178pts. includes a 47”48”50”50”& 54.5”!!!from the St. Lawrence. John Detloff, 12 fish, 165pts., includes a 47”from “The Chip” Wayne Balsavich 7 fish-64pts. includes a 53” !!!from the Crowley Flowage. J.B. Ellis, 4 fish-42pts., Kris Gottwald 4fish-28pts. includes a 45” from the Eau Claire chain, Tom Kersten 1fish-12pts. Marc Laustrup 1 fish-7pts. Kim Hackbarth 1 fish-4pts.Men’s Masters: Tom Muntz, 74 fish-534pts !!! includes a 41” fromthe Indian Chain in Ontario . Ted Muntz 19 fish-229pts., includes a46” from the Indian Chain, Adam Glickman 19 fish-266pts., includes2-46” and a 47”. Mike Persson 6 fish-80pts., includes 2-46” fromLOTW. Tanner Wildes 1 fish-18pts. To register your fish please do iton line at the Muskies Inc. website. This saves a lot of work. If youneed help call Mike at 717-634-4543. We will however, accept thepaper forms, mail them to the club’s post office box #609 , HaywardWI , 54843 .

Our next meeting will be our annual Christmas Party onSunday evening December 6th at Al and Barbara Hoeft’s house at6pm. Invitations will be sent out to our local members but everyoneis welcome. If you need more information call Al at 715-865-2232.Don’t forget we now have our own website, www.muskiesinc-hay-ward.org

Good Fishing, Mike Persson

Hello Three Rivers members, is it December already? If you’restill out doing some fishing, hopefully you’re having some success;and staying warm in the process. Soon, it will be time to attendthose all important sports shows, sharpen a few hooks, and watchlots of football and hockey while clutching your favorite beverage.To recap the last few months, at our October meeting, we had anopen discussion on Lake Arthur, in advance of the upcoming LakeArthur Charity Challunge, which was held at the end of the month.We want to extend our personal thanks to Jim Burr, of Muddy CreekFishing Guides, for holding a question and answer session aboutthe lake. Jim shared some tips, strategies, and local history behindLake Arthur and its muskies. The results from the tournament willappear in the January issue of this column.

By the time you read this, we will have elected a new president,vice president, and filled any open director positions at theNovember member meeting. The complete transition will be final-ized by the awards banquet in 2010. We want to thank, and com-mend those new individuals who have stepped up to take thesepositions. Their commitment to Three Rivers Chapter will not gounnoticed, nor will the efforts of those who have come before them.Now, on to the all-important, last meeting of the year, our annualChristmas party, which will be held on Monday evening December14th. This will be a catered event but everyone is encouraged tobring a side dish or desert of some kind if you wish, emphasis ondeserts if you please. In addition to all of our usual holiday festivi-ties and raffles, we’ll be drawing the BIG CASH 50/50 Christmasraffle. The pot normally does get pretty big the night of the party so,plan on attending. There will be additional raffle tickets to purchaseor, for those of you who didn’t get a chance to mail yours in, we willstill be accepting tickets up to the drawing. Remember, all are wel-come, so bring the family, bring your appetite; a few refreshments,and we’ll see you there, you don’t want to miss out on one of ourbiggest events of the season.

Starting at the Christmas party, you will be able to purchasebanquet reservations. Our 2010 Annual Awards Banquet will beheld a little earlier next year so, we want to get things started now.The format will be the same as the last several, make your reserva-tions early and purchase your strip tickets as well. The banquet willbe held at The Four Points Sheraton in Cranberry on SaturdayFebruary 27Th 2010. Tickets are $30 for Kids 17 and under, and $40for Adults. You may also purchase 150 strip tickets for $100. This isalways a GREAT DEAL because; these same tickets are sold for $1each the night of the banquet. Your banquet ticket includes thegrand prize; one-week stay for up to 5 people and 1 boat slip atGreen Acres Resort, Pigeon Lake Ontario. Banquet tickets, andstrip tickets, will be waiting for you at the door the night of the ban-quet. You can purchase banquet and strip tickets at the meetingsany time from the Christmas party until Monday February 22nd or,you can mail your check, made out to; Three Rivers MuskiesInc. to; Gregory L. Peters Treasurer, at 136 Garner Rd.Edinburg, PA 16116. Please specify on your check, the number


Hayward LakesP.O. Box 609

Hayward, WI 54843715-634-4543

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Three Rivers119 Bus Lane, Renfrew, PA 15136724-789-7866 – James P. Busshttp://threerivers.muskiesinc.org

Meets 2nd Monday 7:30 PM, Northside Sportsmans Club, Wexford, PA.

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of adult and child tickets needed, as well as the number of stripticket packages you require, along with appropriate remit-tance. More details and information will appear in the comingissues of this column. For more information contact President DaveHuemmrich, [email protected]

Dave Huemmrich

CH 19 Events for 2010MAR 6 ANNUAL AWARDS BANQUET

LOUISVILLE, OHIOAPR 17-18 SPRING TOURNAMENT SALT FORK LAKEMAY 15-16 ANNUAL CHAPTER CHALLUNGE

SALT FORK LAKEJUN 12-13 MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT LEESVILLE LAKEJUL 17-18 CH. 19 & 23 JOINT TOURNAMENT

WESTBRANCH LAKEAUG 7 PM NITE BITE LEESVILLE LAKESEP 11 FALL TOURNAMENT PYMATUNING LAKEOCT 9 OPEN TOURNAMENT LEESVILLE LAKE

The Muskie Maniacs held their Chautauqua Lake Tournamenton September 26th and 27th. We had 17 anglers that fished therainy and windy event with 14 legal fish caught. John Dennis wonthe tournament with his fish of 44”, 41” and 34”. CongratulationsJohn! He also won the big fish pool.

On October 3rd, our club held its last tournament of the seasonat Leesville Lake. The event started off with breakfast for those thatcame early at the Petersburg Marina. We had a total of 21anglerswith 9 fish being caught. Mike Ellis took first place with a 42.5” fish.Mike also won the big fish pool. Congratulations Mike!

Well I hate the tournament season to close but there is stillsome good fall weather to get out and get a few more fish beforethe lakes freeze up. So far this season, we have released 579 fishand hope we can break the 600 mark before the end of December.

Well I hope you have enjoyed reading our information aboutour chapter this year and hope it will be even better next year! Fromall of us from the Akron / Canton Chapter, we want to wish every-one a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Kevin Proffitt

The regular October meeting featured Mark Knabe fromNabby Baits and Bob Schmitt from Just Encase. Mark showed usa number of his baits including Nabbytails (bucktails) made of var-ious materials and some great Lucifers and Click-Fins (topwa-ters). Since he grew up in the auto body industry, custom paintsare no problem. He also shared some of his hot spots on ForestLake. After the meeting, Mark demonstrated how to tie bucktails.Mark can be contacted at [email protected]. Bob showed us anumber of his clear tackle boxes made out of polycarbonate.Some of the advantages are you can see your baits and you canstand on them. He also makes custom casting platforms/tackleboxes that he allowed anyone present to stand on. Let’s just saya couple of pretty big guys didn’t break it. For additional informa-

tion contact Bob at [email protected]. Check out their websites for additional information at www.nabbybaits.com andwww.justencase.com.

Our 2010 banquet will be Saturday January 16, 2010 with JinSaric as our featured speaker. Beyond the speaker, this eveninghas proven to be a great family event with door prizes, raffles, silentauction items, game and a great fish fry. Tickets will be limited to200 and they are available for sale. See our web site for furtherdetails and to order tickets.

The 2010 Red Wing outing will be August 14-21, 2010. Detailswill be posted on our web site as they become available.

Vermillion will be the site of the 2010 Chapter ChallungeAugust 26-28. After finishing third this year, a number of membersare looking forward to going after that trophy.

Check out our web site to purchase some of the new NorthMetro merchandise including sweatshirts, tee-shirts and caps.

Chapter members who are not receiving the electronic month-ly newsletter please contact Bob Anderson at [email protected] call him at 763-441-3108.

North Metro MI meets the 3rd Tuesday of every month(September – May), 7:00 PM, North Air Banquet Hall (formerly theKC Hall), 6831 Hwy 65 NE in Fridley.

Ross Fischer

Nominations for chapter officers took place in October, willhave been voted on at the November meeting at the time of thiswriting, and set to take effect in December. This year will be anexception for the chapter’s history in that the vice president will notsucceed to president.

Doug Welch from the WDNR made a presentation at ourOctober general meeting. Doug represents the state’s muskie fish-eries management team in the Milwaukee area. Doug presentedthe statewide muskie management plan and the WDNR proposalon a statewide 40” minimum limit where specific regulations aren’talready in place. A few statistics Doug relayed indicated that 98 per-cent of females reached reproduction maturity about 39 to fortyinches in length with their first spawn taking place about thirty-sixinches in length. As such, the current 34 inch statewide limit is insuf-ficient in the following aspects: harvest by length, harvest by femalesexual maturity, angler perception from creel studies, and complexregulations. Studies done on lakes with a forty inch limit currentlyshow a decreased harvest by 62 percent. C o m p a r i n gWisconsin against the four surrounding area states, Wisconsin hasthe lowest statewide length restriction. Reproductive success variesyear-to-year and the older the fish the more stability it shows forspawning. Improved reproductive success equals reduced need forstocking. Doug went through a list of common questions andexplained their answers. Another statewide statistic is that a 50 inchmuskie is about 17 years old. The current timeline for the proposalrequires NRB approval December 2009, Spring Hearings 2010acceptance, and 2011 season opener as the effective date.

December is a board meeting only in lieu of the Holidays.Preliminary date for the meeting is December 8th. January 26th isthe next general meeting. Preparations for the muskie shows arealready underway.

The search for a banquet chairman continues. Please contactTom Arvoy if you have any interest.

Mike Phelps


MilwaukeeP.O. Box 28842 • Greenfield, WI 53228

262-542-9997www.milwaukeemuskiesinc.com

Meets 4th Tuesday Jan. thru May, Sept. & Oct. Meets 3rd Tuesday in Nov. only: 6:00PM Board,7:30 PM General, Waukesha Elks Lodge #400, 2301 Springdale Rd, Waukesha, WI 53186.

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Akron-Canton10957 Northwood Ave. NE • Bolivar, OH 44612

Gordon Selden - 330-874-2773http://[email protected]

Meets 3rd Monday 7:00 PM, Belgrade Gardens, 3476 Massillon Road,Akron, OH.

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North MetroP.O. Box 41216

Plymouth, MN 55441763-537-0781 • www.nmmuskies.com

Meets 3rd Tuesday, North Air Banquet Hall, Fridley (6831 NE Hwy 65)

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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9th IS FAMILY NIGHT wherethroughout the evening, we will serve up all our best pictures &videos in a multi-media presentation designed to highlight ouryouth events from 2009. We will be featuring the music of VanHalen to coincide with the excitement everyone experienced dur-ing these awesome outings... If you attended one of the eventsbelow, chances are, you’ll see yourself on the big-screen at thismeeting!

- The FRV Silver Lake Youth Muskie Hunt...- The FRV/McGraw Wildlife Youth Muskie Hunt...- The FRV/McGraw Wildlife “special needs kids” day of

fishing...- The FRV/McGraw “all girls” fishing outing...

For this event only, we will have 3 awesome raffles… 1) A“Frank’s Custom Rod” (1 muskie & 1 spinning) with his famousEddie Van Halen wrap. 2) An autographed set of the “MuskieCompendium” by legendary muskie historian, Larry Ramsell. 3) Atrue collectable “Eddie Van Halen” Phantom lure hand-crafted bythe master himself, Todd Cleveland. We will have 1-each of therods, 5-sets of the muskie compendium, and 10 EVH- Phantomsso you’ll have plenty of chances to win.

One more thing, we will be joined by several Afghanistan WarVets from the 333rd MP- Company dressed in full battle gear readyto take pictures with the kids… We totally appreciate what thesesoldiers have done for us and we want you to meet them!

Adults are $5 each. Kids 16 and under are free. Proceeds fromthis event will go directly into our youth fund for 2010.

Please join us on Thursday, January 7th for a very specialevening with Steve Heiting, managing editor of Musky Hunter mag-azine. Steve is also co-owner of the University of Esox MuskySchools and conducts seminars for sport shows and fishing clubsthroughout the Midwest. Each year he serves as the master of cer-emonies for the National Championship Musky Open, the largestmusky tournament in the world.

A few key events to mark down on your calendars: TheChicago Muskie Show at Harper College is January 8-10. Theannual FRV banquet & fundraiser is on Saturday, February 20. TheDeerfield Muskie Show is February 27-28.

For additional information on our events and club outingsplease visit our website at www.frvmuskie.com. Our meetings areheld on the second Wednesday of every month at Poplar CreekCountry Club in Hoffman Estates, IL. Dinner is available to every-one beginning at 6:00PM and the meetings start promptly at7:00PM.

Kevin Bushnick, Youth Fishing Director

Hello everyone, I hope everyone had a safe and fun season.I know I did. I want to take this time to thank everyone whohelped me with the fall Guide for a Day. We had a good turnout with7 boats. And everyone had fun, even though the day was tough.We had 35 mph winds all day, but the fish did show themselves.Some were lost and a few were caught. My clients had got a 36”and another boat that fished Tippy boated a few. Every one of the

clients had a blast, and learned a lot about out sport that we all loveso much.

On September 6th we were able to stock fish. 440 healthyMuskies were stocked into Upper Long Lake . Thank you to every-one who helped make that day happen.

On December 12th we are having our meeting and elections,and the speaker will be Steve “Herbie” Herbeck. Believe me, youdo not want to miss this one!!! If you are interested in a positionon the Board of directors, let Renee Dolsen know ASAP. You cancall her at 260-385-0623 or email her at [email protected]. Ihope to see everyone at the meeting. It is usually a good night offun and food, and a great speaker. If you need more info pleasecheck out the club’s website at www.websterlakemuskyclub.net,or you can call me at 219-201-6123 or 574-457-3879.

Hammer Your Hook Sets, Bill Bennett

As we write this, (October) Chapter 57 just finished with anoth-er Adopt-A-Road Cleanup around our Metro Muskie Lake; LakeTapps. Can there be a better feeling than getting together with out-doorsmen to help out Mother Earth and keep the garbage out ofthe lake and off the roads? Pete Jensen is always ready to helpwith this Project, and he had help this time from Bill & RosannGreen, Ken & Tonia Miller, Perry Peterson and Jani K. Way to goCH 57!

We had our first Northern Pike Tournament on the PendOreille River, near Spokane, WA. in October and it will be backnext year by popular demand, because President Buddy, newmember Sean, Miles McDonald, Jon Olsen, Chuck Gades and KenMiller all caught esox lucius.

In a constant downpour of heavy, NW rain on Merwin Lake,President Buddy Hartman C & R a beautiful 44 incher and his net-man, Vice President Brett Olson caught 2 (34” and 37”) and lost 4more on a glide bait he made with our Chapter 57 of Muskies Inc.emblem epoxied within it. crazy!! If Brett isn’t on the water (over300 days a year) he is making lures; productive lures!

The tiger muskie season is open year round in WA. so if youare coming out from the Midwest for a Holiday visit, keep that inmind. Call any of the Board Members listed on the M.I. websiteunder CH. 57 for suggestions.

Just like the rest of the chapters, we will be having our AnnualMeeting this month. Ours will be Saturday, Dec. 12th and in addi-tion to the Elections for Board, we’ll have our 2nd Annual HolidayRaffle: Fantastic prizes like a G. Loomis Musky Rod, beautifullyframed and mounted Tiger Muskie painting, tents, sleeping bags,folding chairs, full set of cookware, electronic dartboard, toys forthe kids, lures, lures, lures and much more! Perfect time to finish(start?) your Christmas shopping!

Please keep our chapter members who are serving their coun-ty, far from home, this Christmas in your prayers. They are close inour hearts: Norm Dillon, Dennis Hempler, Donald Hempler andLee Burns’ son, Steve Burns. God’s speed, to all our service peo-ple: thank you for protecting our freedoms. Merry Christmas fromthe Pacific Northwest and Chapter 57!

Jani Kuper

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39Fox River Valley

1253 Cobblers Crossing, Elgin, IL 601230847-741-9771 – Rich Gallagher

www.frvmuskie.com

Meets: 2nd Wed (Exc June/July) Poplar Creek Country Club, 1400 Poplar Creek Drive,Hoffman Estates, IL.

Webster LakeP.O. Box 670

No. Webster, IN 46555574-834-1669

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NW TigerPacP.O. Box 5515, Kent, WA 98064

www.nwtigermuskies.orgemail: [email protected]

Hot line: (253) 850-5889 • Perry Peterson, President

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***December 3rd is our Ch. #58 General MembershipMeeting and Elections***

The Lake St. Clair Chapter #58 of Muskies Inc is winding downfrom another successful season of muskie fishing. We are proud tosay our 2nd season with the Muskie Inc Organization was anotherhuge success. The Board of Directors would like to thank every oneof you for your continuing support and hard work. As the seasoncomes to an end, boats are hauled out of the water and the shrinkwrap goes on, I would like to reflect back on our second season.Chapter #58 introduced several new events this year and is lookingforward to several new possibilities for 2010.

On our second season we proudly hosted (3) three successfulmuskie tournaments and introduced object scoring system to LakeSt. Clair. Chapter #58 is the first club ever to host a muskie tourna-ment on Lake St. Clair that guarantees 100% Catch and Release.Way to go Board of Directors for thinking outside the box and doingthe research to bring this type of tournament possible for LSC. Thissystem is the way of the future and only continues to enforce ourquest to support “Catch and Release”. This is our future!

In June we hosted our 2nd Annual Kids Fishing Day on Lake St.Clair. We had a slightly larger turnout from the previous year butmost important that everyone had fun. The kids shared there expe-rience of fishing while also competing in the marina in there ownfishing derby. The weather was perfect despite the tough fishingconditions on the lake that day. In August, we celebrated our 2nd

Annual Raft off Party in Muskamout Bay. This event welcomeseveryone to come out to the bay, raft off your boat and have an awe-

some day with friends and family. This year we had several boatshave so much fun that they stayed rafted for the entire weekend.The weather was perfect this year and can’t wait until next year.

In October we hosted our Annual Family Night with Food, Popand Gordy the Magician provided by Chapter #58. This eventallows our members to come out, bring the family and allowsChapter #58 to say thanks to its members for all its support.Without you we would not be were we are today. Also, in Octoberwe sent our RVP to the Region 2 Fall Meeting in Eagle River, WI,and by the sounds of things it was an awesome trip. Thanks toChapter 12 – Headwaters for hosting a great event. Our RVP MarkKornosky was able to get out fishing before the meeting and wasimpressed with what an incredible fishery they have. He was ableto boat his first WI muskie at 44” and lost another hog that he is stilltalking about. Thanks to Mark and Chrissy Marchel for missing our1st Annual Fall Muskie Mayhem Tournament to travel and supportour chapter. Your time and dedication is very much appreciated.

Chapter #58 realizes that with today’s technology the RegionalMeetings are not mandatory in person, but we think it is a great wayto get out and meet your fellow Muskie Inc friends and family. Wecan all learn so much from one another as we all have such greatbenefits and passion for this sport.

Chapter #58 is proud to announce that they will be hosting the2010 Fall Region 2 Meeting on Lake St. Clair. We have alreadybegun preparations and will do our best efforts to show all ourRegional Chapters a good time fishing and an informal meeting.Our Board of Directors is excited to meet all of its Regional Brothersand Sisters and introduce our fishery to you. Region 2, mark yourcalendars!

As the snow starts to fall and the canals start to ice overwe look forward to seeing everyone at the upcoming “UltimateFishing Show” at the Rock Financial Showplace in Novi, MI onJanuary 7-10, 2010. We are planning to have a booth again thisyear and invite everyone to stop in and visit. The booth provides uswith a great opportunity to meet new members but also a forum topromote catch and release and explain to others the Muskie Inc

practices and why they are so beneficial tothis awesome sport. It’s a great event andwe look forward to seeing everyone there.

As December rolls around our Chapteris again getting preparing for its yearly elec-tions during our December GeneralMembership Meeting. This meeting we willalso have a guest speaker from theDepartment of natural Resources to speakabout the current conditions of Lake St. Clairand how our fishery is doing. This should notonly be a very informational meeting but alsofun for everyone, we look forward to seeingyou there.

We meet on the 3rd Thursday of themonth (except December) and check out thewebsite for the latest dates and times to ourentire calendar of events. Thanks again forthe great season; we want to wish everyonea safe upcoming holiday season.

Scott Robertson, Secretary


Lake St. Clair Muskies, Inc.P.O. Box 850915

St. Clair Shores, MI 48080586-873-5781 - Joe Lockemy, President

www.lscmi.comMeets 3rd Tuesday 7:00pm at The Sports Channel Bar & Restaurant, 25419Jefferson, St. Clair Shores, MI.

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***See our new ad on Page 13***

MUSKIES, INC.1509 Stahl RoadSheboygan, WI 53081

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Chapter 39 member Nick Ellis caught this 40 inch fishwhile doing a figure 8 on Lake Carlton in June. It was

the first “Double Cowgirl” fish he’s caught, and hesuccessfully released it. Good job.

Chapter 21 member Ryan Wold was fishing alone whenhe caught this 50 inch fish. He used the self-timer on hiscamera to get this shot. Great fish Ryan. Check out the

release shot of this fish also on this page.

Here is the release shot of Ryan Wold’s50 inch fish. You don’t see this angle toooften when releasing a fish. Thanks for

sharing this picture Ryan.

Lynne Dembiec of the Milwaukee Chapter caughtthis 44 inch fish on a custom bait called the HellKat,

which a friend makes. He was fishing Lake of theWoods in July of 2009. Nice fish Lynne.

Here is another shot of Nick Ellis of the FRV Chapterheading out for some late fall fishing in upper

Wisconsin. Great shot of a dedicated fisherman.

For the past couple of years the Fargo-Moorhead Chapter hasteamed up with the National Wild Turkey Federation for theirWomen in the Outdoors event, taking women muskie fishing

for the day. Here is a group shot from the 2009 outing.

Dane Garrett of the Shawnee Muskie Huntersbuilt this awesome tackle storage cabinet. Maybesome of our members will tackle a project such

as this over the winter?

George Marks of Chapter 49 sent in thisbeautiful shot of the sun setting on

Lake Webster. Terrific photo.

Kevin Pischke of the Titletown Chapter caughtthis beautiful 45 inch fish in Onieda County,

Wisconsin in June of this year. It was the largestfish he has caught while casting. Nice job Kevin.

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