Forget the fishing vids...just interview Larry every week. I think all hardcore musky chuckers could/should listen to him for hours. Very informative vid...greatly appreciate you guys for doing this. Thanks for all the info Larry!!!
I don't disagree with that. The fishing pressure and fish habitat is way out of wack. Lake association has done a lot to destroy environment along with tourism.
Create a petition website and explaining the issue and the propel it using a video explaining this issue asking for signatures email bait shops, cabins, bed breakfasts near your lakes creating pressure on DNR, $$$ talks.
After watching this I feel even more thankful and blessed that I'm with in an hour traveling to be able to fish lake st clair muskie, truly I am very fortunate to be able to! Thank you guys for creating such great informative content, you have no idea how much I appreciate you and the rest of the responsible musky angling community!
We can have two distinct strains is what i got from this disscusion. Being selective in only choosing the largest females for egg collection is the key.
I haven’t fished Wisconsin Muskie because I watch your videos you put out on fishing in Wisconsin. It’s tough when you have to get very excited about a 44 inch fish when here in Minnesota or LSC that’s an ok fish. Somethings gotta change in Wisconsin.
I have a place in NW Wisconsin, I have seen the fishing decline over the years. I do a lot of lake hopping now.. Larry speaks the truth. Great interview.
If I get sick I go to a medical doctor and a specialist doctor in that area of expertise. I don't go to someone who has a huge personal interest in medicine and has read a lot of books and articles! ALWAYS CONSIDER THE SOURCE!!! Is this source a biologist? A scientist? A geneticist?
This is so true with every specie of fish in WI. Our DNR is absolute garbage. Those who haven't traveled to other states with good management need to. I've been lucky enough to travel and see the results of good management. Big perch, blue gills, walleyes and of course musky. Don't forget the local culture of keeping everything they catch. Our limits are way too high for panfish too. I could go on and on. I just hope I'm not dead before our DNR wakes up.
I have come face to face with a brown musky as big as myself. I snorkel rivers, if you guys are interested for educational reasons I can tell you a lot about muskies and where the original genetics are.
Got a place in Vilas 15 years ago to retire to and chase trophy muskies.... what a mistake. Giving serious thought to selling and moving to Minn... maybe Lake Vermillion area
Interesting discussion. I appreciate Larry’s perspective and experience. What about issues the impact the fisheries as a whole that we can impact as anglers. Habitat destruction, invasive weeds, phosphate runoff, and shoreline destruction is impacting musky populations all around. We as individual anglers and land owners can impact these issues now.
Clean waters and clean boats is a good organization program. It's practiced heavily in the north woods. Then the lake association orders weed kill. No habitat, no fish! The amount of construction on all northern waters is as a all time high. The state collects taxes for all the water frontage, but none of that is spent on shoreline maintenance.
i agree with this gentlemans thoughts of the wisconsin DNR 'idiots!" I , living in central wisconsin, i am 57 yrs old. when i was 20's and fishing alot I could catch decent sized fish. now.... in the past 10 years, trying to catch a 'leagle' walleye from the wisconsin river areas i fish is a nightmare. i catch numbers of walleye just below the leagle limit. a couple oftimes a year i hear about a 26 or 28 inch fish, but never from my area! , the same is true about nearly every species in my area. plenty of small fish, no big ones. i can go bank fishing on any given day and catch a handful of non keeper fish. (walleye, bass, pike, musky, bluegill, perch) the wisconsin DNR has failed to better the fisheries of wisconsin. the wis. DNR has stunted all fish species with their platforms. I rarely go fishing anymore, because its a waste of time to find bank catchable leagle fish in my area. sure i can catch carp, suckers, bullheads, and catfish, some even above leagle size limits, but those are not the 'gamefish' people want to catch. sure catfishing has been more glamorous recently, but wisconsin is not known for giant catfish. the wisconsin river north of my city(wausau) is not known for anything special in fish catching that i can recall. Vilas county is the destination for summer fishing. eagle river is another summer vacation destination, these lakes and rivers are hammered in the summertime, the fisheries in these connected systems get thrashed, and the WIS DNR platform is still, put any size fish back into those systems. that thinking is killing the tourism ! start stocking only large strain fish species. find the 12 inch bluegills and use those to restock the heavy thrashed systems for 5 to 10 years, and watch the average sizes of fish grow. do the same with every species! get large fish to restock the systems! quit stunting our fisheries! jeffrey rayborn wausau, wisconsin
Have a cabin in St Germain fish that area often, Have caught some upper 30's but nothing more, it's been a few years but I have seen some mid 40's come out of some lakes around there.
There are a number of us here in the 715 who have been begging, arguing, pleading, and waving money in front of the DNR to do more for the musky fishery. Larry is exactly right that there is a mindset among the biologists that goes way back. They want to preserve the Upper Wisconsin River strain which we all know are a bunch of mutts. Not the same fish that were in these waters years ago. I am hoping that at some point younger people coming into the DNR will figure some of this out for themselves and start to make a positive move. At this stage of the game there is no interest in stocking more numbers of fish (regardless of the availability of funding). The only concession we have been able to get over the last 8 years or so is in identifying and support of implementing higher size limits on appropriate waters. We are quickly coming to the end of the line on water bodies that the DNR will approve a 50" size limit. I responded to one of the other comments that the people who really need to hear this topic out are the Dept. of Tourism and Chamber of Commerce folks. In most of our areas they put the biggest dollars into things like planned events (I call the nut and berry festivals), silent sports (notorious cheapskates), and the motor hobbies like snowmobiling and ATV riders. Most of the people who are running the tourism departments and chambers of commerce have either forgotten or are too young to know that it was fishing that built the tourism industry in northern Wisconsin. Us musky heads know the amount of dollars that are spent on gear, trips, etc. but very few in the tourism industry realize this and remain understandably ignorant while the rigs go driving through on their way to Minnesota, Canada, and Michigan.
Stocking and genetics have something todo with it but food sources and competition i would say are higher factors, most fish will grow as much as you feed them. Lowering the competition from the hammer handle pikes, will allow to get fish to get larger, and more successful spawning. Like with any apex predator any small change to the environment can have a huge impact. With growing monster fish it is not a build it and they will come, its a build and maintain.
Fascinating discussion! Tuning in from St. Cloud, MN. Interesting to learn a little more about how stocking methods have impacted your fisheries! Thanks for keeping us informed.
Awesome video guys ! Come up to Ottawa hit our river and hook a giant next fall ! Would love to see you guys up here. Some world record skies up here !
I just want to say for any Wisconsin fish biologist that’s reading this we are from northern Illinois and we don’t even stop in Wisconsin anymore looking for big musky‘s it’s always Vermilion,Canada or Saint Clair.
Hay...remember when we called from ILL. Fibs.? Well guess where the water conservationists and curator of the hall of fame are from. It's become the "deep state" of musky fishing. All corrupt!
U have a better shot at a bigger fish in Illinois waters than Wisconsin waters..😆 well exception from green bay. Unreal. I've always told my buddies that Wisconsin is not known for big fish anymore
It's not the DNR that needs to hear this, it's the Dept. of Tourism and Chambers of Commerce. In most of the northern counties like Vilas where I live the tourism bucks are coming from older folks going to nut and berry festivals or leaf peeping in the fall. The tourism folks have for the most part nearly abandoned traditional fishing as a revenue source and fallen in love with "silent sports" , ATV's, Snowmobiles, and planned events.
You are stuck in the static world view of the UW conservation curriculum. This type of thinking has been a pathology of that institution for decades. The recovery of the giant Canadian goose provides a model for what the state needs to do: Select the best representatives of the Wisconsin greenback you can find and breed them for 5 generations and you will be close to the original stock. It will not be the same but genetics is always a moving target. Had we never fished muskies our stock today would not be the genetics it was in the 40’s, similar but not the same. That is the nature of the genetic game. Remember, in the late 80’s Minnesota was muskie flyover cover. They realized they were losing tourism dollars and made a decision to fix it. Their success can not be argued with. As Minnesota rose and Wisconsin faltered many suggested protecting and developing better Muskie fisheries. The Madison Chain And Green Bay were two positive developments from that time. However when it came to doing anything about the 715, The high brow class in Madison stuck their noses in the air and would have no part of it. They would rather have a faux genetic museum than an actual resource.
Seems like even Northern Pike in MN has went downward..... I haven't raised a musky for 2 years now on the St Louis river MN, or the tri lakes of Lyman/Dowling/Amnicon lakes WI but Caught 1 small mouth on a Black & Orange bucktail..... Spinner bait was almost the same as the bass ! Ha
Somewhere, around this mess of, my house I have that old In-Fisherman article that reported on Dr. LeBeau's Eagle Lake muskie research study. Finding it though would be difficult as I have many old issues of In-Fisherman, and other muskie mags, scattered about the place. I know I have because I've never thrown out a fishing magazine.
Lee: In 1996 my late wife caught a muskie in Cove Bay, Mille Lacs, that was a mid 40 inch fish. Long story but we didn't get an accurate measurement or photo. That's why I say it's a mid 40 inch fish, to give myself some lee way in size estimate. Listening to you talk about stocking WI strain muskies in Mille Lacs makes me wonder if her fish wasn't from Wisconsin. Off the top of my head I don't recall when they started putting Leech Lake fish in Millie Lacs. Assuming her fish was a WI fish, and mid 40 inch range, in 1996 can any conclusions be inferred from that? How old was it when she caught it? How many years of growth after release until it was over 50? Could she have caught your big fish? lol Interesting questions but no real way to answer them. We later got some muskies from a Twin Cities metro lake and some were green spotted and some were brown clear.
The flips side of the coin that WI is facing is, in MN we have the, no more more muskie, fools. I'm for WI stocking leech lake fish. It helps WI and takes pressure off of MN lakes too.
I was wondering if you knew where Gollon Bait & Fish Farm in Dodgeville got their musky stock from? Aren’t they the major supplier of musky fingerlings for most of southern WI? I know a lot of fishing clubs that help stock musky buy from them. This is on their website and if true WI waters will not get the boost that it needs from this effort :(. From website- Average Life Span: 10 plus years Average Maximum length: 40 inches Average Adult Weight: 15-20 pounds
Do you guys have Kokanee in your muskie waters. The reason I ask because fish grow big and quick when they have kokanee. The world record tiger muskie is caught 2 hours away from me. The prime forage is kokanee. Also in idaho we have the large-scale suckers they grow way bigger than the redhorse suckers.
@@TodaysAngler musky fishing the chain was the best experience I had in college. Amazing memories! With numerous 50" leech lake strain muskies being caught now, I really need to come back for a weekend. Anyways, I look forward to the new content this season!
But who with the WIDNR do we need to shake the tree under to get moving on this? we can make it happen and the community will no doubt rally behind the project.
It's like all politics. You have to find those that don't get paid to represent the donors. Take away tribal spearing by education. No right minded individual would see it's a massive hit to fish population. In my opinion....The number one cause for low numbers in the north woods.
Thanks for doing this interesting discussion. In response to Robbie's question toward the end: I do feel like muskie fishing has declined in the North Woods in the last 20 years. I realize it's the stereotype to always say fishing is getting worse, but I recall my family catching muskies much more regularly as recently as 2013. Do you think northern wisconsin fishing has gotten worse in the last few years -- at least for muskies?
Not neccesarily especially when you look tournament results (they still have them in Northern WI) Don't see much results in grindstone or LAC in the muskies Inc tournament (like you do in Namekagon) But maybe they're better November lakes (as opposed to October) Not many catches out of Round either and we know that lake is great then
Iam a smallmouth bass fisherman and occasionally accidentally catch one or two muskies a year by accident. I would still have no problem contributing money towards DNR stocking for Muskies.
Something that's been bothering me for years about muskie water is the lack of viable reproduction. That lack puts tremendous pressure on DNR stocking efforts. The WI DNR is interested in genetic diversity because such diversity has a strong effect on adaptability. But if most lakes don't have viable reproduction, adaptability isn't necessary. However, as soon as the WI DNR gives up on adaptability, it essentially means they are giving up on natural reproduction. Then all of our lakes are essentially fish ponds. Maybe that's the way they are now, but I am still worried about the long term (50-100 year) health of these fisheries.
When a Government employee (DNR) shows up to work there is basically no accountability as to what quality of job is being performed. How else could you describe some of the fisheries and wildlife management practices that have taken place over the year's other than incompetent and not being made to be held accountable for.......???? The stocking waters with zero propagation or that propagation being nixed due to tribal spearing where on some lakes a single slough or shallow bay is all that the lake has to offer for natural reproduction? Why bother stocking them at all? I've been bothered for years as well why the DNR rarely consider's stocking well oxygenated river systems that over the past century or better have had naturally occurring walleye, sturgeon or catfish. Not all waters that sturgeon exist would make for successful stocking candidates of course but certainly many of them, and the longer the river or stream stretch with access to larger water bodies the better. Genetics and pressure played big in my leaving Northwest Wisconsin some 15 years ago. You can look at bluegills, brook trout, whitetail deer or any critter for that matter and they simply never stand a chance to attain trophy status without first having the genes and then nutritional base etc. but then as well some sanctuary from handling (unintended mortality) or harvest. As for long term you have to face the fact that fishing pressure is just getting heavier and heavier........nothing can be done about that other than building a fence or owning private property with no access for other's to bludgeon and pressure the critters your after. Even big systems like LOTW's that guy's thought would never succumb to any harm just by it's vastness in size reflect that. The last 8-10 years on most all musky waters has taken it's toll. Is there still quality to be found in Northwest Wisconsin? Of course, but you have to know when to make hay and often the window's of opportunity are very short! For Joe six pack that looks at social media or expect's to just fish hard for a week and hope to deal with a 30 lb. class musky to "happen"....lol. The 35-40 lb. elite muskies that public use to hear of in the Lucky 13 or otherwise 2-3 decades ago are now like white elephants. Why? Why does GB and the Fox reveal them but Northern Wisconsin doesn't. Why does MN reveal so many 51-55 inch class muskies vs. Northern Wisconsin? Apparently it's a big mystery to the WI DNR or do they just simply not care? Women named Nancy aren't worthy or fertile enough to stay married with..............discarded and forgotten about. Nothing to see here, she just didn't work out. huh?
Did he say at the beginning that there are two separate species of muskie?? Such a cool episode. I was wondering what the harm the mixing genetic strains is? If the bigger, faster growing Muskies mix with the other, is it possible that the mixed genetic fish would grow big as well? It seems pretty simple that they should only take eggs from big fish. I wonder why the DNR doesn’t do this this
Of course the DNR isn't doing the right thing for this state. Think about how much revenue they deprived local business by making deer registration online instead of going to a place of business so that hunters could and would spend some cash. It's obviously a little different but I hope you all see the pattern of the DNR doing the wrong thing for our state.
So I’m newer to the musky fishing game. I’ve only been doing it for 4 years with a huge gap between that. I’ve recently fired it back up. I originally started in Townsend Flowage. Which happened right around the time they started stocking muskies in the flowage. My question is, what was the purpose of doing this? I understand that the main idea was to help kill off the stunted panfish, which was an absolute issue. But I’m also curious as to where did they get the skies from? As far as I’m aware, and don’t quote me on this, they stocked it with 10,000 Fingerling Tigers in the waters. Is that strain that they collected a good strain? Will it show benefit in the long run? And was there a prior stocking before that which was under the radar? Idk numbers on size and age, but the year after they stocked it, I ended up catching a 37ish musky. Sorry for the long rant. Just trying to get a full understanding. I’d love to be involved in this community and lifestyle.
To me IMO : Is the food sources for muskies supportive of large fish ??? Every predator in nature grows in size & health according to the quality of food....... If, the source for eggs held 50% fish under 30", 25% over 40" & 25% over 50" - Then that should be 100% of how the eggs should be collected & used..... That's the most natural. Otherwise it's like the guy who shoots a 250" 30point buck that was raised on a farm for its superior genetics & Pretending it's a not a pet
I live right by okauchee and pewaukee lake and musky fish them often. They put some spotted strain in okauchee recently, we caught our first spotted fish this year so I’m excited at the thought of a fat 55”er in the future. Also have a family cabin 40 mins south of Hayward and I rarely bother towing my boat up there to musky fish because of the poor musky fishing. I’ve spent a fair amount of time on a number of Hayward lakes and I’ve never caught a musky there. Why drive 5 hours to musky fish when I live 2 mins from a lake I actually catch fish at and have a legit shot at a 50”+ ski? It’s a shame because I’d rather fish in the north woods environment but it’s been a waste of time in the Hayward area so far. I thankfully do have some secluded spots on the other side of the state that have been good and are gorgeous to fish at.
All the way up here in Ny we have great lakes spotted and inland Chautauqua/Ohio strain. Great lakes do exceptionally well on their own but CHQ is stocked, and maybe mock spawn. I don't know of any natural reproduction
There are no Great Lakes strain in Chautauqua. I believe those are Ohio River strain fish, just as they are in Pymatuning and most other lakes around NW PA and Eastern Ohio
@@HoffmanOutdoors I know i mentioned that, we just have 2 separate species and the later seems to be poor at natural reproduction despite being stocked at astronomical numbers
My generation " Millennials" dont give a shit about spending money to stock musky. when we cant even find a good job to support our selves and still have to live with parents.
Pike can get to 55 pounds there is pictures of a 55 pound northern pike caught in saskatchewan canada thier recent pictures also not a 1800's picture i believe sometime in the 2000's. If memory serves correct it was 56" long and had a massive belly on it.
Robbie I no of a lake in northern wi not to far from hayward that I guarantee u has a world record muskie in it cause I've saw it message me and I'll give u the info
Omg. We need to sit down together fellas. First for showing my shack in the video. And to speak of stocking. The water conservationists in Hayward are products of the university in st point. They are also tied to the hall of fame. These individuals are also tourist from ILL. There are leech Lakers in lakes around you. About 15 minutes north of where you are sitting. You can actually see one being caught from last fall, on a episode of k.o. I have also personally caught a spotted strain on turtle flambo about 12 yrs ago. From 2006-2014. Over 7000 musky were planted into petenwell. My current stomping grounds. Just in the last 30 days I can name over 10 50"+ fish caught. Castle rock is probably one of the heaviest stocked bodies of water in WI. It has a diverse spread of fish sizes. None of these have been leech Lakers. I agree with Larry on stocking and the impact of money to the area. But not too the strains. Illegal transplanting has been happening in our local waters for years..... Nepco lake of all places has produced all three of my personal best. With my biggest coming from the mondo. Flowedge. Two of the smallest bodies of waters I fish. You have to remember the leading DNR rep. For WI is not incorporating facts from the past 50 yrs. And even sat less then a mike away from that boat launch and fed the community a bunch of b,s.. I think the sportsman of WI have a totally different story to tell then what our biological community is telling us. Musky, wolves,elk,and deer! Introduction of these have created major problems. We need one authority on these matters that we can count on. No such organization exist at the moment. Thank you for another informative video. These legend series are my favorite of them all. Oh....And Lee. The cover fish you have called a weird marked hybrid......are common around here. Tigers DO!!!!! Reproduce.
@@inspectorbusiness4892 I'm certainly open minded, although skeptical as I've never heard that before. It makes sense as I've seen photos of tigers that have very Musky-esque traits to them. Are you saying they reproduce with each other or with purebreds?
@@sgangling the section of water I've been catching them on is land locked. Because of a paper mill shut down, this section has not been opened to other water for about 15 yrs. The best estimate I can come up with is they are a combo of only the fish in that section. Part tiger and clear. Or possibly a barred with tiger.
But there was stocking. 2 locations that I am aware of. But they released all fish from one location that almost guaranteed kill off. Seen about 30% get taken writhing the first 45 minutes from birds and other fish.
The idea that Wisconsin muskies are just muts is simply false. For instance, a new study found that there is a 10% difference between the East and west Chippewa flowage not to mention the vast difference between different fish in other fisheries. Spotted muskies do not survive in Northern Wisconsin and they hybridize.
I would check out the article called Genetic Contribution of Leech Lake Muskellunge in Lake Wissota, Wi by Kieth Turnquist and Wesley Larson before anyone makes that claim that leech lake strain will thrive in Northern Wisconsin.
The DNR motto: “Trust me I’m big government and I know what’s best for you! Common sense equals no sense.” Sad! They don’t even care about the economic benefit to a community or area. Apparently we all need to give up our love of fishing and become state employees.
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Forget the fishing vids...just interview Larry every week. I think all hardcore musky chuckers could/should listen to him for hours. Very informative vid...greatly appreciate you guys for doing this. Thanks for all the info Larry!!!
Great comment, so very true!
One of the best educational interviews about Muskys I've listened too....Thanks guys!
Thank you guys for conducting another awesome episode with Larry. I could listen to him talk for hours. 👍👍👍
For sure, love these interviews!
Got a cabin on the Chippewa flowage, haven’t caught a fish over 40” in 3 years
I don't disagree with that. The fishing pressure and fish habitat is way out of wack. Lake association has done a lot to destroy environment along with tourism.
Same here. I have a cabin in Loretta, just east from hayward. been fishing there for 30 years and the last 10 years were awfull.
Create a petition website and explaining the issue and the propel it using a video explaining this issue asking for signatures email bait shops, cabins, bed breakfasts near your lakes creating pressure on DNR, $$$ talks.
Great video just got my frist muskie ever yesterday 44in.
Congratulations James, prepare to have your life ruined by addiction lol.
After watching this I feel even more thankful and blessed that I'm with in an hour traveling to be able to fish lake st clair muskie, truly I am very fortunate to be able to! Thank you guys for creating such great informative content, you have no idea how much I appreciate you and the rest of the responsible musky angling community!
We can have two distinct strains is what i got from this disscusion. Being selective in only choosing the largest females for egg collection is the key.
I haven’t fished Wisconsin Muskie because I watch your videos you put out on fishing in Wisconsin. It’s tough when you have to get very excited about a 44 inch fish when here in Minnesota or LSC that’s an ok fish. Somethings gotta change in Wisconsin.
Why not create a frankenstein by crossing sturgeon with musky? The technology is there, just go ballistic on a lake and see what happens.
I second this .
I have a place in NW Wisconsin, I have seen the fishing decline over the years. I do a lot of lake hopping now.. Larry speaks the truth. Great interview.
So how about we bring back the Amur pike/musky hybrids, that would be some insanely cool stuff!
This video is very important. Bring up an interesting problem of what’s going on that a lot of people wouldn’t know.
If I get sick I go to a medical doctor and a specialist doctor in that area of expertise. I don't go to someone who has a huge personal interest in medicine and has read a lot of books and articles! ALWAYS CONSIDER THE SOURCE!!!
Is this source a biologist? A scientist? A geneticist?
Fishing experience handling thousands of muskies is also educating.
This is so true with every specie of fish in WI. Our DNR is absolute garbage. Those who haven't traveled to other states with good management need to. I've been lucky enough to travel and see the results of good management. Big perch, blue gills, walleyes and of course musky. Don't forget the local culture of keeping everything they catch. Our limits are way too high for panfish too. I could go on and on. I just hope I'm not dead before our DNR wakes up.
This is a fantastic interview I will watch over and over! Way to go guys, Thanks
I have come face to face with a brown musky as big as myself. I snorkel rivers, if you guys are interested for educational reasons I can tell you a lot about muskies and where the original genetics are.
best video yet! I fish northern WI waters and take my vacations to Canada every year because of this reason
Got a place in Vilas 15 years ago to retire to and chase trophy muskies.... what a mistake. Giving serious thought to selling and moving to Minn... maybe Lake Vermillion area
I did. On both counts. 😬
@@timb426 you moved to the Vermillion Lake area? what area?
The amazing legend of fishing and the interesiting fishing grounds for casting lines
Interesting discussion. I appreciate Larry’s perspective and experience. What about issues the impact the fisheries as a whole that we can impact as anglers. Habitat destruction, invasive weeds, phosphate runoff, and shoreline destruction is impacting musky populations all around. We as individual anglers and land owners can impact these issues now.
Clean waters and clean boats is a good organization program. It's practiced heavily in the north woods. Then the lake association orders weed kill. No habitat, no fish! The amount of construction on all northern waters is as a all time high. The state collects taxes for all the water frontage, but none of that is spent on shoreline maintenance.
i agree with this gentlemans thoughts of the wisconsin DNR 'idiots!"
I , living in central wisconsin, i am 57 yrs old. when i was 20's and fishing alot I could catch decent sized fish. now.... in the past 10 years, trying to catch a 'leagle' walleye from the wisconsin river areas i fish is a nightmare. i catch numbers of walleye just below the leagle limit. a couple oftimes a year i hear about a 26 or 28 inch fish, but never from my area! , the same is true about nearly every species in my area. plenty of small fish, no big ones.
i can go bank fishing on any given day and catch a handful of non keeper fish. (walleye, bass, pike, musky, bluegill, perch) the wisconsin DNR has failed to better the fisheries of wisconsin. the wis. DNR has stunted all fish species with their platforms.
I rarely go fishing anymore, because its a waste of time to find bank catchable leagle fish in my area.
sure i can catch carp, suckers, bullheads, and catfish, some even above leagle size limits, but those are not the 'gamefish' people want to catch.
sure catfishing has been more glamorous recently, but wisconsin is not known for giant catfish. the wisconsin river north of my city(wausau) is not known for anything special in fish catching that i can recall.
Vilas county is the destination for summer fishing.
eagle river is another summer vacation destination, these lakes and rivers are hammered in the summertime, the fisheries in these connected systems get thrashed, and the WIS DNR platform is still, put any size fish back into those systems.
that thinking is killing the tourism ! start stocking only large strain fish species.
find the 12 inch bluegills and use those to restock the heavy thrashed systems for 5 to 10 years, and watch the average sizes of fish grow. do the same with every species! get large fish to restock the systems! quit stunting our fisheries!
jeffrey rayborn
wausau, wisconsin
Great job guys! We need more of this!
The Wisco DNR has made Wisconsin a musky “fly over” state.
I do well in Wisconsin. Better in Wisconsin than Minnesota.
The same mentality is reaching further out then just WI. Lsc,devils,l.o.w., green bay, and others further away are being manipulated now.
Shane Cohen But how many upper 40 to 50+ inch fish to you get in Wisconsin?
@@Scoobarruu 6 this year alone
Shane Cohen Do people just forget that Green Bay is in Wisconsin, literally one of the best trophy waters in the country.
Very informative. Wi DNR no surprises there. Just a shame the people of Wisconsin continue to be shackled by the incompetence of these fools
Check Wisconsin off my Musky bucket list destinations. After watching this I am more then satisfied with our river fish in WV.
It's coming your way too. The WI biolist is doing a study out your way now on fish metabolism.
Have a cabin in St Germain fish that area often, Have caught some upper 30's but nothing more, it's been a few years but I have seen some mid 40's come out of some lakes around there.
There are a number of us here in the 715 who have been begging, arguing, pleading, and waving money in front of the DNR to do more for the musky fishery. Larry is exactly right that there is a mindset among the biologists that goes way back. They want to preserve the Upper Wisconsin River strain which we all know are a bunch of mutts. Not the same fish that were in these waters years ago. I am hoping that at some point younger people coming into the DNR will figure some of this out for themselves and start to make a positive move. At this stage of the game there is no interest in stocking more numbers of fish (regardless of the availability of funding). The only concession we have been able to get over the last 8 years or so is in identifying and support of implementing higher size limits on appropriate waters. We are quickly coming to the end of the line on water bodies that the DNR will approve a 50" size limit. I responded to one of the other comments that the people who really need to hear this topic out are the Dept. of Tourism and Chamber of Commerce folks. In most of our areas they put the biggest dollars into things like planned events (I call the nut and berry festivals), silent sports (notorious cheapskates), and the motor hobbies like snowmobiling and ATV riders. Most of the people who are running the tourism departments and chambers of commerce have either forgotten or are too young to know that it was fishing that built the tourism industry in northern Wisconsin. Us musky heads know the amount of dollars that are spent on gear, trips, etc. but very few in the tourism industry realize this and remain understandably ignorant while the rigs go driving through on their way to Minnesota, Canada, and Michigan.
I could listen to this all day!!
In 30 yrs Robby will be on the legends series
Stocking and genetics have something todo with it but food sources and competition i would say are higher factors, most fish will grow as much as you feed them. Lowering the competition from the hammer handle pikes, will allow to get fish to get larger, and more successful spawning. Like with any apex predator any small change to the environment can have a huge impact. With growing monster fish it is not a build it and they will come, its a build and maintain.
Fascinating discussion! Tuning in from St. Cloud, MN. Interesting to learn a little more about how stocking methods have impacted your fisheries! Thanks for keeping us informed.
Awesome video guys ! Come up to Ottawa hit our river and hook a giant next fall ! Would love to see you guys up here. Some world record skies up here !
We spent a week on the Chippewa Flowage in August didn’t catch or even see a one Muskie. I have fished the Chippewa Flowage for 25 years
Try it in July
....."yep"
What school did Larry go to? I've Always wondered what degree he's got.
Also why isn't native spearing ever talked about?
School of common sense and hard knocks. And spearing is a political agenda liberal scientist wont address.
They're worried about transporting musky in a live well...? Who the hell has a live well big enough to transport a musky safely? Great stuff guys.
Many live wells are large enough to transport a WI stocked musky. Transporting a spotted muskie is a different story!
I just want to say for any Wisconsin fish biologist that’s reading this we are from northern Illinois and we don’t even stop in Wisconsin anymore looking for big musky‘s it’s always Vermilion,Canada or Saint Clair.
Couldn't agree with you more
Hay...remember when we called from ILL. Fibs.? Well guess where the water conservationists and curator of the hall of fame are from. It's become the "deep state" of musky fishing. All corrupt!
U have a better shot at a bigger fish in Illinois waters than Wisconsin waters..😆 well exception from green bay. Unreal. I've always told my buddies that Wisconsin is not known for big fish anymore
It's not the DNR that needs to hear this, it's the Dept. of Tourism and Chambers of Commerce. In most of the northern counties like Vilas where I live the tourism bucks are coming from older folks going to nut and berry festivals or leaf peeping in the fall. The tourism folks have for the most part nearly abandoned traditional fishing as a revenue source and fallen in love with "silent sports" , ATV's, Snowmobiles, and planned events.
Great Job getting this info out ! Knowledge is important.
in 1962 the dnr shocked fence lake and found a 96lb tiger musky
LARRY IS THE MAN!!
Three Lakes Town Market, 110% agree, anything I can do, contact me
I got by biggest musky on lake Hayward... 49.5 inches
You are stuck in the static world view of the UW conservation curriculum. This type of thinking has been a pathology of that institution for decades. The recovery of the giant Canadian goose provides a model for what the state needs to do: Select the best representatives of the Wisconsin greenback you can find and breed them for 5 generations and you will be close to the original stock. It will not be the same but genetics is always a moving target. Had we never fished muskies our stock today would not be the genetics it was in the 40’s, similar but not the same. That is the nature of the genetic game. Remember, in the late 80’s Minnesota was muskie flyover cover. They realized they were losing tourism dollars and made a decision to fix it. Their success can not be argued with. As Minnesota rose and Wisconsin faltered many suggested protecting and developing better Muskie fisheries. The Madison Chain And Green Bay were two positive developments from that time. However when it came to doing anything about the 715, The high brow class in Madison stuck their noses in the air and would have no part of it. They would rather have a faux genetic museum than an actual resource.
You nailed it on the head!!!!
NAILED IT!!!
Seems like even Northern Pike in MN has went downward..... I haven't raised a musky for 2 years now on the St Louis river MN, or the tri lakes of Lyman/Dowling/Amnicon lakes WI but Caught 1 small mouth on a Black & Orange bucktail..... Spinner bait was almost the same as the bass ! Ha
I’m not from the area but I love fishing. Musky are now my bucket fish. I have three. Tarpon red fish and musky. Hope when day to get to Wisconsin
You should probably just head to Minnesota
@@SgtSlime365 LMAO
Alex K LMAO
Somewhere, around this mess of, my house I have that old In-Fisherman article that reported on Dr. LeBeau's Eagle Lake muskie research study. Finding it though would be difficult as I have many old issues of In-Fisherman, and other muskie mags, scattered about the place. I know I have because I've never thrown out a fishing magazine.
Lee: In 1996 my late wife caught a muskie in Cove Bay, Mille Lacs, that was a mid 40 inch fish. Long story but we didn't get an accurate measurement or photo. That's why I say it's a mid 40 inch fish, to give myself some lee way in size estimate. Listening to you talk about stocking WI strain muskies in Mille Lacs makes me wonder if her fish wasn't from Wisconsin. Off the top of my head I don't recall when they started putting Leech Lake fish in Millie Lacs.
Assuming her fish was a WI fish, and mid 40 inch range, in 1996 can any conclusions be inferred from that? How old was it when she caught it? How many years of growth after release until it was over 50? Could she have caught your big fish? lol Interesting questions but no real way to answer them.
We later got some muskies from a Twin Cities metro lake and some were green spotted and some were brown clear.
The flips side of the coin that WI is facing is, in MN we have the, no more more muskie, fools. I'm for WI stocking leech lake fish. It helps WI and takes pressure off of MN lakes too.
I was wondering if you knew where Gollon Bait & Fish Farm in Dodgeville got their musky stock from? Aren’t they the major supplier of musky fingerlings for most of southern WI? I know a lot of fishing clubs that help stock musky buy from them. This is on their website and if true WI waters will not get the boost that it needs from this effort :(. From website- Average Life Span: 10 plus years
Average Maximum length: 40 inches
Average Adult Weight: 15-20 pounds
Do you guys have Kokanee in your muskie waters.
The reason I ask because fish grow big and quick when they have kokanee. The world record tiger muskie is caught 2 hours away from me. The prime forage is kokanee. Also in idaho we have the large-scale suckers they grow way bigger than the redhorse suckers.
Hopefully this does get into some ppls thick ass skulls!!
One day I will make a trophy carp water in MN/WI by stocking Muskie to eat all the small ones.
What convinced the DNR to stock the leech lake strain in the madison chain? It seems like a success story so far.
They don't reproduce here
@@TodaysAngler musky fishing the chain was the best experience I had in college. Amazing memories! With numerous 50" leech lake strain muskies being caught now, I really need to come back for a weekend. Anyways, I look forward to the new content this season!
Would've liked to hear about the stocking going on Lake Geneva. Did I miss it?
It's there
But who with the WIDNR do we need to shake the tree under to get moving on this? we can make it happen and the community will no doubt rally behind the project.
It's like all politics. You have to find those that don't get paid to represent the donors. Take away tribal spearing by education. No right minded individual would see it's a massive hit to fish population. In my opinion....The number one cause for low numbers in the north woods.
Thanks for doing this interesting discussion. In response to Robbie's question toward the end: I do feel like muskie fishing has declined in the North Woods in the last 20 years. I realize it's the stereotype to always say fishing is getting worse, but I recall my family catching muskies much more regularly as recently as 2013. Do you think northern wisconsin fishing has gotten worse in the last few years -- at least for muskies?
I feel muskie fishing is better in northern wisc.... just not for trophies
Not neccesarily especially when you look tournament results (they still have them in Northern WI)
Don't see much results in grindstone or LAC in the muskies Inc tournament (like you do in Namekagon)
But maybe they're better November lakes (as opposed to October)
Not many catches out of Round either and we know that lake is great then
Awesome video! Learned a lot!
Iam a smallmouth bass fisherman and occasionally accidentally catch one or two muskies a year by accident. I would still have no problem contributing money towards DNR stocking for Muskies.
The French river has pure strain muskys in Canada
Thanks again.
Something that's been bothering me for years about muskie water is the lack of viable reproduction. That lack puts tremendous pressure on DNR stocking efforts. The WI DNR is interested in genetic diversity because such diversity has a strong effect on adaptability. But if most lakes don't have viable reproduction, adaptability isn't necessary. However, as soon as the WI DNR gives up on adaptability, it essentially means they are giving up on natural reproduction. Then all of our lakes are essentially fish ponds. Maybe that's the way they are now, but I am still worried about the long term (50-100 year) health of these fisheries.
Yes. The damage has been done. And no clear plan on making them better.
When a Government employee (DNR) shows up to work there is basically no accountability as to what quality of job is being performed. How else could you describe some of the fisheries and wildlife management practices that have taken place over the year's other than incompetent and not being made to be held accountable for.......???? The stocking waters with zero propagation or that propagation being nixed due to tribal spearing where on some lakes a single slough or shallow bay is all that the lake has to offer for natural reproduction? Why bother stocking them at all? I've been bothered for years as well why the DNR rarely consider's stocking well oxygenated river systems that over the past century or better have had naturally occurring walleye, sturgeon or catfish. Not all waters that sturgeon exist would make for successful stocking candidates of course but certainly many of them, and the longer the river or stream stretch with access to larger water bodies the better. Genetics and pressure played big in my leaving Northwest Wisconsin some 15 years ago. You can look at bluegills, brook trout, whitetail deer or any critter for that matter and they simply never stand a chance to attain trophy status without first having the genes and then nutritional base etc. but then as well some sanctuary from handling (unintended mortality) or harvest. As for long term you have to face the fact that fishing pressure is just getting heavier and heavier........nothing can be done about that other than building a fence or owning private property with no access for other's to bludgeon and pressure the critters your after. Even big systems like LOTW's that guy's thought would never succumb to any harm just by it's vastness in size reflect that. The last 8-10 years on most all musky waters has taken it's toll. Is there still quality to be found in Northwest Wisconsin? Of course, but you have to know when to make hay and often the window's of opportunity are very short! For Joe six pack that looks at social media or expect's to just fish hard for a week and hope to deal with a 30 lb. class musky to "happen"....lol. The 35-40 lb. elite muskies that public use to hear of in the Lucky 13 or otherwise 2-3 decades ago are now like white elephants. Why? Why does GB and the Fox reveal them but Northern Wisconsin doesn't. Why does MN reveal so many 51-55 inch class muskies vs. Northern Wisconsin? Apparently it's a big mystery to the WI DNR or do they just simply not care? Women named Nancy aren't worthy or fertile enough to stay married with..............discarded and forgotten about. Nothing to see here, she just didn't work out. huh?
Saw you at Hayward bait and tackle yesterday
Did he say at the beginning that there are two separate species of muskie?? Such a cool episode.
I was wondering what the harm the mixing genetic strains is? If the bigger, faster growing Muskies mix with the other, is it possible that the mixed genetic fish would grow big as well?
It seems pretty simple that they should only take eggs from big fish. I wonder why the DNR doesn’t do this this
Yes there are. Trying to keep the species true to their roots but much of that is already altered over the years.
Damn this was awesome
You have to have diversity in sizes if there's nothing but monsters stocked the bait fish and "food" will suffer
You guys should get Pete Maina on Legends or just collab and fish with him.
It would be a interesting match.
For this time of year what time of day do you like to fish for Musky?
Of course the DNR isn't doing the right thing for this state. Think about how much revenue they deprived local business by making deer registration online instead of going to a place of business so that hunters could and would spend some cash. It's obviously a little different but I hope you all see the pattern of the DNR doing the wrong thing for our state.
So I’m newer to the musky fishing game. I’ve only been doing it for 4 years with a huge gap between that. I’ve recently fired it back up. I originally started in Townsend Flowage. Which happened right around the time they started stocking muskies in the flowage. My question is, what was the purpose of doing this? I understand that the main idea was to help kill off the stunted panfish, which was an absolute issue. But I’m also curious as to where did they get the skies from? As far as I’m aware, and don’t quote me on this, they stocked it with 10,000 Fingerling Tigers in the waters. Is that strain that they collected a good strain? Will it show benefit in the long run? And was there a prior stocking before that which was under the radar? Idk numbers on size and age, but the year after they stocked it, I ended up catching a 37ish musky. Sorry for the long rant. Just trying to get a full understanding. I’d love to be involved in this community and lifestyle.
😁 nice to listen
To me IMO : Is the food sources for muskies supportive of large fish ??? Every predator in nature grows in size & health according to the quality of food....... If, the source for eggs held 50% fish under 30", 25% over 40" & 25% over 50" - Then that should be 100% of how the eggs should be collected & used..... That's the most natural.
Otherwise it's like the guy who shoots a 250" 30point buck that was raised on a farm for its superior genetics & Pretending it's a not a pet
I live right by okauchee and pewaukee lake and musky fish them often. They put some spotted strain in okauchee recently, we caught our first spotted fish this year so I’m excited at the thought of a fat 55”er in the future.
Also have a family cabin 40 mins south of Hayward and I rarely bother towing my boat up there to musky fish because of the poor musky fishing. I’ve spent a fair amount of time on a number of Hayward lakes and I’ve never caught a musky there. Why drive 5 hours to musky fish when I live 2 mins from a lake I actually catch fish at and have a legit shot at a 50”+ ski? It’s a shame because I’d rather fish in the north woods environment but it’s been a waste of time in the Hayward area so far. I thankfully do have some secluded spots on the other side of the state that have been good and are gorgeous to fish at.
Are there any genetic giant Sconies left anywhere to use for brood stock?
All the way up here in Ny we have great lakes spotted and inland Chautauqua/Ohio strain. Great lakes do exceptionally well on their own but CHQ is stocked, and maybe mock spawn. I don't know of any natural reproduction
There are no Great Lakes strain in Chautauqua. I believe those are Ohio River strain fish, just as they are in Pymatuning and most other lakes around NW PA and Eastern Ohio
@@HoffmanOutdoors I know i mentioned that, we just have 2 separate species and the later seems to be poor at natural reproduction despite being stocked at astronomical numbers
But is musky fishing in Northern WI that bad though?
Great ass video thank you sir🤘
And Wisconsin game wardens if ur watching 👀 step up ur game.
Im on board.....tell me how I can help!
My generation " Millennials" dont give a shit about spending money to stock musky. when we cant even find a good job to support our selves and still have to live with parents.
I wonder what strain is over here in VA
Barred for sure. Def not spotted
Pike can get to 55 pounds there is pictures of a 55 pound northern pike caught in saskatchewan canada thier recent pictures also not a 1800's picture i believe sometime in the 2000's. If memory serves correct it was 56" long and had a massive belly on it.
Robbie I no of a lake in northern wi not to far from hayward that I guarantee u has a world record muskie in it cause I've saw it message me and I'll give u the info
yea....me too
Lake Nabakagon!
Want a laugh....look up the lake that the Illinois DNR pulls their muskies out of.
Ugh it's so dumb.
5 thumbs down WHY?
Omg. We need to sit down together fellas. First for showing my shack in the video. And to speak of stocking. The water conservationists in Hayward are products of the university in st point. They are also tied to the hall of fame. These individuals are also tourist from ILL. There are leech Lakers in lakes around you. About 15 minutes north of where you are sitting. You can actually see one being caught from last fall, on a episode of k.o. I have also personally caught a spotted strain on turtle flambo about 12 yrs ago.
From 2006-2014. Over 7000 musky were planted into petenwell. My current stomping grounds. Just in the last 30 days I can name over 10 50"+ fish caught. Castle rock is probably one of the heaviest stocked bodies of water in WI. It has a diverse spread of fish sizes. None of these have been leech Lakers.
I agree with Larry on stocking and the impact of money to the area. But not too the strains. Illegal transplanting has been happening in our local waters for years..... Nepco lake of all places has produced all three of my personal best. With my biggest coming from the mondo. Flowedge. Two of the smallest bodies of waters I fish.
You have to remember the leading DNR rep. For WI is not incorporating facts from the past 50 yrs. And even sat less then a mike away from that boat launch and fed the community a bunch of b,s..
I think the sportsman of WI have a totally different story to tell then what our biological community is telling us. Musky, wolves,elk,and deer! Introduction of these have created major problems. We need one authority on these matters that we can count on. No such organization exist at the moment.
Thank you for another informative video. These legend series are my favorite of them all. Oh....And Lee. The cover fish you have called a weird marked hybrid......are common around here. Tigers DO!!!!! Reproduce.
Thats interesting. Is there any scientific proof that they're reproducing or is it just based on observation and assumption?
@@sgangling 30+ plus years of observation and involvement. Ask anyone from this area what the fishing has been like over the years.
@@inspectorbusiness4892 I'm certainly open minded, although skeptical as I've never heard that before. It makes sense as I've seen photos of tigers that have very Musky-esque traits to them. Are you saying they reproduce with each other or with purebreds?
@@sgangling the section of water I've been catching them on is land locked. Because of a paper mill shut down, this section has not been opened to other water for about 15 yrs. The best estimate I can come up with is they are a combo of only the fish in that section. Part tiger and clear. Or possibly a barred with tiger.
Fun fact the wisconsin dnr didn't do any stocking this year due to covid
But there was stocking. 2 locations that I am aware of. But they released all fish from one location that almost guaranteed kill off. Seen about 30% get taken writhing the first 45 minutes from birds and other fish.
@@inspectorbusiness4892 private fish hatchery or tribe
They stocked mostly Trout and Salmon
infotrek.er.usgs.gov/doc/wdnr_biology/Public_Stocking/StateMapHotspotsAllYears.htm
All videos Sub in spanish pleasee
2nd to comments
The idea that Wisconsin muskies are just muts is simply false. For instance, a new study found that there is a 10% difference between the East and west Chippewa flowage not to mention the vast difference between different fish in other fisheries. Spotted muskies do not survive in Northern Wisconsin and they hybridize.
They survived before in Minong and they are doing fantastic in Madison. Also do well in northern Michigan.
I would check out the article called Genetic Contribution of Leech Lake Muskellunge in Lake Wissota, Wi by Kieth Turnquist and Wesley Larson before anyone makes that claim that leech lake strain will thrive in Northern Wisconsin.
Austin Mannigel they still got plenty big just swam down the river.
I guess we can agree to disagree but love your bait lineup and just getting into the videos. Keep up the good work!
First
Barely but you beat me.
Wisconsin gets more bang for their buck stocking muskies that live longer.
The DNR motto: “Trust me I’m big government and I know what’s best for you! Common sense equals no sense.” Sad!
They don’t even care about the economic benefit to a community or area. Apparently we all need to give up our love of fishing and become state employees.
6.00 min talking about what we are going to talk about ! Aaaarrrgh
God Damn Politics. The must be Democrats lol
Why is the DNR so hard headed.