I would say the info you can get from being a member is just one of the many benefits you get from joining the Michigan Muskie Alliance. You have a statewide network of musky fisherman to share with who are willing to give you info and even take you fishing with them, you become a member of Muskies, Inc. at the national level and receive their magazine monthly, you also have the opportunity to help educate others on handling muskies for safe release and share with kids the sport of musky fishing. In addition, all the outings are a good time and you also take some credit to belonging to the club responsible for helping the DNR in their musky program and providing additional fish to stock purchased by fund raising events and donations gathered throughout the year. You also can win free stuff and get discounts. Some members share some biology information as it applies to musky fishig and also future planning based on committees they belong to. I am sure these are only some of the benefits, but you get the drift.
Even with that, some will share on more specific information but more likely on a private message because no one likes sharing all their secrets. 😀 😀 😀
Tom
There are other reasons why you will not see fishing reports on the general forum. There are guys who still spear,kill and eat Muskies. I for one would rather they did not know where the best fishing was. There are many lakes with fragile fisheries that would be pounded into nothing if the public knew there were large muskies present. Join the club see the catch reports of over 200,000 muskies from all over the country. The lunge log is worth 5 memberships alone. Kingfisher
I should have added this to my last post and is for the spoonpluggers. You dont see many Musky fishermen on the river at this time because the surface temps have gotten to warm. This was covered last year when the question was asked. You guys fish the bottom with spoon plugs and they are effective and the right lure to use when water temps are cooler.(spring and fall). We use deep diving cranks in the fall when temps drop. I will not fish for deep Muskies during the months of July and august because pulling these fish up out the cold water on the bottom KILLS THEM> There are reasons why you dont see Musky fishermen bouncing bottom everywhere they go. These big girls you are talking about are seeking refuge from the hot water Holding in current breaks and backwaters. When they come up to feed they ajust to the temp change and the temp shock is not as bad. When we yank one up from cold water into temps above 75 we are asking for dead Muskies. The river is no secret and most of us fish it . I fish it a lot in the Fall. There are several men who have seen the dead fish behind your boats and you have talked to one of them many times at the Wyandotte ramp and still you guys keep pounding these fish. The fact is its not good to pull Muskies up from deep water unless the surface temps are below 75 degrees. I wait till fall when the temps are around 58 before working this structure. Downriggers, deepdivers and spoonplugs are a no no with warm surface temps. Also leave the fish in water during the release. We are all suffering with this heat wave and many Muskies have been snuffed because of it. Be advised, Kingfisher
Kingfisher; I think everyone wants to have sucsess and be satisfied in ther fishing results, I know i do. What are you taking about when you say the big fish are holding deep or seeking refuge from hot water??? Musky live in the deep Sanctuary depths, and can feed at these depths also, they don't need to come up for anything. I have Seen Will talk about reading Buck Perry in the past and if he has he knows this.. The temps in the river are the same from top to bottom, there is to much current to let a thermal break to form??? litsen I've seen muskies killed on St. Clair in shallow water, I f fish die I think its the release methods.. I've also have seen plenty of Muskie dead in April and may from the walleye guys miss handling and I'm sure these guys are doing more harm than any group, after all thats pre spawn for the musky… Why would a fish seek cooler water if its cold blooded and is comfortabale at what ever the temp it is ??? I think the fish would be the same temp as the water, and if the temp is the same from top to bottom how is tempture killing them??? Ya the one guy I have talked to has killed just as many if not more !!! Brad has taken several fish home this year over 30lbs. Not one fish has gone home in my boat>>>
Ok my mistake the river is warm from top to bottom. I dont buy it but its not worth arguing over. The air has been like a blast furnace for the last several weeks. Pulling these fish up is killing them (anywhere). And yelling fish on to the whole world is inviting more to join in. You asked why no one was talking and I told you. Water temps are hot and its better to leave the fish alone until temps cool off. Guys like Brad have good reason to complain. They have seen their waters invaded by an armada of little tiller boats for the last several years. Catch and release has just started to be addressed by Chase and some of the others(yourself included) Yes I get all of Chases reports. The first couple of times the spoonpluggers were there one guy had a sublegal in his livewell running around showing all his friends. Not a good practice. You guys just keep yelling that the fish are there and soon they will all be gone. I have been quietly going down there for several years and its not as good as it was. In fact its less than half as good as it was in 2002. Why? The answer is pressure. You are asking for more pressure . Kingfisher
About this hot water deal…
Hot water = Dead fish.
It doesn't matter if the water is the same temp from top to bottom or if they're brought up from cooler water. The simple catch and "supposed" healthy release of muskies in water in the upper 70's through the 80's leads to delayed mortality. They might not all die but even with ideal water temps we're talking about a 5-10% mortality. When we get water temps like we've had in recent weeks the delayed mortality goes up dramatically. If you are catching fish in hot water you are killing fish, it's that simple. Remember, just because they swim away doesn't mean they're going to live.
We all need to ask ourself how much we appreciate the resource.
I don't need to stroke my ego enough to fish in hot water, if I'm killing fish it's not worth it. I wil find cooler water or quit fishing, it's that simple.
First off let me apologize . I have a lot of respect for Buck Pery the father of structure fishing. It was never really a form of fishing that was aimed at Muskies until several years ago. Now you sign your messages with doing the work. Lets do some work shall we? As this is a public forum there can be no bias. I was in your shoes several years ago before I joined Muskies Inc. I fished an area that not many of us knew about and after asking questions about this area I was told to stay home leave my girth tape and so on. I found everal lakes with great fisheries and when I got back I hit the message board(public). The responses I got back were all negative and I could not figure out why. One Guy wanted to kick my @s* for letting the secret out. I took awhile to sink in but it did. I was disrespecting anothers local waters. I had no right to tell the world about his quiet place. I was not the only one who was talking as many others were selling off the lakes to informational mapping products and other boards but the result was not good. I had found a great fishery and told someone who told someone and so on. Last year when I went back it was not like it was before. Why ? pressure thats why. If you want to make friends in this Michigan Musky community there are several unwritten rules. #1 respect peoples home water by not bringing the masses to it. #2 learn the best methods and release practices that are accepted by this group and musky fishermen around the country. #3 Do Not give Musky fishing reports on public forums as this information is available to anyone with a computer including the spearing community . It sounds like you have the infection known as muskyslimeitas, you are hooked and will not escape. You should just give in and join the club then you can private message the crap out of everyone and see that the Good fishing just starts in southern Michigan. Cool heads and cooler temps are coming all week. Sorry if I came off as harsh but Ive seen a lot of dead Muskies this year and that ticks me off. Take care,Kingfisher
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