It's over for everyone except those willing to head south, way south.
So, it's a good time to review the season.
How did you do this season, was it what you expected or hoped for?
How did Michigan waters treat you? Can you tell muskie fishing is getting better here in Michigan?
Let's hear it all, the good, the great, the not so good…
I'd have to say that the southwest MI waters met my expectations. They seem to me to produce on a par with Vilas County and way better than Sawyer County WI. That's really saying something for a young program. The only disappointment for me was Macatawa, where I failed to see a fish despite fishing it fairly often and on some key weather days. I tip my hat to those who did well there. I think that the St. Clair fishery is taking pressure off the southwest MI lakes, which is helping them along.
Pathetic…..
Low numbers,and lost a season ender that would have made me feel better(45+).
No major multiple days on the water.
Bankson is not what it used to be(numbers).
3 highlights.
Got my first respectable topwater fish(43)
Had a great evening topwater fishing with Tom when the muskies seemed everywhere
Got comfortable with my boat now after two years,and am somewhat respectable now with my first ever foot controlled trolling motor
Oh well,
I suck
DU 
And yes…….michigan muskie fishing is getting better…
Oh…and also…..
Lost my balls somewhere along the way as far as exporing new water,got in a rut…..
And was to the point of charging$$$$$gas if any hour plus drives were going to happen.Don`t care next year Ovid,austin,sanford and a few others are going to see alot of me.
Also got to fish with a few new people and had fun….Kid and Don…I mean EMERIL.. 
And the sheriff still eludes me…..oh well we`ll fish together someday…
Also red faced department number two New waters fished,gun,sanford,green river…that`s it I regret not being able to finish out my season on gun and mac in december as they are only 20 minutes away.GRRRRRRRRRR..Ice came early….
Also haven`t got up the gump to drive to LSC yet..
Only fished thornapple twice I think,,,,that bothers me…Murray may see less of me next year.With the 99' and 2000 year class now respectable (40-44),no reason to key in on another lake with the possibility of a 2 or 3 "larger fish.???
DU 😈 😈
I had a good year. Got to fish some new people made some new friends (Dave) and Scott.. Fished out of state 3 times, Cave Run, Webster, and Georgian Bay, and I will be definately be going back to G Bay!!!!
I learned some spots on LSC thanks to Chad and Will, thanks guys.
I even fished a couple lakes on the east side I haven't before.
Observations….. Sanford needs a few more fish in it, as does Wixom.
Budd isn't a numbers lake like it use to be.. The east side needs a numbers lake, it will get more people interested in the sport..
I ended up with 7 fish under 30" also this year, all in all no complaints as the state is heading in the right direction with its inland waters.
LSC is to me part of the "Great Lakes", and i think it intimidates alot of people and they are afraid to fish it..I'm referring to a small inland lake
like Ovid or Budd…..If we keep stocking like we did this year, we will have one over here…. Maybe…..Theres always that darn trickle down theory though.. here today, 20 miles down stream tomorrow
Well I did not get to fish as much as I wanted to. I just need to find more time to spend at home and get out and fish more. Only 3 fish for me this summer at Ovid. But it was fun. Still need to get one on a topwater the weagle. But maybe I need to fish it on a lake with bigger fish in it. Had a great time a the swap. And saw some stuff I need to get for next year.
LeMay OUT
Well the Queen and I did pretty good. About half as many as we got last year but we knew that going in. Most of our spring was spent raising and selling Bichon Puppies as was August and September. Michelle did well with 14 fish and a 41 inch average. A St Claire 47" was her biggest but she caught a 43 on St Claire that was heavier. Even with her numbers down she finished 4th Nationaly in the Mofc contest. I got 27 fish with a fat 46 from Thornapple being my best of the year. We got our second boat and it has proved to be a smart little craft . Next year this little 14 ft. modified Jon will prove its worth many times over. We Caught two fish in the Ice up Challunge and helped the club to its victory. I still havnt caught a fish casting on St. Claire but next year is another ballgame. Our bills are paid and next year is looking good for hitting our goal of 200 Muskies in one year. Michigans Musky fishery is coming on strong with average sizes climbing and more big fish in every lake . Even the small puddles are dealing out some low to mid 40's. I would like to see some stocking of the Spotted Musky lakes like the Elk Chain and Black/Mullet. These are great waters that need fish bad. Cant wait for Hamlin and Margarethe to mature. All in all we have had fun and it was great to see Kid Coulson score a Musky on the green frog Little claw. IT CAME OUT OF NOWHERE!! 😮 😮 😮 Kingfisher
A fun year indeed.
Although I still find these fish to be quite illusive-did I spell that right-,
I caught more fish this season and my biggest to date 42".King and Queen
have been great and the little claw proved to be my go to lure when casting.
Cool Dave Ulrey and the Stinson bros. kept things lively as well.
Im confident Ill double my total fish next season.
My most memerable-did I spell that right-, part of the 05 season
was working fish fest with Big Will's ol'lady.Dam shes hot!!
I'd have to call it a great year, no complaints but nothing earth-shattering either. Put a good number of fish in the net, and no heart breaks on the big girls. Made our first pilgrimage to NW Ontario, it turned out to be everything I dreamed of all these years. The 48 there that turned out to be the big fish hooked for the year- well, she made a strike near the boat that will be burned in my brain's video footage for the rest of my life, I can confidently say. Did less exploring than past years and less time in God's Country unfortunately, but the increased time I spent at home and fishing closer to home was all for my little girl, my first born. A major highlight for the year was having her in the boat and watching me land a 40" in the UP, at 19 months old. Christened my bro's new boat with a 10 fish casting day between us, an all time high set on an unlikely opening day that never reached 40 degrees with 20+ mph winds and spittin rain. I'll remember that one for a while too…
Good stuff, can't wait to get it cranked up again next year. Found myself pulling out the videos already tonight (easy boy… its not even winter yet, by the calendar at least!)
My Season wasn't all that great. I saw a lot fish but none would bite. The one day in the spring I had 7 fallows, and none of them took it. Biggest fish of the year was 44. I had did alright in the spring but I still can't catch anything in the Fall. I need to work on that. This is my third year muskie fishing and I had high expentations for this year but I did not meet them. Oh well, I have a lot of fishing ahead of me. I cant wait until next year. Hopefully I can catch more and bigger fish, and maybe compete in MMA tournment and beat you guys, yeah right. Oh and I want to fish in some other lakes besides lake Hudson. There s only so much water to fish there lol.
Don Paxton
Well if I could have just spent less time in the hospital and more time on the new rig, I would have done better…at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it. However, having lost 3 months of prime time to illness and not really fishing much outside of my little area of the world (except a few days on GB for the 1st time—thanks for a great time Bomba), I didn't do so badly. 8 legals with a big heavy 45 coming late in the season to ice the cake. Not too shabby but next yeart I have to pick it up. Hope to return for a full week on GB and plan to stress test the new 621 on LSC when there are a bit less waves than the 5 footers Bomba and I fished in during my only trip there in October….can you say chocolate milk? Michigan muskies are making a solid effort thanks to improvements in the success at Wolf Lake, hats off to Martha at the DNR for her hard work and to Pete for helping educate her as best he could. With any luck next year will be a far less leathal year for skis on Sanford…lost upward of 18 fish including a big number over 47 inches.
For most of the year, it was one fish here, one fish there every second or third time out, but nothing real consistent. I ended up fishing only one other lake besides LSC this year, which was Sanford as part of the tournament. In the end, though, I did meet my primary goal for the year: catch a 50” casting on LSC. I guess the old saying is true, “it just takes one cast.” Can’t wait for June 2006 . . . I have the coordinates for a big girl that spit the hooks.
Not to bad of a year,only five fish in the boat,three in the new boat and to in the old,got the sunk out fast only the 2nd day and put a fat 46" in the net,got the win at the tournament {thanks cory with a fat 46"},helped ron get big fish {musky} at the pike tournament}good job ron and a 3rd place for me, got back into doing more bass fishing,looking forword to 06 going to do one or to bass tournaments, help put my dad on a fat 47.5" out of sanford.Cant want for the ice to go.Fish from 05 46,45.5,41,37,26.5.Good luck in 06 every one.
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