Anglers get ready: Musky expected to hit hard this fallMADISON - You heard it here. Musky are going to hit hard this fall in Wisconsin.
"They're going to have to -- they haven't eaten much all summer," says Tim Simonson, co-chair of the state's musky committee and an avid musky angler.
[img width= height= alt=Green Bay musky]http://dnr.wi.gov/images/news/20101019_musky1.jpg[/img]
Green Bay muskyHaving a large enough landing net makes it easier on the fish and the angler when successfully landing and releasing a monster Green Bay musky this fall.
J. Aschenbrenner Photo
"The recent history is a trend toward a growing number of big fish caught late in the year. So far this year, the musky fishing's been down. The hot summer it made it kind of miserable to fish. And water temperatures were probably above the optimum for musky feeding.
"I think those fish are going to hit hard late in the season. I still expect we'll see one of the top three years ever for big fish," Simonson said.
Last year, Muskies Inc. members reported catching more than 100 muskies 48 inches or greater in Wisconsin. That number has grown steadily since the 1970s, and leaped forward in recent years.
Simonson credits the Green Bay musky fishery, re-established through a generation of stocking and other management efforts by DNR and partners, with helping boost the numbers.
"People started discovering those fish in about 2006 and it's ballooned into a real popular destination for big fish, particularly in the fall," he says.
The contribution of big fish from Lakes Michigan and Superior to the Muskies Inc. registry has increased from 2 percent in 2004 to 24 percent in 2009.
Simsonson says there's a perception that fall is a good time to catch fish. Analysis of creel surveys and other records haven't been able to establish that definitively, but there's enough anecdotal information to show that some of the biggest fish are caught late in the season, he says.
His advice to anglers is to head to big water if it's big fish they're after. Ultimate fish size is related to lake size.
His short list of places to try: Green Bay, the Chippewa Flowage, the Madison lakes, the Turtle Flambeau Flowage, the St. Louis River, Lake Wissota, Holcombe Flowage, Pewaukee Lake and the Petenwell Flowage.
[img width= height= alt=His short list of places to try: Green Bay, the Chippewa Flowage, the Madison lakes, the Turtle Flambeau Flowage, the St. Louis River, Lake Wissota, Holcombe Flowage, Pewaukee Lake and the Petenwell Flowage.]http://dnr.wi.gov/images/news/20101019_musky2.jpg[/img]
Chippewa River muskyBrad Bohen landed this 46-inch musky from the Chippewa River in Rusk County on Sept. 12, 2010, and a new world record for the Unlimited Class tippet category in the Catch & Release Fly Rod Division.
He also reminds anglers that the musky season will be open a month longer south of U.S. Highway 10. This is the second year since the southern zone musky season was extended to December 31. The northern zone musky season closes November 30.
read more... http://dnr.wi.gov/news/DNRNews_article_Lookup.asp?id=1572
