Muskies – More or Less?

Muskies – More or Less? by James Smith
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Recently, a friend of mine, Don Kerr, gave me a call asking about fishing on the Chippewa Flowage. He had heard that the “Big Chip” had been getting a bad rap about not having any muskies. There didn’t appear to be any reason given, just no muskies. This summer on my annual pilgrimage to the “North Country”, my wife and I stayed on the Chip. I had an opportunity to drop by John Dettloff’s Indian Trails Resort and spend some time with him. In fact, we were looking for a place to stay. We had tried Treeland’s and they were booked full.

John’s resort was also booked full, but he arranged for Lynda and I to stay at R & R Bayview Resort. From my discussions with John and the number of fish registered at his resort there was no indication of any lack of the normal “great” muskie fishing. The truth is that the only poor muskie fishing on the Chip was my own inability to catch one during my stay. The muskies registered at R & R Bayview Resort were just as many and big as ever In fact Larry Ramsell had released a fantastic one the day before our arrival.

While we were out fishing I was surprised at the relatively few numbers of boats on the water and, in particular, the few number of muskie boats. You know, the boats with two people standing and casting from the fore and aft decks.

I began to wonder if there was any possibility that folks were actually losing interest in muskie fishing. I have heard those rumors around the country. Some of the reasons for the “decline” in muskie fishing I have heard are:
1 .High cost of equipment, lures and boats, make us some sort of an elitist group. Newer fishing enthusiasts find it difficult to get involved.
2. Changes in the way people spend their leisure time today. Too many jet skiers, water skiing and general changes in recreational uses on prime muskie waters.
3. With the expansion of the muskie historical muskie range there are a number of good waters closer to home.
4. Possibly the spearing issues in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
5. and finally, Catch & Release has changed the mystique of muskie fishing.

These foregoing five issues are not in any particular order.

First of all, let me say that I do not, in any way, feel like there is any decline in muskie fishing interest. In fact, I believe that muskie fishing is one of the fastest growing segments of the sport fishing industry.

Now, let’s look back in history for a moment. Back in the ‘30s and ‘40s muskie fishing was primarily limited to the historical range, consisting of eight (8) states and a couple of Canadian Provinces. There were some local heroes like the Lawton’s and Hartman’s, Homer LeBlanc, Louis Spray, and many others. This was an era when stories were embellished a bit, some more than others. This was an era when the legends were made.

In the ‘50s we still fished with very stiff rods, heavy line and shot muskies. I recall living in Illinois and my family vacationed in Wisconsin. For two weeks out of the summer we fished for anything that would bite. I vividly recall a neighbor who was a true muskie aficionados. He must have had a half a dozen large mounted muskies in his home. I finally got my first break after I graduated from high school. My Dad took me to northern Wisconsin for a muskie fishing trip in the fall of 1955. We hired the guide that our neighbor used, Izzy Catoi. I will never forget that man. He rowed the boat, we threw pikie minnows and live suckers. He taught me how to lace a sucker to a hook. I can still remember how I could throw that sucker a country mile. Then jerk and reel, jerk and reel. You never quit If you got tired you might change to a pikie or a suick. My Dad caught a 38” muskie and Izzy shot it twice to get it in the boat. Impressed me, I can tell you for sure. The next year, 1956, I returned to northern Wisconsin on my own, on the train. Met up with the son of the resort where we used to stay and he and I went back to that lake. I threw that sucker all day and sometime that afternoon, I caught my first muskie. It was only a 30” fish and we didn’t have a pistol to shoot it.

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