40 inch musky size limit

[John Stellflue]

I'll bet you guys are wondering why there is a musky post on a walley board. Here's the deal. I live in Oneida Co WI. and some of us have been talking about trying to get a 40" musky size limit county wide. A friend of mine just got off the phone with the Oneida Co. fishereies biologist. He stated that for every musky fisherman that was for a 40" limit there would be 5 walleye fisherman that were against this proposal. Before you answer I would like to remind you of a couple of things. Within the last 10 years there have been 2 studies done on what muskies eat. One on Pewaukee lake, and the other I believe on Lake of The Woods. In both studies, fish were netted and then their stomach contents were flushed. In both cases it was found that the walleye compromises less than 2 % of a muskies diet. I'm sure most of you have experienced bite-offs from a musky, I don't doubt that. What you have to remember about those instances is that the musky was simply doing what it was genetically programmed to do. On a final note. I don't want to get into a walleye/musky debate. I am simply interested in how the walleye angling community views a 40" musky size limit. Feel free to e-mail me or call me. Thanks in advance. God bless.

John Stellflue
715-369-5285

[FJH1]

Personally I get up to Oneida and Vilas counties quite a bit and am all in favor of a 40" minimum. From your post it seems as though you are saying that the walleye anglers are opposed to this 40" minimum due to perceived increased predation by the muskies upon the walleye population? In my opinion the reason that the smaller minimum is in place is because of pressure from resort owners and guides. Once a 40" minimum goes into place a guide could put clients on a 38" and 39.5" and the client still goes home saying he didn't boat a "keeper". Just my $.02

Best Regards,

FJH

[Hans]

Far as I'm concerned, there are no "keeper" muskies.

Every one should go back in the lake to be caught again. Besides, they taste bad (my granpa said).

Hans
--
"There is nothing; absolutely nothing; half so much worth doing,
as simply messing about in boats." :-)

[Mr.Pike]

Ditto on the above post. I have been known to break out the Musky tackle ( alot ). I will add I don't kill them anyway. Raise the lmit to 40 or better yet 45 inches. They are a hoot to catch -the bigger the better. Now for the real issue. I live in the area talked about and don't feel that the fish are as much of a threat to the walleye population as are our native friends who spear the walleye AND musky every spring! Wisconsin DNR cuts the daily limit ( on walleye ) back on the lakes that get speared. Seems to imply that spearing DOES have some affect on the fish numbers! But by comparison, I've never seen a sign at the landing saying that the walleye limit is reduced because of musky being in the lake!Makes me wonder what's really going on here. Thanks for listening , I know this might open a can of worms but it is all true. Gooo Musky. <;{{{{<<( Mr.Pike

[cisco]

OK, you want opinions, here's mine. I think you should go for a 50 inch limit. As of now, I believe a "wall hanger" muskie should be at least 50 inches -- and, anything less released. No one needs to eat 36 or 40 or 48 inch muskies -- and, they're certainly not trophies. (If I had my druthers, even the over 50 would be graphite reproductions rather than the actual carcass.)

[Ethan and Jordan]

We fish for both muskie and walleye and would have to say that the larger the minumum size for muskie, the better. If we had it our way, there wouldn't be a minimum size for muskie because you wouldn't be allowd to keep them. We usually fish for muskie in northern wisconsin (little sand lake and white sand lake). It is land around a native reserve where the size limit is 40". We have found that is hasn't made any impact on the walleye numbers. Infact, Ethan's grand-dad caught a 12 pound walleye in this 40" minimum lake.

These fish should be helped, for their numbers have been decreasing over the years. We think that this is a great idea and wish you the best of luck in placing this law!!!

EJ's Fishing- http://outdoors.at/ejfishing

tight lines to ya!

Ethan and Jordan

[Fathead Sam]

I am an avid walleye angler and have had the bite offs you mentioned. As far as I see it, it is just nature taking its course. It is actually kind of fun when it happens. A mid 30" Muskie or Pike on the end of my 6# test has been the highlight of my day. While I do not target Muskies when I fish I believe they are a magnificent fish and should certainly be protected to at least 40" in length. Lake of the Woods in Ontario is my main stopming grounds when chasing walleye and it also happens to be one of the best Muskie fisheries in the world. If I am not mistaken it has a 48" size limit. The walleye fishing is fantastic. Please dont let the DNR stop you from trying to establish a higher size limit. They do not alwas have the right answers. Let the fishermen speak thier piece. You might be supprised at the support you get from walleye anglers.

Sam

[mike b]

Any muskie is a magnificent and beautifull animal and should be photographed and QUICKLY released. We have yellows(opps) I mean walleye, perch, and pan fish enough for the table, and if you give an artist a photograph and measurments he can produce a great mount and no dead fish Just my 2cents Mike B

[MarbleEyes]

If its for the good of fishing i don't think its a problem with anyone on this board. Personaly i caught a 34 inch musky off a dock last year in wisconsin and it was the best 15 minutes of my life! I would love to see not only a 40 (or larger) inch limit in 1 county, but would think to go for the whole state of wisconsin.
MarbleEyes

[John Stellflue]

Thanks to all of you that responded. I am going to print this thread and see what we can come up with for a resolution to take to the spring WI DNR hearings. Thanks again and God bless to all walleye anglers.

[BTB]

As a musky angler who frequents this site as a secondary resource and a great source of info on boats and the like, I am elated to see this type of response from you guys. It amazes me that the DNR would say one thing and have the results of this impromptu poll telling us something completely different.

Thanks for the support!

Brad

[twogun]

I would be in favor of a 50in. limit. When we go walleye fishing and results are poor for whatever reason I'll bet almost all of us don't thing about a muskie as being the reason and i doubt that they were and it would'nt bother me if they were, after all they need to eat too. besides we catch them fishing for eyes sometimes. There are so many places to catch walleye.If it bothers fisherman they should go to a none muskie lake. Their numbers are not that great to worry about compared to pike.

[Husky Jerk]

John,

I believe your biggest opposition in efforts to change size limits will be the resort owners. They have consistantly fought bigger size limits, on the asumption people would travel to other areas where the size limit is smaller to increase thier odds in landind a "legal" fish. NONSENSE!! Muskie anglers from Wisconsin are ,in greater numbers each year, traveling out of state to increase thier odds of catching a quality fish. I fish all species of fish although I actually spend very little time persuing the mighty Muskelunge. I would never oppose a new regulation that would benifit the fishery. Wisconsin's state fish is the muskie....what a joke to have all the surronding states with more protective size limits then us.

Paul Jensen

[No Fish]

Dear John , That mutually exclusive controversy between walleye and musky isn't even an issue any more. These fish have coexisted and will continue to for long after were gone. Without big musky or big northern the sucker population gets overgrown and soon you have a lake full of big suckers with nothing large enough to eat them. They then become the grass carp of the lake eating the plant matter and especially the spawn of walleye and musky. Along with this size limit a one trophy tag a year policy has worked well in some of the gulf coast states.Best wishes in your endevor. No Fish

[Mountain Man]

Five years ago in Langlade County as a musky hunter I made the mistake of catching a healthy 53 inch musky on a small lake we have a family cottage on. Believe it or not it was nothing special to catch 5-10 musky from 30-45" on a good day. All were pampered and released and one with a distinctive mark was caught four summers in a row. Then I caught the 53 incher which IS NOT a trophy Musky by a swimming beach.
From then on the number of people fishing musky
on the lake skyrocketed; and if it was 34 inches it was kept. That was the year I changed to Concentrating on Walleye. For five years in a row
the Musky fishing has dropped and now is almost nonexistant. Not overpreassured, overharvested. I
can't even find one on the graph many days and you can canoe through the weed flats and never see a weed move. If your gonna mount any Musky
why not set a weight limit minimum say forty #s.
As for Trophys why do some folks even consider mounting walleyes less than 12lbs, and some of our Canadian friends would probably say even bigger but I would rather see a 11 lb walleye on the wall in a photograph. And while were at it I think thew minimum Legal walleye should be 18".

[Tim]

I do not get out to fish as much as I would like but do the best I can. About three years ago I had the largest fish I have ever had on the end of my line, guess what it was, it was a muskey. I never landed the fish, but it was the most exhilarating 15 to 20 fishing minutes of my fishing life. He jumped out of the water three times, twice very close to the boat. I do not know how big it was, but it was big. Wow is the only thing to be said. Then this fall I caught and released a 36 inch musky, again very exciting. The two fish were caught on the same small lake in west central MN. So if you are looking for support from me you have it. Could even be larger as far as I am concerned. Can't eat them anyway.

If I may say a word about walleye fishing, I would like to a 13 inch minimum on all walleyes in the state of MN, as that is where I do almost all of my fishing. As for maximum I do not have a feeling for that, although in order to keep the fisheries healthy I suppose it should be around 19 to 20 inches. Or allow one fish to be taken over a certain length. My family and I go to Voyaguers National Park (Kabetogama side) the first week in June. There has been a slot limit in place for I believe three years. The slot is keep 13 to 17. Anything under 13 and between 17 to 23 must be put back immediately, can keep one over 23 inches. I expect the fishing to be pretty good this year. There was a gentleman at the cleaning house taking surveys. As you might expect I was full of questions. He told me that the 17 to 23 inch fish would be prmarily females and that they were the strongest females. Made sense to me.

My 2 cents

[MarbleEye's]

No, that wouldnt work. The musky is 99% a trophy fish, and they are usualy only catch and release unless its a trophy, while walleyes are a fish that is 1/2 and 1/2 food and tropy, and i think that there would be a large opposition to maiking a 18 inch size limit. I think the best idea is a slot limit for fish in the 12-16 or mabey 12-20 inch range for the people looking for a shore lunch, and then over 28 or 30 just for a trophy fish. I haven't personally experienced lakes with these slot limits but they seem like they would work verry well.
MarbleEyes

[Gilligan]

The walleye and muskie coexist quite well on lake that I fish, the size limit there is 40" with many 50+"ers there.

[Mr Shabbona]

And an 18" limit on walleye and a 1 fish a day 14" limit on LM Bass. The lake is only 318 acres
and is close to Chicago so you can imagine what would happen if the limits were not in place. The lake has produced 4 state records and is going to give up the next one (imho) soon. A couple of 49"+ fish were caught last year and released so it's just a matter of time. You can check it out at http://www.shabbonalake.com . Maybe your wondering what an 18" limit does for the walleye too? Here is a picture of 2 I caught in 1998. http://www.shabbonalake.com/images/12.gif They were 30" 9 1/4# and 25" 5 3/4# and were caught on a Rapala Fat Rap in GFR.

Mr S
I like limits