Attention Washington State Tiger Musky Fishermen

[The Democrat]

The Director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has appointed me to the department's Inland Fish Policy Advisory Group, which provides department managers with citizen feedback on fish management policies.

Washington does not have any musky clubs or organized representation of musky fishermen's interests. So far as I know, I'm the only person on any WDFW advisory board speaking for musky fishing interests.

Therefore, I'm interested in hearing from other people who fish for tiger muskies in Washington State who want input regarding management of this species.

You can e-mail me at dwitt546@aol.com or try to call me at 206-542-1268. Be sure to put "muskies" or "Inland advisory board" or something similar in the subject line of your e-mail so I don't delete it as spam.

[ol_grayfeather]

Biggest thing I can suggest is educating people on the benefits of Tiger Muskies. I live is eastern WA and ALL the people I've talked to, concerning tiger muskies, want them dead. I mostly fish Newman lake, in eastern spokane county, and every time I am approached by someone they ask me if I killed any of the muskies I'd caught. (I think they are mostly trout anglers) I mostly bass fish but I have a rod rigged up with a big bucktail or other "big fish" bait, so its pretty easy to tell that I fish for them. Last year was the first year I've fished for them and I only caught seven.... but they were seven of the most furious battles I've ever had!!! Its kinda scary to be bass fishing at night and have a 30 or so incher hit your spinnerbait and take off about 20 plus yards before it decides to stop. That was the first one... and I've been chasing them every since.

Have Fun, Dan

PS. I am gonna try fly fishing for them this year... hahaha

I caught my first one yesterday at Hauser Lake

[Muskiefool]

Contact Muskies Inc Dem and start a chapter, if you need any information on the effects of Muskie introduction I have have some stuff on PDF and word, the most important thing is to organize a group, the anti-Muskie people probably already have and getting them the facts is key along with educating the general anglers to not kill them indescriminatly based on theory not fact.

I sencond that, Your state needs a chapter of Muskies inc. Here in Michigan we faced an uphill battle with opposition from walleye and salmon fishermen until we were able to prove that Muskies would not decimate thier fisheries. In fact we were able to show how they benefit all eco systems by removing unwanted trash fish like carp, sucker and Sheepshead. Kingfisher

Dan,
There is a small, but rapidly growing group of flyfisherman in MN and WI that have been fly fishing for muskies (some for 20 years)...If the trout fisherman are the biggest opponents of the muskie in WA, put a 10 weight in their hands with a angry muskie on the other end and they might not fish for trout for a while....They might not be so eager to eliminate the muskie if they knew what was possible...
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[The Democrat]

A couple of things have changed for Washington tiger musky anglers recently.

First, the state has upped the minimum size limit to 50 inches. We have only 7 tiger musky lakes, and this will help the limited number of tiger muskies we have in the lakes so more people can enjoy catching them. This rule change will make Washington a 99% catch-and-release tiger musky fishery.

Second, we now have a Muskies Inc. chapter in Washington. It meets on the third Thursday of every month at Roundtable Pizza in Federal Way, which is on Interstate 5 between Seattle and Tacoma. You can get more information from their web site at http://nwtigermuskies.org/.

Washingtonlakes.com has a very active forum that is a good source of information for all fishing in Washington lakes and streams, not just tiger muskies. There is also a Pacific Northwest web site especially for walleye anglers called NorthwestWalleye.com, which also has an active message board.

[MarcusA]

I am from Minnesota originally, but live in WA now due to military assignment. I am about 10 minutes from Silver Lake and 30 minutes from Newman Lake. This spring I have caught two big skies on Silver, what a blast!! 30 and 31 May the WA Muskie Assoc. is putting on a muskie tournament. The 30th is at Silver and the 31st is at Newman.

Washington State now has 2 Muskies Inc chapters(57&60). One on both side of the state, the new chapter is Muskies Inc., Chapter #60 Mountain Muskies. They meet on the 4th Tuesday of every month at the Roundtable pizza at 5mile @6:30pm in Spokane WA. contact Craig Dowdy President (chapter #60) at melodie@yjguideservice.com or the new website at www.mountainmuskies.com

[pedwards96]

I think there is a Cascade Muskie Association there in Washington State. You might look them up. I know a couple of guys up that way that fish for tigers quite a bit. You should get a muskies inc chapter up there. I might even join.