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Rapala Report

Shad Rap ‘Super’ for Fall MuskiesShad Rap ‘Super’ for Fall Muskies

With Halloween just around the corner, now’s the perfect time to load your boat with monsters – monster muskies.

In lakes with big populations of perch or shad, the best trick for treating yourself to a record esox this fall is trolling Rapala Super Shad Raps.

The tactic is so effective on Green Bay that it often yields multiple 45-plus-inch fish per day.

“The Super Shad trend goes back some years ago, when Doug Stange of In-Fisherman and I had a 6-fish day trolling them on a TV show,” recalls Capt. Bret Alexander, an in-demand guide on Green Bay. “Before that, people were mostly using the bigger, more aggressive muskie baits. But Super Shads just perfectly match the hatch in Green Bay.


IDNR Report

Like many Hoosiers interested in their genetic ancestry, DNR fisheries biologists and Purdue University researchers are looking into the genetic makeup of a species of fish in northern Indiana's Lake Webster.

The results could have a bearing on how muskies, a popular sport fish, might affect the future of the DNR's muskie stocking program.

"We take eggs from adult muskies captured at Lake Webster in Kosciusko County each spring, fertilize and hatch them, and then grow the fry up to 10-inch fingerlings for stocking lakes throughout the state," said Randy Lang, DNR hatchery supervisor. "Without healthy brood stock, the entire muskie program could be in jeopardy."


By Louie Stout

Indiana Muskie Fishing is Even Better Than Most Anglers RealizeIndiana Muskie Fishing is Even Better Than Most Anglers Realize

Are Indiana’s muskie lakes starting to get the respect it deserves?

Maybe. But not as much as muskie biologist Jed Pearson believes they should.

Webster Lake has long been known as the crown jewel of Indiana muskie fishing and it’s been recognized regionally, and to some extent, nationally. It and nearby Barbee Chain and Lake Tippecanoe gets most of the attention. All of those lakes are in Kosciusko County.

“We think it’s important to get more information out there about the quality of fishing we have here,” said Pearson. “We’re seeing it in our surveys, but now it’s a matter of getting anglers to try other waters and see what they are missing.”

The Webster/Barbee/Tippecanoe trio of muskie lakes are fairly well known and garnering more attention.

The Indiana Classic has been held there for several years, attracting avid muskie anglers from around the region.


MDNR Report

The Michigan DNR, in partnership with the Michigan Muskie Alliance, continues to investigate the state's muskellunge fisheries through its online angler survey.

The 2017 Muskellunge Angler Survey is gathering information about muskellunge angler demographics and catch data. Muskellunge anglers have been surveyed since 2014, but only online since 2016. Traditional methods, including creel and postcards, have not been as successful at collecting this type of information. The current survey can be found on the DNR's website at www.michigan.gov/muskie.


By David A. Rose
Traditions Media

Be quick if you decide to take a photo like this and get the fish back into the water immediately. (Courtesy of Pete Maina)Be quick if you decide to take a photo like this and get the fish back into the water immediately. (Courtesy of Pete Maina)

Be quick if you decide to take a photo like this and get the fish back into the water immediately. (Courtesy of Pete Maina)

It’s an unfortunate fact, but I’ve come upon many a muskie, belly-up on the surface within some of the inland lakes near my home in Michigan’s Northwestern Lower Peninsula. If the fish is freshly departed, I’ll grab my boat hook and roll the fish around to see if I can conclude what may have been the cause of its demise.

More often than not, two unconcealed hints usually give away its death: Torn lips and gums, indicating the fish had been caught, and fins and tail tinted bright-red, signifying a high level of stress.

Although the muskies caught in my neck of the woods grow enormous—the state record, for example, a whopping 58-pound Great Lake strain landed in October of 2012—their populous is low. The Michigan Department of Natural Recourses’ surveys show a population of one fish per square mile in one of the most popular chain of lakes for targeting them. To say just a single dead beast is distressing for such a small population is an understatement.

But there’s also no doubting that landing such a large fish is one of the most exhilarating moments in any angler’s lifetime, whether it was muskie being targeted or if the fish was an accidental catch. But there’s no more important time for anglers to calm down than once the fish is netted, making sure it’s safe from harm well before high-fives are given overhead.