Musky

[bigbritt]

way to go ace, Finally someone said something about this, listen people, the law is the law. It might have not been on purpose, but he still broke the law by taking that fish out of the water and snapping a few pics. Ace did the right thing by letting him and all know what the rules are. This is good advice for those who are unsure of the law in regards to muskies out of season. I understand why anglers are getting upset about this, it irritates me, this is based on the future of muskie fishing in our great state. Spread the word on this too, these fish are being protected from hooks for only a short time, so that they can be left alone to spawn. this is a sensitive time for these animals, they are already worn out from spawning and a long lasting fight on light tackle and being handled out of water for a period of time will more than likely kill the fish.I really think the DNR should change the season on Northern so that muskie and northern open the same time. then these troubles wont occur and there are no lame excuses. As far as seeing other "Anglers" out there throwing bucktails or any other obvious muskie baits, this is the DNR tip line, 1-800-652-9093. most people and serious fisherman have cell phones and have this number in them, you can be sure that i would not hesitate to call if i saw this, so save this into it and call when you see this kind of poaching, because that is what it really is.

2 cents

[delcecchi]

And then they can change the season on northerns and muskies south of 53 so you won't have all those guys throwing rubber worms and jig and pig for northerns.

It would have never occurred to me that holding up the fish for a picture after catching it out of season was unlawful. I guess I need a refresher on the fishing regs.

[kpj5br]

Since I stuck my two cents in, I feel obligated to add again, since Ace responded.

Ace:

I thank you for your response to this entire post, I think your response was very professional.

I also want to tell you about my brother-in-law, he has what I think is a similiar personality to yours.

Now first, I need to say, I am very close with my brother-in-law, and I would defend him, even physically, to the last drop of blood in my body. If I were a close friend of yours, Ace, it would probably be the same situation.

I now realize you meant only the best for the resource, and I respect that. But my personal hope is that you can take a learning lesson from this thread. It's all about attitude and perception, not just online, but everything in life. "It's not what you say, but how you say it"

My brother-in-law would have responded just like you did. FOr me, that would not change the way I feel about him, I know him, so nothing would. But others don't. Just like others don't know you.

The Internet is a VERY public place. It's a place where tact and professionalism are PARAMOUNT if you want to keep a positive name with the general public, and when you're doing business with the general public, this is something you want to do.

I'll be honest, at this point, I forgot the name of the original poster who caught the muskie, it's meaningless now, this thread has become about you, and as a public guide, you don't want that.

All of us have empathy for the guy who started this post, that's the point. He's a guy who was excited with a catch he didn't expect. He didn't know the exact regulations on what to do with that, and he took a few pictures. He was happy, he posted here.

The point is, instead of tactfully educating this individual, your response post was extremely condescending, that's why this thread has the "flame" by it as a hot post. It's not because this guy caught a muskie, it's because of your response.

I sincerely hope you "get" that, and I also wish you the best.

[Ainokea]

I am a newbie here, I will be fishing the big V for a week kicking off June 13th with Gary the Guide. My first reaction to this post was uh, oh somebody's gonna be pissed cuz the guy states "48 inches" So I'm thinkin if pics, and measurements were taken then wasn't the fish actualy subjected to the same treatment it would as if it were in season? I mean, you guys don't usually keep Musky do you? The guy didn't say the fish was maybe around 48" but I couldn't tell because we released it in a hurry.

Bottom line I was happy to see that there are locals defending the fishery, I think it's important and Guideman was not out of line with his scolding. I'm sure that post just touched a sore spot on someone who on a regular basis sees people throwing larger than nessesary spoons and bucktails for Pike because they know full well they might "accidently" catch a out of season Musky.

[Rick]

Ace brought up a good and necessary point. That message could have been delivered much better in a public forum like this.