Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
raving Ahabs. It's more than just a fish. It's a mental or mythical construct that life
canonlyrarelyapproximate.Oncehooked,theseprimevalbehemothscanimitatethe
acrobatics of any marlin—or play smart and lie low on the bottom, sailor-knotting
your test line. Averaging an hour or more to spot from the boat when hooked, the
muskie is a formidable opponent.
BoulderJunctionandHaywardarelockedinafriendlycompetitionoverbragging
rights tothe title of“Muskie Capital ofthe World.” Wisconsin'sVilas County andits
western lake groupings now make a fairly decent living on frothing anglers looking
for 50-inchers.
Good luck. It takes an average of 100 hours just to get a nibble, and the average
required 10,000 casts is too much for all but the most obsessed. (Packer great Brett
Favre purportedly hooked one on his second cast; it happened during the Packers'
blessed 1996-1997 Super Bowl season, so it makes sense.) Once hooked, a muskie
cantoywithyouforupto45minutes,tuggingatbutneverquitetakingthebait;once
it does, you'd better not have anywhere to go in the near future.
THE CREATURE
The word “muskie” is still of doubtful etymology. The Ojibwa had a close cognate,
which essentially translated as “ugly fish.” Muskies migrated eons ago from oceans
to inland seas. Three basic types of muskie exist: the aforementioned basic species,
or Great Lakes muskie; an Eastern, or Ohio, version; and a loathed mutation of a
muskie and the northern pike, the Tiger Muskie. The mouth contains a jaw wrapped
halfway around the head and the largest canine teeth of any freshwater fish. Those
teeth can be used to attack mammals and birds as large as a muskrat (or a finger);
more than one puzzled fisher has pulled out a skeletal smaller fish chewed up by a
muskie while on the line.
The state record is a whopping 69-pounder taken in 1949 from a dammed section
of the Chippewa River near Hayward; thus began the rivalry with the Boulder Junc-
tion area, which probably has more muskie in more of its lakes.
Extremepopularityamonganglers,heavilysedimentedlakes,andlakeshoreover-
development hurt numbers, but catch-and-release imperatives and stocking (despite
the insane cost to raise fingerling muskie) have ameliorated things somewhat. One-
quarter of the current population has been raised through stocking.
