Will anglers head to the northern half of Wisconsin – including Shawano and Oconto counties – to fish for muskies almost a month before the previous season opener?
That remains to be seen, but anglers will be able to target muskies in the Northern Zone on May 2 instead of waiting until the last Saturday of May. The season will end Dec. 31.
Currently, the state is divided into Northern and Southern muskie zones. The dividing line is U.S. Highway 10, which runs from Prescott on the Wisconsin/Minnesota border to Manitowoc. The change creates a uniform statewide season.
“Anytime we can simplify regulations, that’s definitely a positive,” said Jordan Weeks, a member of the DNR’s muskie management team. “Making things easier for folks is something we’re definitely interested in. We’re not going to make something simple just to make it simple. It has to make sense biologically as well, and this really does.”
Weeks isn’t sure how many anglers will take advantage of the opportunity and said the DNR will come out with more information on the change before the season gets underway.
According to the DNR, Shawano County’s muskie waters include Grass, Lower Red, Pine, Round, Shawano and Upper Red lakes; Wolf River Pond; and a 22-mile stretch of the Wolf River below the Shawano Dam.
Oconto County’s muskie waters include Anderson, Archibald, Bear, Boot, Munger, Waubee and White Potato lakes; Chute Pond; and Caldron Falls Reservoir.
A DNR muskie management plan for the state that came out in 1979 listed harvest as a major concern at the time, Weeks said.
“They wanted to shorten the amount of time that people could fish for muskies,” he said. “At that time, they projected the harvest was 66,700 muskies a year. Back then, almost every muskie went home.”
That’s not the case anymore, as very few muskies are harvested, because the vast majority of anglers release any fish they catch.
Muskies will not begin spawning on a water body covered in ice, Weeks said.
“It really depends on weather and lake and river conditions,” he said. “Their peak spawn time is (a water temperature of) 50 degrees. It usually starts around 50 (degrees) and you could see spawning through 60.”
Spawning areas in rivers include backwaters, islands and current breaks, while areas in lakes and reservoirs include creek inlets and shallow bays with vegetation.
Weeks said the DNR doesn’t anticipate the change to have a negative impact on muskie populations.
“If we did, we wouldn’t have put it forward as an advisory question,” he said. “We will continue to monitor these populations, and if we discover that there are reasons to change again or get rid of this rule, we would certainly do that. We want to make all of our decisions using data. We’d rather use data than feelings, because you can’t really defend feelings, but we can defend our data collection. That’s where we hang our hat.”
The change will not be in place for Green Bay’s spotted muskie fishery, which will keep its season opener on the last Saturday of May.
“Originally, we included that in our advisory question, but in talks with the Michigan DNR and our Eastern District fisheries folks, they said it was not going to be feasible to open that up,” Weeks said. “That is different than northern Wisconsin and is actually a restoration project.”
Wisconsin’s muskie population is in good shape, according to Weeks.
“The number of big fish – 45 inches and larger – is increasing over time,” he said. “That’s our inland and Great Lakes fisheries. Our average length, while it’s not super-large, has been increasing over time, about 2 inches over the last 20 years from 36.7 inches up to 38, 39 inches.
“Across the board, fishing is better than it has ever been. We have more lakes with muskies, we have larger fish and fewer fish are being harvested, which are all positives when you consider a fishery.”
