Memorial Day weekend is also musky season’s start

The allure of hooking a musky - the fish of a thousand casts, the bucket list fish, the fish that dreams are made of. They can materialize out of nowhere and create utter pandemonium out of a tranquil calm day of fishing. It’s that moment where all the hours of the grind intersect with pure exhilaration. The adrenaline pours into your veins and utter excitement takes over.

I’ve seen grown men start reeling like a threeyear- old who just hooked their first three-inch bluegill on a Snoopy pole. That creates its own fun for those watching it. Bringing a good sized musky alongside a boat that isn’t played out- think of that three-year-old holding his first bluegill from that Snoopy pole yelling and jumping in a canoe and turn that up a few notches. That’s the kind of excitement musky can bring to a day of fishing. For others, it’s the challenge of hunting that fish of a lifetime.

“There aren’t that many musky in any lake,” Marcus Malyuk told me. Besides chasing trophy bucks, he spends the summers hunting big musky – the 50 plus inch fish. “Which is what makes musky fishing so challenging both mentally and physically. It’s like hunting big bucks. Nothing’s happening until it’s happening and then a lot is happening.”

This Saturday the northern zone musky season opens. Let’s be honest, that means for Wisconsin - the musky season opens. The best musky fishing waters are our northern lakes. Traditionally musky season opens on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.

Anglers voted by almost four to one at the annual spring hearing online voting last April in favor of opening musky fishing statewide on the opening of the game fish season each year.

“It’s been a long time since I missed a musky opener,” Malyuk told me. “The action isn’t really heating up yet. It won’t be like a Canadian lake in July when you expect to catch a 50 plus inch fish. We’ll probably catch a couple mid-30 inch males. I always look for water that’s warming up faster than other lakes around it.”

He also told me that if the crappies are spawning, he gets distracted because he can hear them sizzling in a pan of hot oil. “Muskies can wait a few weeks when the crappies are hitting,” Malyuk said. “I like eating crappie.”

“The musky fishing doesn’t really turn on until the water temperature reaches 70 degrees and stays there for a few days,” he continued. “Which is why moving the opener up to standardize it doesn’t really affect the fishing much. The bigger females won’t be feeding much anyway.”

Whether the musky opener for the state starts on the first Saturday in May in future years or not, the northern zone still has its traditional opener this year. And besides campers heading north for the long Memorial Day weekend, a lot of musky boats will be heading north as well. As for the other questions voted on during the annual hearing voting, the respondents voted for every item except expanding the youth deer season to four consecutive days. That was turned down by a small margin. But the question asking if junior antlerless authorizations should be good for both private and public land passed by an overwhelming margin. Not everything in life makes sense. I’m old enough to remember when that simply would mean hunters wanted the opportunity to fill tags issued for private lands on public lands. Maybe times have changed. Then again, the more things change, the more they stay the same. I don’t imagine it’ll surprise anyone that the question asking if an individual should be able to shoot a bear attacking a domesticated animal on private lands passed by an overwhelming margin. Some questions you know there is a good story behind it. I’m guessing this one would be worth hearing.

The complete results of the voting can be found on the DNR website.

A lot of brats will get grilled this weekend, a fair number of fish fries will happen, and even a couple musky will get caught. To some this weekend is about the musky opener, to others about an extra day off, and to some it’s the official start of the summer.

But let’s not forget what this holiday weekend should mean for all of us. Let’s not forget those that made the ultimate sacrifice so we can enjoy these things they never did.

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