Another good way to improve your season is to avoid being a "die hard". Sure you want to limit out on walleye or catch a trophy smallmouth, but don't blow on by that huge school of white bass busting minnows on the surface. Stop and cast a spoon their way. It may be the most fun you have all day! It is true that muskie fishing requires a level of sacrifice most anglers aren't willing to accept and that's why there aren't more of us. We DO have to pass by that school of feeding fish, but not always. I feel that in order to keep yourself fresh as a muskie fisherman, you need to take a break once in a while. And, beside that, muskie season opens June 7th on the Detroit River(American side. I'm not sure about Canada), and walleye and northern pike are open year 'round. I must say, though, it is hard to keep those muskie off my line while fishing for northern pike in the spring and early summer.

When you look at pictures in national magazines and watch fishing shows on television, it's a natural tendency to compare your fishing with that being shown. Keep in mind that, most often, those shows are being taped on the best available water for a specific species of fish. Do not set your expectations too high. On the Detroit River, a smallmouth bass has to be five pounds to be a real trophy. On another small stream or river, a two pound smallmouth may be just as much a trophy as that five pounder, and the angler who catches it has every right to be, and should be just as proud they caught it.

On the Detroit River, our muskie grow faster than they do in more northerly waters, but they do not live nearly as long or attain the size of their cousins. A forty two inch musky from the Detroit River is as much a trophy as a fifty incher from Lake of the Woods. I still have my goal set at a fifty inch fish, but realize that it may never happen.

One of the things muskie "Pros" are fond of quoting is the number of "keeper" fish that they catch. In some parts of the country a legal musky is thirty two inches. In my neck of the woods, it's forty two inches. See the difference?

One of the best ways I can make the upcoming season memorable and worth while, is to take a novice fishing. By taking the time to show a new comer the ropes, you are likely to gain a friend and have the opportunity to pass on the ethics of sportsmanship that have become so vital to our sport. I have been able to experience the freshness of that first trophy fish through the eyes of others, and, let me tell you, it's a great feeling.

If you haven't already checked out TFN's discussion forums, you're missing out on some real fun and failing to gain some worthwhile knowledge. I guarantee you are in for some serious chuckles. Don't be a bystander, participate. The more the merrier!

My personal thanks to all those who make TFN the fine publication that it is.

Remember, as always, Catch-Photograph-Release. Provide a future fishery for the generations to come.

Ted - MUSKY FISHING ABOARD "THE CUDA"