The muskellunge long has been known as the "fish of 10,000 casts" for its difficulty to catch, but anglers and fisheries managers say it shouldn't take that long in this era of thriving muskie populations.
"They used to be, they can be on some lakes in some years, but by and large, I don't believe it's the fish of 10,000 casts anymore," said Henry Drewes, regional fisheries supervisor for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in Bemidji. "I think we've made dramatic inroads on the 10,000 casts."
As a fisheries manager, Drewes said he occasionally gets calls from anglers wondering about their chances of catching a muskie.
"The way I describe it, is it's a rare day to go out and fish a lake like Bemidji and not see a muskie," Drewes said. "Will that fish strike? That's not a guarantee."
Anglers who put in their time and fish peak periods from mid-July into August will up their odds, he said. Encountering a muskie always is memorable, he said.
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"It's kind of attuned to that big tom turkey or big buck deer," Drewes said. "It's that big a thrill. When they present themselves like that, if somebody's heart doesn't step up an order of magnitude, they should get themselves checked."
Dick Pearson, a longtime muskie fanatic and author of the how-to book, "Muskies on the Shield," said with today's knowledge and equipment, 1,000 casts should be realistic on good waters.
"The opportunities are more widespread," he said.
Brad Vollrath, a Grand Forks angler who boats 40 to 50 muskies a year on the Ontario side of Lake of the Woods, said the best way to learn the ropes is to spend time on the water with someone who knows muskie fishing. Watch what they're doing, he said, and where and why they fish particular spots.
"It's tough right away until you start figuring things out for yourself," he said.
Sometimes, though, there's no explaining why muskies behave in a certain way.
"A buddy and I went out in July last year and raised 38 fish in one day," he said. "We didn't catch a single one, but it was still kind of fun. That's part of the mystique of muskie fishing -- trying to get them to bite."
