Musky fishing rising in popularity

Musky fishing keeps growing in popularity in Wisconsin and fall is a good time to chase the state’s official fish because there are fewer boaters and other anglers to compete with and the fish are active, state fisheries officials say.

“We estimate that about 25 percent of anglers fish for muskellunge and that has been steadily increasing over the years,” says Tim Simonson, a fisheries biologist and co-leader of the Department of Natural Resources musky committee.

That’s about 480,000 people, and those people notch about 5.3 million angler-days fishing for muskellunge each year. They spend $425 million directly on muskellunge fishing, according to the recently published 2012 Muskellunge Management Update.

Tags: lifestyle, wisconsin, outdoors