If at first you don't succeed, make sure you have a USB cord or a multimedia projector. Our speakers in June will be Capt. Larry Jones, Chris Kempf and Hope-n-Gary Melnyk. I know what you're thinking right now, weren't they supposed to be our speakers in May? Yep. Chris couldn't attend, Hope and Gary had car trouble, AND we couldn't find a USB cable to connect to the Eldridge Club's TV AND we were not able to secure a multimedia projector. Got it? No worries, our fearsome foursome will tell us all about their adventures in Guyana and show us pictures of all the awesome fish they caught. Scott K., may we please borrow your projector?

In addition to our better-late-than-never speakers, we will answer all of your early season musky fishing questions. With the interminably long winter we had and the not-so-much-of-a-picnic spring we are enduring, water temperatures for the opener should be much colder than in recent years by the time summer, and musky season opens. This should mean muskies will still be in the process of spawning when the season finally rolls around. We will have a better handle on this situation when our June meeting rolls around, which will allow our better anglers to offer better advice on how to attack opening week. (I can’t wait to hear what they have to say!) Regardless of how you roll around opening week, please remember the muskies should be in a weakened state from the spawn. I encourage you all to limit any out-of-the-water pictures you may take to a minimum. Don’t forget, a musky’s chance of post-release survival increases as you decrease the amount you handle them. I think I’ll set my own limit around 48” or larger (unless they are really beat up) for any traditional horizontally held pictures. I’ve never caught anything close to 48” opening week, so my camera should remain in its case. If we fight them quickly, release them quicker and handle them as little as possible, we should be okay.

I hope to have a 20th Anniversary NMA T-shirt by June. If there is interest, I will take pre-orders which will be available at our July meeting. Since our current stock of T-shirts hasn’t exactly flown off the shelves, or I should say out of their tote, we will be selling these at our June meeting for only $15 (a $5 savings), or three for $40 (a $20 dollar savings).

Release tools are more important to the serious musky angler than all of the lures in Jojo’s house and Toothy’s basement combined times ten. That last sentence may be little hyperbolic sure, but it is the truth if you take releasing muskies properly as seriously as most of us do. Do you have the following items: A HUGE coated musky net (like a Beckman Fin-Saver Plus), Knipex hook cutters, jaw spreaders and needle nosed pliers? If your answer is “no”, then you are not ready to fish for muskies. Fortunately for you we sell all of these items and we do so at a big discount. DO NOT GO MUSKY FISHING UNLESS YOU HAVE ALL OF THE PROPER RELEASE EQUIPMENT! If you are a new to musky fishing and have questions about releasing muskies properly, please give me a call or shoot me an E-mail. I will walk you through the entire process twice if I have to, and offer as many tips as I can think of. I don’t care if it’s four in the morning, if waking me up will make you a better release angler, please call me. I’m being serious.

While I’m being serious, please use steel leaders when musky fishing. Jojo and I make casting, trolling and jerkbait steel leaders for the club, and we sell them very inexpensively. Stock up your supply at our June meeting, and please stop fiddling with fluorocarbon. Muskies can and will bite though fancy plastic.

I think that’s it for this long-winded meeting announcement. See you all at our June shindy and on the water June 21st. In the wise and timeless words of Marc Arena, please remember, “always be nice to the ladies.”

Scott