Musky America Magazine November Edition

boat rigs which were too heavy to be effectively rowed along specific structures. In those instances, anglers typically put out the maximum allowable rods per person along a section of shoreline which usually has a rapid drop-off into some of the deeper areas of the main lake basins or channel areas. They often commit themselves to just one area per day and attend to their rods to wait for a strike, at which time they hop into a boat with their rod and proceed to follow the musky in the traditional manner - waiting until the musky swallows the sucker before they set the hook. Shore fishing is a very effective method for those who have the patience to wait it out. But sadly, some individuals have been abusing this method. Going well beyond the obvious intent of the law, they commonly set up a "trap line" of sucker rigs often with some rods set nearly a half-mile out in various directions from where the individuals are actually encamped. Needing a pair of binoculars to see many of their rod sets, these "sportsmen" have been treading on uncertain and, perhaps, unethical ground. And shore fishing is almost always done with single hook sucker rigs in order to maximize the efficiency of the method. If it proves that single hook rigs are indeed killing an alarming percentage of Muskies, then at what cost are these so-called sportsmen profiteering off the resources? Perhaps it is time the Wisconsin DNR rectifies this rapidly growing problem by better defining unattended-line laws and to follow the lead of Minnesota, which has on its books a distance requirement of 150 feet to define a rod as being legally attended. QUICK-SET RIGS

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