This month we will meet on the third Thursday (Nov. 15) because of Thanksgiving. We have a lot of big fish to be thankful for again this year. The most important piece of business this month is the election of officers. If you’d like to contribute to the club as one of our elected officials, let a current executive committee member know. The more people that get involved, the better the club will be. At least one officer would like to take a break, so if you’re interested, don’t be afraid to step up and say so.
Lure Swap
Next month’s meeting also will be a week early; Dec. 20 instead of Dec. 27. We’ll have our annual lure swap. You can bring up to three … NEW … musky lures with a minimum value of at least $15. We’ve increased the lure value $5 because it’s tough to get a good musky lure that anyone would want for $10 or less. A good rule would be to buy something you’d want for yourself. That would take some of the guesswork out of shopping.
Get Those Bowling Shoes Ready
In January, we’ll have our second annual Moonlight Bowl. This was a great fundraiser last year and we hope to do even better this year. Because of the success of last year’s bowling event, we didn’t have to charge to cover the costs of our seminars. Steve Heiting was our speaker in March and the money we raised during bowling helped cover the cost of his appearance. In past years, we would have had to charge $10 to come close to breaking even on a speaker of Steve’s caliber. Bowling is fun, it’s a great event for family and friends and it will help the club have a great 2013. Stay tuned for details.
LOTW Deposit Due Nov. 15
Did you see the snowflakes the other day? Think warm thoughts and what could be a warmer thought than our annual trip to Lake of the Woods? The $100 deposit for the trip is due by this month’s meeting. We have verbal commitments for 28 people, which will give us four cabins. That’s a great group, but we need to firm up those commitments and we need to do it with dollars. Bring your money to the meeting or mail your deposits to: Steve Ruhmann 5776 Vesper Drive South Beloit, Illinois 61080
Photo Contest
The season’s winding down so make sure to send your photos to Kris Lamendola, who is in charge of the Flatlanders photo contest. The picture could be of you with a prized musky or it could be a dramatic sunset or it could be just about anything you think is a good photo. We haven’t had a lot of participation during the last couple of years so it would be nice to see a bunch of photos submitted this year. Send your best shots to krislamendola@gmail.com
Record Michigan Muskie
Joseph Seeberger of Portage, Mich., caught a 59-inch, 58-pound muskie on Lake Bellaire in Michigan last month. The fish had a 29-inch girth. It was so big, it took three guys to hold it, as you can see in the picture above. (Seeberger’s in the middle.) The previous record was a 50.5 pound fish caught in 2009 on Torch Lake. This photo was made available by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and The Associated Press. Thanks to Ed Golder, Michigan DNR public information officer, for granting permission to use the photo in our newsletter.
Bag It
Last month we had a bean-bag toss tournament to liven up the meeting and raise a few bucks for the club. The winners were Mark Thiessen and Larry Ohda. They beat Jeff Blanck and Brandon Simonson in the championship match. Congratulations and thanks to all who participated.
Season Winding Down; Not Much Change
With about six weeks left in the musky fishing season, the standings in our Members Only contest have not changed much. A few more fish have been caught but the leaders remain the leaders. The Thiessens still dominate. Mark leads the men’s division and he’s now up to an incredible 292 points. Only Mark Carlson with 838 points in the Men’s Masters 400 has more. Stu Adrian is well behind in the men’s race but is up to 177 points. Rhonda Thiessen has 175 points in the women’s division and, the last I checked, she’s in the top 10 nationally for Muskies Inc. Not much changed in the juniors’ division where Tyler Thiessen leads his brother, Brett, and Colin Bowman. Who among the juniors will brave the cold weather coming up and win the division? All it would take is one good fish. As mentioned earlier, Mark Carlson leads the Men’s Masters 400. Steve Ruhmann has built a comfortable lead over Russ Hoernecke for second place. Jeff Blanck has opened up his lead in the Men’s Masters, but at least one of those chasing him will fish until he has to break through the ice – and maybe longer. Mary Hoernecke leads the women’s masters. Remember, we’re doing a 50/50 drawing based on the number of fish caught. It’s a dollar per fish to enter. Send forms to:
Tim Scruggs 9668 Bagley Drive, Apt. 3 Roscoe, IL., 61073
Flatlanders Gear
We have hats. We have shirts. We can do special orders. We have a dozen tan and 10 red hats available. The cost is $20. We have long sleeve, short sleeve and no sleeve shirts. They will be available at this month’s meeting.