BLC April Newsletter

If your email program cuts off the bottom of the email click "View this email in your browser" up top to see the whole thing.

April 2025 BLC Newsletter

Meetings are the 2nd Tuesday of the month, 7pm @ the Nisswa American Legion

New Location

Hello Everyone,

I would like to thank everyone that was involved with our 21st annual Sportsman's Banquet. A huge THANK YOU to Jadyn Gohman and Jody Young, without these two there would be no Sportsman's Banquet. If you see them, give them a thanks.

With the start of the soft water season coming up fast, remember to get your new fishing license, boat registrations and check to make sure your Muskies Inc membership is paid. I've been getting some notifications from National Muskies Inc that there are a few people needing to renew. I would like to welcome all the new members that have joined the BLC in the last few months. In this newsletter you will find our schedule of events for the season from fishing outings to monthly meetings, along with a long list of sponsors where you can receive discounts.

We have moved our monthly meetings back to the Nisswa Legion, the board and I feel we were better served in Nisswa and that it fits our needs better. We will be starting back in Nisswa for our April meeting, which is the much anticipated lure swap. We have a few new sponsors we picked up from the Minnesota show, one being Fins fishing line and the chapter is getting pro staff pricing. We will be placing an order with them shortly. There is an order form and more information in the newsletter.

If you are looking for things to do while you wait for soft water, we are doing our boat landing clean-up challenge again this spring. The winner will get a $50 gift card to Fleet Farm. Snap a picture of you at any boat landing cleaning up trash and send it to us. This gets you entered to win.

Fair chase and tight lines.

Levi Stifter

April 8th Meeting - Lure Swap - 7:00 pm

Meetings are open to the public and FREE to attend! Chance to win various prizes from lures or maybe a rod in our meeting raffles. Come to hear and share fish stories and more. One random door prize drawing for those in attendance. Bring your friends!

* 2nd Tuesday of the Month - Nisswa American Legion - 7 pm *

April 8th

Monthly Meeting - Lure Swap

May 10th

Fishing Opener

May 13th

Monthly Meeting - Tom Dietz (Guest Speaker) & Membership Drive

Monthly Meetings are BACK at the

Nisswa American Legion

Monthly meetings are moving back to the Nisswa American Legion starting for our April 8th Lure Swap. They were a great venue for us before and we are happy to be welcomed back!

FINS Braid Purchase Opportunity

The BLC has partnered with FINS Braid. As one of our newest sponsors, they have extended a steep discount on a group buy for our chapter that you have the opportunity to take advantage of. We will be placing this order on April 10th with the expectation that you will be able to pay for and pick up your line at our May meeting. We will also potentially purchase a bulk spool and spool up your reel for you at the June meeting if there is enough interest.

Please fill out the following REQUEST FORM to be included on this opportunity no later than April 9th.

Sportsman's Banquet - THANK YOU!!!

Our 21st Annual Sportsman's Banquet is a wrap and we can not thank all of you enough!

Our sponsors—we couldn’t do this without them! Please support these businesses in any way that you can.

Our patrons—you’re the reason we put this event on! Thank you for joining us on such a fun night. Your dollars go to help stock fish, keep kids fishing and to put on great events like these.

Our volunteers—they worked tirelessly to secure donations, make sure things came together, set up for the event and throughout the night.

BANQUET PHOTO SLIDESHOW

Banquet feedback? We'd love to hear from you! Talk to any board member or respond to this email. Let us know what you liked, what you didn't like, any suggested changes or improvements. Or even easier yet, submit your feedback on the following below form, which is completely anonymous. We want to continue to make improvements each year and your feedback is important to making that happen!

BANQUET FEEDBACK FORM

Lake Cleanup Challenge

Do you want a chance at a $50 gift card to Mills Fleet Farm? Here is all you need to do; simply take a picture of you cleaning up the trash at any of our area waters and send the picture to us via email or Facebook message. brainerdmuskies@gmail.com

So that we can share with our community where we have been, we ask that pictures include a lake access sign or other visible landmark at a public landing.

The winner will be chosen at our May 13th monthly meeting. Need not to be present to win but your attendance is encouraged:) Our goal is to help improve our local lakes and help promote great stewardship.

New Sponsor Spotlight - Highway 3 Marine

Welcome one of the BLC's newest sponsors, Highway 3 Marine!

As a certified and authorized full-service dealer, you can trust Highway 3 Marine Inc. to provide top-notch boat sales and services. You can count on our locally owned and operated team of knowledgeable and experienced staff for friendly and professional service.

Professional Repairs

Our factory-trained mechanics

provide professional repairs

and services for all types of boats.

Outboards

We're also a dealer for Mercury and Suzuki Outboards.

Storage & Winterization

We offer Indoor/Outdoor storage,

On and Offsite Shrink Wrapping, as well as winterization.

Highway 3 is also offering BLC members FREE installation with the purchase of electronics or trolling motor.

We thank Highway 3 Marine for their support of the BLC. Consider them for your future marine service and sales needs!

Jeff Young Memorial Muskie Shootout

October 4-5, 2025

Registration is now open! It's never too early to start planning for our annual tournament! The Jeff Young Memorial Muskie Shootout will once again be heading back to Agency Bay Lodge on Leech Lake. Agency Bay Lodge has been a great partner for us and they help us put on a great event. He hope you will be able to join us on October 4th and 5th this year.

High School Muskie Tournament

Registration info and rules can be found on the website.

Youth Member Spotlight - Evan Lahman

Name: Evan Lahman

Grade: 4

Favorite Fish: Pike

Favorite Lake: Lake of the Woods

Favorite Lure: Musky Mayhem blade baits and Cannonball Jr.'s

Favorite Boat Snack: Swedish Fish

How many Muskies have you caught: 2

Favorite person/people to fish with: My uncle Nate

Tell a story about a time you were out fishing: I was 8 years old. I was out fishing LOW with my brother Mitchel, sister Callie and mom. It was sunny out and we were fishing near a bunch of rocks. I was reeling in and a big fish hit my top water bait. I thought it was a pike but it hit like a muskie. It was a fight! I got it up to the boat and my brother netted it. It was ANGRY! He pulled it up and we measured it, it was 37 inches, my biggest fish yet!!! I was shaking and so happy!!!

We’re looking for more youth members to spotlight for our newsletter! Contact Jadyn at naturelover0224@gmail.com to be featured!

** NOTE: Muskies Inc is a proud supporter of getting youth outdoors and on the water. Photos and stories can be about any fish that your youth finds exciting! **

Forward Facing Sonar

Most of you know that forward facing sonar and the advancements in technology have been a hot topic of discussion. The Minnesota Muskie and Pike Alliance has been discussing this in depth this winter and the below email goes over many of those discussion points, the potential impacts on our fisheries and what can possibly be done or not be done to protect the resource that we all enjoy.

MMPA EMAIL

2025 BLC Muskie Hunter of the Year (MHOTY)/Outings Schedule

June

28th; Bemidji Memorial Tournament - all lakes “fair game”
7am-3pm

July

15th; Lake Alexander - Ladies get double points for muskies caught
4pm-10pm
19th; Lake Miltona - potluck at Noon
7am-10pm

August

5th; Lake Shamineau - Kids get double points for muskies caught
5pm-10pm
10th; Moose & Deer Lakes
6am-4pm

September

2nd; Cedar Lake - sponsorship night - fish must be caught using a BLC sponsors lure
4pm-9pm
20th; Leech Lake
7am-3pm

October

11th; Pelican Lake
8am-3pm
25th; Lake Roosevelt
9am-4pm

**Schedule subject to change**

** Potluck picnic to follow after most outings**

Bump Boards for Sale

As a board (no pun intended) we made the decision to invest in some new bump boards for the Jeff Young Memorial Muskie Shootout that we hold every fall on Leech Lake. We did this to add both the chapter and shootout logos to the boards. But we also wanted to support an operational bump board company in Muskie Bumper. The original bump boards for the Shootout were from T's Tackle and they have not been in business for a number of years now.

So that means we have a bunch of bump boards that we need to find new homes for! Are you in need of one for yourself or know someone that is? These are all in excellent condition, with the majority still looking essentially brand new. And we are selling these for just $70 each. A similar bump board purchased brand new will cost over $120. So this is a great deal and they will be first come, first served.

We will have a few available at each of our monthly meetings until they are gone. If you would like to reserve one to make sure we have one for you at our next meeting, just respond to this email to let us know.

Discounts for BLC Members

The BLC has worked hard to grow our list of sponsors. And we have partnered with several of them to bring you discounts through their companies. As a BLC member, you can get discounts through the following BLC sponsors.