View this email in your browser

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.

July 2025 BLC Newsletter

Happy 4th of July. Hard to believe it's already the 4th of July. I hope you all have had a chance to get out and chase a few muskies around. I would like to start off by welcoming all of our new members. Within the last few months we have grown to 180 members, which is one of the largest chapters in the state. If any member new or old would like to see us do something new or different PLEASE reach out to me. The board and I are always open to ideas and volunteers.  

Remember there are a few different musky studies going on in the state this year. The first one is the Leech Lake fin clip. There are 13 different locations on the Leech that have envelopes and drop boxes. The DNR is using the DNA of the fin clip to help with a population study. 

The second one is a data collection for three lakes in Douglas County (Lobster, Miltona, Oscar). This is run through the fish donkey app and requires you to have a pit tag reader, they are fairly inexpensive to purchase. They are looking for more data to help grow and maintain the musky fishery throughout the state of Minnesota. If you would like more information on either of these studies please reach out to me and I can get you that information. 

Throughout the summer we have different outings and events, you will always receive an email a few days before. The events are free to attend and we do keep track of points with the chance to win a traveling trophy and drink of your choice. The events we hold on the weekends, the chapter provides a cookout at the end of the day. We would love to see you there. 

If you have been lucky enough to get out on the water and have had success please send pictures to us, so we can use them on social media and slide shows. 

Always keep your release tools handy. so we can keep the handling of these fish to a minimum. 

Fair chase and tight lines,

Levi Stifter

July 8th Meeting - 7:00 pm

Noah Binsfeld

Noah Binsfeld of Get The Net Guide Service will be joining us in July to share his expertise on river muskies. Whether it's a larger river system like the Mississippi or some of the smaller rivers and tributaries that may hold muskies, Noah will be providing some tips and tricks to make you more successful on you next river adventure.

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 *

July 8th

Monthly Meeting - Guest Speaker - Noah Binsfeld

July 15th

MHOTY Outing - Lake Alexander - 4pm-10pm

July 19th

MHOTY Outing - Lake Miltona - 7am-10pm

August 12th

Monthly Meeting - Youth Night - Nisswa Community Center

BLC Youth Night - August 12th

Our annual Youth Night will be held the night of our August monthly meeting and it will once again be held at the Nisswa Community Center from 6 pm to 8:30 pm. and we will have a similar set up to last year.

Look for registration to open up the last week of July. We do cap the event at 75 kids, so registration is required (and FREE). Spots have filled up quickly the last few years. So you'll want to jump on that once we send out notification that registration is open.

Volunteers needed! We are extremely grateful for all that volunteered their time to help put this on last year. Please let us know if you can help by responding to this email or contacting any board member.

High School Muskie Tournament

On June 20th, the BLC hosted our High School Muskie Tournament, with the help of the St Cloud Muskies Inc Chapter and Llungen Lures. No muskies were seen, but a few teams were able to land a few pike in the boat, sending them off to the state tournament in August.

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.

Youth Member Spotlight - Elsie Wiersgalla

Grade: going into 4th

Favorite Fish: crappie

Favorite Lake: Lake Miltona

Favorite Lure: pink Showgirl

Favorite Boat Snack: Nacho Dorritos or original Pringles

How many Muskies have you caught: None yet

Favorite person/people to fish with: dad

Tell a story about a time you were out fishing: “One time when I was younger, I dropped my favorite bag of chips in the lake. It was so funny!”

“Another time, we were driving around Lake Miltona, we had some lines out. Dad was casting. Dad set the hook on a northern and I got to reel it in. It was at somebody’s dock and it was really big. It was about 24 inches!”

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! **

New Sponsor Spotlight - Net Buddy

The BLC is happy to announce the addition of Net Buddy to our growing list of sponsors. Net Buddy came on to the scene as a company offering a net accessory that helped secure your net to the gunnel of your boat to help aid in a successful release. They have since added nets and numerous other accessories for your boat.

As a BLC sponsor, Net Buddy is also offering our members 10% off on anything you can find on their website. Use coupon code muskiesinc to save.

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**

Find our entire outing schedule, results and MHOTY standings on the website.

BLC Memorial Outing

September 13

Mantrap Lake - 7am to 5pm

This is separate from the MHOTY schedule and is run a bit more like a tournament style with prizes for the winner as well as big fish pot and raffles afterwards.

Fall Outing

September 20th to 28th

Lake Vermilion - Muskego Point Resort



Stay for one day or the entire week. Discounted lodging rates available. This is just a casual get together that the chapter has organized for many years and not tied into our official outing schedule/standings. Contact Jody at 218-821-3727 if you have questions.

June 28th Outing/Tournament Results

We had a few members participate in the Bemidji/Cass Lake Muskies Inc Chapter 46 Brian Truax Memorial Tournament on June 28th with great success!

Congratulations to everyone who caught fish and placed, including our own President, Levi Stifter and his son Finley, as well as our Tournament Director, Jay Young.

Huge thank you to the Bemidji/Cass Chapter of Muskies Inc for hosting such a great tournament!

2025 Release Standings

The season is underway and some BLC members are already finding some success!

Current Release Standings

If you would like to participate in our 2025 release contest or be eligible for a free replica, please make sure to check out the above link and scroll down for requirements. Also remember that it can pay to participate in our release contest. All fish registered the previous month will go into a monthly drawing at our monthly meetings for a $25 Musky Tackle Online gift card. Must be present to win!

BLC 50” Club and First Muskie Club

Catch a 50”+ muskie during the 2025 Muskie season, or catch your FIRST muskie and automatically get in for an annual, commemorative shirt!

Here’s how it works:



• You must be a current member in good standing as of the time the fish was caught 
• Submit a release form, minimum, to the BLC

Send us your photos - we’d love to be able to post these to social media, use in the newsletter, submit to MUSKIE magazine, use at the end of the year, and more! These photos can be of any fish caught throughout the season, not just the biggest fish - all Muskies matter!

Release forms can be filled out online through the Muskies Inc Lunge Log or through the BLC site. Pictures can be sent to our release chairman Nathan Stifter at nathanstifter60@gmail.com throughout the season.

NOT the actual shirt that you will receive. Image for attention only!

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.

• Highway 3 Marine
• Musky Tackle Online
• Net Buddy
• Precision Propeller
• Stealth Tackle
• Tutt's Bait & Tackle

Find details of all discount offers here

CHAPTER SPONSORS



Please support our great sponsors that support us. We wouldn't be able to do the things that we do without their help!

Special offers from select sponsors for BLC members.

Connect with us

Collect Data to Help Manage MN Muskies

When you're on the water, you can help the MN DNR more efficiently manage our muskie fisheries by collecting data. Click on the below images to enlarge. Also see the BLC website and scroll down below the calendar of events for the year for additional details, including some in depth information on Pit Tag readers and how to submit this data to the DNR.