President s Message We are very fortunate to be able to fish for muskies in the Winter unlike our fellow chapters in the north. I attended the IMA (Illinois Muskie Alliance) meeting on the 19 th of January in St. Charles, IL, and was very happy to see our long-time member and guide, Walt Krause, inducted into the IL Hall of Fame. Congratulations Walt! The Chicago Muskie Expo held in St Charles, IL, was very educational too. New vendors, new baits and opportunities to expand your muskie fishing knowledge. One of the sessions I attended covered fishing in the winter for muskies in our southern reservoirs. Matt Gunkel, owner of Llungen Lures, shared how he fished for muskies using rattle trap type baits during the December thru March period. If you get a chance to attend one of these expo s be sure to take in the seminars and pool demos. We are excited about the activities planned for you this year, including the upcoming Winter Meeting at Scheels in Springfield, IL, on February 2, where Steve Herbeck will be presenting muskie fishing tactics, the Annual Awards Banquet on February 23 in Swansea, IL, and the first Gill Hamm Memorial Tournament for Region 4 (IL, IN and MO Chapters of Muskies, Inc.) to be held on Kinkaid Lake March 23 & 24. The first two activities are FREE to you and any guests you want to bring. I want to thank Will Wright for arranging and paying for Steve Herbeck to be at the Scheels Meeting. Remember, this your club and we hope you get involved so you can get the most out of your membership. Jim Beaty President, Shawnee Muskie Hunters Chapter
Steve Herbeck's bio and information on his presentation at the Winter Meeting: When the discussion of top musky anglers comes into discussion Steve s name invariably enters into the mix and the terms " legendary " and " innovator" are often brought up. With over 28 yrs. of experience guiding and instructing from northern WI's Vilas County to the Canadian Shield waters of famed Eagle Lake Steve brings a wealth of new knowledge, patterns, and presentations. "this seminar won t be just an advertisement or entertainment but the real meat and potatoes overview of one of the most overlooked,sometimes misunderstood, and deadliest of big fish presentations. "This aint just soak'n suckers" will bring to light many modern day aspects, philosophys, and presentations never shared before. There is also a preview of some new and exciting big fish patterns more recently developing and emerging by the ever changing environment and ecosystems especially on the Canadian Shield water of NW Ontario but applicable anywhere in musky country." From 1994 to date Steve and his clients have boated 45 muskies 40# - 50#+ on Eagle lake Ontario and in the prior 6 yrs. guiding in WI's Vilas County accomplished a feat no on has ever done before...2 times guided clients to the largest musky boated in the state for the year with weighed fish 55 1/2" 43# 6 oz in 1987 and 53" 47# 10 oz in 1992 along with numerous top ten releases. After a speaking hiatus due to previous work loads and now returning due to popular demand, Steve brings back to the stage a knowledge and passion that is unique and contagious. This is one you won t want to miss
Shawnee Muskie Hunters Winter Meeting Meet Steve Herbeck Steve is a well-known Muskie fishing guide and has been featured in numerous fishing shows over the years. Also DNR speaker Tad Locher will be there. He will go through the data from the past 3 years. At: Scheels 3801 S. McArthur Blvd. Springfield, IL. 62711 On: February 2, 2019 From: Noon-4 PM In: their conference room This is an open meeting so bring a friend and maybe we can get some new members to join our chapter or just meet some of our members. You just might find a new fishing partner. Hope to see everyone there!
Member Profile of the Month: Walt Krause On January 19, 2019 Walt was inducted into the Illinois Muskie Alliance Hall of fame in Chicago. He is a full-time guide on Kinkaid Lake, Cedar Lake and lakes on Pyramid State Park in Southern Illinois. He guides for Muskies, Bass, Stripers and Walleye on these lakes. He has been guiding a total of 16 years with the last 11 years full-time. His website is: waltersguideservice.com Walt has been muskie fishing for over 55 years. He started out fishing the rivers and lakes of Pennsylvania. He had 2 rivers and 5 lakes that were within 1/2 hours drive of his home that had Muskie, Pike, Bass and Walleye in them. He has caught well over 2000 muskies in his life time with over 800 since becoming a member of Muskies Inc. His overall numbers have gone down since he guides and does not fish when he has clients. The largest Muskie he has ever boated was one that measured 53 1/4". Walt has also fished numerous muskie tournaments over the last 19 years. His very first tournament was the First Directors Muskie Tournament on Lake Shelbyville. He has fished the Illinois Muskie Tournament Trail (IMTT) and took second in the 2013 IMTT Championship on Lake Shelbyville. His fishing adventures has taken him to about every state including Alaska and Canada for all species of fresh water fish
including Bass, Trout, Steel Head, Salmon, Crappie, Catfish, Striped Bass, White Bass, Blue Gill, Muskie, Pike and pickerel. Salt water fish that include Flounder, Red Fish, Sea Trout, Shark, Yellow Fin Tuna, Sea Bass and many other species. He is on the pro staff of Flying Fisherman Sun Glasses, Drifter Tackle, Mania Tackle, ERC tackle, Colby Simms Outdoors, Tackle Industries and Tyrant Tackle. Walt has also written a book on Muskie fishing. He serves as a Regional Representative for Region 4 of Muskies, Inc., Chairman of the sports shows four our chapter and writes part of the newsletter for Chapter 28 and the chapter news section for the Muskie Inc. Magazine. He works as the Youth Director for our chapter and is also on the Shelbyville Muskie Restoration Committee with the IDNR, Army Corps of Engineers, and other Illinois agencies. He is also on several other committees in our chapter.
Walt Krause with nice Lake St. Clair Muskie
St. Clair Trolling Outing Friday July 26, 2019 and Saturday July 27, 2019 We will be trolling for MUSKIE S on Lake St. Clair Last year: We had 11 attend. A total of 42 muskies were caught on the 2 boats that was chartered. Largest fish caught was a 51-inch muskie by Steve Mc Coy. Bring: Proper attire for the expecting weather conditions, your own food and beverages. Of course don t forget your camera you re going to need it! Time: I will let you know the day before. (calling or texting) Place: Michigan Harbor Marina at 24600 Jefferson Ave., St. Clair Shores, MI. 48080 Next Step: 1-Let Shannon Beaty-Dingus know if you would like to attend 618-531-7631 ASAP! 2-There is a $100 Deposit (There is a nonrefundable cancelation fee $100 If cancelled on/after July 19, 2019) 3-Mail your deposit to Jim Beaty at 2933 Bridle Ln. Swansea, IL. 62226 We hope you plan on attending! As of right now the people on the list are: Jim, Jimmy, and Kyle Beaty Shannon and Maggie Beaty-Dingus
Cartoon of the Month: Walt's Notes: Its February and I hope you have your rattle traps ready to go. The first week of January the fish were being caught on rattle trap type baits. I had a conversation with Matt Gunkle at the Chicago show and we were talking fishing on Kinkaid. He and his wife had caught 9 from the last week of December to the first week of January. I got out on January 8 th and only caught 1. The day I got out, the wind was gusting to 40 mph and finding a place to get out of the heavy winds limited where I could fish effetely.
Since then the weather changed to very cold and wet. If you come to the February meeting, I can have you a better report on the water conditions. February 2 nd we will have our winter meeting. This year we will have it at the Springfield Illinois Scheels Store. They are letting us have the conference for free and we have a very good program planned for this meeting. We have the room from noon to 4 pm. Our special guest speaker will be Steve Herbeck. Scheels has been a very good supporter of some of our club activities and the store has something for everyone. This is an open meeting so bring a friend and maybe we can get some new members to join our chapter or just meet some of our members. You just might find a new fishing partner. February 23 rd is our Awards Dinner at the Swansea Community Ctr. Times are 5 pm to 8pm. This is a fun time for the whole family and a chance to meet some of our best muskie fisherman and women our club has to offer. Bring two Gifts rapped items for the dirty dice game. It is one of the most popular games we play at the dinner. I am going to add a special activity that will be held on March 23 rd and 24 th. We will be show casing our Chapter and Kinkaid lake. We will be hosting the First Regional 4 Gill Hamm Challenge. This is a new program that MI has come up with to get more members involved. Our membership has grown to over 50 chapters scattered all over the country and only a few chapters are close enough to attend the main Gill Hamm Challenge. Mi decided to have Mini Challenges in each region to get more chapters involved. We have 11 Chapters in our region and we have invited each chapter in the region to participate. Most of the rules are the same as the Gil Hamm Challenge with up to 6 members per team. A chapter can send as many teams as they want. The entry fee for each person is $30 and youth under 18 is free. The fee is to cover cost of the prizes and the Saturday night dinner at the Murphysboro VFW. It is not limited to
only 2 per boat so more than 2 can fish in the same boat. The Bunk House will be open for our chapter members to stay for this event. In fact, I was told that the bunk house will be open all week for our members. More information can be found on our website or by calling Walt Krause at 618-972-5584 It s that time of year again when we start signing up members that want to attend the Lake St Clair Lake trolling outing. This year it will be Friday July 26 th and Saturday July 27 th. The Fins and Grins Charter will be the lead charter. This year there will be some changes. The first will be 5 people to a boat. The second is to your deposit will only be refunded if you cancel later than one week in advance of the trip. A hundred-dollar deposit will reserve your spot on one of the charters. Contact Jim Beaty or Shannon Dingus if you want your name on the list and send your deposit to Jim Beaty. Those that went last year will have first priority. I think that is it for this month Walt Krause
2019 Activity Calendar (updated 12/26/18) January 4, 5 & 6, Let's Go Fishing Show, Collinsville, IL, (Chapter Booth #40) January 18, 19 & 20 Chicago Muskie Expo, St Charles, IL February 2, Shawnee Muskie Hunters Winter Meeting, Scheels, Springfield, IL, Noon 4:00 PM February 15, 16 & 17 Milwaukee Muskie Expo, West Bend, WI February 23, SMH Annual Awards Banquet, Swansea Community Ctr (Norman Lehr), Swansea, 5:00 PM 8:00 PM March 23 & 24 Muskies, Inc, Region 4 Gil Hamm Tournament, Kinkaid Lake (Bunkhouse 22 nd & 23 rd ) March 30 & 31, IMTT Spring Classic, Kinkaid Lake April 13, 16 th Annual Kinkaid Lake Cleanup (Bunkhouse 12, 13) 8:00 AM Noon (Free Lunch at Marina) April 13, Shawnee Muskie Hunters Crappie Outing (after Lake Cleanup) and Fish Fry at the Bunkhouse, 7:00 PM April 13, IMTT Jake Wolf Memorial, Spring Lake & April 14 Wheel Lake (Banner Marsh) April 21, Easter April 27 & 28, Shawnee Muskie Hunters Spring Fling Tournament, Kinkaid Lake May 4 & 5, Shawnee Muskie Hunters Spring Guide for Day, Kinkaid Lake (Bunkhouse 3, 4) May 12, Mother s Day May 18, 6 th Annual IL High School Muskie Tournament, Prairie Lake May 18, FRV Muskie Tournament, Chain of Lakes (Chicago) June 1, Shawnee Muskie Hunters Kid's Fishing Day, Murphysboro Lake (Bunkhouse May 31) June 1 & 2, IMTT Mike Sule Memorial, Fox Chain of Lakes (Chicago) July 26 & 27, Shawnee Muskie Hunters Trolling Outing, Lake St Clair, Ontario August 17 thru 24: Gil Hamm Memorial Challunge 21, 22 & 23, LOTW, Morson, Ontario September 21, Quad County Hawg Hunters, Prairie Lake September 28, IMTT Gregg Tichacek Memorial, Lake McMaster October 5 & 6, IMTT Fall Classic, Prairie Lake October 11, Shawnee Muskie Hunters 2020 Planning Meeting Friday 6:00 PM 9:00 PM, (Bunkhouse October 11, 12) October 12 - SMH Fall Guide for Day, Kinkaid Lake (Bunkhouse 11,12) October 13, New Member Outing, Kinkaid Lake October 19 & 20, Shawnee Muskie Hunters Fall Brawl Tournament, Kinkaid Lake November 2 & 3, IMTT Championship, Kinkaid Lake November 22, 23, 24 First Deer Season December 5, 6, 7, 8 Second Deer Season
2019 Committees: Fundraising Jim Beaty (Chair), Walt Krause Tournaments: Jim Beaty (Chair), Jerry Ford, Mike Jacob, Steve Krakowecki Guide For A Day: Jim Beaty (Chair), Larry Owens Youth: Walt Krause (Chair), Cheryl Ford, Ray Wheelock Katie Wheelock, Dan Johnson, Renee Johnson Shannon Beaty-Dingus Sport Shows: Walt Krause (Chair), Ken Ryder Lake Cleanup: Walt Krause and Jim Beaty (Co-Chairs) Social Events: Shannon Beaty-Dingus, Renee Johnson (Co- Chairs) Lake St. Clair Outing: Shannon Beaty-Dingus (Chair), Jim Beaty HS Tournament: Jim Beaty (Chair), Shannon Beaty-Dingus Veterans Day: Jerry Ford (Chair), Ken Ryder, James Dingus Chapter Challunge: Jim Beaty (Chair)
2019 Officers: President: Jim Beaty (618) 971-7806 jbeaty@certapro.com Vice President: Larry Owens (812) 449-2353 lowens@traylor.com Treasurer: Carrie Owens carrie.owens@twc.com Secretary: Kurt Dorethy (217) 725-2417 kdorethy@comcast.net Newsletter: Walt Krause (618) 972-5584 krausewalter@att.net Magazine Reporter: Walt Krause Youth Director: Walt Krause Membership Dir: Ray Wheelock (618) 234-7192 wheelock@yahoo.com Chapter #4 Rep Jerry Ford (618) 558-7932 fordjk@sbcglobal.net IMA Rep Bob Kearns (217) 414-0093 robert_kearns_559@comcast.net Habitat Directors: Jim Beaty (618) 971-7806 jbeaty@certapro.com Walt Krause (618) 972-5584 krausewalter@att.net Web Master /media Renee Johnson (618) 655-0640 renee.g.johnson@gmail.com Fundraising / GuideJim Beaty & (618) 971-7806 jbeaty@certapro.com For A Day Tourn. Walt Krause