Brainerd Muskies Inc
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Welcome To​
Brainerd Lakes Chapter of
​Muskies Inc
Youth
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Fisheries
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Research
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** New Monthly Meeting location **

We are BACK at the Nisswa American Legion as of April 2025!
Monthly meetings are held at the Nisswa American Legion at 7:00 p.m., the second Tuesday of each month

July 2025 BLC Newsletter

July 8th Monthly Meeting - Noah Binsfeld​
Noah Binsfeld of Get The Net Guide Service will be joining us in July to talk about river muskies. If you're a river rat or you're looking to give rivers a try, Noah is a wealth of information from the Mississippi River to many of the smaller rivers and streams with muskie populations.

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​
​7pm - Nisswa American Legion


Open to the public and FREE to attend
Nisswa American Legion, 25807 Main St, Nisswa, MN


2025 Calendar of Events
January
14 - Monthly Meeting - Guest Speaker - Jeremy Smith

February
11 - Monthly Meeting - Guest Speaker - Luke Ronnestrand

March
7 to 9 - Minnesota Muskie Expo - State Fairgrounds
11 - Monthly Meeting - Lake Breakdown/2025 Outing Schedule
22 - 21st Annual BLC Sportsman's Banquet

April
8 - Monthly Meeting - Lure Swap

May

10 - Minnesota Fishing Opener
13 - Monthly Meeting - Membership Drive and Guest Speaker - Tom Dietz


June
7 - Minnesota Muskie Opener
7 - 
Brainerd Lakes Youth Expo Everything Outdoors
10 - Monthly Meeting - Lure Making
20 - High School Tournament

July
8 - Monthly Meeting - Guest Speaker - Noah Binsfeld

August
12 - Monthly Meeting - Youth Night
27 to 29 - Gil Hamm Chapter Challunge - Lake of the Woods

September
9 - Monthly Meeting - Leech Lake/Speaker - TBD

October
4 to 5 - Jeff Young Memorial Muskie Shootout Tournament
14 - Monthly Meeting - TBD

November
11 - Monthly Meeting - Guest Speaker - Bob Landreville

December
9 - Monthly Meeting - Holiday Party/Chapter Elections

​March 2026
21 -
22nd Annual Sportsman's Banquet

ANNUAL OUTING SCHEDULE - CLICK HERE


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PURPOSE STATEMENT
We exist to further the purposes of Muskies, Inc. which are to:
  • Support selected conservation practices based on scientific merit as carried out by authorized Federal and state agencies;
  • Promote muskellunge research, establishment of hatcheries and introduction of the species into suitable waters;
  • Support the abatement of water pollution;
  • Provide a library facility for scientific and popular muskellunge literature, and to maintain records of habits, growth and range of the species; and
  • Disseminate muskellunge information and, as an insubstantial part of our activities,
  • Promote a high-quality muskellunge sport fishery.​

BLC Latest News
We will post here links, new info or Chapter news to keep you up to date   


Youth Night - August 12th
Join us for our annual Youth Day!
Tuesday, August 12th
Nisswa Community Center, Nisswa, MN
(25628 Main St, Nisswa, MN 56468)
6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. 
Kids ages 4-15
​Cost: FREE


MORE DETAILS HERE
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PIT Tag Readers
The majority of muskies stocked in Minnesota have been receiving PIT Tags when they are stocked. So if you are fishing stocked waters and you invest in a low cost PIT Tag reader, you can help the DNR out on many of our state's fisheries. There are many styles of readers that can be found on Amazon ranging in price from $20 to $40. One main thing you need to look for is to make sure it reads ISO 11784/11785 tags. As long as it mentions this in the description, it will be able to detect and read pit tags in our stocked muskies. Pit tags are placed under the skin near the dorsal fin.

Best practices:
Keep the scanner with your hookout kit. A ziplock bag will help it stay dry and you can scan right through the bag. (IMPORTANT: Most of the lower cost readers are NOT waterproof.) After you unhook the fish, turn the scanner on. Leaving the fish in the net, grab the tail and lift the dorsal fin out of the water. Waive the scanner around the dorsal fin. If there is a tag it should read it promptly. Go around the dorsal a few times to make sure. If you get a fish with a tag, report it to the DNR website. 

https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fisheries/tagged_fish_reporting/index.html

A couple tips:
The scanners that say "view history" or similar will generally allow you to scroll through any tags you have scanned. There are more basic ones out there that make it difficult to scroll back to that number. If you have one of those, take a photo of the number while it is still on the screen.
They need to be able to read ISO 11784/11785 and set to HEX mode so it gives you a 15 digit number. Many of the readers come set to DEC mode. Scroll to settings and change it to HEX mode. It's simple to do.

Submit the date to the DNR:
The Minnesota DNR makes it incredibly easy to submit this info to them with an online form. Follow the directions there to give them the details of the fish along with the tag number.
https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fisheries/tagged_fish_reporting/index.html



What info will you receive back?
One of the best parts of this is the DNR will get back to you and report the history of that fish. Year/size stocked and if it had been reported as being caught before.



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If you fish the lakes of Douglas County, this is a great opportunity to help collect valuable data for the DNR and a chance to win a few prizes along the way! All information you need to know is on the below flyer.


Pit Tag Readers
You will need a Pit Tag Reader to participate. We shared some information about these low cost devices in one of our newsletters last year. They can be used anywhere where muskies are stocked with pit tags (most of the state) to collect data that you can share with your local DNR office. As noted in the below flyer, there is a link in the Fish Donkey app to find one. You can also check on Amazon. Search "ISO 11784/11785 reader" to find one that will work. They are not all waterproof, so we recommend keeping them in a zip loc bag to keep them dry.
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BLC Members Cleaning Up Accesses 
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We encourage everyone to visit a public access and do a little clean up. As anglers and users of the accesses, it is our responsibility to help make sure our accesses debris free. See trash.. pick it up. A few BLC members have been out doing just that. Thank you and keep up the good work!


2025 Access Cleanup Photos
Previous Years Cleanup Efforts

BLC commits a financial contribution to the Radiothon To End Child Abuse in the Tri-County area. A great cause that the Chapter is proud to donate to every year. 
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​2024 Calendar of Events
January
9 - Monthly Meeting - Guest Speaker - Ryley Hansen

February
10 - Musky Road Rules - Nisswa American Legion - Saturday, 10 am
13 - Monthly Meeting - Rick Bruesewitz - Aitkin Area Fisheries Manager

March
8 to 10 - Minnesota Muskie Expo - State Fairgrounds
12 - Monthly Meeting - Guest Speaker - Ryan Kelly - Lagoona Guide Service
23 - 20th Annual BLC Sportsman's Banquet

April
9 - Monthly Meeting - Guest Speaker - John and Ashley Holmgren - Devoted Outdoors​

May

11 - Minnesota Fishing Opener
14 - Monthly Meeting - Lure Swap and Membership Drive



June
1 - Minnesota Muskie Opener
8 - Brainerd Parks and Rec Youth Fishing Clinic
11 - Monthly Meeting - Lake Breakdown (outing discussion) and Lure Building
14 - High School Tournament - Gull Lake - Gov't Point Access - 6:30am to 11:30am
15 - Brainerd Lakes Youth Expo Everything Outdoors
23 - MHOTY Outing - Lake Bemidji - 7am to 3pm

July
9 - Monthly Meeting - Boat Rigging
20 - MHOTY Outing - Virtual - 6am to 11pm

August
6 - MHOTY Outing - Lake Roosevelt - 4pm to 9pm
11 - MHOTY Outing - Lake Pokegama - 7am to 3pm
13 - Monthly Meeting - Youth Night
21 to 23 - Gil Hamm Chapter Challunge - Lake of the Woods

September
3 - MHOTY Outing - Cedar Lake - 4pm to 9pm
10 - Monthly Meeting - Guest Speaker - Ryley Hansen
14 - BLC Memorial Outing - Mantrap Lake - 7am to 5pm
21 - MHOTY Outing - Leech Lake - 7am to 3pm

October
5 to 6 - Jeff Young Memorial Muskie Shootout Tournament
8 - Monthly Meeting - Guest Speaker - Jordan Stokes
12 - MHOTY Outing - Lake Waconia - 8am to 3pm
26 - MHOTY Outing - Lake Roosevelt - 8am to 4pm

November
12 - Monthly Meeting - Guest Speaker - Isaiah Hahn - You Bet! Fishing Guide Service

December
10 - Monthly Meeting - Holiday Party/Chapter Elections

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Our Chapter supports many Youth events and organizations every year. Here's just some of the events/groups we have volunteered our time and/or supported financially. Click on our Youth page for more info on these great programs! Remember.... Take a Kid Fishing!

Brainerd Lakes Chapter Youth Night
Brainerd Warrior Fishing Team
Pillager Huskies Fishing Team
Aitkin Anglers Fishing Team
Brainerd Parks and Rec Youth Fishing Clinic
Brainerd Everything Outdoors Youth Expo
Baxter Elementary School Fishing Clinic
MN High School Muskie Championship
4H Shooting Sports
Fisheries & RESEARCH
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Every year our Chapter invests time and money in our fisheries and research projects. From assisting in purchasing needed hatchery equipment to research PIT tags to trap netting to gain more information on growth and populations. From the hatchery to the lake - we are there doing our part to maintain and improve our great fisheries. Click on our Fisheries/Research page for more details.

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The Brainerd Lakes Chapter is proud to once again support Musky Mission Complete! Several of our members volunteered their services and guided the Veterans that participated in this years' event. A very rewarding experience for everyone involved. We support and salute our Veterans and will continue to do so in the future. 
The Brainerd Lakes Chapter of Muskies Inc is an active, service-oriented 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. You can offer your support of the chapter by making a tax-deductible contribution below. You can select to have your monies earmarked for a specific cause or have it go to our general fund. We offer our sincere thank you for your generosity!​

If you have a PayPal account, you can donate through the below PayPal Giving Fund page and PayPal will cover all fees.
Donate
2024 Brainerd Lakes Chapter - Muskies, Inc.
  • Home
  • Youth
    • BLC Youth Event
    • High School Muskie Tournament
  • Fisheries/Research
  • Banquet
    • Banquet Location Map
    • 2025 Banquet Sponsors
  • Muskie Shootout Tourney
    • FAQ
  • Board Members
  • Chapter Activities/Events
  • Release Contest
  • Outing Schedule/MHOTY
  • Chapter Sponsors
  • Join Muskies Inc
  • Donate
  • Contact Us