Musky Mania started in June 1987 with four diehard fishermen taking off for a northern Wisconsin weekend of musky hunting. Dale (Musky Pete) Peterson, Big John Hoover, Tim McFarland, and Dave Kuen, all from Kimberly-Clark Corp. in Neenah, Wis. decided to try the waters of Palmer Lake in Vilas Co. for the elusive Musky. The 1st outing resulted in Mr. Musky winning as no fish were caught.

Apparently, some office mates didn't like being left behind as the number of participants has increased over the years to close to 40. The second outing was held in the fall, again at Palmer, and Dave Kuen was the 1st winner of a Musky Mania event.

We have 2 outings a year, one in early June and the second in October.

The rules are simple. Saturday morning we can start fishing any time after midnight (Friday night) and then we all meet for lunch on the lake at a campsite or lodge. We must fish the chosen lake Saturday morning and then we may fish any lake in Wisconsin until Sunday noon when the contest ends.

Entry fee is only $20 which covers lunch, door prizes, and 1st - 3rd cash for largest fish. Contestants are all current or former employees of Kimberly-Clark or family or friends. Besides winning 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place for the largest fish, there have been contests for "ugliest bait", “smallest” musky, casting contest, and the Lortscher Sunglasses award for the person seeing the most follows.

In the first 20 outings, the average length of a winning musky was 32" but during the past nine outings the average has increased to 41", proving that catch and release is working. The biggest musky was a 47.5", the smallest an 18" juvenile. Mr. Musky won three contests, which means we all got skunked on those trips.

Some very memorable outings include MM07 on Star Lake when we fished during a sleet storm, probably the coldest Musky Mania we have had. MM18 had Mr. Musky show up at the lunch, Musky Pete in a full Musky costume. MM23 had a huge storm past through the Eagle River Chain swamping Musky Pete’s Ranger and blowing over 2 large pine trees near the boat docks at Eagle Waters Resort.

For MM29 we had a Musky Mania Winner Vest made up with all the past winners names embroidered on the back. The 1st place winner gets money, a traveling trophy, and the vest with his name added on the back. We have had anniversary hats made up for the 25th and 35th Musky Mania outings and hope we will make it to MM50. The 3 fishermen with the winning fish have to make preparations for the next Musky Mania outing but they always get plenty of help. Hope everyone has a safe and fun time fishing the mighty musky and tight lines to all.