Lake Chippewa Flowage Vacation

On September 17-19, Muskies Inc. and the Youth Conservation Alliance are sponsoring a National youth Muskie fishing event on Moose Lake, in Hayward Wisconsin. The event is being headed up by Kevin Bushnick, head of Youth Fishing Nationally for Muskies Inc. Kevin is also the Founder of the Youth Conservation Alliance, a charity purpose-built to teach youth environmental sciences through fishing and hunter safety programs.

Over 60 children (boys & girls ages 6-17) will be participating from all over the North Central US. Each child will be accompanied by a parent, grand parent or legal guardian. Many Hayward area kids participate. This is a 100% family oriented program.

In the years ahead, Muskies Inc. (www.muskiesinc.org) and the Youth Conservation Alliance (www.theyca.org) will be placing a major emphasis on teaching children about environment through the sport of Muskie fishing. We are doing this not only to ensure the future of the Muskie fishery, but also to provide youth with a tremendous opportunity for environmental education outside of the classroom.

On the education front, several school teachers will be present including Michelle Groves, Professor of Environmental Sciences at Oakton College in Northern Illinois. Michelle is also head of environmental education at the YCA. Kids will be challenged not only with fishing, but ecosystem study and water quality testing. The kids will also learn how to read lake maps and learn about boating safety. The Youth Conservation Alliance started using high-power biology micro-scopes as we deploy sophisticated tools to examine the environment while “keeping it simple” through the sport of fishing. This is way-cool stuff on the educational front and represents a “practical application” which keep the kids highly interested in what we’re trying to teach them.

Many professional guides will be on-site to support the kids during this time. Our “Guide-Masters” include fishing legends Larry Ramsell (Author & Muskie Historian) and John Myhre (Professional Guide & Radio Show Host). Collectively with this group of experts, it’s a 100% guarantee these kids will catch fish. In years past, we have had our group of kids catch as many as 50 Muskies in just 2 days. All our Muskie fishing programs encourage catch & RELEASE. This gives other kids a chance to catch “the big one.”

Many local Hayward area businesses are supporting the event through donations or by providing other items like lures, tackle, and clothing. Major sponsors include Hayward’s Round Lake Marina, Lures of the North, Timber Trail Lodge and Wildwoods Mfg. in Hayward. Several Foundations have also helped make this possible including the Hugh C. Becker Foundation and the Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation. Without all these sponsors, we simply couldn’t make these exciting programs a reality for the kids.

Jim Onarheim of the Mystic Moose Resort will be hosting the youth event now in its sixth year. Jim manages accommodations for everyone and sets up the Mystic Moose as the base-camp and command center. Louie’s Landing on Moose Lake sets up the group for meals. We will also be heading over to Charlie’s restaurant in Moose Lake to kick-off our program with their fabulous food.

For documentary and educational purposes, the entire event is being filmed by 4-time Emmy winning NBC field camera-man Bill Nuyttens. Footage from this event is used throughout the year in schools and colleges to educate as many youth as we can about the great outdoors.

The closing ceremonies will be held Saturday evening at the Mystic Moose. This is where we recognize the kids for their extraordinary effort and achievements both catching & RELEASING the ever so elusive MUSKELLUNGE.

Kevin Bushnick,

Youth Conservation Alliance & Muskies Inc.
10:15 AM 9/21/2015

The Youth Musky Hunt is now history. We had the largest group of young fisherman and fisherwomen this year than we have ever had over the past 7 years of the event. A total of 60 kids proved to the area that when people say Musky fishing is tough on Moose Lake the kids just ignore that conversation and fish that much harder. These fantastic little kids worked very hard to create over 200 follows and missed fish but still managed to boat 68 muskies in 2 1/2 days. All 68 were released without any harm.

One neat thing happened during our event. Dave Carlson came up to do a story on the event for Wisconsin Outdoor News. At lunch on Friday at 1 PM Emmett Brown was present and made an announcement that Dave would be inducted into the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame next March at the Northwest Sport Show. He was totally caught off guard and surprised by this announcement. Also the National President for Muskies Inc. Carl Phillips was present all day on Saturday. He drove in special just to be with the kids and see the awards ceremony Saturday night.