Our club is located in the Iowa Great Lakes region, and we promote catch and release fishing.  We support our local hatchery, working closely with them to make the quality of fishing and the quality of our lakes better for everyone.

Our meetings are held the 3rd Thursday of every month at 7:00 p.m., usually at the Perkins in Milford, Iowa.  All are welcome to attend.

During the first 20 years our chapter has used various fundraisers in order to purchase Lunges for stocking.  Some methods used were funds raised from annual tournaments, funds raised from raffles, and voluntary donations to "adopt" a Muskie.  It was not uncommon for our Board of Directors to purchase $2500.00 - $4500.00 worth of 9 ½ inch fingerlings per year.  In the early years the fish were stocked in September/October time frame.  However, it was discovered that 500-750 Spring stocked yearlings would have a very high survival rate.  These needed to be stocked after coontail and the water grasses became tall enough to allow for concealment.

Several years ago, a young biologist named Joe Larschied, was hired at the Spirit Lake Hatchery.  Joe found "Muskie" research to be very challenging and began to work with local Muskie fishermen to improve survival of this very intimidating fish.  The DNR has been very successful in netting Spring spawners, stripping, fertilizing, and hatching them for rearing ponds.  What has made our Iowa Great Lakes Muskie fishery successful, is the cooperation our chapter has with the biologist and Donna Muhm, Hatchery Supervisor.  Most all fish have been fin-clipped, branded, or implanted prior to stocking.

The DNR and our chapter are currently working together on a new "pit-tag" program for fish identification.  (More about this program coming in the future on this web site.)

The Upper Great Plains Chapter has produced national Muskies, Inc. winners in every category since its inception in 1978.
 

Iowa's first Muskie club was started in 1968, and was called the Iowa Great Lakes Muskie Club.  It consisted of 24 members.  The original members of the club were Jim McDonald, President; and Virg Harrison.  The club bought and stocked most of the original Muskie fingerlings that were stocked in the Iowa Great Lakes for three or four years after the start of the organization.  In the mid 1970's, the Iowa DNR took over stocking in our Iowa lakes.  Al Akin of Spirit Lake wanted to start a Muskies, Inc. chapter in our area.  Upper Great Plains chapter was chartered in 1978.

Chapter #29 was official and held its first meeting in December of 1978 in the basement of the old fire station in Spirit Lake, Iowa.  There were 22 - 25 people in attendance.  Voted in as officers were:

                                                                                   Accomplishments

       Helped pay for oversized weight scale at Spirit Lake Hatchery.

       Paid  for artificial weeds from Berkley & Co. and installed them into East Okoboji.

       Helped pay for muskie stocking on Iowa/Minnesota boundry lakes to help them get a good start and provide a new muskie fishery.

       Paid to have a graphite muskie and northern made for display at the Spirit Lake Hatchery to help the general public know the difference.

       Kids Fish Day at Spirit Lake Hatchery.   Run different stations to help kids learn the different areas of fishing; tackle, boat safety,  identification of fish, casting, etc.

       Paid to have light installed and maintained at East Okoboji boat ramp.

       Helped to get the legal size of muskies that can be kept from 30" to 36" in the 1970's, then to 40" in the 1990's.

       Adopt a Fish at the Spirit Lake Hatchery,  $10.00 tagged muskie and when it was caught you were informed of  where, when, etc. on a certificate.

       Paid to send a non-menber youth to Camp Fish in Walker, MN. for one week.  Held a essay contest to determine the winner.

       Paid to have a fish ramp built and installed at Gar Lock Slough.

       Donations to several different worthwhile wild life organizations, one was to help save the bull rush areas on Big Spirit Lake.

       Bought aireator for Spirit Lake Hatchery to keep a muskie rearing pond open during the winter months.

       Helped DNR at Spirit Lake Hatchery with "pit tags" and "freeze dry branding" muskies.

       "Take a Kid Fishing Day".   Board members took area camp kids fishing.

       Donated toward taking "service men" fishing on Lake of the Woods.  Some of our past board members are guides, (Shannon Green and Randy Meyer), for this event.

       Bought, installed, and maintained signs at area lakes boat ramps to educate society on the different types of muskie and northern and know the difference.

       Pay for gas mileage and room for our Regional Vice President to attend the spring and fall International Board Meetings to show our support and voice our concerns for the well being of muskie fisheries, both nationwide and in our own area.