Pêcheur Québec
Published on August 28, 20267 min read
Founded in 1978, Muskies Canada fishes for and protects muskellunge: 14 chapters across Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick, a citizen science program with 58,654 logs, and two centuries of Quebec muskie history.
The muskellunge is Quebec's most demanding fish: hundreds of casts for a single follow, and an animal fragile enough that one bad release can kill it. Since 1978, a volunteer club has made it its mission to fish for muskie and protect it: Muskies Canada. Fourteen chapters, a database of nearly 59,000 logged fishing trips, and a motto that reshaped muskie culture across North America — Let Them Go, Let Them Grow. If you fish muskie on the St. Lawrence or the Ottawa River, you are fishing waters this club has been documenting for three decades. For the technique itself, see our complete muskie fishing guide.
Key takeaway — Muskies Canada (Muskies Canada Sport Fishing and Research) is a sport fishing and research club founded in 1978 by Bruce Park. It has 14 chapters across Ontario, Quebec (Montreal) and New Brunswick, plus a "Nomads" chapter for members with no regional base. Its Angler Log program is the single largest source of muskellunge data available to resource managers. Everything runs through the local chapter: monthly meetings, outings, tournaments.
What is Muskies Canada?
The organization describes itself as "an angling club whose interests extend beyond the mere catching of fish." Its mission fits in one line: enhance sport fishery for muskellunge in Canada through community engagement and partnerships.
Four goals structure its work:
- Enhance the sport fishery for muskellunge through community engagement;
- Support water pollution abatement, to ensure healthy habitats for muskellunge;
- Protect and enhance the fishery through active resource management;
- Promote information exchange among anglers, biologists and resource managers.
The club was founded in 1978 by Bruce Park, its first president, who that year started a movement of catch and release: he considered muskellunge too special and too fragile a resource to be caught only once. The club operated as a single entity until 1987, when the geographic chapters were created. It marked its 20th anniversary in 1998.
"Let Them Go, Let Them Grow"
The club's motto — Sport Fishing and Research: Let Them Go, Let Them Grow — is not decorative. In 1978, releasing a muskie was not the obvious choice; a big fish ended up on a wall. Muskies Canada pushed the opposite practice for decades, until it became the norm among muskie anglers.
The club now runs a Public Release Program and publishes field tools, including a Know the Difference guide that teaches anglers to tell muskellunge from northern pike — a confusion that leads to illegal catches every year. It is exactly the distinction we break down in our muskellunge species profile.
The angler log: nearly 59,000 trips on record
This is the club's most original contribution, and its least known. The Angler Log Program asks members to record catch-per-unit-effort (CUE) data every time they fish for muskellunge: angler names, date, waterbody, number of anglers, hours fished, muskies caught, lengths, notes and photos.
The numbers show the scale of the effort:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Logs submitted (cumulative) | 58,654 |
| Angling hours documented | more than 365,000 |
| Distinct days logged | about 6,000 |
| Archives viewable online | back to 1994-1995 |
| Five-year average | more than 2,000 logs/year, close to 100,000 hours, over 5,000 muskies |
That data does not sit in a drawer. When viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS) hit, the club's angler log data was instrumental in helping Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources assess the impact of the outbreak on muskellunge populations in the St. Lawrence River, the Niagara River and Lake St. Clair. The club describes its program as the single largest source of muskellunge data available to the ministry. For a fish that cannot easily be surveyed, that is citizen science with real weight.
The 14 chapters, region by region
Everything happens at chapter level: that is where the monthly meetings are, where you meet the guides, where the outings and tournaments run. According to the club, chapters "work with governments and science institutions to ensure good management of these very special fish" and offer "fun outings, exclusive learning opportunities and interesting projects to support this important fishery."
| Region | Chapters |
|---|---|
| Ontario — South-West | Barrie · Belle River · Hamilton · Kawartha Lakes · Kitchener-Waterloo · Mississauga · Toronto |
| Ontario — Center | North Bay · Sudbury |
| Ontario — East | Gananoque & 1000 Islands · Ottawa · Upper Valley |
| Quebec | Montreal |
| New Brunswick | Saint John River |
| No regional base | Nomads |
The Nomads chapter is the entry point for members who do not live within reasonable distance of a geographic chapter — useful for an angler in Mauricie or the Eastern Townships who wants to join without driving three hours to a meeting.
The three chapters that matter for Quebec waters
Montreal — founded in 1993
The only Quebec chapter, and "one of the largest in the club" according to its own page. Its members range from beginners to professional guides, with a strong catch-and-release and species-protection culture.
- Meetings: the first Wednesday of every month at 7 p.m., except January, July and August.
- Location: Association des Pêcheurs et Chasseurs Sportifs du Lac Saint-Louis (Lachine Anglers Club), 3051 Boulevard Saint-Joseph, Lachine.
- Waters fished: Lake Saint-Louis, Lake St. Francis, Lac Traverse, among others.
- Activities: the Montreal Challenge, the LSF Challenge and the Crystal Cup Challenge, plus the Muskieteers youth program and a Kids Fishing Party.
- President: Nicolas Perrier.
Every meeting features a presentation on a fishing technique or an activity that deepens members' knowledge of muskie fishing.
Ottawa — founded in 1988
Created as the "Ottawa Valley" chapter, it serves anglers throughout the National Capital Region — both shores, Gatineau and the Quebec side of the Ottawa Valley included.
- Meetings: the third Monday of every month at 7 p.m., Royal Canadian Legion Branch 632, 800 Taylor Creek Drive, Orleans.
- Waters fished: "the mighty Ottawa River and the legendary St. Lawrence River," the Madawaska River, the Rideau River and countless inland lakes.
- Tournaments: the Elvis Open in early July, the Ottawa Challunge in September and the Kahuna Cup in late October, plus two Pizza Night and Tackle Swap evenings a year.
Gananoque & 1000 Islands
The upper St. Lawrence chapter, the one for the Thousand Islands. Its membership is cross-border: on the Canadian side it stretches "from as far west as Stoney Point to as far east as Montreal"; on the American side, from St. Vincent to Ogdensburg in New York State.
- Meetings: the fourth Tuesday of the month at 6:30 p.m., Royal Canadian Legion Branch 92, 55 King St E., Gananoque.
- Member profile: from novices to charter guides.
- Signature event: The Gathering, at Muskie Jakes in Gananoque.
Two centuries of muskellunge in Quebec
The club also publishes historical background, and its file on Quebec muskellunge sets the record straight. In Quebec, native muskellunge were found only in the south: the waters of the St. Lawrence River watershed and some of its tributaries, from the Ottawa River to Quebec City.
A few markers that explain the current state of the resource:
- 1868-1936: the commercial fishery took nearly 2.9 million pounds of muskellunge, roughly 192,535 fish. The Montreal area accounted for 90% of landings. Commercial fishing ended in 1936.
- 1950-1997: stocking from the Lachine hatchery, with eggs sourced notably from Chautauqua Lake (United States) and Ontario. More than 80 Quebec water bodies were stocked.
- 1986, then 1998: the legal minimum size rose from 38 inches to 44 inches.
- Measurable result: on Lake Saint-Louis, 19% of muskellunge caught exceeded 44 inches between 1918 and 1927; that share reached 54% between 2010 and 2013. No stocking since 1998, and yet natural recruitment holds and abundance is rising.
In other words: voluntary release plus a strict minimum size worked. The waters to remember are Lake Saint-Louis, Lake des Deux-Montagnes and Lake Saint-Pierre. Before you go, always check your fishing licence and the size limits in force.
Joining
Membership runs through the chapter. What it gets you:
- the chapter's monthly meetings, with guest speakers;
- the Release Journal, newsletters and access to the members-only forum;
- organized outings and chapter tournaments;
- educational resources and conservation projects to take part in;
- partner discounts (SAIL, Ezoko Fishing, Huskie Muskie Leaders);
- collective representation with resource managers.
Membership details, meeting calendars and chapter contacts are on the official site: muskiescanada.ca. The full chapter list, with a page for each one, is at muskiescanada.ca/chapters.
Going further
- Muskie fishing in Quebec: complete guide — lures, the figure 8, gear.
- Muskellunge species profile — identification, habitat, size.
- Fishing tournaments in Quebec — the season calendar.
- Quebec fishing licence — what you need before your first cast.
Pêcheur Québec is not affiliated with Muskies Canada. This article is an independent presentation of the organization, based on information published on its official website.
