Fishing in the family, brothers take second place at state muskie tourney

Fishing is father-son, brotherly affair in the Malecha house. Kevin Malecha, who helped start the Tri-City United High School’s Fishing Club, has been fishing with his boys since they were old enough to.

Since each team of boys needs a boat captain, naturally Kevin has been the boat captain for his two boys — Karson, 16, and Kaden, 18. Both Karson and Kaden have been a part of the TCU Fishing Club as long as they were able to. Kaden spent his last four years a part of it — since its inception, and Karson joined when he was eligible the summer before his freshman year of high school.

According to Karson, the TCU Fishing Club originally focused on panfish, bass and muskellunge — commonly known as muskie. Since largemouth bass became the more popular fish, he says that they have now focused on that. There are still some that choose to fish for muskies though and compete in the muskie tournaments.

“We practice every week on Wednesdays during June and July,” said Karson. The club does more than just drop a line in the water. Karson says, “Before we start for the year we give a little class that talks about the kind of gear you might need. You don’t need equipment to join the club.”

Parents of the different students involved in the club offer up their boats, driving as boat captains, and, in some cases, their fishing gear, which makes it more accessible for those that maybe are just trying out the sport for the first time.

Kevin says, “While they are fishing, I try to teach them about different things — how the air pressure affects fish, depth to fish at, the seasons, and other things.” Students in the club learn to how to fish or fish better, where to fish, what they can fish, and et cetera.

Conservation is a part of the plan too. “Keeping them (the muskies) is discouraged since they are such a hard fish to catch and there aren’t that many of them. Most people catch and release,” said Kaden. He says that even with the muskie’s similar fish, the northern pike, most people catch and release but it is more common for some to keep for mounting and/or eating.

The number of northern pike that are caught are also used as a place-determining fish in tournaments that have no muskie catches. Even at the state tournament, a muskie isn’t always caught. The Malecha’s have made it to the state tournament now three years in a row, and one of those years yielded no muskie catches by any team.

Fishing for muskies next year might be a little more difficult in the tournaments though for Karson, since his older brother Kaden graduated this year. “It will be hard to find someone to fish muskie with because it is so hard to catch,” said Karson. Both brothers say that you can go an entire day of fishing without catching or a bite from a muskie and not everyone is patient enough for that. Kaden says, “It feels like when you are fishing for muskies like you are fishing for ghosts,” which likely sums up the level of patience one needs.

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State tournament

Over the summer there are three virtual tournaments on the Minnesota Youth Muskie Tournament Trail in which participants have a chance to qualify to head to the state tournament. The top two teams at each of the three qualifiers automatically advance to the state tournament.

Anglers in virtual tournaments take photos of their fish measured against a “bump” board during the tournament before they release them again, as opposed to storing them in a live well and bringing them back to be measured. All of the qualifying tournaments and the state tournament are virtual.

Participants also earn points at each of the statewide virtual qualifying tournaments and can earn the title as “Team of the Year” for having the most points collected in total from all three of those tournaments. This includes points for each northern pike and muskie they catch. Malechas ended up placing 7th this year in standings for Team of the Year.

Kaden and Karson initially didn’t qualify for the state tournament based off of criteria set forth. However, with one person having qualified at two different events, Tournament Director Dave Schueck included them as a qualifying team based on their standings for the season, allowing the brothers to go for their third year in a row.

Malechas caught two northern pike at the second qualifying tournament of the year in late June, catching two northern pike which measured 25-1/2 inches and 34 inches, earning them five points.

The brothers were a little more blessed with their state tournament outing on Aug. 9 than they were with the qualify tournaments, reeling in a 35-1/2 inch muskie. This was enough to earn them second place in the Minnesota High School Muskie State Championship. They were one of only two teams to catch a muskie and only one of four teams to catch any northern pike or muskies that day.

“Being number two feels pretty good actually,” said Kaden. “You put a lot of effort, money and time into it and it feels good to have it pay off, as well as just being able to compete against other people.”

It was a team effort in getting the over 35 inch muskie on the boat, which an estimated figure places it about 12 pounds. Kaden reeled the fish in, but Karson chose the lure and helped net it. Karson says it really depends who is on which side of the boat when a reel goes off and they work together for the common goal of landing it.

“I hooked onto it. It was pretty late, around 1 or 1:30 p.m., when I caught it,” said Kaden. Fishing for the tournament ended at 2 p.m. “I got it in about 16 feet of water,” he said. “I heard a whizzing from one of the reels and my first thought was that I snagged a rock or log in the water. Sometimes that happens while trolling. As soon as I picked up the rod though I could feel it fighting and I knew I had one. It only took about two-to-three minutes to get it in the boat.”

The 2024 state champions were Aiden Johnson and Emmit Johnson with a 47 inch and a 39 inch muskie caught.

All students participating received a divided box for gear, four new muskie lures, a $50 gift card, three gently used muskie lures, and one leader. Some other prizes were also randomly given out as well.

A used fishing lure might seem like kind of a sour gift, but that isn’t the case when it comes to muskie lures. “The lures, they are hard to find, and a lot of them are homemade or made by small vendors. They end up being very nice,” said Kaden. “You do need nice equipment to catch muskies — bigger baits and tougher baits because it is a little easier to break them.” Kaden says that the terrain the lures run on under the water makes the more susceptible to breaking easier. He also noted that muskies are a much larger fish and you need stronger lines and lures to handle them.

There are different lures one can use but Kaden says his favorite is a bucktail. “Mine’s kind of different,” said Kaden. “It has two spoons on the front and a feather tail on the end.”

Karson will miss fishing with his brother. “It was fun. I always like fishing with him,” he says. Karson is actively looking for another partner for the next tournament season in 2025.

Meanwhile, Karson will also be participating in another fishing state tournament this weekend with his partner Kyle Kroyer. They are one of over 60 qualified and registered teams in the state the Minnesota for the Junior Bass Nation’s 2024 Minnesota High School State Championship Tournament on Sept. 7-8, taking place on the Mississippi River near Wabasha.