Informal Tuesday Fishing Tournament is Bonding Experience

Dan Addis brings his son to Little Muskego Lake most Tuesday nights for an informal fishing tournament. It’s something he’s done for seven years.

Chris Macht has been participating in the tournament for 15 years. On Tuesday, the men readied their fishing boats with a string of other locals for the weekly tournament, which is informally organized.

“We’re buddies,” said Macht, a plumber who has lived in Muskego since 1978. “We have a party at the end.”

But it’s a little more involved than just casting a lure into the lake.

Macht said the tournament accepts up to 19 boats. “Just show up,” he said, when asked how people can participate.

It costs $25 per boat, and generally there are two-people teams. The participants fish only for bass. The tournaments take place every Tuesday from May through September from 6 p.m.-9 p.m. The men launch their boats at Idle Isle Park, W182 S6666 Hardtke Drive.

The money goes toward prize kitties, which are given at the end of the night to the person who pulls the largest bass out of the lake. The record thus far for a tournament there: A 7-pound bass. Each boat also brings forward its seven heaviest fish of the evening. The team whose seven fish has the largest weight wins.

“We like to gamble,” Macht said. “It’s competitive.”

But it’s also about community.

“It’s great,” said Addis. “What else can you do on a Tuesday night? It gets people out of the house.”

On Tuesday, the men chatted with each other as their boats lined the beach and the summer sun blazed down on them.

“It’s a great way to meet people on the lake,” Addis said.