Muskie Fishing

I went fishing for muskies this weekend. If you’re not famiiar with muskies, think of a freshwater fish that is similar to a barracuda and you won’t be far off. These guys are big, powerful fish and they always look like they’re havin’ a bad day. I’m not much of a fisherman, so I don’t have any “Greg and [insert muskie here]” photos to show you, but we did see one that looked to be about a 30-40 pounder.

To get ready for muskie fishing, I went to my favorite sporting goods store, Scheels. I have since concluded that muskie lures (they can run up to $30 each) are designed, first and foremost, to catch fishermen. I walked out of the store $74 lighter and felt good about it. In marketing, that is when you know you’ve hit the sweet spot. It also reminds us how important point of purchase presentation and packaging are to the whole shopping experience. If they’re smart, the people who design and develop these lures don’t spend most of their time figuring out how to make the muskie bite; they spend their time figuring out how to make the fishermen bite.