Thank you for visiting the official website of professional musky angler Steve Heiting. On this site, you can learn more about Steve, find out where you can hear him speak, read some of his articles, and learn what tackle and equipment he uses on the water.

 

Northwoods Musky Report
Resumes For 2026 Fishing Season

Steve Heiting’s Northwoods Musky Report is back for a sixth season on WJJQ Radio (92.5 FM) of Tomahawk, Wisconsin. New episodes air Friday through Sunday and are broadcast throughout northern Wisconsin. Reports are sponsored by Mepps, the maker of the World’s #1 Lure.

“I’m happy to be back with WJJQ again this year,” Steve said. “WJJQ airs lots of great programming and I’m proud to be part of the lineup.”

Steve’s reports are generally about four minutes in length. He reports on local conditions and what patterns are producing for his clients and his friends and him for muskies on northwoods lakes. He also discusses musky-related activities and tournaments at towns throughout northern Wisconsin and, occasionally, expounds on conservation issues affecting the musky fishery.

“Everywhere I go during the musky show and seminar season I talk with anglers who tune into my reports,” Steve said. “Meeting new people and hearing how something they picked up from a report produced a musky for them make this endeavor all the more fun.”

Mepps, whose factory is located in Antigo, Wisconsin, has been title sponsor of Steve’s reports for all six seasons. “Not only do they make a lot of tremendous fishing lures, but the company is owned and run by great people,” Steve said. “Mepps is a fantastic sponsor in every sense of the word.” 

Reports begin May 1 and run through September.

If you can’t catch Steve’s reports during the weekend, they are archived on Spotify and available on all podcast platforms. To listen to archived reports on Spotify, click here. 

 

 

New Musky Tips Reels/Shorts

Airing Weekly

The fifth season of Steve Heiting’s Musky Tips is complete, but that doesn’t mean Steve is done producing musky fishing videos. Beginning April 25, Steve began dropping reels on Facebook and Instagram, and shorts on YouTube, featuring musky catches and tips.

“My viewers really seemed to enjoy these short, 9×16 vertical format videos last year, so I’m doing them again,” Steve said. “However, my videos this year will also feature a tip or an explanation of how the fish was caught. The goal, as always, is to help anglers better understand muskies.”

Steve’s reels/shorts are less than a minute in length and will continue through September. You can view Steve’s videos for free by following him on Facebook, Instagram or YouTube. Click here to subscribe on YouTube to view the full library. 

 

Steve Releases “Red’s Camp: The Story Of A Northwoods Deer Hunting Camp”

In the 1940s, Dorsie “Red” Ratliff, a hard-working man who survived the Great Depression and toiled in a coal mine before becoming a logger in northern Wisconsin, had a dream of starting a deer hunting camp. Eighty years later, the camp Red founded is still alive and well. Based largely on the camp’s daily log, Red’s Camp is its story.  

Red’s Camp: The Story Of A Northwoods Deer Hunting Camp is a 240-page paperback book packed with more than 100 photos. Through its pages, readers can “meet” Red Ratliff, visit the original camp and see the camp as it exists today, read the daily log that has been maintained for 50 years from 1975 through 2024, and enjoy exploits that require more explanation than the camp log allows.

Red’s Camp was edited by Steve Heiting, a member of the camp since 1989 who has 40 years experience editing magazines and newspapers. The book was published by Pinemere Press of Minocqua, Wisconsin.

“This book is more than a simple account of the camp’s successes and failures,” Heiting said. “Readers will learn about big adventures and major happenings within the camp, and examine the changes that occur over time and how they affect the deer and the people who hunt them.”

After joining the camp, Heiting found he enjoyed it so much that he purchased a share of ownership. He continues to hunt from the camp and has not missed a season.

“I think after readers have finished Red’s Camp, they will understand why a simple cabin in the woods has been home for generations of hunters for a couple weeks each November,” he said. 

A digital edition of Red’s Camp will be available at a later date.