BlueEye

You got ALL of LOU behind you Rick - that is great news

Wow Dave! Thanks for sharing

Haha - its coming Dave.... I am also in the process of putting together the "official" 2009 LOU Slideshow.

Very nice Matt & Jeff! Picture loaded fine for me.

Hey guys - I am sorry I wasn't able to make it down to the outing as my boat was in Buffalo this weekend. I went down there to pick it up and my buddy (Joe) talked me into taking a quick trip down to Chautauqua for one last try this season. It turned out to be a good move! We ended up doing a mix of trolling of casting but couldn't get anything going trolling. We switched to casting and tucked back into a shallow bay that is normally choked out with weeds and got the fish going pretty good back there casting. Only 3-5 feet of water and some dying off weeds only 2 feet up it didn't take us long to hook up. My buddy ended up loosing that fish and I had a follow shortly there after (mid-30's fish). A couple casts later I hooked up and we boated a smaller one (low 30's) taken on a black LEO. We then had 2 more follows (both mid-30's) but couldn't get any hooks in them. We moved out to edge where it drops quickly from 5ft to 20ft and was able to finally raise a big girl (mid-to-upper 40's). The coolest thing was that after following the bait and not taking it, she decided to hang around the boat for another 5 minutes or so. We threw a few more different baits at her but she would have nothing to do with it and then made her escape back to the deep. It was really cool to see a fish of that size in the crystal clear 44 degree water just cruzin' along. We raised another mid-30's fish after that but again couldn't get the fish to take. Total scorecard: 1 fish caught 1 fish lost 5 fish raised/followed I am not sure what I could have done differently to get some more of those follows to strike. I keep thinking I must have been doing something wrong.... maybe working the bait to fast for that 44 degree water or not doing my figure 8's at the boat right or maybe it was just my un-lucky day. Whatever it was, it was a great day to be on the water and a cool experience to say the least!

Uncle, Happy Birthday Enjoy your trip down to Disney World! I am sure Aunt Kristen will have her hands full trying to keep you and Morgan under control We will see you when you get back!

Welcome aboard Mike - we are glad to have you!

Thanks Zach! Its not that I have transformed into a caster, its just that one day I was out and didn't mark a single fish or catch anything all day trolling only to find out that the SAME day Capt. Mike was lighting them up in 5 feet of water casting. I wanted to practice and become good enough at both so that I have that option should the day call for it. I like to think that I troll 50% and cast 50%. Musky fishing is hard enough as is and I didn't want to limit myself to only a single style especially considering how much I enjoy both options.

Had a chance to take advantage of the nice weather we had on Sunday. Capt. Mike had a charter and Joe and myself wanted to get out and test out some of our new equipment casting. The day started out fast. On my 5th cast I hooked up throwing a brown Wooly Bulley bucktail. We were in 15-20 feet of water throwing to a ledge that still held some weeds in about 5 feet of water. The fish was mid-30's and after a quick photo, back she went. You wouldn't have never known it wasn't a monster by how it fought though. It stayed deep and kept peeling line and staying down. I was in the same area that "the monster" showed her head last time I was out with Mike. We had a good wind for a drift going and on our second pass, I hooked up again! This time it was a low 30's fish I caught on a jerkbait that I can not remember the name of. I know it is sold at the happy hooker baitshop and they told me it is made by a local guy. Its a 5" wood bait that suspends nicely and has a great rattle in it. Color was Michigan Perch. Pictures to come soon! We then tried trolling for a bit but with no luck. Didn't see much on the screen so we went back to casting and were able to raise another fish but couldn't get any hooks in her (mid to low 30's again). Mike was able to raise two fish (one nice fish mid-40's) but couldn't hook up. The charter then wanted to do some perch fishing as they had their daughter along and they did very well on the perch. Infact, I heard other reports from Brian & Lisa at the Happy Hooker that the perch fishing has been nothing short of fantastic lately. In all it was a great day! The worst part is knowing that I will have a wait a while now before getting a chance to do it again next year. What a great year though overall! I learned so much (mainly from you stellar LOU folks!) and have a come along ways in my tactics/techniques for fishing this elusive game fish. On a side note, Bass Pro Shops seems to be liquidating all of their Pete Mania related items including the rods and reels. Everything was marked down 40-50% so I was able to pick up a nice 7'6 heavy action Pete Mania rod for $69 bucks. Joe also grabbed one along with the Pete Mania reel (both $69 bucks). Unfortunately they don't make the Pete Mania reel in a left handed version or I would have have also jumped on that deal as well. Good luck to everyone else and enjoy the last few days of the season! C

Upgrade Completed Successfully

Just a quick heads up that we will be upgrading the core software that powers LOU today in the afternoon sometime. During this time that forum will inaccessible while upgrades are done. Assuming no complications during the upgrade procedure, you can expect the entire process to take between 1-2 hours. Thank you for patience! For a list of all upgrades being performed please visit the following link: http://www.phpbb.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1859035 Kind regards - Chad

Just finished another project with Mike Sperry. We wanted to put together a video show casing his custom made bucktail lures (Wooly Bully's). If you are interested in taking a peak, visit the following link and play the video: http://www.chautauquareeloutdoors.com/smiling-jack-lures/ Lots of fish have been put in the boat this year on these and I will be throwing them again tomorrow!

I also received a nasty gram from a fellow named Dan in Canada requesting the immediate removal of the image. I respected his request and removed the image. It's a shame that Dan does not care to share such a catch especially considering no location or obvious background structure was given or visible in the image. I am all for sharing great catches, strategies and locations and I applaud the LOU Musky community that so openly shares information and pictures for everyone to enjoy on a daily basis. When the day comes when I finally catch my dream fish of a lifetime, LOU will be the FIRST place I post an image and any other information that LOU members want to know so that maybe someday they might share in that same excitement. Capt. Larry Jones is a great example of a musky angler that I have the upmost respect for and others should take time to learn from him when it comes to growing the interest in muskie angling. On a better note, I will be fishing this Sunday on Chautuaqua again. You can expect pictures to follow

Sounds good guys! I will have to see if I can make this one but it doesn't look good for me right now. Either way, it has been a great year especially for the LOU Muskie guys and I am already getting excited for next year

Thanks for the update Rick. Hang in there buddy - you have our prayers.

Jim - welcome to the LOU! You have come to the right place for advice on getting started in salmon fishing - lots of great guys/charter captains here willing to share ALMOST all their secrets

Welcome aboard Ben! Won't be long now till we start some hard water fishing

Guys - Sounds like fun Not sure what my availability will be but was wondering if anyone would have any interest in having the outing at Chautauqua? My boat is already out that way now at my buddies house so that is the only reason I raise the question. On a side note, I had a chance to fish Chautauqua today with Capt. Mike Sperry (http://www.ChautauquaReelOutdoors.com/) and we ended up 1 for 2. The one fish we did get was small. The day was nice despite the wind which made some of our spots tough to get at. We tried a mix of trolling and casting. Both fish came casting. We marked lots of bait around Long Point but no marks. I am not sure of the name of the bay that we got the fish out of but it came somewhere across from Pendergrast in front of a VERY large white house. Hope that helps.... Water levels were low. Pictures to follow.

Chrome Slayer - your pictures are amazing. I see you use a Nikon D90 camera. How do you like it? What different lenses do you have? I am really impressed by the quality of pictures you continue to post. Oh and nice fish by the way

Happy Birthday Bob! I agree with Larry... let us know when you make the cover edition Have a good one bud Chad

That's a fish I dream about..... nice catch Réjean!

Nice going Bob! Great catch

Thanks for the advice Larry. What do you think the MINIMUM size boat that would be safe to fish these waters would be this time of year? I got a feeling my little 15 foot smoker craft might get by on Chautauqua but not be very wise in this area. I have never fished there anyways so I wouldn't even know where to begin. Might be best for me to try and hitch a ride on someone else's boat for this one....

Rick - The thoughts and prayers of the entire LOU community go out to your father and the rest of your family. Here is to a speedy recovery. Chad

Welcome aboard Mike! Glad to see another musky angler on here. You ever make it up to Chautauqua? We got a lot of musky guys here and about a million chrome fisherman here as well. Glad to have you aboard