THE TRADESMEN

Thanks for the insight Zach. Interesting that they are taking off the rear treble, the info we got was to use a steel leader so the hook would not damage the fluoro leader. Glad we did cause the fish was hooked on rear treble! Also interesting that the Mr Toothy lure ran better with the spoon than an Ernie we tried first. It really destroyed the action on the Erine but had little effect on Mr Toothy! Did the King part of the name come from Nothern King Spoons? Cause Im pretty sure that is what we used.

I like the esox split idea. We have been discussing this a little and I have to say I like a sub category for each species. Just my 2 cents. Mabe a Poll is in order? I bet the walleye guys got an opinion on it!

Hey Zach welcome to LOU! Glad to see another Musky guy here. Last year we had the Mark Troy memorial Tourney at Waneta. It was run by Mr Toothy who was a friend of Musky angler Mark Troy. I have not heard anything about it so farthis year. He is hard to get a hold of but I will give it a try and let you know what I find out.

Thanks for the advice Snagger.

For $80 and 100hrs I finally finished my rod locker wich doubles as a battery mount (trolling motor) and step up to the front casting deck. After all the time and effort I have learned I'll never be a cabinet maker. It is very functional for us though and should last a good time.

Hey Snagger sounds like u are doing very well over there. We are planning a trip to Oneida this month. I am leaning on the smallies. Any advice on where to fish and what you are having success with would be greatly appreciated. Also does anyone have a favorite camping place over there? We did not like the last one we stayed at, down the river a bit on the East end. Looks like Oneida shores on the west end has a boat launch but not sure how good it is?

Very cool Georged glad to here you guys understand, there seem to be some that dont and for those that do (including you) have a reponsibility to try and help them understand the importance of catch and release for the Musky fishery as a whole. Hoppy I understand your dilemma as well. Last month I left a lure in one when my line broke cause I was in to much of a hurry and did not check my line after boating a fish. I still feel like a jerk for that. So congrats on your catches and good luck Guys.

Nice to see u are doing so well troutmaster. Are you releasing your fish? It is very disturbing to see yet another Musky on land. Guys the Musky are alpha predators and therefore a low density fish, very vunerable to over fishing. On behalf of all the Musky guys I know I beg, Please be carefull with these fish and release them after a quick pic. I have found out that a perfect Replica can be made for $12 an inch. A small price to keep this fishery alive for furture generations. Check out this site, this guy is highiy recommended. http://www.eagleriverfishingguidesreferral.com/ Quote from site: I strongly suggest "Rick Lax"; Rick is a member of Muskies Inc. and has moved in a great direction to do a replica at the same price he would do a skin mount. End quote Thanks in advance for your consideration!

Hey Solgrande nice signature I wonder how you came up with that one.

Hey Guys here it is. We arrived at Pendergast at 4:30am and tried to sleep a couple of hours in the truck, no luck with that. The damn Roosters next door started their howling at 5:30 so up and cooking bacon n eggs in the parking lot. MMMMMMMM Good. Then on the water for some pre Tourney Fishin. We found a lot of bait in the dewittville bay. But no luck all day. Then off to the seminar. I found some very interesting points. Like the recommendation to use mostly filler on your large bait casters followed by only 80yrds (not ft) of braid. Then at the end the the season, strip it off and turn it around so u get 2x life!!! Very cool. I've been using a whole spool of braid and a small amount of filler, the 60lb suffix ain't cheap!! Another huge tip I got was running a spoon 4-6ft behind a deep diver on a leader off the rear split ring. I was very excited to try it. and as soon as we got back to camp I started working on the rig for the next morning. Now Im not much on trolling but my Partner Solgrande is and we had been aruguing what percentage of time we would troll vs cast. So this was really helping my state of mind for the long day of trolling. And then around 1 hr in boom my rod is bent in half and line is ripping out, as I pick up the rod I tell Bob I got a pile of weeds (thats what always happens when I'm trolling). But as I was reeling I feel a tug. FISH ON!!!! Wow my first fish trolling for Musky in at least 100 hrs of trolling. Now the fish was swiming at me and I was just tring to keep up. Then it stopped and came straight out the water. What a sight. and without futher adu here it is. This is my best so far 43" and in the 20-25lb class. It came on a Black n Silver Mr. Toothy wich is made by a local guy and sold at the Happy Hooker although not in Black n Sliver (yet). I had the spoon running 4ft off the back but the fish did not hit the spoon. We think a may have served as an attractor to the bait. I have to give huge props to my buddy Solgrande who got me into Musky fishing and fittingly put me on the biggest yet. Thanks Bob you are the Man. Unfortunatley the winning fish was 48" and nothing to the 2nd or third place wich I believe was us and NitroMusky. Still a very good show for us and good to finally meet Nitro another first class Musky guy.

Thanks for the reply Chad. Good Stuff! I know all about the no mans land trolling runs. However I have seen guys doing very tight circles and eights. I wonder if downriggers would allow for the tight turns at high speeds? Hey Ray thanks for your advice too I'll try that when I see you fishing near me. Sorry Solgrande guess I souldnt be reading after a long night of work. But then you day guys wouldn't know anything about that. And for you Nitro you go ahead and get all bozzed up the night before the tourney, its all part of the master plan see.

This is why you use the quote feature. So people know you are repeating someone else and they dont think they have lost their partner Solgrande! Hey Chad I am interested in how you set up your lines for the figure 8 troll. I've seen them do that but every time I make sharp corners my lines get tangled. Your insight on the technique would be appreciated.

Well this is one hell of a way to find out u have lost your fishing partner. Good thing I have a back up! So if Wendy sends all you guys home crying u can blame Solgrande. Unless Wendy is in a really good mood and decides to cook. We will see. In any case good luck all. Ohhhh yea those are some nice fish Chad. Sure hope to have your kinda luck!

Great job Troutmaster. Being the fish of 10,000 casts u can consider yourself very lucky to have done so well on your first trip. Those tail walks are heartpounding ehh.

Nice fish Chad!! Thanks for the pic's. Be carefull its addicting.

Well guys the trip was great. Nice to have the week off and finally be camping again after another long winter. The stay at Chatauqua Heights was nice too. Very clean and quite during the week. Fisrt thing monday morning we headed for Mayville and I just had a good feeling about it. The storms had just passed and there was good cloud cover. I put on a xxl black safety pin spinner and we headed out to the deep edge of the weed line. Within the first hr I hooked this 36in 15lber. I had 3 more follows on that bait but never got to do a figure 8 on em because they ran as soon as they saw the boat. It was action though and I thought this is going to be a great week. But then tuesday brought blue bird skys and 0 wind. We saw no fish that day so we decided to do some night trolling. But again no luck. Wednesday ditto. Thursday brought thunder showers and I thought we would get some more action but the strom came in too fast and we had to get off the water. Everyone at the launch was crying because we all knew it could have been good. I did hook this little guy about 2hrs before the storm on Solgrandes glitter perch stalker. Finally Friday brought a south wind and some more action. I hooked this one first thing on the glitter perch. Then another hit and I could see the fish. Does he have it? Then I saw he had it in his mouth so I reset hard and the line broke. Dam it there he goes with solgrandes favorite lure. The last fish rolled on the line and in all the excitment I did not check for frays. What will I tell Solley? It was a mid 50" 45lb monster........... Thats my story and Im sticking to it. Thanks for all the advice guys. All three fish caught casting the Mayville Flats. Kinda bummed with the size but at least the lake did not skunk me this time.

Legends are over rated and over priced. LOL We'll give'em all we got Nitro u can bet ur bottom dollar on that. Sorry to hear of ur boat problems I know the feeling all to well. Good Luck and I'll give a report on our return however dismal it may be.

Thats a great storie Eric, I saw an episode of Hank Parker where a musky grabbed his bass and would not let go. They are one tough fish. I sure hope to find the kind of action you have described. Thanks for the post and as always Good Luck.

Thanks for the info Pizzaboy. Do u rember the water temps or time of year when u were seeing them shallow? Does anybody know where to buy fire wood in Dewittville? Nice suit Solgrande r u going to be santa this year?

Hey Guys we are going to be at Chatauqua for the whloe 1st week 6/21-6/28. So far I have been skunked at Chatauqua . Eveytime I go its some kind of front combined with 3ft rollers. I am hoping with a whloe week to work with I might have better luck with the weather.(and the fish) Any advice you guys have would be greatly appreaciated. I will be casting most of the time as trolling costs 2 much in my boat. Wendy and I will be camping at Chatuqua Heights, if anyone is going to be there we would love sharing info over the week. Wendy hooked this 17lb-er at Waneta on a bass rig, I fought it and we landed it on 10lb Stren no leader. We have been chasing every sence. Thanks in advance for your help in the Hunt for big fish.

Thats great Josh where are u fishing and are u finding better sizes or is 30 the norm?

Hey Gravedigger, check out my rattlebait post. 1 fish taken fron the east side of newark island on a firetiger clacken rap. The other west of thortons point on a green excaliber,both in 8-12 fow. I am seeing the bite really slow compared to previous years as well as you are. I would recomend trying the rattle type baits.

We had a great weekend of fishing. I took my Dad out for his birthday and he caught his 1st bass in 20 years. I caught a couple of 30" Pike on sodus bay and a 24" walleye on the cannal. All fish were taken on rattle baits. We tried spinners divers and jigs with no luck. I dont know why my go to baits like the x rap are not working but glad we found the rattle bite. Good thing this one was hooked real good cause Dad wasnt so good with the net. Really glad Dad caught some bass he had a good time with the little guys.

I have been using suffix for a while now and have no complaints. My biggest on 20lb suffix last year. haaaaa

Just giving this one a bump. Any good reports yet?