zach

Nitro- what are you getting? I might need something? What are the choices?

I was just added to the drawing for the net!

I just talked to my PA connection and it sounds like I have something in the works where I can do all this fishing and not need to bring my own boat. I know Solgrande will be way too busy to go with all the upcoming singles mingles and all of the women he is currently dating so I can cross him right off the list.

Larry, you will find a musky fisherman at your door by 1pm. I am sort of toying with the idea of taking my own boat but I am 50/50 on that right now. I am thinking about an extended trip maybe? I know I can have a few guys from Ohio take me out also if I decide to stay and don't bring a boat but drive separately. I can tell you that I am getting PUMPED UP about going fishing this early in the year! Hopefully I will become a member of Ohio's Husky Musky program after this trip! These are a few of the ones I am making for Ohio and PA where shad are the most common musky food. I personally like the black foil shad best out of these and the orange second. Nitro- is the third week of April too early for you to go to Cowanesque?

MuskieGuy is camping with all the locals!

A stalker is a plastic copy of a Wiley and I personally don't run them because of that. They will catch you some fish but Wiley's are a gold standard in my boat. Nobody talks about my favorite Wiley- the small fatbody. As for any Newman now- I'll pass on them. Why are you so fond of Drifter if I may ask Ronix? Wiley's are the wood originals and plastic baits don't really work their way into my boat that often. Ronix- get yourself some damn Wiley's and go out fishing! Check ebay or go to http://www.muskiethrills.com/ and order some. My last order I did through Dale took almost 8 months for me to get them so get that order in now!

People do fish below the dam and do okay. In PA I saw some nice pics from below the dam. I am going to Lake Aurthur for a few days and am looking at Tamarak, North Branch Susq and Cowanesque on the drive back. I also plan on hitting Salt Fork in Ohio and maybe another lake on the drive back. Last year I went to Cave Run and it sucked to say the least. The most over promoted lake I have ever been to and it will be a while until I make it back. This year I am sticking closer to home and plan on taking 2x the trips instead of one big one. I have also been talking to Bob Mignano (BM Shads) about splitting a trip to LSC in early-mid June. Ohio and PA are 99% sure but Lake Saint Clair is 50% chance depending on $, Bob M is down but its my cheap ass that is holding things up. 3 weeks until my fishing season starts but I have to travel to Ohio! Making some shad baits to get ready for some shad lakes. Yeah! NITRO- want to meet up and fish Raystown together? Depending on when you go I may be down that way already. I may be able to have a local guide go with us depending on his schedule. He said to bring rattletraps for the stripers and some topwaters for evening fishing. It is said that a striper will kick your butt a few times over, taking 100 foot runs and fighting like all heck but no jumps. Nitro, if you want to join Larry, Dr Dave and me at Salt Fork feel free. It's gonna rock, I was talking to MuskieGuy and he says that 50"s happen. Oh- look at Newmans "Little Richard" crankbait featured in Jim Bortz article in spring muskies, exact copy of a Wiley! Spring time = short lines.

Good to see everyone is looking forward to this coming season like I am. Sounds like Larry, Solgrande and I are going to follow BlueEye's lead and start casting a bit more this season. I have fallen to the dark side trolling the last couple years and hope I can get a few casting to get that confidence back up to where it should be.

I was looking at some of the new baits I have either bought or traded for that are new for this coming season. Anyone else get anything they want to share a pic of? Here are some of the new baits I got for this coming season and I tried to make it a point to NOT buy much this winter, lol.

I would fish that Grandma way before I would consider trying out the Jake. I have heard that the lips don't stay in the new Jakes. I know that the Radke Minnow is very, very popular. When I think of the Larry, I think of the Radke and a Believer. Good luck!

One cool thing I just found out is that I won a free guided trip to Lake Aurthur in PA by being associated with 3rivers. I won the trip through Muddy Creek Fishing Guides and am pumped up! I am thinking sometime at the end of next month or beginning of May. I want to hit one or two other lakes if I am going to be in the area but Lake Aurthur has some nice fat fish. I never win anything but for once this guy got lucky! Fishing in April!

Ray- I personally would like to thank you for your continued support! You have been outstanding with your donations now and in the past. Many fisherman will be thankful for your help over many years to come including myself! I am going to enjoy catching a fish in a few years that we helped raise and think its awesome what we are doing and hope that sometime in the future I am able to help out once again! Thanks for making this work out once again and here's to a better fishery ! Ray, for your continued support, I will put in an extra something for you. Had a bunch of fun watching and thanks again guys! Zach

Just talked to the gentleman I got these off of and he said he talked to Dale and said the metal lip one is from 1977 and is the original Wiley Musky King! Come on Bob- doesn't this make you a bit jealous?

I was told that the old metal lip Wiley in the bottom pic is over 30yrs old. Never seen one like it.

Did a bit of trading with an old timer from PA that has known Dale Wiley since he was a kid and got these old Wiley Jerkbaits, a WileyBug (topwater, said to be one of 6 ever made), a Wiley Scout and some Mentzer Vamps. I have never seen a WileyBug before and thought it was cool and wanted to show it . check out this old Wiley! Metal lip! From when Dale was a young and was just starting out.

A day and a half to go!

a few have showed up at the ponds.

I just looked at the new tUFF sHAD color he just came out w/. Purple Shad? I wonder if he saw mine I have been painting for the last year? Some what funny to me? All of the sudden he has a new color? ? ? ? ? ? after not having any new colors for years? Huh? Whats next, a Cpt Larry color, lol. I guess thats the name of the new game boys.

I must check out the auction at least a half dozen times a day. I noticed we have over 150 views and more bidders than I can ever remember in the past. Even if people aren't bidding, we have brought it to their attention of our benefit and our goal. People from Michigan to Kentucky know what is going on up here and that is so neat to me. We have the most amazing people ever supporting this and like I have said many times before, I hope to be around and know you guys for many years to come! I am thrilled and honored to be involved in this and hope that together we can make a difference! You guys ROCK! As for getting baits off me, it really can be a pain in the @ss. I am slow making them b/c I do everything by hand, I am not the best email answerer out there, have many orders I need to fill already, am at least 8 weeks behind on my orders and I don't really think I am going to be able to "pump" out as many as I would like to since the paint jobs take longer and longer the more stuff I put on them. Also next month, I am being profiled in Ohio b/c of bait making and expect to get a bunch more orders b/c of that, backing me up even more. So yeah, getting baits off me is a pain in @ss and here is your chance to get some w/o waiting. I took each bait in the auction down to the local creek to make sure they are tuned and are ready to go and they looked good to me! I love doing these things!

Lol, I was just thinking about the last auction we did. Old Man won a batch and took his baits out and caught a fish first time using them. It just came to me and thought it was cool.

Yes, 8 total. I am finding out I am confusing everyone w/ the different pics so really good point Nalod! I am going to go change that now as I am sure you aren't the only one who may have been confused. Thanks for asking, honestly as that needed to be cleared up! BTY that green foil is the color Lex and I did 4 of our 5 fish on during the last tourney. All of those fish hit w/ in like 90 minutes of each other. Pretty neat when that happens, its just not often enough

I have posted this on Cpt Larry's site and MuskieGuys' site. I will do muskiefirst later along w/ Red's site. I just thought about it, 1/2 of our winners from the past have been from out of state. That's freakin' awesome!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 500wt_1156 We have done extremely well in the past so lets try to do it again. Baker's and BM baits. All handmade cedar baits that are not mass produced and are proven Chautauqua fish catchers! Take a look and see what we have going on! If possible try to promote it any way we can, I am going to post it on a bunch of websites myself from muskiefirst to muskieguys webpage. We all benefit from these fundraisers and I do it for my almost 3 year old son. I can't wait to get him out to Chautauqua in a few years and catch some fish that we helped raise. Its gonna be awesome! BM Baits Baker's Foils, if you don't have one or two by now. Free shipping and all $$$$ goes directly to the fund.

I can tell you one thing, those clackin' raps absolutely CRUSHED the lakers ice fishing this year. Beat my tubes and spoons at least 4:1.

I am going to put it up tonight. Got a Cpt Larry color finishing up drying now. Should be able to put up like 6 baits total between B&M Bob from Ohio and I.