zach

firetiger just seemed right for the off tint water and overcast/rainy conditions. seeing that not as many people have been fishing also help me make that choice. if i saw some other boats out there i promise i wouldn't have been running it. not another hit all afternoon after starting off hot. the way the fish we set up it was bottom grinding for me and i just bet jigging tubes w/ suckers soaking deep would be just deadly. finally got a trip w/ larry planned for november 2 on the harbor. larry is the man and i hope i can take in all the info i am going to get out of him that day. he is the best on the harbor and has years and years of fishing it. i am do excited to get to finally fish w/ him after all of these years of wanting to. its like an early x-mas present. i am going to try to make a huge deep diver for him to fish w/ by the time we go out. something like a huge 12-13" deep diver that will hit 30'. yesterdays fish was my 4th over 47" this year and it has been my best bigger fish year to date. i also talked to lisa from the happy hooker after cpt larry said they we trying to get a hold of me and she said that she is sold out of the plugs i just restocked for her on 10/2 and that people are catching fish on them and she needs more asap. i thought this was cool since i just restocked them 2.5 weeks ago in the shop and the season is winding down with not too many people even fishing anymore. take care and good fishing/hunting to all!

went down yesterday and i believe waneta is done turning over. 54 degree water temps, water is clearer than 2 weeks ago and most fish are located on the bottom. did a really nice 47" in the rain on a firetiger bait i make in the first 30 minutes and nothing after for the rest of the day. lots of bait and big hooks w/ in 2 feet of the bottom. trolling speed was slow when i got hit. only boat out there all day yesterday. if engulfed the lure, was bleeding pretty bad and had to cut hooks and no pic. you'll just have to take my word for it i guess. looks like waneta is all set up for fall fishing now and i would expect the best is yet to come. ever notice how the bigger fish have lots of black spots on their belly? bigger baits did nothing-

growing up on irondequiot i went down to the bay regularly when i lived there. we always used to cast from shore and used mostly bomber long a's but i would say that most of those fish that are splashing on the surface after dark are schools of shad. these shad are what brings the walleyes up to the surface at night and have caught many casting to the splashing bait. may,june, early july used to be good to us. good luck and don't worry about not banging them up this time of year, i think they might just be deeper than you fishing.

i thought it might be a pickle also. anyways you guys went out and caught fish, so good job, it was better than i did yesterday (or this week). 0-2 throwing jerks this week. 0 hits in close to 14 hours casting for me so maybe i should tag along w/ you next time.

was the tourney last weekend or this coming weekend? i am confused?

i just talked to stan durst and both of us are doing something for donation to the hatchery. he is painting the first ever color larry and him worked on and i am doing a foil or two. its all to get $$$$$$ for the future stockings to make sure my little guy has a lake full of muskies to fish. larry will post them on ebay and i hope this not only promotes my lures but also raises much needed $$$$ for next year. bty i died w/ the jerkbaits at waneta. i couldn't believe i pulled pub b/c everything seemed perfect to get bit. anyways i pulled hoosier handmades, suicks and weighted reef hawgs and not even a hit in 8 hours chuckin' wood or trolling suicks. i guess thats fishin' for you.

just looked at the waneta lake webcam and nobody is out, off to give it a try and i am only taking 1 rod. i am going to live and die by the jerkbait today for the first time in 10 years. lets see how it goes. my trolling rods will be mad at me but my jerkbait rod needs some love also. i have trolled a couple hundred miles summer and its time for a break.

thanks TCON- i styled them after one of my favorites but feel i still have lots to learn. just when i think i got it, i get an issue. the first fish i got a plug i made was the coolest though. the first time i made a plug and it got hit in its first hour of running i knew i was on to something. from there its been a huge learning process. so far this year i have yet to be skunked running my stuff and thats no lie. when we struggled this weekend running big baits i put on my smaller ones and started getting banged. thought that was neat. http://muskie.outdoorsfirst.com/board/f ... 33&start=1 (if that link doesn't work its on muskiefirst under basement baits if you scroll down) i put a post up on muskiefirst and have had orders off of it but the absolute coolest thing is talking to Stan Durst every other day on line and through p/m's. i never knew that Mr. Durst's first custom jobs were for Cpt Larry back in the day. Stan Durst and Mr Vince B were also very close. i guess Vince gave Stan an all white boxer back in the day and they were friends and the dog is still around but Vince is not. Mr. Durst also has nothing but great things to say about Cpt Larry and we share ideas and such about painting and colors. Stan is sending me a custom he did and i am doing the same for him w/ the ugly green foiled bait. I can't believe i am going to paint a lure and give it to one of the best lure artists in the country b/c he said he like my work. what a freaking complement! i put up a link if anyone here has any time to look at it. it is titled a walleye for the tourney. thanks guys and i am sorry i have sort of taken over this section w/ lures but things are going so much better than i could have dreamed. at the tourney 2 friends from ohio asked me to make them 20 after they bought one from the happy hooker b/c they liked it and thought it would work back home on leesville. i am more busy now than ever before and the baits will only get better and better. thanks to everyone for supporting your local wood baitmaker trying to make it in a business run by big bait makers pumping out plastic at cheap prices. there are lots of you that have helped me and my family and to each one- thanks! honestly, things are taking off and i owe most of it to good friends willing to give me a try! even though the season is starting to wind down i am finding myself more backed up than ever. i couldn't have even got this far w/o you guys! for that i am so thankful! zach baker now if i can just get larry to like them......lol

i almost forgot a pic of our monster- i think it was attempting to spawn w/ the lure. lol. this is my best tough guy face.

was a cold nasty rainy day- took time to figure them out, we did good but no tourney winners. lex hung in like a champ w/ the rain and cold! all fish that i got were on perch colors all on baits i make. it really felt like fall time and the water temp was around 62 degrees. all of our fish came from the same area and all hit in a 1.5 hour time frame. crazy how picky they can be sometimes. of course the one we lost was the biggest of the day. lol. oh well. Once again i would like to give a big thumbs up ( ) to Cpt Larry Jones for all his hard work setting this thing up. we had people from all over once again but the weather kept the crowds away. can't wait to sign up for the next one!

how do i make these? lmao... in so many ways i am still learning. lol. by absolutely no means do i think i know everything and i learn something new on each batch i cook up. trials and tribulations, trials and tribulations joe. i still have sooooooooooo much to learn. there is nothing worse than trying to do your best, working hard and to find out they turn in circles or just sit there w/ no action. lol. its like a big kick in the n*tts when you try hard and they don't work out. thats why i call it the trials and tribulations of baitmaking. all of our fish this weekend came on plugs i made. so- joe, when i really learn how to make each on 100% perfect i will let you know on how i do it, but everything starts w/ a block of wood and your imagination and where you go from there is all your personal preference. if you ever want to bang your head against the wall 10x in the same day- try to make a crankbait. lol.

thanks for the report chad- i bet that one that jumped would have had no problem on the 8 if he was that hot! the weather didn't look too bad and looks like everyone had a decent time. i love it when they hit right after the lure lands, catches me off guard everytime it has happened. 2 fow huh? wait until bob hears that and almost trolls himself up on shore. lmao. good to see you got bit and now its on to the important stuff! best luck and thanks for posting again! bty in that musky pic i can see your pink backpack. nice, i use one just like that as my fanny pack when i try to pick up the ladies. any idea what the water temp was?

when by tomorrow? lol, it takes time to develop a plug. i spent all summer on the shad profile. when i make one its all yours. i need at least a month to do that even for you larry. i also do a 2 tow eye lip like you like and just haven't posted it. it would go along way in my book if you like my plugs larry. i will show you at 6am at the mayville launch when i register b/c i waited until the last minute. high 30's on saturday am so you'll see me dressed up as if i was hunting. lol. i was just thinking it would be a lot easier to repaint a plow than to try to develop that big of deep diver right now. i do have some HUGE lips i cut though.

or drag live baitwith the icefishing heater on my feet.

it has paid off for me so far- i have caught fish and some decent ones so far this summer and i have been able to meet some cool people. i plan on making plugs for as long as i musky fish and maybe after some years i will have one i am 100% happy w/. lol. hope that at least one good fish this weekend makes a mistake and hits a bait i am using. at least they haven't seen these 100x a day for the past 4 months. i enjoy seeing the finished product turn out, some do work out sometimes and some fail horribly.

i was in a rush but kicked some out this week. some i was able to put time into and others i felt rushed for the first time so far. i am leaving tomorrow for chautauqua and meeting up with a bunch of friends to do some fishing and have some good times. this one i did for myself- foiled gold niagara river walleye in the bigger style in have been messing with that goes DEEP- i think this is my nicest one so far. there are like 5 shades of gold on this that you can only see so so on the pic- Solgrande gets the small one- more firetigers but w/ gold scaled back and white pearl scale sides this time- some perchs- and a helin gold scale (very popular on lake st.clair) i think i am gonna give this one a try this weekend in the south end during the day hopefully one of these or another one i have made gets hit. the weather won't be perfect and we have water temps in the 60's, i don't know what to expect for the tournament in terms of fishing? i am not expecting to do multiple fish like last tourney but instead having to work for them. anyways, i just thought i would throw these up before i leave tomorrow to show what i have been up to. P.S. good fishing all this weekend! i also did 2 foiled perchs but don't like them enough to post. they turned out more blue than what i wanted but i will fish them.

thanks nitro- it was something i thought about but have been so busy..... need to get legal for this weekend. off to gander mountain later.

i got a fish on a trainwreck last year at waneta trolling. shhhhhh, i plan on breaking it out again sometime soon also but thats between you and i okay.

feel free to put those rockets on riggers and send them down to where you see bait fish. my guess is 20-25' down. ever try a bucktail on a rigger? i have only thought of that but never tried it. don't forget that chautauqua has 2 basins that hold muskies. the north end has been getting fished the most but believe me you can do just as well in the south end. good luck and i am sure all of us fishing the tournament will post about where we found the most fish. solgrande, nitro, gustofson and myself are all leaving thursday to get a day or two in before it counts on saturday. i know most of those guys are gonna be fishing up north so i am going down south and we will talk about what we see and then make a plan for saturday. i feel that the north and south end both have there times. i did 6 fish in the first tourney in the north end just to get beat by huge (52.5", 51" and a 49.5") fish all caught in the south end. my thinking is the clearer water at the north end is more effected by the light conditions than the south end which is usually more stained water where i believe the day time bite would be better imo. so my plan is at night and low light conditions go up north to the cleaner water and during the day when the sun is out go fish the dirty water down south w/ some ugly colors. good luck.

well first you have to put a line tie bobber stop on your line and get it 1/2 way snug and then a small bead, then put on slip bobber and any sort of weight you have and tie on leader. i use size 2 and 4 trebles depending in how big the bait is. you slide the line tie bobber stop to the desired depth you want to fish and tighten both ends of that stop. trim ends of line stop and you are ready to do do some pike. hope i explained it okay if anyone else wants chime in feel free.

thanks jeremy, good to see you on here. i actually went down to the genny for a day of salmon fishing last week. you would have been proud of me! i was pulling big kwik-fish and chart head/ silver body was hot. no other color got hit more than once other than that one. i did a few mud-sharks and got my fix for the year. i got all males if you can figure that one out tell me. are the males just more aggressive or what? i was using my trolling motor to move side to side and slipped up and down stream above the island to "pete's". sort of like a drift boat but no oars. just me sitting in the boat seat next to the rod holders w/ the trolling motor control right at my feet. it was funny b/c i must have grabbed the steering wheel like 20x trying to turn the boat instead of moving the foot pedal since the prop wasn't even in the water. anyways- take care jax, congrats on another great year on the lake for you and u still looking to paint that boat?

not to get too excited but this batch i am working on now is going to be the best yet. i painted the foil w/ solid pearls and turned it green for the perch and gold for the walleyes. looks neat to me but what do i know?

nitro- you toss those chatter-baits much? i have always looked at them and just was like so-so but they do intrigue me somewhat but have never used one. do you think they are better than a spinnerbait? joe clutch- i happen to have faith in spinnerbaits especially anything w/ white or chartreuse and silver blades. you can't beat a dardevle in red/white or chartreuse w/ spot or a mepps #5 in chartreuse tail, imo. i think pike minnows would be good if you found a good spot but they would take too long to find out even if the fish (pike) were there imo, plus it sucks buying bait if you don't go through it all. i would stick to casting and never rule out any rapala also. i personally use a leader on my rigs as i have lost a few "good ones" by tying direct. good luck and just think theres always ice fishing at braddocks if you want your pike fix. lol. p.s. also try the bridge by the willow inn on braddocks right by the kayak shop both sides of the road (you live in greece right?)(not sure if its salmon creek or west creek sorry bud) but find the willow in and thats where i am talking about. you can stop by there everyday and take a few casts and sometimes they will be there and sometimes they won't but it only takes 10-15 minutes when you only have a short time to get out (plus there is a decent crappie run in there by the docks and bridge in the spring time). take care a go stick a northern!

there are some around the bridges at braddocks coming up soon. black creek has a few off scottsville rd and the fishing piers at canaduaga and seneca maybe places to try also.

nitro thats funny. lets hope katie never gets on here. i can close my eyes and just imagine that party barge (aka pontoon boat) w/ disco lights shinin', music playin', some women and that shiny brass pole. Hmmmm. the fish would be safe from me... i would not be safe. lol. chad have fun and just think of us all fishin' while you are getting that ball and chain welded onto you leg. just joking best luck. anyone else gonna start fishin' at midnight besides me again???? or do you need your beauty sleep. no amount of sleep is gonna help me so i dont even try anymore.