zach

larry- your fishing knowledge is second to none. you have been awesome about helping everyone out. i used to not share any info and switch baits when going to dock so people wouldn't see what i was using and all that. seeing how you share info has got me opening up and now i'm sharing too. i have wanted to do this doctoring for a while and now i have the recipe for success. cold towel- great idea. hope retirement is going well and thanks for your input! larry are you fishing the tourney this time?

count me in. $ going out today. maybe this time i will stay for the seminar and not go right out fishing like last time.

got down last night and went 2 for 3. fished 4:30 until dark. lots and lots of floating weeds. not just strands but huge twisted blobs of weeds two to three feet around. made it tough to troll (borderline impossible) in certain areas. started off trolling deeper like usual and no hits. saw a bug hatch towards evening in the flats and small fish working the surface over 18-20fow. ran gotchas shallow (less than 5 feet down) through them and picked up two and lost another pretty quickly. this isn't what i expected but it is what worked for me. 4.5-5mph. weather was good down there last night. 33" and 36"- the one i lost i saw- and it was alot bigger than those two. oh well-- so far this year on waneta- one musky for every 4.25 hours out. almost in double digits for waneta for the first time in my life. also got a 3lb largemouth on a short-lined spinnerbait south end.

that's what its all about! i can't wait. just make sure that hers is the only pink rod in the boat.

you must have shaken bobs hand and at some point his magic must have wiped off you you. talked to the fisheries biologist from chaut. and he said that they rotate cutting the four fins and there is no real way to determine how old the fish is. according to him a 40" male would be about 15 years old and the average female around 8-10 years old. so you can see the problem with aging the fish unless you know male or female.

bob- left front fin clip on my last one. did u notice any on yours? i wish i could figure out what years they cut what fins? my biggest out of waneta this year had no clips..... all small baits for me this year. btw that smaller fish looks horrible with its gashes-- hope its heals okay-do u think they are more prone to infection w/ the higher water temps?

i have a black and white musky crankbait that has a broken lip- does this count?

the whole bait would be covered in dots. good idea though. i have messed around with lead tape in the past, only to take them off and have that nasty sticker residue left over. i have got a bunch of believers though and wouldn't mind messing around with one. have heard that filling them with foam is what pete mania said works the best. i just wanted to see if anyone here has done that. in the past i have drilled a hole and put bb's in the bait to make it rattle. no problems with that franken-bait yet. if this was a jerkbait adding lead like u are talking about may be an option. i just want to get a 10" believer to go 25' for me this fall. thinking of ideas that i dont have to run wire for.

i got the address to order the tuff shads from larry jones. if you do a search you can find them- all special order baits (6-8 weeks) and aren't the cheapest. have seen 2 or 3 go one ebay lately for good money. no shops that i can find are selling them. you can go fast with them. those are way easier than finding the bk lure- les chubbie. they are out of n.j. had only one and lost it and can't find any replacements.

sounds like they have been all over, all places in the lake- all depths- all speeds - differant lures. not trying to give u a hard time but from the people i have talked w/ it seems to be case right now. seems like the smaller lures are still getting hit. there are fish there, you just have to put some time in. from what i see the people there mostly troll, but there are other that cast the weeds. one thing i would recommend is heavy line, not only for the fish but also for those expensive lures. you may here about some people speed trolling 5-6mph- remember that only certain lures can do that and when you get ripped you need that heavier line and the drag set correct (strong enough to get the hooks through bone but still give some). good luck- and release them. its a small lake that gets pressure- so if you get lucky enough to bang one please consider letting 'er go. p.s. floating weeds are your worst enemy trolling.

there aren't any muskies in waneta. lol. stuck a small one on a tuffy shadilous right at sunset. i'm no bob though. only one for me. missed one on a bluegill color wiley( on the phone talking w/ the ole lady when line was ripping out). musky bob- man is he good mine was about 60 feet back on the tuffy @ 5mph. wiley was only 30 back when it got ripped. anywhere and everywhere right now it seems.

from what i know about it. the added foam will add weight to the plug. i guess this will add depth. just think ahead to fall on this bait. adding a new lip to the believer would be a hassle i think. have a grandma that i broke a lip on years ago, i did add a bigger lexan lip that worked out good. gets deeper. just epoxied that lip in their and it has stayed on so far. cut it out on a band saw. i have also been thinking about taking the back half off a jointed gotcha, attaching a big ole saltwater hook with a twister tale. saw a pic of the les chubby this way and looks awesome. to me it looks better than what they do to the stalkers.

on another thought, about to drill a hole in a 10" believer and fill it with foam to get a couple extra feet, somewhat nervous that it may lose its action, anyone ever do this here?

when can we order these nitro-specials? setting the water on fire!!! nitro-licious.... this winter i will turn some copies of the cedar wiley deep diver and do my best to copy and modify the tuff shad. have the lathe and band saw- need an airbush kit. neither of these favorites are thru-wire made. i also think that the tuff shad is some what over weighted which makes it run good but the wobble is less then if it were less weighted. it would pound even more, would have to be super tuned though. just thoughts bouncing around my head. have been making bucktails for years (have close to 70) and this year i have thrown only two. been using mostly cranks lately, so why not try to make some myself? good luck on the super nirto-licious especial.

the suckers i want to use a bigger than what bayside has. talked to them 3 years ago about special ordering 12-16" and they said all would have to do is pre-pay and give them a couple weeks to fill the order. never did go through and order 'em. ( went to o*#ka creek ) and got some for chautaqua. okay guys beat me up for that- outlaw musky fisherman!! lol.

leaving work friday early, nitro, solo- between us i hope we can bang one- plan on getting down there around 3pm. call me if you get one i'll take a pic for you- good luck-

nice! clean fish?

there may or may not have been a guy named zach down on waneta last light that went 2 for 3 on a wiley and tuff shad. one decent 42" (super clean fish!!!) and one barely making 30". 6-10pm trolling

? ? good question ??

they have to be in there! you would just have to have the confidence to keep @ it. i have fished lamoka ( alot more structure ) but have given up before i have gotten any. i lost confidence. i always think about fishing it again, but never do.

three years ago @ chaut i deeply hooked a smaller fish (around 32-33") on a bucktail. cut hooks and fish was bleeding really bad out of the gills, couldn't right itself when attempting to release it. tried for probally 1/2 hour and it didn't seem to be getting any better. the fish was done. too small to keep- had to leave it. what would u have done? so i know what its like also. only time this happened. really bothered me. i hope i never find out what musky tastes like, but in this matter it would have been a much better option than putting it back in the water dead. i release everything but walleyes!

i dont know about the northern kings having to do anything w/ the name of it. there was an article in mh a few years back covering this set up and it explained the set up. i think king just sounds good, but maybe. anyone ever use those trolling leaders w/ the blade on them? i see alot like this but personally haven't used em.

should we put hooks on the sides of our lures?

coolest thing ever!!!! i want a tiger!!!!

lets do it before chaut- in sept