Musky Season Finale

[BlueEye]

Over the last week I have had a chance to fish 5 different musky lakes including Chautauqua and a couple other smaller bodies of water - each one producing (some tougher than others). Tried both trolling and casting with good success. The fall fishing has been the best that I have ever seen this year and I will be sad to see it end Of course, my wife is THRILLED to see it end as she will finally get her husband back Trolling Baker's now turns into Baking Christmas Cookies and casting Lunge Lumbers turns into Lounging around the Christmas Lumber.

But before I retire my musky gear for the year, here are a couple pics from the last couple days in no particular order or timeline:

First the small guys:

Fish caught on old black trusty - my latiano jerkbait

I only post this picture cause I was shocked at how skinny this fish was (starving?).

Another small guy but fat/healthy unlike fish above.

Fish caught on Lunge Lumber - Perch Pattern

Brave little fella.....

Fish caught on Lunge Lumber - LG Bass pattern (as you can see)

A slightly braver, fatter pickeral - Joe was the clear winner of the pickeral derby in our boat!

Fish caught on Lunge Lumber - LG Bass pattern (a pickeral favorite?)

Joe also gets the award for coolest faces when taking a picture!

44" Fish caught on Lunge Lumber - Prowler White pattern

Mike ties personal best with this fattie

45" Fish caught on Red October Tube

Mike breaks personal best with this fattie - CONGRATS Mike on new PB last day of fishing the season!

46" Fish caught on Joe's Pickeral...... I mean Red October Tube

Chad/Joe trolling snag bottom...... then "bottom" starts shaking head and ripping line off....

48" extra Fattie caught on BAKER Lure - Perch Pattern

On a side note Zach - Joe and I were both REALLY impressed with your new trolling bait - LARGE SIZE! Great wobble and runs fantastic at high speeds. The results above speak for themselves. Took another hit that day trolling but no one home. All fish released safely for another lucky angler to enjoy next year

Ran into a slight issue on the way home when my front starboard side window blew out..... dang it..... not sure exactly how that happened? Good thing it is the end of the season and I got some time to fix it now. Glass filled the boat nicely. Shop vac'd most of it out but I'm sure I'll be finding some pieces in there next year.

Been busy trying to get the boat in order so that is why I was unable to post sooner about our latest adventures. Thanks again to Mike and Joe for letting me be a stowaway on your boats when my water ride cracked.

There is still a couple days left in the season so if you haven't yet had the chance - get out there! It's the best chance at a real trophy fattie. Go bigger and slower on your presentations and you too can catch Pickeral as big as Joe's

[LungeLumberLures]

Talk about going out with a BANG , nice job guys.You still have today , tomorrow and Wednesday to go (the wife can wait a few more days

[larry]

Very good report and excellent catch. Glad to see Joe's new ride worked well as a suitable replacement musky machine or pickerel picker, may it give you many years of enjoyment. Remember if you get hungry, there's still a few salmon left in the lake O that could fill the void.

[billyp]

Awesome week Great fish. I had the same windshield issue on a similar boat. Replacement was around $1200 I found a company the makes custom plastic replacements for around $295 plus shipping, cost me about $450 total. They did a good job though it did take 7 weeks to get it back. http://www.updplastics.com

[tcon]

Way to go Chad and Joe. Awesome fish!

Tom

[mostlymuskies]

Chad & Joe, What a great season you guys had casting,Congrads! I'm waiting for Dr. Dave at the Buffalo Harbor this morning.We will most likely get blown off for Tomarrow with 25 to 30 mph SW winds with gusts to 40 mph,will be 9ft plus waves breaking over the long wall.Has been very tough fishing the last two weeks,Lake Erie is still warmer then the Harbor,gizzard shad & muskies are out in the Lake still!

[ Post made via Android ]

[BlueEye]

Thanks everyone for the kind words. Larry we picked the big girl up trolling. Joe and I were fishing a sharp ledge that went from 30 feet up to 5 feet pretty quick and we would run an “S†shaped trolling pattern on this ledge turning the boat pretty hard before we got too shallow. It was on that inside turn that the fish hit (maybe 7-10 feet of water) on the Baker Perch lure. I think I actually did run that lure into the side of this shelf and that is what triggered the hit.

I thought it funny that I always seem to be casting black and perch pattern lures and so when we started our trolling run, guess what we had out? A perch pattern Baker and a all black Legend – both took hits. Boat speed was 3.5 – 4.2 depending on if we were upwind or downwind. If you get blown off the harbor, you might want to consider sneaking down to Chautauqua with Dr. Dave for a day trip.

[zach]

Chad- nice fish on my new bait! Glad you were happy with it as I spent a good amount of time coming up with that design.

[Nalod]

Zach -- Welcome back to town. I do not think Happy is the correct word...the feeling was more like how a little kid would feel on Christmas morning!

Check your PMs when you have a chance.

--Joe

[Ronix 51]

zach when are you gonna start painting pickerel colored baits? haha, im sure joe would find a way to catch a pickle with it

[zach]

Ronix- I have been thinking about making a "pickle" colored lure for 3 years now but never have. This winter I will try to make up some for us LOU guys and only my LOU guys. We can call it the exclusive "LOU Pickle" and nobody else will know what we are talking about! Mikey Boy- if you, Nalod and Blueeye want one- just ask. It will take me a while since I want to make them foiled- just let me know if you want them jointed or straight and I will get to work over the winter. This summer I did my best to "lay low" and stay off these internet forums as I have had some issues because of them. I used to try to promote my baits all the time and found out it is a great way to make yourself a target for some people that may not have your best interests in mind. This whole bait making thing has its good side and its really bad side. Every bait maker is trying to sell baits to the same people and some guys do some "cut-throat" stuff trying to sell that one extra bait. People will drag your name through the mud and back just to make themselves look better than you. It got really old this summer and I told myself to just back off and found out that I was 100x happier just sitting back making my baits and not posting every time a fish fell for a Baker Bait. Bty it was a good summer! I got a couple hundred baits on LSC and they did awesome (thanks again Cpt Larry)! A guy from Ohio had a 30 fish day on LSC on one $9 bass color lure, they got 6 50" muskies just from Chautauqua alone that I am aware of, they did awesome on Green Bay trolled behind planer boards on their first fall up there, started selling them in 3 new baits shops down south (now in 6 shops total) and did my first couple orders for international baits. Some guys in Norway got some for pike and I am currently finishing a foil order for some guys in Australia who are targeting Murray Cod with them which I think is awesome. Murray Cod look like 100lb largemouth and are a really neat fish from what I have found out. Soon my baits will also be carried by Bigwoods Musky Tackle Online so you can just order them from there but that won't be for little bit as I just can't seem to make enough baits. So even while I have backed off and almost disappeared from what would considered "public view", I am still here, just as busy as ever making the best baits I ever have. I have learned a lot over the past couple of years and have changed my baits a few times tweeking them to make them better as I learn new stuff but one thing is- without great people around me, I would have fallen on my face along time ago!

P.S. Chad- the kid loves breaking the light bulbs on top of this page, I let him do it over and over while he sits on my lap and he never seems to tire of it, lol.