zach

Still got a few of your plugs sitting on my table here at the house Nitro. Thanks for the kind words! I am thinking about doing another auction soon. I have some Stan Durst custom painted Wiley's that are going to be donated by a gentleman named Larry Carter from the great state of Kentucky. He saw that we do these bait fish auctions and donated them out his own pocket for us to raise money. A guy from Kentucky helping us out, awesome! A painter from Tennessee painting them up, awesome! The Wiley's will be custom painted by one of the best and maybe this will get a few people's attention. I also have a nice Wiley Scout (has not been made for years and is considered a collectible) to donate from my collection of Wiley's. My goal is to make a few smaller plugs, a nice hardwood glider and a big 10" deep diver I have been playing around with all summer for this next auction. With fall coming up I think I am going to make fewer of the smaller baits and start switching to the bigger baits. No one has seen this new style of deep diver other than me and I hope to display it for the first time at the next auction. Just trying to plan ahead b/c nothing has been made yet. I love doing these auctions and get excited every time!

Just found it, http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/other ... 507245.ece Under "Soldiers Stalk Muskies"

Come on, really??? Thats really cool of Dave and Larry to do that! To even be mentioned next to Wiley is way too much. One thing I am sure of is I couldn't have gotten off the ground if it wasn't for so many of you guys! Awesome! It has gone from a hobby to a full time job and I am still pinching myself every time I send an order out. Very thankful and lucky to be associated with so many good people! Yeah Joe- I would love to get a copy, is it available on-line? I will even trade a plug to get a copy.

I am thinking the same thing Mike.

84 degrees- ouch

Look at you tossing homemade baits! There is no turning back now Mikey boy! Crank that drag way down! Very cool that you banged a huge bass on a homemade bait! Hopefully you make baits as long as you fish. Once again- give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done! "Ronix Blade Baits"

Just about all of us use 80lb braid and 80lb or 100lb flouro leaders. If you get a chance to fish with Solgrande you would learn a lot. Sol is a good fisherman and can show you the right way. Best luck bud!

Like Ronix said the temps are really high on Waneta and most people have been laying off it. Trolling speeds will usually be faster than the trout/salmon speeds but it changes. Anywhere from 3.5-5.5mph in general but you have to experiment. You can also cast the lake and some people I know do well casting it. I won't give locations but there are fish just about everywhere in that lake. If your not getting them trolling try casting the weeds, its a small lake they have to be somewhere. As for equipment. Get some quality leaders, heavy line, sharp hooks and lots of determination. Some guys get lucky but for the rest of us we have work hard to get them but that's what makes them so rewarding. When you go there you'll see people fishing muskies and pay attention to what you see. I honestly think the easiest way to catch a musky on Waneta is to go bass fishing, lol. You may laugh but lots get caught that way. As for baits that you can easily access and don't cost a ton of money- check out the biggest Rapala's they sell in your area. Best luck and sorry I can't give you exact locations and techniques but lots has been discussed about this lake in the past and guess what- more fisherman than ever now fish that lake. This year I have stayed very, very quiet about it and will continue to do so in the future. The lake gets HAMMERED all summer and its only an 800 acre lake! One thing I can say is, I do better on orange colors on this lake than any other I fish. Best luck! "Dirtbag Zach"

Never have used wire at Waneta but it may work. Yeah- just troll around and hopefully something likes your baits enough to try to eat them. Best luck.

P/M me what colors Slimyfish and give it a week or two if you want a few. I was hoping to make you a few and it hasn't happened yet. Let me know if there is anything I can do. Is the Michigan Muskie Shop that just opened out of your way when you are at LSC? They have a few if its on the way?

Until some things are cleared up I can't do any auctions Old Man, maybe soon. I think we are all itching for some fishin'. I am going down for some night fishing this week. Last year at this time it was the only way I could get fish in the boat. McCoy- got any fish pics? lol. Come on- it gets us all worked up.

I was just asked if I was going to do it by a guy in PA and that was the first I have heard of it. Cady Weagle's huh? Mark- you try those Weagles at Chautauqua yet? Always done better on the south end for topwaters for what ever reason? Thanks for the link Ray!

Anyone fishing the Musky tourney this weekend at Chautauqua? I'm thinking about it.

Yeah buddy !!!! 39" Pike isn't too shabby! Billy P putting the smack down on big pike! This time of year pike that size aren't the easiest thing to catch IMO, nice job! Wishing you many more like that one! Mind sharing what color it ate? Looks like you were trolling correct?

Thanks very much Nitro- here are a few that I am sending to The Happy Hooker on Chautauqua. I did a quick run of Butt-Shakers and these are 3 of the 7 colors that will be in the shop to start in these rubber tailed baits. Stop in and take a look if you ever get up that way- pics are of Perch, Shad and Brown Perch. They will also have some others like Firetiger, White Perch, Walleye and Blue Shad. The "Hooker" and I also came up with "The Happy Hooker" color, a reverse pink perch that we decided to do and call it their color. Stop in and check them out. You guys may not hear from me for a bit because the Michigan Muskie Shop sold out of the 60 plugs I sent them 2 weeks ago, cool thing is- they haven't even opened up the doors for business yet! People heard they had "Baker's" and bought them all up. The owner of the shop said some guys even drove 70 miles each way to get them! I was asked to make 10 of each color asap! That's 130 baits for that shop alone, he says he needs them for the grand opening in a few days. Ahhhhhh...... its time to put some work in! Much thanks to the many people who have helped me out along this crazy path! Honestly I am a very thankful person! I also signed up to do the Michigan Musky Show, the Butler Fishing Show and the Ohio Musky Show this winter. Gonna be a busy year! Got Baker's?

Growing up we always fished Rapala's in size 9 or 11 or Thundersticks. Like Scott says- all were on the shallow baits but I did do them over deeper water also. The key was watching baitfish jump and scatter and then working that area over a few times. At night, slower retrieves and yes there are some good ones.

http://www.michiganmuskyshop.com/index. ... ucts_id=61

Don't have much $ but want a one. Doesn't matter if its handheld or not. Just need one.

Willing to trade for musky baits? I might be interested if so.

Yeah- Todd's fish is a good representative of a healthy NY fish. Thick, long and good color. With continued stockings and catch/release, fish like this will be around for awhile. Think it is too early to do another fundraiser for the hatchery? I am thinking about doing one and I can have Stan Durst join us in the next one along with Fred Pearson from OH. Watcha thinking guys?

Had to show off some of the fish on my baits over the past 10 days, they have been hot! A little bit of musky p^rn for you guys, have many other pics but these are the most recent- GOT BAKER'S? Todd Young has been crushing them on my baits all year! Chautauqua- Big Bob Hoce- Chautauqua Minnesota fish- Women can Bakerize them also! GOT BAKER'S?

Rideau River has lots of muskies.

Check out BM Stinger's, I can get you contact info for Bob M who makes them but it is a true 30ft diver. Plows are huge and usually are only used very late in the season for huge fish but take a look. I can make a plug that gets 30ft with 100' of line out but I am up to my eyeballs in work. At this last tourney 6 of the 20 fish caught were on my baits with only a few people running them. They are catching fish in NY, WI, OH, Lake Saint Clair and PA so for me it would be a while to make you one as orders are piling up. I am actually painting up one of those deep divers for Solgrande today, he has got fish on it before so he needed another, he asked for one 9 months ago and am just getting to making it, lol. I only have a handful of them out there- Solgrande, Nitro, Old Man and Cpt Larry are the only ones who have any of those deep ones other than the ones in my box. With these baits I have snagged bottom in 39' flat line trolling. Best luck and good fishing up in the islands. Here's a pic of one of those deep baits-

I don't know who else is excited but I am! I love fishing these things and looking back at the 4 tourney's I have done- the boat has landed 18 muskies in those 4 tourney's and that works out to 4.5 fish per tourney. I hope to keep this streak going but am not too sure about it. Wishing everyone the best luck and I hope that the LOU fishermen stand tall, do well and catch some slobs! See you guys soon!

Did everyone else get theres but me?