zach

Those are some nice sizes you got. Make at least an L-turn every single cast. When you get lazy and don't extend your cast into at least the L-turn, thats when the fish always show up.

Hey bud- as soon as the Genny clears up- casting spoons, deep divers or dropping crawfish to the bottom all work. Catch them off the Summerville Pier and have some fun!

Nitro- First off, yes- you are fishing the wrong lake if you want pics like this. Oneida is the best inland lake for walleyes, plus Snagger makes it look easy b/c he is darn good and fishes it a bunch both during winter and summer and knows the game well.

One last bait I re-did for myself and I'll quit. It's a Loch Ness that was beat up. Another perch color .

Thanks guys, I hope someone else makes one and shares it with us. Cpt Larry- thanks very much for hooking me up with Jason Cheney. He is going to order between 50-60 to start with. It helps out big time so big thanks once again! I am really excited to get a bunch of guys using them on Lake St Clair. Ronix- I have some extra perch, walleye and $9 bass if you like those colors? P/m me your address and I will send a few out for you. Once again- big thanks to Cpt Larry for hooking me up with the only musky shop on LSC! If there is anyone else that may want to try a plug- just p/m me as I would love to make one for you. Lots of people to thank so far!

Here is a Wiley Fatbody that I have run for the last 5 years that was good to me. I stripped it down, took it all the way to the wood, pulled the old lip out and re-did everything from there. New lip, resealed, new hardware, filled in holes and new paint job. This plug had 1/4" deep holes in it from teeth and hook rash before I cleaned it up. Thanks for letting me share some of these baits with you guys! Zach Baker

I am trying to get a baby sitter for tomorrow. I will need to stay away from all the beer and wine unless someone wants to come pick up my sorry butt. Trying to make it, we'll see?

Sure it would work if the water is clear enough. I have a friend that gets them bass fishing occasionally, he gets them on deep divers if that helps out? Congrats bud!

If I didn't explain something good enough, just ask and I will try to clarify. If you read through what I wrote you may find a trick or two that will help you out along the way. Feel free to add any tricks you have also as I may try it out next time. Thanks for your time once again!

Twisting up your own bucktails for this summer that is. Bucktails are imo the easiest types of lures to make yourself. I have wanted to show this process since talking to Blueye last year and discussing it with him. Chad said it was a decent idea so here it is. I started tying them up at around age 13 or 14 and do a few every year even though I don't use them as much as I should. I haven't bought any new bucktails since, honestly. I have tried to take pics of the process so everyone here can at least make a bait to use.

Start with some components like spinner blades, some beads, clevises, wire (.051 or .062), some hackles, marabou, flashabou and tying thread.

I usually start by looking at the blades I want to use and then build the bait around that.

Here are some supplies I get from lurepartsonline where I get my crankbait materials from.

They sell pre-looped wire ends but I ran out so I made a loop in .051 wire for the line tie. I recommend using at least .051 wire for this project.

I then stack some blades and clevises on the wire shaft since this will be a double bladed smaller bait for pike and early season muskies.

Now we need to do some tying. I tie on the spring coils they sell and I like them best out of everything I have tried. You do need to find some way to hold the coil while you tie though. I make some small bends in a scrap piece of wire to keep the coil from slipping and spinning as you tie it. I put the end of the wire into a fly tying vise I have. You can use anything you can find, some people use bench vises but this is what I already had.

Put in vise or anything else that will hold the wire.

Wrap from the back forward giving you a good working area but don't wrap all the way to the front of the coil, you may not need the whole coil.

I use some flashabou on the back of the tails but feel free to use anything you want. I mix the different colors together before I tie them on. For this one I am using black and perch color flashabou.

Tie it in and glue over your wraps.

Next I do some hackles to add movement to the bait after the glue dries. I strip off the fuzzy bottom of the hackle before tying in (old fly tying trick)

Glue them in and next its time for some marabou.

Same trick, strip the ends, this time wet them to keep them somewhat controlled and tie in.

Do final wraps, add some whip finishes, slide a plastic bag over the tied coil to keep everything contained and glue to finish it off. I can't take credit for that trick but man oh man does it help! Cut off the part of the coil you don't need, close to the final wraps you just did.

Now its time to put it all together after your glue dries.

Starting from the blades, I work backwards towards the back of the bait. On this bait I am using 2 blades and it really helps the blades spinning to gently flatten the clevises so they are flat to each other.

This helps out big time and gets those blades spinning faster and helps keep you from having to kick start the blades when reeling it in.

Add beads, body and then put tied up coil on.

After getting the coil on, its back to using the bag trick but this time from the bottom, put the wire through the bag and this will hold the tied coil back so its not in your way anymore.

Next we will need some weight to help it cast better and to run faster while not blowing out. Add some lead, how much depends on the size of the bait and how you want it to perform. One good thing about tying on coils is if you want to change anything after giving it a test swim, just cut the wire shaft, make your change and re-wire. After adding weight, make a bend in the bottom giving you about 1/2" to 3/4" of room to finish the bend. Bending from the bottom lets you see how much space you need so the clevises have room in the front. I personally add shrink tubing to the hook and think its helps out. Cut a piece of shrink tube so it fits on the shank of your hook, any bigger and you can't get the wire through the hook eye. Add the hook and heat shrink the tubing. This is where it is nice to have that bag over the hair so it doesn't get in the way and you burn all your hair. Heat your tubing so the hook is always in the correct hooking position.

This is how it should look when done shrinking.

Take the bag off and tada- you have a homemade bucktail as good as any you can buy!

Soon you'll be making your own baits and getting the satisfaction of getting fish on a bait you made yourself for a 1/4 of the price you can buy one for! Who knows where this may lead you. For me, I then starting making a few rough jerkbaits and then it was on to my biggest challenge yet- crankbaits. Crankbaits are tough, time consuming and if you mess up anything, even a little bit, the bait will show you something is wrong first time you use it. Best luck and go make your own lures if you don't already. It took me 15 minutes to do this one and that was taking pics the whole time. Best luck guys, any questions please ask. Once again, this is how I do it. There are a million ways to do it but this works for me after trying just about everyway possible. If anyone makes one for themselves please share!

This is a new bait I am messing with. 10" body and 5oz deep diver with a 1/4" lexan lip, 2 line ties and 6 clear coats. I had it out and it swims great all the way up to fast speeds! This is my next project as I am happy with how it performed and the action is different depending on which line tie you use. A fast tighter wiggle to a wider slower wobble! Thanks for your time and I hope at least one person tries this out for themselves!

If people like these step by step things, I will do more in the future. Good fishing and even better times out fishing - Zach Baker

That sometimes happens to me. Get a fish right off the bat and then pull pud for the rest of the day, lol.

You guys setting the hooks a few times- that has always given me bad results. Just my opinion. When I used to fish spoons a bunch I had no issues going to a single hook. Tigerhunter- you using braid? If your using braid and a half way sharp hook, imo set once and the fight is on. Personally, I would never set more than once as things happen like ripping a hole too big in their mouth where the hooks can fall out easier or ripping hooks out of a skin hooked fish. Even though they are small now, later in the season some bigger tigers should show up in the shallows. Usually the hooks on those spoons aren't the best- if you having issues try a VMC conecut hook (best big hook they make, imo) or a single siwash and make sure they are sharp, check them all day when fishing and resharpen as needed. Best luck and congrats on banging up the tigers on your lake. Is it only spoons you have trouble hooking up on?

Good to see you back on here Mike!!! Wednesday huh? Osama "Bait" Laden, lol. Ever start twisting up you own bucktails yet? I don't see the Rabbid Squirrels in the magazines this year. Time to make your own Old Man. Hows the hand?

I really doubt it will be that dirty. I also doubt that the weedbeds will be 1/2 of what they were last year for the opener. Good luck guys.

Slimey- is it legal to throw musky lures the day before musky season opens? No, being an expert like we all know you are you should know that predatory fish hit spoons and no predatory fish were in season during that time. If anyone has any legal questions please call Slimey at 1-315-ASK-SLIME.

Earlier this year there were some 2x that size spawning. Some of the biggest walleyes I have ever seen anywhere. Don't get caught throwing that cleo though, nothing that would hit that spoon is in season.

Your lucky if it only costs $20 Ronix. Losing a few Plows would really hurt the budget. Problem with the bimini is you need it to pass cleanly through the guides every cast (hence the reason for this sort of leader) and the bimini is a good size knot. Ronix- don't make this whole thing tougher than it needs to be. Keep it simple. We tend (including myself) to make this thing tougher than we need it to be. I am still a fan of single strand wire at times but if I need a single strand wire it means I am using a jerkbait of topwater and there is no swivel on the leader. Just a piece of wire looped on both ends with a smaller than normal (normal for me) size snap. On my phantoms which I will fish all day, sometimes I leave out the snap and wire direct. Keep some spare wire in the boat and you can make up leaders all summer long when they get all bent up. For cranks and bucktails- its flouro. Remember to KEEP IT SIMPLE b/c tying back to back uni's on the water takes more time than just tying on a swivel until you do it a few times! Having fun yet?

By the way- even though I fish mostly flouro leaders throughout the season- I don't know how much it helps b/c if a fish is leader shy- what about he 3 big ole 5/0 trebles hanging off the bait? Is that natural and stealthy to have all that metal hanging off? Just a thought, I think- if its time to feed, you could fish a bait off your anchor rope and still get hit so who knows? Not me.

Clinch knot, mushroom the tag end and add a drop of superglue. If you are having trouble tying your canoe knot- have fun w/ the back to back uni-knots! If you don't want a swivel, try the welded rings. Oh- some people use a big nail in a board to tighten the knots off of. Have fun with your knot adventure, been there- done it. You may end up w/ a swivel on your line before too long.

Ha, Ha, Ha- everyone make fun of my new boat, just not my hat! Ha, Ha! Won't be so funny when you see me hook up and put that trolling motor on warp speed and come flying past you. Don't be jealous! My pink boat with custom chair ROCKS and that trolling motor gets me going fast enough! Look for me on the opener w/ the new custom ride! Don't be jealous guys, I can teach you how to make your own boat for under $50 but you need to furnish your own chair. I do need to find the correct adapter to hang up my new radio on that chair. I am looking at rigging options, just don't want to slap it together, needs to look professional! Go BAMA! Go BAMA! GO BAMMMMMMMMMMMMA!

If I don't catch em its back home for a nap!

You fish where the fish are Ronix! Always some nice ones caught early down south on live bait. Problem is their will be a dozen boats already doing it and its a really small area. Some guys anchor, some guys just drift into each other. Combat fishing.

Holding down the FART!

Maybe we can do an informal one if you guys want. $5 each going towards biggest fish? I won't be disappointed if we don't do one, it will just be nice to get out fishing in NY. I say a tiger is worth an extra few points since they can be elusive this time of year. Later in the summer its no issue but in May they can be a tough nut to crack. I say add 5" to the length of a tiger for opening days big fish if you get one. So a 36" tiger would actually beat a 40" pike. Any thoughts? I already have my game plan worked out. You will see me fishing the same 300 yard stretch all day going back over it many times until the fish think its time to eat, most likely fishing the same lure all day. Super high confidence bait that got me 17 tigers and some fatty pike (40"+) last year without putting much time in. Those who know me know what lure I am talking about! That bait also rocks for big bass even though I hate getting a hit and finding out its a 5lb bass and then skipping it across the surface so I can get the damn thing off. Darn bass getting in my way! I bet a dollar I know where Solgrande will be fishing. Cpt Larry and Nitro will be there also I believe.

With all this reading Ronix, I expect a few fish pics from you this year!

Mike- weather channel on the ship to shore radio gives barometer. Have fun with the fronts this year, lol! Some people down in Ohio were saying their handhelds sucked and never changed also. Just when you think you know a little bit about fishing- you realize your just a rookie compared to the great ones! I am like a sponge on everything Larry says and you should be also. My catch rates have really improved since I started listening to him. Follow his advice and yours will start to improve.

Lost a piggie 2 foot from the boat thursday and a couple of rips each day but they didn't get good hooks in them. Learned so much about trolling w/ Larry it isn't even funny. He got a big old nasty catfish that we both thought at first was a big ole skie, lol. Man I wish we would have got that good one! My fault I guess but it happens to all of us. Going to PA in a couple of weeks to Pym to some other PA lakes. It was a tough trip- post spawn skies w/ super muddy water and to add a huge cold front on top of it with big 55mph wind gusts. Hey- can't get them all time right?