zach

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.

did you see your name on it? one of these has 2 tow eyes just to mess around w/ just like a plow but i use even better and heavier wire. this is that other style.

Nitro-if you look in the first picture, your name's on the one on the right, i write everyones name on them if i know them or if its for a gift. hooks? who needs stinking hooks? no, i add the best hooks i have ever found for muskies. VMC conecuts, the same ones that went through my pinky finger w/ no effort at all. i will post some more pics when i get the others done. i have also been working on a bigger more streamlined deep diver to try to get down where legend perchbaits go. i will post a pic of those later also. its 7.5" and a huge lip and a perch profile. i am making some just for the tourney for myself but have around 25 blanks cut to do at a later time. take care and thanks guys, i mean it!

that x-ray if horrible to look at. i can remember back in the day at chautauqua, my dad and i were fishing and his black lab stepped on a suick and had hooks through his paws. those poor dogs. i had to show the ole lady this one. crazy picture. looks like a big old salmon hook.

foils/ black perch's glittered niagara river walleye w/ pearl scale white tiger/ orange belly night shiner black perch tonight i think i need to do some firetigers (green and orange), some green perch's and solgrande is gonna have me do some gold foiled niagara river walleyes. i am also doing a green foiled perch for myself. getting ready for next weekend tournament! anyone else getting excited? i am starting @ 12:01am friday night and pulling another all nighter/ all dayer again just trying to beat solgranded at all means necessary. lol . take care and good fishing. zach baker p.s. oh i almost forgot- go catch a fattie as long as its smaller than mine. lol. anyone else getting excited?

nitro- i was just asking bob about you last week. i haven't seen you since tiger fishing in july. i hope you get more fish in those 4 days than you caught all last year! good to see you back in the swing of things. i will do anything you want. later today i should post some black perch's, niagara river walleyes, white tiger and some foils that people ordered. the foils are looking better each one i do. where are you fishing for those 4 days?

i have a friend who spent friday and saturday at chautauqua and did 6 while losing 3 more. a "pb" 51.5" SLOB, a 47" and some more nice ones. all of these fish were caught on the same color and size lure amazingly. its crazy how picky they can be some times. whats the size and color???????? lol. It's not a firetiger perchbait! it was a 5" niagara river walleye color crankbait.

come on--- on the way home from the musky opener i had my bearing go and it did damage the axle slightly. i fixed it myself but finding bearings and seals was fun. sorry about the bummer bearing. didn't you here it grinding? i can recommend brads trailer world. it was the only place that could help me. good job on the northerns. Brads Trailer 1950 Lyell Ave Rochester, NY 14606-2384 (585) 458-4498 not sure if they are open on sundays or not. i have a game on monday night if you want me to get them for you. i can also do repairs if you want to drag my butt up to the trailer in the islands. i have done bearings and seals many times and can almost do it blind folded. you know my ph # if you need any help. take care bob.

Awesome! I have wanted to go for a couple of years now also. Its a chance to talk to bait makers and get some stuff not sold anywhere else. Custom colors are always a bonus of going to shows. I may even "buck up" and talk to Bill Looney and get an Amma Bamma. I hope to see lots of familiar faces and i personally plan on buying some stuff from Legend Lures and Dale Wiley. Anyone on this site make banners? I could use one.

http://www.butlerfishingshow.com/

I just talked to Howard Wagner and signed up for a booth at the fishing show. If anyone has time come down 2/12 and 2/13 for a neat show. Dale Wiley, Mr. Toothy and lots of other good bait makers will be there offering all sorts of custom colors. I am really excited to do this and hope it turns out well. I know Larry Jones makes it down every year to look at all the new stuff. Take care and thanks for following me on this adventure I am wrapped up in. Thanks for everyones support, honestly, thanks to everyone who has helped me out so far! there are many of you guys. I spoke w/ marc thorpe and gregg thomas and they both have baits coming their way. Once again I thank everyone for their support!

would it help to cover them in epoxy after they are painted or how about powder coating them? you can powder coat many different ways.

hey jax- from my old job i know lots of painters that use urethanes and could spray for you. i have a compressor but no big gun to do it or i would just paint it for you. call me @ 585-414-0138 and i can give you some ph #'s but it may not be too cheap. i have thought about doing it for some time also. i need to use some gluvit for a small rivet leak also.

I would like to thank everyone here that has picked up a lure off me. My first batch of 45 lures is already gone and I just want to take a second to say thanks very much to you guys! I don't know how else to say it. Thanks for giving me and my lures a chance and i hope you get a 50" on them just like i did on monday! Next batch should be done next week except for and special order i have to do by this weekend for Bill. Good fishing to everyone and Blueye and haven't forgotten about you either, I promise. Any problems or comments please give me a call @ 585-414-0138.

that right there is what its all about! i hope you all had a great time b/c those memories will hopefully last a lifetime.