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Well my awesome wife surprised me for Christmas with a trip to go up to Milwaukee and go fishing. We had a really great time and some REALLY awesome fishing. We fished 3 of our 5 days there, and it did not disappoint. The first 2 days were on the ice and the last day was open water. We focused on BIG, TROPHY fish and that is what we got. Both my wife and I broke our PB steelhead (rainbow) and brown trout records. It is really fun catching 10+lb fish through a 10'' hole in the ice on light tackle and 2-6lb test. Fights lasted from 4 mins to more than 15. I'm tired just getting home, but I am sure I left a ton of info out, and will get to it tomorrow. But for now, what you really want to see...... Jeff

The subject of "imitation" has been largely discussed here, you don´t have to "imitate" anything, your lures "imitate" whatever the fish thinks, we really don´t know what a bass thinks when it sees a lure, so it´s all speculation, what you really need to know is that lures catch fish and it has more to do with who is behind the rod handle than what/how the bait looks like or you make it look like. In my neck of the woods bass have never seen trout, salamanders, shad, perch, walleye, pike and so and lures that "imitate" them catch fish as well as those who "imitate" what bass may eat in the waters around my neck of the woods.

The bass in my avatar fell for a Gambler Big EZ (Addendum: my avatar keeps changing ) Tackle Warehouse http://www.***.com/Gambler_Big_EZ_/descpage-BIGEZ.html

Walking through Dick's Sporting goods, looking at soft plastics, my Son exclaims: "Let's get these! It says "Bass Love them!!" Me: "Yep, now look at these" I show him a different Brand. Him: "It says Bass love them." Me: "Uh huh...and" Him: "Hey....They ALL say "bass Love them...." Lesson learned at a young age.

<<<The fish in my avatar ate my crankbait off a rock while it was snagged and I was trying to get it unstuck, all skill right??

My benchmade or bark river knives work fine.

I was a hardcore muskie guy before I got into bass fishing, now I muskie fish only a few times each season. I'd say i've caught around 60 total. I would hate to see how much money my father has spent on muskie tackle, luckily I was in my teens/ low 20's when I did most of my fishing so he let me choose from his 400, give or take a few, baits. Here is my biggest at 48.5. My dad has a 52 and my mom, mrs. lucky, has a 55 and 50 to her credit.

$200 on musky lures? That's about 3 lures, right?

Invest in GREAT hook cutters. Don't skimp on them. It's more important than any lure, rod, or reel you might invest in Musky fishing. Next, plan a trip to Eagle Lake, Ontario. Welcome to the Esox addiction.

... to get a book bag for work. When I got home and opened it up there was a bag of Senkos, two bags of Havoc Craw Fatty, a Rat l Trap, and an inline spinner bait inside... bait monkey.

I'm guessing 7-8 lbs. Nice fish. For reference this fish weighed 9-2.

2014 being the key?

Thief monkey

I agree that it isn't a great "heavy cover" frog due to the above mentioned lip. As also stated by Mark it is a fantastic open water type frog, it's easy to walk and the extra "spitting action" really is different. I don't have very many pads on the lake I typically fish but there is a ton of grass and this thing is great around the outside edges or in holes or lanes. I've found it to be very effective around wood and worked over points very much like you would a spook. I've got most of the colors but I can say, with a whole summer using them, Dirty White, Poison, and I Know It are the colors I got the most bites on. Also IMHO the 55 size isn't nearly as well thought out or designed as the 70. It is very tough for me to get them (55) to walk correctly for any amount of distance, I think this is due to them not being weighted exactly right, though this may just be me as I've not heard anyone else say they're having trouble with the 55.

To be serious, the winter reminds me of how precious every moment I get to spend on the beautiful Minnesota lakes truly is. I vow to stop and smell the roses this summer. When I step into my boat and start up the Merc and run across the lake to throw some early morning poppers on my favorite lake point and see the LMB explode or when I pitch a frog into the lilies just to watch it disappear with a gulp from below, I will stop and thank the lord above for such a privilege.

I use both the EWG and the straight shank hooks. Personally if I am not punching I tend to like the EWG quite a bit more, especially in the 4/0-6/0 sizes. I am not sure where all of the missing fish on EWG comes from I have about an equal strike to land ratio with both types of hooks. I also use a snell on both of them. I personally like the way a bait sits on the EWG a little better than the straight shank flippin hooks. Mitch

I use my home made round heads with a screw lock. I find the round heads, while they may not stand straight up, they stand up much better than the "stand up" heads. Unless a stand up head is really heavy and the worm is pretty buoyant and it still has to land perfectly flat, otherwise they fall over right on their sides versus a round head that will often at least stand at a 45 degree angle off the bottom. Just my observations from fishing with lots of different kinds of shakyheads.

I prefer not to go over 10lb mono on spinning gear. With braid I mainly use 20lb but I've heard many other like 30lb

Biting today.

There's some measure of Skill and Luck in every outing, but the serious angler strives to factor-out as much Luck as possible. Roger

You need to try the MegaStrike Shak e2 Professional Series http://www.megastrike.com/#!products/vstc2=shake2-heads

I think I signed up 7 years ago.

I use regular fluorocarbon line for my leaders, always have. Zero problems with it, and I don't ever plan on using "leader"material labeled line for this. Leader size depends on the cover your fishing. Simple as that. While your main line might be 20, 30, or something higher lb test, it's perfectly fine to use, say 8lb fluorocarbon leader if you're dropshotting open water, or just the opposite, use 17lb fluorocarbon leaders if you're pitching cover.

I too use filler spools and have for years

Here's what I'm currently working on. These are all intended to be fished in the coming weeks. 2 of them are actually jerkbaits, same difference. They're all basswood except for the orange jerkbait which is balsa.

lake el salto in mexico

The leader line is much stiffer and more abrasion resistant than filler spools of fluoro. You don't get very much because you are only using it to tie short leaders. It is too stiff and has too much memory to spool a reel with it. Filler spools are what we normally buy, they are designed to be soft and allow you to fill a reel completely. I know there are a few guys here who primarily fish braid with leaders, I'm sure they will have more details for you.

Nice Fish! Great Vid too!

The winning boater wasn't doing much until 11am when he scaled down in size because of the cold front that rolled in Friday. He switched from Crawdaddys to BB Crickets and was flipping them to where the grass was pushed up to dead grass. The big girls were underneath it all because that dead stuff holds heat. He won the check with the BB Cricket, while the winning coangler used Big EZs and EZ Swimmers equally.

Alright so my review on them lures! Got out there today and gave em a try. All 3 had great action. Slowly reeling in the lures moved very well. Cranking the lures was excellent as well. You could feel the vibration as the bait moved. The treble hooks aren't great. I got hung up one of the three sides broke off. I got 2 tugs on it, missed both fish, didn't set the hooks and the lures were spit out. The hooks are sharp so I have to blame that on me. Overall If I have to buy some good Mustad hooks to replace them it is still well worth the investment. I think these lures are going to help me catch some fish pretty soon!

There is a bit of luck in just being able to take that next breath. But luck is random and inconsistent. Skill is steady and can be, more or less, relied upon. If you took a poll of heart patients and asked them if they'd rather their heart surgeon be lucky or skillful, I'd venture to guess that most would prefer the skillful one.

Have you tried swearing at it? It hasn't worked for me but...just a suggestion.

Some "technique specific" rods are built with tons of angler input and research, and aren't all that great at anything else. Try using a G. Loomis jig and worm rod for jerkbaits - even if it is the same specs as your jerkbait rod - my experience: yuk! Other companies put an honest effort into helping angler pick a rod that will work for the application. What I don't get is that they feel the need to label EVERY single rod in the lineup with a specific technique. Not really necessary. Others crank me up when they list every technique under the sun for their gen. purpose 7ish foot mh/f rods. Uh, yeah. So, what ploy have fell victim to? Aside from a couple of lines totally under performing, most everything I've tried has caught fish. Rods, reels, lines, baits - all have a time and place. Only once did I have one of those "magic bait" moments, and that's when Berkley Power Worms first came out. Compared to what I was using before, the fish really held on longer. You still had to get bit, though.

Musky fishing definately needs some "addiction" or obsession over it, otherwise no one would do it. I would suggest just to keep it simple. I have 300+ musky lures, yet I usually only take a select few with me that I have confidence in. I will say, there is no greater reward to me than catching a musky. Good luck in your new addiction.

I went around 1:00 today and fished with a few different brushhogs. Then used a fluke for a short while with no strikes. Put on a culprit incredi craw and pitched at a drain that had water flowing in the pond and got a hit but missed it. Tossed it back and he smashed it. About a 4-5 lb bass. Would of stayed a lil longer but I forgot my hoodie at home.

Entry fee should be slightly less for a non-boater. Period. Clubs that know all the arguments surrounding this issue are set up this way. Clubs that are not are in it for the money, not the fishing.

I hope that I don't get too choked up shoveling the snow out of my driveway.

Luck is being able to find a new PB in the lake, skill is getting the PB in the boat.

He's mistaken. Those are pickerel he's catching

2013 was my first year fishing. Grand total came to 5 days! Free time is scarce, so I'll be happy if I get 20 next year. I'm jealous of all of you.

Look up Stay in Charge. It will charge your batteries while you are motoring during the day and top them off on the way to and from the storage shed using your tow vehicle charging system.

I'm a Minn Kota guy. Lifetime warranty on the composite shaft. Can't say that about Motorguide

I doubt the brand of gear ever played significantly into tourney wins. These guys can find fish and make them bite when no one else can. That's why they win.

I've already asked many pros about this at several Classics. You can check out all my videos on the video section of this site. In a nutshell - they don't get any "special" or "custom" gear from the manufactures (other than the concept gear they're asked to help develop). They get the same stuff you can buy off the shelf.

This is my take: Everyone here is "family".

Hmmm, fishing before work, that sounds good. My job is right next to a canal, I just need to cross the street and fish. I think I might give that a go... Or heck I might even try for lunch. I'm sure my coworkers will think I'm a crazy person but whatever! LOL

You might be a redneck

I set three new PB this year. A 14 in. -1.5 lb. Perch (caught while fishing for Smallmouth) A 7 lb. Smallmouth A 53.5 inch Musky I am going to be honest. I don't anticipating beating any of these PB for the rest of the life let alone in the next year (except for maybe the Perch, which was caught by total accident anyway)

coryn, you will find there is a method to my madness & it will make you a better angler if you can hang!