T-Billy

As much gap as possible. I'm a big fan of straight shanks for Trigs, and 28/30 degree jigs.

Stained water = black and blue. Clear water = green pumpkin. I never use rattles.

Carp will eat em too. I've caught several. Biggest was over 13#, on 6# XT. When you see them rooting around on bottom in the shallows, toss one into the mud cloud and prepare to go for a ride. That's actually a good smallmouth pattern at times. Smallies will follow those carp around and pick off crawfish they root up.

The small 3.5" Big Bite"Yo Mamma's" are great too. Available in bulk packs at a very reasonable price.

Oh come on, it's not a drum for crying out loud!!! 😂 Even if it's a carp?

All my life. This is the mildest start to winter that I can recall. We've had some others that weren't much colder though. It's been this way all year. With last year's spring being long, and unseasonably cold, everything's been about three weeks late this year. The spawn, weed growth, the fall cool down... That carried right over into winter. Ol Man Winter is on the way though. Snow all weekend, then temps falling into single digit lows, with highs in the teens and twenty's next week. Looking like an "interesting" work week for us truck drivers.

Amen to that brother. First time I've ever been able to fish clear into January. We got a bunch of warm rain two days ago, but the extended forecast is looking like typical January. If it holds the lakes will have a lid on them by late next week.

Dunno about fish, but they'll catch woodpeckers for sure!!!

Unseasonably warm here, and all that rain yesterday brought the lakes up a foot, and warmed the inflows. Likely moving shad and muskie up onto the breaks, and suspending high in the basins, but I ain't fishin in today's 20-40 mph winds. I'll be chipping away at the winter honey-do list instead.

There's not a ton of choices in musky rods in the shorter lengths you're looking for. If 7'6" will work for you, then there's many more options. Daiwa has a 7'6" H Prorex model that should work for all the baits you mentioned and then some. I've been impressed with my 9'5" XH Prorex rods. They're a lot of rod for the $$$ IMO, $149. Their moderate taper also lends to versatility. I'm comfortable throwing everything from mid size cranks to double 10's on my XH.

First place I check these days. I just picked up a couple Daiwa Lexa 400 HD's for $200 each. $329 everywhere else I looked. I won't be ordering any more rods from them though.

I understand. I was just trying to make the point that it's easier to throw on heavier gear, and that strike detection and hooking/landing smaller fish on that rig shouldn't be an issue.

I'm throwing rigs on a 9' H muskie rod. Heavy wire 6/0 hooks. Wire is .082 and .088. 1/4 oz heads and 4.8" keitechs. I'm targeting muskie but, I've had zero issues hooking and landing bass and saugeye with it. Average cast is 80-90 feet without a ripping it, just lobbing it out there. I used to use a 7'11" flippin stick and it worked fine also, but I found it more tiring to use.

I have bass swimbait rods rated 2-8 oz and muskie rods rated 2-10 oz. Two different animals. The muskie rod is MUCH stouter. That assault stick should serve you well for throwing rigs. That additional power of the muskie rod, while not needed for fighting bass, makes chucking a rig easy compared to even XH bass rods. Sensitivity shouldn't be an issue. Rig bites generally aren't subtle. Give it a go and see what you think about it. Just make sure to set your drag appropriately for the hooks you're using.

Sometimes small details make a BIG difference. It was a super frustrating Nov/Dec for me. I was on fish. I was getting LOTS of follows, but getting bit was a struggle most days. I was having a multiple fish day here and there, just not consistently like last year. EVERYBODY is throwing rigs for muskie around here now after seeing my guide buddy's success last fall. I thought maybe that was causing the drop off in my success, but wasn't convinced because he had an epic fall on it again. Out of frustration, late in the day, on my last trip of 23, I put a 4.8 on a jig head, and the light bulb came on the instant I saw it on the first retrieve. I made a hand full of those jigs, and went right back to catching them, in 38 degree water. Small change equaled BIG effect in this case. Side note: My guide buddy and his clients boated exactly 400 muskie over 30" in 23. Talk about a "Hammer". The man is the definition of that term.

Pretty much since last August. I'm not done bass fishing by any means, but I'm finding muskie to be a whole nuther level of fun. Having a beast like this rocket up from the deep and smash your bait in the 8, literally at your feet, is HIGHLY addictive.

Unable to find lightweight jig heads with a muskie worthy hook, I started rigging them on a 6/0 flippin hook with a bell sinker on the split ring as a keel weight. This changed the action more than I realized, giving it more body roll and less kick. The musky sure noticed. It caught fish, but not at nearly the rate I was catching them last year. I didn't even realize the difference in action until I put one on a jighead a couple weeks ago, then it was readily apparent. So... I went to the T-Billy Skunk Works and came up with this. I modified my Manic Mullet mold's 5/16 cavity to accept a 6/0 Mustad 32850. Problem solved to the tune of a 31", a 40", a 42", and a 44" in three trips under tough conditions since January 1st.

This is from a post I made last October. I had an awesome morning, with one of the greatest fish catches of my life. I bagged my first muskie on the new chatterbait at first light. The fish hit mid retrieve and we slugged it out through about 40' of shallow milfoil. As I got it close it made a hard run under the boat. I got it turned and it came back out going full tilt, turned in a semi circle, and rocketed up about 4' out of the water, as they're apt to do in the shallows. The fish came unbuttoned mid air, and sent my bait flying back at me, while I was ducking it, the fish landed ON THE FLOOR OF MY BOAT!!! LOL!!! So, I put in in the net to chill while I set the phone up for a pic. I get the green, uncooperative fish out of the net for a photo, and as I turn it horizontal, it goes ballistic, wrenches out of my hands, bounces off the deck, and goes right back INTO THE NET!!! NO FLIPPIN WAY!!! ? My first thought was of Paul's comment in Romans 8:31, What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Lol. Anyhow, twas a total fiasco, but my new bait is on the board with a 42". God bless Y'all, Tim.

Thank you for the kind words Katie. This year should have been even better, but I blew it by making a small change to my rig that ended up being a big deal to the fish. It took me WAAYYY too long to realize the issue, and it cost me a bunch of fish. Lesson finally learned though, and I've started 24 off with a few good ones. Fingers crossed for an epic March. Alex is absolutely wrecking them lately. Happy as can be for him, and looking forward to seeing more of those winter sows of his.

#AlabamaHawgSnatcher

Same two favorite lakes I've fished for decades, but with a bigger focus on muskie through all seasons. That said, there'll still be a fair bit of time spent chasing bass, especially in the dark from June through September.

Bubba. Stiff blade not the flex. I use my electric Bubba when I have a bunch to clean, and my 9" stiff blade when I just have a few.

You need more squirrels. I know a guy in Tennessee that might be able to help you out. 😉

Got out for a short trip today. 7:30 - 11:30. It was a balmy 31 degrees, with a cool refreshing breeze blowing 10-15 out of the north. The ol rock pile produced again, giving up a 40" and a 31". Gotta love those fat winter fish. Even that little 31" is built like a railroad tie. Both fish came about 10min apart around 8:30. Surface temp is down to 38.7, and the bite windows ain't open long. I gotta work the next four, but the extended forecast is looking better than it was. If it holds up, I may get out next Tues and Wed. Fingers crossed.

Whichever one the fish want that day. In really gnarly stuff it's always a flippin rig with a snelled straight shank. I throw both on MH to XH rods. That's a bait and cover dependent decision.