T-Billy

I'm a straight braid fan for most of my fishing, but for BFS 4# YZH is how I roll.

I drive a crude tanker in SE OH, the WV panhandle, and western PA. We got a request from the PA DNR a few years ago to check our trucks for them before leaving a well pad and report any sightings. I never saw one until last week. I killed 28 of them while loading on a pad near Racoon State Park last week. I did a quick online search and found they're pretty widespread thoughout the midwest now, so I didn't bother reporting them. That cat's out of the bag.

I MUCH prefer a chatterbait over a spinner at night, especially if fishing close to the bottom. I've missed/foul hooked alot of fish on a spinner when slow rolling one at night because they often hit the blade instead of the hook, as @A-Jay's pic shows. It's not an issue when fishing one close to the surface, but I still prefer a chatterbait for that also when fishing in the dark.

Sorry, no can do. TnA Tackle, and Livingston Lures both offer a chatterbait designed for muskie though.

What a year Katie!!! Congrats!!!

It's a shame they don't put at least some cheap Aluminum Oxide guides on em like Lew's use on their lower end stuff. The blanks are probably pretty decent. All their rods above that series offer great value though IMO.

Thanks for the heads up, but those stainless guides won't cut it for me.

The muskie record is actually one that is a possibility. I had one of that caliber follow my A-rig in a couple springs ago. Couldn't get it to chew unfortunately.

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 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". ? Shortly after, the #6 Vibrax got it done again with a nice, thick 40.5" That little spinner has quickly earned a place in the staring lineup. Sucks it's been discontinued, but I have parts arriving today to make my own. I spent awhile longer in the shallow weeds with just a single lazy follow to show for it, so I moved back out to the deeper 10'-13' weeds, and managed to crank up this little 33" before the bite completely shut off. After almost four more hours without even a follow, I called it around noon. This heat wave has really tightened up the bite windows. I can't get anything going in the dark either, just that early morning bite. I'll close this out by stating that, muskie knuckle trumps bass thumb every time. ?

One of my favorite smells in the world.

She'll get back to you this afternoon @LrgmouthShad. Right now she's busy catching 97 bass on a two hour trip.

If an Alabama bass swallows a sinker in California, does it have to have a Prop 65 tag inserted to warn anglers of the devastating effects of eating it?

Thanks @Dwight Hottle. I'm not sure I should even be mentioned in the same breath as those two, but I appreciate the compliment. I did put together a new creation yesterday and got to spend a little time with it this afternoon. It's a chatterbait built on a piece of .062 wire like a bucktail. I used a 1oz tungsten flippin weight for the head, a tinsel skirt, a VMC 5/0 6X strong treble on the buisness end, and a screw lock added to the split ring to hold a trailer, in this case a 6" grub. That tinsel has outstanding action behind that big blade. I had a low 40's and a mid 30's follow it in this afternoon, but they were lazy follows, wouldn't even follow it into the 8. Same deal with a mepps muskie killer. Four lazy follows on it. Slick calm, sunny, and warm, it was actually more action than I expected. I think once this water cools a bit more, and we start getting some fall winds, this chatterbait is gonna be a solid producer. That VMC is a beast of a hook. Perfect for pulling big slimers up out of the weeds.

Alberto with two wraps through the loop to finish before cinching. Never had one fail

I'd say it depends on the bait and fish location in your water. Lots of shad in my local lakes. They're moving into the back of bays that have creeks and weed growth right now, so it's spinnerbait season. Right after turnover those shad will congregate into HUGE schools in the main lake basins. The A-Rig and a flippin stick will be the only rods in my boat from that point until iceover. I'll be chucking the rig the majority of the time, but I'll pull up on some shallow sunbaked laydowns in the afternoon and pitch them. Fish like to lay tight to that wood on sunny afternoons late in the year.

Iron is all we use. Works just fine on a glass top.

Sweet!!! Looking forward to seeing some Brazilian beasts in the other species thread. Good luck down there.

Roger that. I've been getting to experience that feeling alot recently while muskie fishing. Infuriating fish, but oh so much fun. I had no idea that I could get the number of bites that I'm getting, or I'd have started chasing them YEARS ago.

I've had great days and terrible days in every season. Summer is easiest because of more stable weather and patterns. Early spring and late fall are giant seasons vs numbers for the most part.

Only you would call that a cold bite. ?

31" and 37" this morning. Lost a mid 30's and a low 40's also, all within about 45 minutes. That bite window SLAMMED shut. Five follows and no takers over the next 6hrs. Today's MVP was a little #6 Blue Fox Super Bou in white/red. Killer little spinner that has unfortunately been discontinued. I acually found the one I was using today. I just cleaned the auction site out in that color. Shad have started moving into the backs of the bays with creeks entering them. Little white and nickle spinners should be a hot bait until turnover. That marabou and tinsil tail on these has crazy action. Looks like I'll be building bucktails this winter. I need more of these small spinners in my life, with different weights so I can fish them deeper.. Those fish wouldn't look at anything else today.

Lately... The clutch on my Daiwa Lexa WN engaging mid cast. I about threw that POS in the lake this morning. The newer Lexa HD's are AWESOME, the previous model, not so much.

I had a conversation with a Great Horned Owl at about 4:00 this morning. Hooooo.... Hoo..Hoo..Hoo..Hooooooo.......... LOL.

This morning I caught numbers 29 and 30 since I started chasing these toothy slimers on August 10th. Counting only fish over 30". This morning, I caught a 33" in the dark on my musky chatterbait, and the second, a 35.5" on a crankbait. Had four other follows, and had one bite in the 8, but didn't hookup. That's two, in two predawn trips on the chatterbait. I'm building it on Do-It, 1oz and 1.5oz sparkie heads. Using a 7/0, 30 degree mustad hook. The mold calls for a 5/0, 60 degree hook, but going with a 30 allows me to fit a bigger hook in the cavity with minimum alteration to the mold. I wish I could find a 30 degree 8/0, but my search has been fruitless. The mag blade, with a 6" grub trailer hunts like crazy when you burn it, and shakes hard enough to rattle the fillings out of your teeth. LOL. I'm trimming a bit off the tip of the blade to allow for more gap between it and the hook point, and winding on a piece of .051 stainless wire for the line tie. No clip to fail on this bad boy.

I haven't. The gears are backordered at Abu. I cancelled the order. I've decided to just leave them 5 speed.