T-Billy

Not a fighting technique but, snelled straight shank flippin hooks instead of EWG's. Hooks 'em in the roof of the mouth and does a better job of keeping them pinned.

Thanks, It sure has been. The end is near. Tuesday could be my last trip, or I might get to fish another week or two. Depends on how accurate ol Inaccuweather's extended forecast is. Lol. Surface temp was 42 today and it's been steadily dropping about one degree per day. It gets super tough once it drops below 40.

Mid 30's and blowing 15 - 25, occasional rain and snow showers. Brr... but I managed to add a couple fat 40 inchers to the tally. Two more days of fishcation left. 30's again tomorrow, but light winds will make it much more pleasant. Planning on putting in a long day.

We're well behind you folks up north here in OH, but time is running short on the 2025 fishing season. Water's at 43 and dropping about 1 degree per day. If the current forecast holds, Tuesday might be my last trip.

I got out for a 3hr tour morning. 24 degrees at launch, but the winds finally subsided. I picked up the 45" beauty below about 10 minutes in, trolling the same point that the 46.25" came from the other day. Making an early pass over this point is mandatory at this point. An hour or so later I lost another big'n while trolling over a deep rock pile, then put a 36" in the net about a half hour before I had to call it quits. Current total stands at 106 for me and 124 for Team Tim & Tammy. One heck of a year!!! Three more days of fishcation then back to reality. Booo...

I'm using chrome also and I've had none of the mentioned issues.

That's just crazy talk.

Thank you Katie. You've been a blessing to all of us here.

We're having Thanksgiving dinner at my house on Saturday, so I got to go play today. It was a balmy 28 degrees, with a nice tropical breeze blowing out of the SSW at 15-30, and occasionally pretty little white cloud flakes would come blowing through sideways. 😁 I spent most of the day trolling between two protected points. Things started out with a bang. It only took about ten minutes of trolling rigs to come up with the 46.25" beauty below. Then it was four hours before I got another bite. That one was 35". 2.5 more hours of no action before I called it. Back after 'em again tomorrow morning. Similar conditions.

Nope.

My bass fishing approach definitely got streamlined over the years, and I'm trending that direction with musky also, now that I've gained some experience with them. I'm a firm believer in the K.I.S.S system.

This is important!!! ☝️ Equally important is securing the cable in a manner that won't allow it to get pinched when deploying and stowing. I used black 8" ties.They're still holding fine after 7-8 years.

I wish you all a happy and blessed Thanksgiving.

Mission accomplished!!! #100 43.5" As good as it felt to get that one, netting this fat slob of a 42" for Tammy made me even happier!!! It ended up being a great day on the water, but it started rough with Tammy losing two in a row while trolling rigs around shad schools. Then I caught the 43.5 casting and while I was unhooking it, a fish grabbed the live shad we had down. She got that 3 footer almost to the net and then it came unbuttoned. So close to a double, yet so far... She got the 42 trolling about an hour later. I'm on vacation for the next 8 days, and both the forecast and what I'm seeing on the water are looking pretty good. Warm with showers tomorrow, wind and showers as the front moves through Wed, then temps are gonna crash Thurs for the rest of my time off with lows in the 20's and highs in the 30's. That'll tighten up the shad schools, and hopefully get the skis to get serious about putting the feed bags on. 🤞

@FLYING HIGH, I've added you to the prayer list also brother.

Sorry to hear this Tom. Y'all will be in my prayers every day.

No budget. I just buy what the monkey tells me to buy. He let me off pretty easy this year, which is good because he talked me into spending about 4K on muskie gear last year.

@HawkeyeSmallie, Tiger's also occur naturally on some lakes and rivers where the muskie and pike spawns overlap. I wish they stocked them here. They sure are a gorgeous fish.

#97 was a skinny 36.5". No pic. #98 was this fat 38.5". #99 was this fat 38.5" #100 Will have to wait till next week. I spent about 9 hours on the water today trolling A-rigs around shad schools. I was around tons of muskie, but getting bit wasn't easy. I got one mid morning then no bites until the last hour when I picked up the two 38.5's about 20 minutes apart. Short windows this time of year. I easily trolled over a few dozen fish at my baits depth, and got three eaters. Back to the grind for four days, then vacation for ten. Forecast looks good. I think I've timed it right this year. 🤞

#96 41.5" Worked hard for this one. 10hrs, one bite, and only raised two others. Front coming in tomorrow, hopefully it'll put 'em in a better mood.

Congratulations on owning a little slice of Heaven Katie. You are truly blessed.

FINALLY put a 40+ in the net today. First one since mid September. Been on decent numbers but quality fish have been scarce. That should improve as the water cools. We're getting there. Currently at 48 degrees. 42" and muskie #95 for the year. Closing in on that elusive century mark.

Try the little blue pill. It should straighten out in about 15min. 😁 Actually, I'd never heard of that before. I pray it heals up well for you.

Try pitching shallow wood on sunny days. Mid morning on is best.

The braid method is FAR less painful. About like ripping off a bandaid.