18 hours ago, Further North said:

 

 

 

That thing is pretty.

 

I did a little Google search as I was curious WHY they "created" the Tiger Musky.

 

In case some others weren't aware either, I'll share.   

 

The Tiger cannot reproduce, it is sterile. So you can put it in a lake to control other species and not worry about it also taking over.

 

Learn something every day.

@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.

The pond next to my job has been producing a ton of big browns on my social media feed, so after work today I put on my waders and tried to get one for myself. Got em!

10 hours ago, HawkeyeSmallie said:

I did a little Google search as I was curious WHY they "created" the Tiger Musky.

A slight correction: "they" didn't create tiger muskies.  They occur naturally anywhere pike and musky share the same water.

That fish is a natural tiger - the 4th in my boat this year.  There have never been any stocked in that river, or anywhere in the watershed.  Wisconsin doesn't stock them up north.

Naturally-produced ones are rare.  Four in one season is quite a feat.

 

I target them in 3 lakes within 40 minutes of my house.

 

My biggest is a 41 incher.  LAX Reproductions out of Conover, WI made a replica of that fish for me back in 2020.  A 40+ inch tiger is comparable to a 50+ inch pure strain.

 

 

1 hour ago, gim said:

Naturally-produced ones are rare.  Four in one season is quite a feat.

They are, and it is unusual...if you don't look at the numbers of years when I haven't even seen one, much less caught one...

Two of them were little guys - 20" range.

The one my fishing partner caught was 36" and a nudge.

The one I caught earlier this summer was smaller than that.

The fish weren't caught all that far apart as crows fly (I checked, just over 30 miles), but a very, very long way apart in terms of river miles, and dams, and impoundments (I asked Grok, about 250 miles).

Your 40" is a beast.  I wish we had more of them over here...but I don't really want them stocked.

13 hours ago, Further North said:

Your 40" is a beast. 

 

I picked it up at a muskie expo in Wausau, WI.  He had a big display there with a bunch of other replicas people were going to pick up, mostly pure strain versions.

 

There was one other tiger replica next to mine when I was there, and it was a 47 incher.  It was a behemoth.  Rick Lax told me that an angler had caught it on Lac Vieux Desert, a sizable lake on the Wisconsin-Michigan border that has traditionally produced some mammoth tigers in the past.  I looked this lake up, and interestingly enough, the world record tiger muskie is in fact from this lake.

2 hours ago, gim said:

 

I picked it up at a muskie expo in Wausau, WI.  He had a big display there with a bunch of other replicas people were going to pick up, mostly pure strain versions.

 

There was one other tiger replica next to mine when I was there, and it was a 47 incher.  It was a behemoth.  Rick Lax told me that an angler had caught it on Lac Vieux Desert, a sizable lake on the Wisconsin-Michigan border that has traditionally produced some mammoth tigers in the past.  I looked this lake up, and interestingly enough, the world record tiger muskie is in fact from this lake.

I didn't know that. Cool.

Are they naturals, or stocked?

In that particular lake, at this point in time, they are natural.

 

At one point they may have been stocked.

Took the entire summer off this year because of the heat, the longest time without fishing that I can remember in the past 35 years. But the boat is back up and running, and the window has just opened on a shot at a big crappie. Got the first 2+ of the fall/winter today along with a handful of smaller ones and a solid keeper bass.

 

 Back in 1965 the company I worked decided to vote in the UAW union and the owner told everyone if that happened he would close the doors, they did and he did!
Moved to Glendale and started a new job. My 1st day explored during lunch and found a local tackle shop that specialized in off shore long range fishing.

All the tackle and lures were new to me and fascinated with the pictures on the wall. There was a sign up sheet for Alijos Rocks trip south of Guadalupe island. I signed up!

 Now I needed everything for this trip a rod, reel, lures etc. The boat was 75’ Cabosco . I had a Tru Line rod with Penn Squider reel for local salt water fishing and need a rod for 50-60 lb Yellow tail a fish that grows maybe 25 lands locally. Bert the owner set me up with the tackle needed, totally a green horn, but he was honest. Bert suggested I take a spare 60 lb mono 600 yard spool of line, good suggestion.

I boarded the boat in San Diego and everyone on the boat knew each other and had dozens of rods and big boxes. I had a cavas bad full of stuff Bert gave me, out of my element, but a youngster at 25 and the old salts took me under their wing. 

We arrived at the rocks at night and set anchor. Everyone was up eating breakfast. At early dawn we get our tackle and bait up being newbie I get the bow, everyone else has the stern spit nailed down. 
Alijos Rocks are just that a half dozen spine rocks sticking out of the sea.

The stern guys are casting iron and I choose a live mackerel on Bert’s advice, nose hook it and lob cast it about 20’ letting it free swim. A big yellowtail takes off with the mackerel, I put the reel in gear and hang on. You must follow the fish keeping it in front of you and try not to go deep into the rocks bellow. The fish takes me around the boat and under the bow anchor chain all the time trying to follow crew instructions.  The crew gaffs the big yellowtail and congratulates me! My long range Yellowtail is over 50 lbs and holds up for jackpot money!

This is the start of over 40 years of off shore Baja big game fishing for tuna and marlin. Great memories.

Tom 

 

glad to have you back @Team9nine! 

15 hours ago, Team9nine said:

Took the entire summer off this year because of the heat

Ironically, I’ve just begun to take the entire winter off because of the cold.

 

Funny how that works.

3 minutes ago, gim said:

Ironically, I’ve just begun to take the entire winter off because of the cold.

 

Funny how that works.

Exactly what I’ve told the wife since moving from IN. Just trading frozen winter months off for summer heat months off…and I had gotten a bit burnt out (not from the heat - lol).

3 hours ago, Team9nine said:

Exactly what I’ve told the wife since moving from IN. Just trading frozen winter months off for summer heat months off…and I had gotten a bit burnt out (not from the heat - lol).

For me, the difference is that I can still do things in the frozen winter months. 

Not so much in the summer heat months down south.

Good brown after dark 

@TnRiver46 - Aaaawwwhhh, that one's so cute!  It's like @Team9nine is sending you his castoffs.  

 

@MassBass - what is the lure I see in the pic?  It almost looks like a plopper 70 but I can't see the tail.  

Been hunting for a citation (15”) crappie. I got on a really good bite but couldn’t quite hit the mark. They were biting nonstop for about 90 minutes. Caught and released around 50 with the majority of them in the 11-13.5” range. Not sure if I’ll search for a new spot or keep hoping to find a bigger one mixed in.

 

On 11/22/2025 at 4:00 PM, Further North said:

For me, the difference is that I can still do things in the frozen winter months. 

Not so much in the summer heat months down south.

I can drive a boat in the summer heat months down south….

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. 🤞

  I took my baby sister trolling for Blues on Sinclair this morning from 8a - 12a. She's allergic to the cold so we got on the water after daylight. I'm thankful of her sensitivity, so I could wade in the light. The lake has been drawn down and it took some pushin & draggin to get the boat out to navigable water.  Dropping your trailer tires off the end of the ramp isn't a wonderful way to start a trip. 

 

We made it out and I was able to put her on 7 Cats. We had fun and she's already planning our next trip. 

19 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I can drive a boat in the summer heat months down south….

Still too hot for me to fish.

Maybe you get used to it when you grow up there, or have been there while, but it's an absolute no-go for me.

Cold is easy for me to deal with...add more clothes, keep moving.  

There's only so much you can take off when it's hot and not get arrested. 😉

23 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

 

 

@MassBass - what is the lure I see in the pic?  It almost looks like a plopper 70 but I can't see the tail.  

It's just an x rap in pearl

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.

 

Couple keepers on the spook