Initially I was kinda surprised at how small the show is, but when you consider how small a community true hardcore musky anglers are then my perspective changed a bit and it made sense.
The are quite a few vendors and musky/bait shops: ronnie and helens, thorne brothers, smokies and a few smaller ones as well. Lots of bait makers as well: musky innovations, slammer, lungrens, smoker (makers of the SS shads), Red October baits, shumway (makers of the Fuzzy Duzits) and a whole host of others. Just the sheer amount of baits available is astounding.
This large selection of baits is one on the major reasons the I wanted to come here. Unfortunately there is no true musky shop around lake saint clair. That really sucks too! I know I’m sick and tired of having to run around the detroit area just to get some of the great baits that really work.
Anyway, there have been some really good seminars as well. I’ve managed to catch all the ones that I’ve wanted to see. There are several tomorrow that I’m quite sure will be great as well. I took notes during all the seminars that I attended and I’ll post about them when I get back home. Blogging on an android is kind hard.
I’m happy I came & I’ve got lots of new baits that can’t get locally. I can’t wait till musky season!
January 9, 2010
Third day of the musky show
January 8, 2010
First day of the chicago musky show
Here it is 2 and a half hours before the show begins and I’m all antsy for it to begin!
Besides the seminars that are being put on I’m looking forward to seeing and getting baits that no one in the lake saint clair area carries. It astounds me that there is no dedicated musky shop in the area.
The seminars I’m attending today are:
Underwater muskies @ 1pm
Patterning muskies @ 2:30pm
Big baits @ 4pm
Timely tips @ 5:30pm
Muskies on a fly @ 7pm
I’m going to be taking LOTS of notes and I’ll be sure to post what I got out of the seminars for those that aren’t lucky enough to be able to attend. There will be photo’s too!
January 6, 2010
Going to the Chicago Musky Show
WooHoo!!!!!
Me & the wife are off to the Chicago Musky show tomorrow. It’s about a 6 hour drive in good weather but the predictions are for 6 – 8 inches of snow in Chitown tonight with 1-3 in the Detroit area tomorrow or the next day. Now that scks….. gonna make driving Lots of fun. But I have a feeling it’ll be more than worth it.
I know i’ll be dragging a long my camera & a note pad for all the seminars. My main goal is to track down lots of soft plastics for my tackle collection too. Gotta find some other jigs than bondy baits as well. Thinkin’ maybe some fuzzyduzits and thinks like that too.
It just amazes e with one of the best musky fisheries in the country that there is no dedicated musky shop around here. There are so many baits that you can’t get a hold of and have to order online. Pretty aggravating to be honest. I’ve got half a mind to get one going since nobody else around here seems to want to make the investment.
November 25, 2009
Neoprene Gloves
Once I started fishing in the colder months I quickly realized that my hands were the only thing I really had to worry about. There is lots & lots of stuff out there to keep everything warm and dry. When you’re fishing though your hands are typically exposed & wet. At first I thought wool would be a good choice. I tried the fingerless gloves full gloves with just a finger tip or 2 cut off. None of it worked. I always ended up having to stop & warm my hands up, usually under my arm pits or something. I gotta tell ya that SUCKS!!! nothing like opening up whats warm to stick something that’s cold in to wake you up.
A friend of mine suggested I use neoprene gloves. So I headed up to gander mountain and found some really cheap ones. $7.99 a pair. I bought 2 just to try some different configurations. The first one I tried I’m very happy with. All I did was cut off the tip of the thumb so I could feather the spool when I cast. I’ll tell you what no matter how wet the gloves get my hands stay warm. It’s great. The only thing that does suck a little bit is when I’m scooting across the lake. The wet gloves can get kinda cold but as soon as I stop they warm up really quick again.
So if you fish in the cold I highly recommend getting some neoprene gloves. Your hands will love you for it!
November 24, 2009
2 days of Musky Fishing with more to come!
I went out all day sunday with a new musky guy. We tried some back water spots on the north end of lake saint clair early in the day. We pretty much threw everything but the kitchen sink at’em without seeing a single fish. The water temp was mid 40’s and I think we may have been fishing our baits too fast. The main thing we were doing was trying to find weed beds that were still green. Which, surprisingly we found lots of. But the fish didn’t seem to be active.
From there we headed south near the 400 club, but way out. About a mile of shore. We tossed glide baits & big jakes with no success. From there we headed over to a point down by 9 mile tower. Again glide baits big jakes and even a swim bait with nothing.
From there is was down to the mouth of the detroit river for some jigging. We used a couple different bondy baits. We worked the west break and I moved us from shallow to deep and back again as we drifted trying to see if we could find the fish. Dustin had 2 tap’s and I came up dry. Byt this time it was dark and we headed back to the harley launch. Which by the way still has 2 dock’s in. Not sure how long that will last though.
Yesterday I went back to the area we first fished on sunday morning. This time I stuck with big body baits, 10″ nils to be exact. I varied my retrieves form slow and steady to more of a jerk type retrieve. I even threw in some pauses and jerks during a steady retrieve. Right around dusk I had something hit the bait so hard it knocked slack into my line. Unfortunately I missed the fish. As I reeled it in I did see something following but it was to dark to tell how big or small. That was the only fish in that area.
So it seems pretty obvious that the fish want something big & slow. I wish we would have done more of that on sunday, but……
As I headed back to harley I decided to fish the channel leading into the clinton river. It was after dark and there were no boats out so I figured why not. I put on a solid black 10″ nils and started working it across the channel, slow with some pauses & jerks thrown in. About 200 yards form the break wall something smacked it hard! I jerked back and there was nothing there. When I got the nils in it had a nice gash on the back end of it. So something was there. I’m not sure what happened but, I’ll be sharpening my hooks tonight for more musky fun over the thanksgiving holiday.
Oh here is a little tip. If you’re out on lake saint clair during duck season make sure and look out for the open water duck hunters. If I wasn’t really looking hard I would have run over 2 of them. typically they’re in something really really low in the water or kayaks. If you see what looks like a bunch of ducks swing realy really wide or you might run someone over or thier gear. Kep in mind to that they have guns and more than likely you don’t so, no need to start a fight where you dont have to.
October 6, 2009
Red Shirt Friday
f the red shirt thing is new to you, read below how it went for a man…
Last week, while traveling to Chicago on business, I noticed a Marine
Sergeant traveling with a folded flag, but did not put two and two together.
After we boarded our flight, I turned to the sergeant, who’d been invited to sit in First Class (across from me), and inquired if he was heading home.
No, he responded.
Heading out I asked?
No. I’m escorting a soldier home.
Going to pick him up?
No. He is with me right now. He was killed in Iraq, I’m taking him home to his family.
The realization of what he had been asked to do hit me like a punch to the gut. It was an honor for him. He told me that, although he didn’t know the soldier, he had delivered the news of his passing to the soldier’s family and felt as if he knew them after many conversations in so few days.
I turned back to him, extended my hand, and said, Thank you. Thank you for doing what you do so my family and I can do what we do.
Upon landing in Chicago the pilot stopped short of the gate and made the following announcement over the intercom.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to note that we have had the honor of having Sergeant Steeley of the United States Marine Corps join us on this flight He is escorting a fallen comrade back home to his family.. I ask that you please remain in your seats when we open the forward door to allow Sergeant Steeley to deplane and receive his fellow soldier…We will then turn off the seat belt sign.”
Without a sound, all went as requested. I noticed the sergeant saluting the casket as it was brought off the plane, and his action made me realize that I am proud to be an American.
So here’s a public Thank You to our military Men and Women for what you do so we can live the way we do.
Red Fridays..
Very soon, you will see a great many people wearing Red every Friday.
The reason? Americans who support our troops used to be called the “silent majority.”
We are no longer silent, and are voicing our love for God, country and home in record breaking numbers. We are not organized, boisterous or overbearing.
Many Americans, like you, me and all our friends, simply want to recognize that the vast majority of America supports our troops. Our idea of showing solidarity and support for our troops with dignity and respect starts this Friday — and continues each and every Friday until the troops all come home, sending a deafening message that ….. Every red-blooded American who supports our men and women a far, will wear something red..
By word of mouth, press, TV — let’s make the United States on every Friday a sea of red much like a homecoming football game in the bleachers.
If every one of us who loves this country will share this with acquaintances, coworkers, friends, and family, it will not be long before the USA is covered in RED and it will let our troops know the once “silent” majority is on their side more than ever, certainly more than the media lets on.
The first thing a soldier says when asked “What can we do to make things better for you?” is. “We need your support and your prayers.” Let’s get the word out and lead with class and dignity, by example, and wear something red every Friday.
October 4, 2009
I finally got back out and Shane get’s his biggest pike ever!
Some times fishin just has to take a back seat to life….unfortunately.
Anyway, I finally mamged to get back out on the lake this morning for a few hours of fishing with a friend of mine. Surprisingly this was the first time he’s been able to get out this year! Poor bastard.
So we launched out of harley ensign just before sunrise and headed south to a patch of weeds I know holds some fish between the clinton river outlet and huron point. We put on some bucktails, shane was throwing a black and orange double willow while I was throwing a big brown bucktail with silver blades. It was also a double willow leaf. I actually tied both and a few other bucktails the night before.
After drifting towards the clinton river outlet for about 10 min shane got a follow from a nice low 40’s fish. He has never targeted big toothy fish before so he really didn’t understand what you need to do when you have a fish following. All I heard was”Holy shit!” and I looked back. Instead of speeding up the bait he slowed it down and the musky immediately darted off. So I took a few minutes to show him what to do, including how to figure 8 and the basics of speeding up the bait and changing direction so that it looks like it’s trying to get away.
I switched up to a red bucktail with charteuse and red blades and soon after caught a 2 lb largemouth bass. It smacked the snot out of the buckie and I thought I had a bigger fish at first. Oh well at least it was a fish!
After we drifted through the spot on the spot. We headed south of huron point to drift across a break I’ve found to hold fish. Again one of those spots on the spot. The first drift shane got another follow from a small fish, around 30″ or so, and I had a on and off. I have no idea of the size. It was big enough to stop everything completely though. The second drift got us nothing so we headed north between SANG (selfridge air national guard) and the salt river.
We drifted toward the salt river, about midway between the 2 in 6 FOW. Roughtly 1/3 mile off shore. Shane put on a purple & silver bucktails and on the second cast he had a follow. Next cast another follow! on the third cast the fish actually hit the bucktail but he missed it! At this point I’m just laughing and making fun of him! He’s all geeked up and completely forgot everything I showed him earlier. NExt cast the fish follows it and smacks it close to the boat. He gives a jerk and misses again. The bucktail got all tangled up and when he finally got it fixed the fish was no where to be seen. We kept drifitng and I had something smack my gold & chartreuse bucktail, which I missed.
We kept on drifting and a little while later I hear “OOOOOOOOOO, Get the NET!!!!! This is a good one!” So I crank my lure in fast and grab the needle nose pliers and the net. He gets the fish next to the boat and it’s a decent pike. I net it and he grabs it out. The only problem is he has his fingers in the gills. So I grab the fish and show him how to properly hold the fish. Once he’s go it I snap a picture and we put it in my re-coop box. In there it measuers 34″ long. Shanes personal record.
His PR a 34" northern pike
Unfortunately I had things to do so we left about 30 min later.
It looks like I’ve turned another bass fisherman into a musky/pike guy! Woohoo!!! Hopefully I can get back out with him next sunday and we can spend a few more hours out there.
I didn;t catch anything but a small bass but I still ahd a blast and I’m really happy that he got his PR pike.
September 14, 2009
Early Musky fishing 9/13
I just bought a new beckman net and built a musky resuscitation box and really wanted to get some slime on’em so I hit the water very early on sunday, about an hour before first light.
I launched out of harley ensign and headed south along the deep weed edge. The water had just a little bit of chop on it so I decided to throw a top water bait, a chopper. Slowly I worked my way down toward huron point with no action. By this time the sun was just coming up so I headed to the other side of the bay and hit a few spots over there tossing bucktails. Again no action! Not even a follow. So I decided to change things up completely and headed toward the 400 club. I stayed out in the deeper water, about 10 foot or so heading out toward deeper water. After I had been casting for a while someting stopped my bulldawg dead on a jerk! So I hit it again and felt a huge head shake! Woohoo!! The fish took off on a short run peeling off a lttle bit of drag then suddenly turned and gave a big jerk that snapped my line! I use a #100 llbs power pro and it snapped! At first I thought it was the knot that came loose but ther was only 20 foot or so of line hanging out the end of my rod. It was unreal. I have never had a fish shake it’s head that hard! Man would I have loved to at least seen that fish!
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. I did catch a 10″ largemouth on a super shad rap though. Hopefully soon I can pop the cherry on my net and box.
September 11, 2009
Fish moving toward fall patterns
Over the last week or so I’ve noticed that the fish in lake saint clair are slowly heading toward their traditional fall areas. Fewer and fewer fish are being caught in the summer suspending patterns, especially the walleye. They have really up and moved. From the reports I’m seeing and the guys I’m talking to the walleyes seem to be heading back into the rivers. The muskies are being caught more frequently in the shallows as well. I know a coupe of guys that were catching them over weeds in 6 -8 foot of water.
So head for the rivers for walleye and the breaks with weeds on them if you want to catch musky. Some fish will still be caught out deep trolling but that will eventually stop producing all together so make sure and change your location accordingly.
So if you want to catch fish head toward their fall areas and you’ll start hammering them.
September 10, 2009
Slow day trolling for muskie but we got a good one!
Me & jeff went out on my boat trolling for ’skie on the canadian side of the lake. I’ve noticed that the fish seem to have shifted around a bit since the water has cooled down. They’re still in their summer pattern, which is suspended in deep water, just shifted around a little bit. As the water cools they seem to be heading toward the shipping channel.
So to change things up I decided to troll from the firecracker to the weather buoy and then figure it out from there. We got set up, 2 rods each, which is the limit in canada. We decided to put all the lines out on the planer boards. Jeff was running his purple bucktail and a loke, I was running a golden shiner shad rap and a big double blade bucktail (#10 colorado blades!). I started off the troll slow, about 2mph. THe reason I wanted to try that slow is because the walleye guys catch quite a few musky on crawler harnesses and their speed is about 1.5 mph. I really believe in experimenting. It’s the only way you can really learn and in some cases discover a new tactic that no one else is using! After about 30 min of trolling slow I bumped it up to the standard 3.8 – 4.2 mph. After that we got to the buoy pretty quickly.
Outside of 1 other boat there was nobody else out trolling. It was great! I think the reason was that there was supposed to be a good chance of rain. The only rain that we did see was a little spit on the way out and nothing else. As a matter of fact it even cleared up to a slight over cast and the waves were about 1.5 – 2 footers. Overall great condtions for trolling.
Once we did a lap around the buoy we changed things up. Jeff kept his purple bucktail out but changed his bodybait toa st. lawrence loke. I decided to keep the shad rap out and change to bucktail to a double black blade with black skirt. At the bottom of the buckie the skirt was red and silver. I ran it as a down rod, 10 oz of weight 15 foot back. The leader was 6 foot long 60lbs ande’s mono. We did another lap around the buoy and headed for the st. clair light. We had to clear weeds once so far.
After a few minutes I decided to head to the front of the boat to select a few more baits for changes later. All the sudden I hear the drag scream and jeff holler “Fish ON!!!!!”. I jumped up and spun around to see him grabbing the down rod. The musky hit the surface and jumped shaking it’s head……Nice Fish!! I slow out speed way down, grab the net & extend it. Head up front to grab all the hook out tools – 11 inch needle nose plier, jaw spreaders, wire cutters, boga grip and a camera. I set everything on the cooler seat and grab then net. Jeff gets to the leader but doesn’t walk down the sife of the boat to make it an easy net job so I had to reach for it. Not good, not good at all. Thankfully when the the net gets under the fish she spins and wraps herself up in it. That allows me to get her in the boat!
Woohoo! Man this is a nice fish. I reach in and pick her up by the gill plate, grab the pliers and get the 1 hook that is in her jaw out. Then we unwrap her from the net. Jeff gets the camers up and running and then I hand her off to him. I grab the camers run around the console and stand on the livewell to get a good pic. At this point she’s only been out of the water maybe 90 secs to 2 minutes. I snap 2 pics and jeff sets her in the water to get her revived. Sometimes this can take a few minutes but not with her! Almost immediately she kicked free of jeffs hand, swam out from the boat about 30 foot and then back down.
Jeff stood up and we looked at each other, coated in musky slime & dripping blood, we were grinning like kids! A quick high 5 and we cleaned everything up and reset the down rod & speed. For those that don’t know musky have huge teeth! I got a cut & 2 pokes on my right thumb jeff got a couple pokes on a finger. If you fish for musky and ever pick one up you better expect to get some kind of cut or poke. That’s just part of the game.
We trolled until dark without anything else going on. But hey all in all a really good day. We boated a 46 – 48 inch musky.
Here’s the best pic:
