January 27, 2025

A+ Lure Mods - Musky Mascots - Giant Tiger

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Insider PRO Lure Mods Light the Lamp (19 times!)

Musky Insider PRO member Brendan Andrews turned into a bit of mad scientist this past season with his lure mods.

When we heard about how well his mods produced for him we had to share his message.

“I was one on those guys averaging less than 12 muskies a year and had never popped a 50” fish.

I saw the amazing list of guides and resources involved with Musky Insider PRO and decided to pull the trigger.

After viewing just the first two classes from the library, I felt like I had already got my money’s worth!

The info I got from the Live Q&A’s during the musky season was scarily accurate as well. The muskies showed up in specific areas at very specific water temperatures and time frames as predicted in the Q&A’s.

This year I had my best season ever! Thanks in large part to Musky Insider PRO, I more than doubled my catches this year boating 30 muskies including my first two 50”+ fish! My dad also caught his PB fishing with me as well. (BTW I don’t own a live scope or FFS unit either so they were all earned the old fashioned way!)

My biggest of the year, (a 51.5”) was caught on a lake that was identified and predicted to produce 50+” within the PRO “Pink Day” big fish analytics and predictions.

I almost left out the best part . . . 19 of my 30 fish (including my biggest) were caught on a homemade bucktail I built by combining an Angling Revolution square clevis with several different lure mod tips I learned from Musky Insider PRO!”

This is a great example of one of our members taking several tips from different classes & Q&A’s, and applying them altogether to put a bunch of ‘skies in the boat and creating their own unique hot bait in the process.

Musky Insider PRO instructor Josh Borovsky shared . . . “This is exactly the type of thing I was hoping would happen when we started Insider PRO.

But, this particular story is really things coming completely full circle. We disseminate the information to our members. Now they’re taking it, and not only applying it, but finding additional nuances and sharing it back to the instructors and the group. It’s pretty cool seeing it all evolve the way it has.”

BTW . . . We got Brendan’s blessing and we’re planning to offer replicas of his very unique modded out bucktail exclusively for our Insider PRO members in the near future.

If you’re not an Insider PRO member yet, now’s the time to get on board before we close the doors next week. You’re not going to want to miss our upcoming schedule! 👇

Don’t miss out on exclusive custom baits, tackle discounts, expert Q&As, virtual classes and proven big fish strategies. Doors close Thursday, January 30th at 5:00 PM (CST). Join now and make 2025 your best musky season yet!

Musky Mascots

Raise your hand if you wish your high school, college, or pro sports team was named the Muskies! 🙋‍♂️

Here’s a look at some teams sportin’ our favorite fish as their mascot.

Let’s kick things off with the Portage Muskies high school hockey team out of Michigan.

Next up we have the Lakeland University Muskies out of Plymouth, WI wielding a golden hook.

The Kwartha Lakes area of Ontario is known for its A+ musky fisheries. It’s also home to the Lindsay Muskies Junior "A" ice hockey team which is part of the Ontario Junior Hockey League.

Muskingum University out New Concord, Ohio is home of the Fighting Muskies. We like the name but the logo isn’t our favorite. They do get bonus points for their Bob Ross meme in this Instagram post though. 😂

The Madison Muskies were a Class A minor league baseball team that played in the Midwest League from 1982 to 1993 in Wisconsin.

The Muskies were an affiliate of the Oakland Athletics and we found this Jose Canseco rookie card floating around on eBay.

Sadly, some of our favorite Musky logos and mascots belong to teams that don’t exist anymore.

It looks like the Wisconsin Muskies (Spooner, WI) junior hockey team was only around for one season (2017-2018) but we’re really diggin’ their logo. Maybe it’s the lumber in its mouth?

Last but not least, we have the Minnesota Muskies which were part of American Basketball Association between 1967-68.

They became the Miami Floridians the following year. However, the Minnesota Timberwolves wore throwback Muskies jerseys for 6 games as a tribute to them during the 2011-12 NBA season.

We found this Kevin Love jersey from that season on eBay in case you’re looking to own a piece of Muskies history!

From Giant Log to Giant Tiger

We recently came across this amazing work of musky art created by Ben Buschke of Buschke Carving and had to share it.

What really got our attention was the step by step video showing the process from start to finish.

Here’s a few highlights:

Startin’ out with a big ole log. 🪵

The outline is drawn on the log after it’s split.

Time to get a rough cutout from there.

Things are starting to take shape.

Next comes the fins.

How ‘bout some dental work?

Time for the paint job.

We’re really lovin’ how it turned out! 😍

This Week's Mashup:

Mashup time!

#1 – Congratulations to Net Buddy for “netting” the Best in Show award last weekend at the Chicago Muskie Expo ! They scooped up this award with their innovative new Musky Buddy Net and MEGA Musky Buddy Net with integrated puck systems.

#2 – Austin Sandstrom shared this reel named “HOLY COW!!! (x4)” It really is a justified reaction to your first boatside musky!

#3 – Ezoko has a fresh stock of the Savage Gear Burbot tubes. Don’t forget to grab some extra weights if you want to adjust your running depth!

#4 – Check out this musky mug with an orange drip glaze by Pittsburgh Pottery! #wantone

QUICK HITTERS:

– Epic REEF Fishing for MUSKIE! Fat Musky HAMMERS the Blade! S7.E39 (video) w/ Musky Mastery

– Season 4 Episode 3 - Wisconsin Summer Muskies (video) w/ Mayhem's 10,000 Casts

– Pick It Apart (video) w/ Musky Hunter TV

– Two More Down Part 1 (video) w/ Keyes Outdoors Musky Hunting Adventures

– The RISE & FALL of A Blade With No Name (video) w/ 54 or bust

This Week's Monster Muskies:

Erin Wilson was workin’ a main lake weed bed when this cabbage dragon swirled about 30’ behind her. A quick cast, a couple cranks, and her blades got crushed. She then proceeded to land this beast solo! #Impressive

Tyler Baird cut the wind, cold, and snow to bag this chunker on a homemade fly called “Goldfish fly.”

“I feel like I’m living in a dream right now.” Says Jonah Vangeest after catching this late season 52.5” tank-o-saurus in Quebec.

Let’s wrap things up with Ari Vineberg comin’ at us hot with this early December 57” that ate a 10” sucker near Montreal. 😳

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