Ice Out Muskies - New Baits Unveiled - FFS Thoughts
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More New Baits To Be Unveiled at MN Expo
The biggest Musky Expo of the year is less than a week away! The Minnesota Muskie Expo is being held in conjunction with the Minnesota Anglers Boat Show and with 160 booths this year, it takes the cake as not only the biggest show of the year, but the biggest musky expo ever!
Last week we covered the insanely good seminar lineup at the show. But, there’s also some brand new baits that will be unveiled this coming weekend.
Here’s a sneak peek at a couple we have our eyes on: 👀
Anyone remember this boatside eat we featured a few weeks ago?
That’s the new Kramer Crank 875 from Kramer Bros.Tackle going for a successful test drive. Here’s the deets on ‘em:
✅ Materials - Strong, durable, elastic ABS with loud rattles
✅ Length - 8.75"
✅ Running Depth - 2'-8' on the cast
✅ Slow rise with nose slightly downward
✅ Tapered tail that kicks out on slack line twitches.
They’re available in wide a variety of color patterns with painted and real fish images. Last but not least, check out the bling on this chrome color! 👀
Another newcomer to the expo will be the Cabbage Ghost baits by Blacksheep Musky Tackle.
Here’s the run down on the Cabbage Ghosts:
✅ Materials - Solid plastic with internal rattles
✅ Heavy Duty .125 Aluminum Lip
✅ Two Sizes - 7.5” and 5.5”
✅ Running Depth - 3-4 feet
As far as the action of them goes, they’re kind of a hybrid between a dive/rise and a glider. It can morph into either depending on how you work them.
Here’s how it acts when you work it like a glider with shorter pops and some slack.
But, with longer pulls it acts more like a dive rise.
This year’s show held at Warner Coliseum on the Minnesota State Fairgrounds features musky retailers, resorts, tackle manufacturers, guides, factory reps, seminars, boats, graphite replicas, a Kids Zone and more! You can find all show info right here. It’s a can’t miss event!
If you live out east in the New York/Toronto portion of the musky range, Muskies Canada Muskie Odyssey show is also happening next weekend. The one day event takes place on March 8th from 8 AM - 4PM in Burlington, Ontario.
Ice Out Muskies
A few weeks ago, we added another great virtual class to our Musky Insider PRO library. Ohio based musky guide Chad Harmon walked us through the entire year of seasonal patterns from ice out to ice up in his Shad Based Reservoirs A-Z class.
Here’s a few nuggets from Chad on ice out muskies . . .
“When the ice comes off my waters, my first priority is finding the thick schools of shad. The muskies are usually keyed in on them right up until spawn.
“In Ohio we are allowed to have three baits with hooks on our A-rigs. I like the baits with hooks on them to be the one’s on the bottom since the muskies usually hit from underneath. Using weighted baits for the three toward the bottom and unweighted hookless baits for the two on the top will help keep everything where you want it.
When it comes to working Bulldawgs, I like to use what I call the “Ohio Pop.” The retrieve itself isn’t fast, but the pull of the rod has some whip to it. It is really key to let bait fall back down to the depth you pulled it from. This up and down motion of the bait while staying at depth is what triggers bites.”
If you’re an Insider PRO member, and missed the live interactive version of the class, you can log into the member portal to view the recording.
If you’re not an Insider PRO member yet, we are going to reopen registration briefly so folks at the MN Muskie Expo can get signed up this coming weekend. You can register right here. If you’re not ready to commit to Insider PRO yet, Chad’s class is also available for individual purchase right here.
Can Our Fisheries Keep Up with Technology?
Pete Mania recently dropped a new video on his Youtube channel in which he discusses whether our fisheries can keep up with technology.
Obviously, forward facing sonar has become a very polarizing topic in the musky world. One of the biggest reasons for that is it seems like it’s hard to have a conversation about FFS without it centering around the topic of fair chase and ethics. The problem is fair chase and ethics are subjective terms and each person has a slightly different definition of what they mean. The more the conversation swirls around those topics, (as important as they are) the more fragmented and divided our musky community seems to become.
What we like about this particular video, is it starts to hint at what is likely a more important topic to ponder . . . How is FFS effecting catch rates and ultimately the health of our fisheries? There is no denying that FFS technology can help improve catch rates. The electronics companies themselves use that fact to drive sales. So the only thing left to argue about is how much the increased catch rates are going to affect overall health of the fisheries.
In the video, Pete brings up the idea of possibly prohibiting FFS use on some lakes so that they can be studied and compared to other lakes where FFS is still in use.
That thought also crossed our minds, and it was one of the survey questions we included in our FFS survey. We’re still working on pulling together all the data from the survey and finding a condensed way to share it with all of you. But this seems like an opportunity to at least give you a sneak peek at a couple of data points.
BTW - We had over 320 musky anglers and guides complete our survey. Thanks to everyone that participated! Just a reminder we had the survey divided into three groups.
NON FFS = Musky anglers & guides that do not own or frequently use FFS
FFS GUIDES = Musky Guides that own or frequently use FFS
FFS USERS = Musky anglers that own or frequently use FFS that are not guides
It looks like at least two of the groups are in favor of having “study lakes” where FFS is banned. Obviously which lakes are chosen might affect the opinions of some folks as well. But, that’s at least their initial reaction to the idea.
Another hot topic and potential FFS regulation we explored in the survey was limiting the number of FFS transducers/units that could be used. Here’s how that panned out.
The most eye popping stat here is 94.7% of the musky guides using FFS would like to see some sort of regulation on this! There are a ton of interesting insights and data points from this survey so stay tuned!
#1 – MN Guide and Musky Insider PRO instructor Kevin Cochran started Headwater Hat Co. a while back and we’re diggin’ their latest design . . .
“Fresh from the cabbage jungles of the north we present to you the ferocious and elusive Tiger Musky.” The hats are available now online and they’ll also be available at the Minnesota Muskie Expo.
#2 – Musky Munchies won’t be at Musky Odyssey this year, but they will have some tasty custom colors like this Reese’s Pieces Ravager in the Ezoko Fishing booth.
#3 – Frank Berwig carves in the offseason to keep himself somewhat “sane.” This one is titled “Monster!” Pretty cool and thanks for sharing Frank!
#4 – When we see the name McLaren, we think high performance sport car. But, Honda Marine recently launched a new 300-HP McLaren Outboard at the Miami International Boat Show. Based on the existing BF250, a proven Honda 3.6 liter V-6, the M300 integrates performance with durability.
QUICK HITTERS:
– “Building Confidence” w/ Big Action Baits, musky fishing tips & tricks (video) w/ 54 or bust
– You Don’t Know If You Don’t Go (video) w/ Keyes Outdoors Musky Hunting Adventures
– Shallow Iowa Muskies (video) w/ Mayhem’s 10,000 Casts
– CHANGE UP THE PRESENTATION ON TOUGH EVENINGS (video) w/ Smith’s Fishing Outdoors
– Secrets of Current (video) w/ Steve Heiting’s Musky Tips
This Week's Monster Muskies:
Georgian Bay guide Kyle Garon of Slobland Flicks made his own supersized version of “The One” using an Angling Revolution clevis paired some big blades to get this sporty model to commit.🔥
Derrick was checkin’ out new spots in brutal weather for this night hawk on the bank.
This big ole 51” hit the bag while trolling Lake of the Woods on a day Erik Jacobson calls a “what are we doing out here?”
On the last pass of the last day of the season, Todd Schulz popped this thick Wisco River ‘skie.
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