James Lindner Coming - Hot New Baits - Show Colors

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Expo Season Kickoff

It’s time. The Chicago Muskie Expo kicks off the show season this weekend (Jan. 16-18).

We’ll have boots on the ground. Josh Borovsky will be hanging out at the Musky Insider booth all weekend… or bouncing back and forth between there and the neighboring Angling Revolution booth trying to be in two places at once.

Stop by, say hello, and check out our bait giveaway. There’s a solid chance you’re already entered if you’re reading this. 😉

The expo is also a great chance to meet several Musky Insider PRO instructors in person. A lot of them will be working booths throughout the show, and there’s no better place to talk shop and pick up some A+ musky intel.

Speaking of A+ intel, we had a killer Musky Insider PRO Live Q&A last week with Lac Seul guide Ben Beattie.

If you fish Lac Seul or plan to hit Canadian waters, this one was a gold mine. Ben broke down musky densities across different sections of the lake, info that could save you days of fishing the wrong water. He also covered current-related patterns, weed locations, and a few sleeper baits that have been producing for him.

PRO members can find the full replay waiting in the member portal.

BTW, we’re reopening Musky Insider PRO registration for a very short window to give folks at the show a chance to get in before our next live class on January 22, which is one you won’t want to miss.👇

River Musky Logic with James Lindner

You’ve seen James Lindner on TV. Now you can learn directly from him inside Musky Insider PRO.

James has fished and filmed coast to coast, worked with the Minnesota DNR on musky telemetry studies, and is a master of seasonal river patterns. In this class, he’ll break down how river muskies move and position throughout the season, complete with diagrams covering fish and boat positioning.

The class will wrap with a live Q&A so you can pick the brain of a true legend.

Speaking of legends… Pete Maina and Mike Lazarus are also on deck for live Q&As coming up in February and March. 👀📺

Registration will be closed again before the next newsletter goes out, so this is your first and last warning. If you’ve been waiting, now’s the time.

You can get signed up for Insider PRO right here.

 

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New Product Showcase

One of the best things about this time of year is all the new products get unveiled and it’s our first chance to get hands on ‘em.

Here’s a sneak peak at some of the new products that will be up for grabs at the Chicago show. 

BamBam Bait Company – 7” Swimfin

BamBam Bait Company will be making its first-ever appearance at the Chicago show, and it’s a booth you’ll want to keep an eye on. They specialize in handmade custom rubber baits built with forward-weighted heads designed to drop clean and trigger bites.

Their twin-tailed Bowfins have been a big hit and tough to get, and last year they followed that up with the 9” Swimfin paddle tail, which quickly earned a following of its own.

For 2026, BamBam is unveiling a new 7” Swimfin that carries the same side-to-side movement anglers liked in the larger version, just in a more compact profile.

The forward-weighted head helps keep the bait controlled on the drop, giving musky anglers another solid option in the rubber category that should get plenty of attention at the show.

Fins and Grins Handcrafted Lures – Mad Tad

This new bait company came out of the gates hot last year, which shouldn’t surprise anyone given the people behind it. Lake St. Clair guide and Musky Insider PRO instructor Jason Quintano teamed up with his brother Matt to launch Fins and Grins Handcrafted Lures  with the Mad Tad.

For 2026, they’re rolling out a larger 7.5” version after Jason stacked up a serious body count of big fish while testing it throughout last season.

Built from mahogany with thru-wire construction, the Mad Tad has a clean, erratic action and is well suited for trolling when you want something that hunts without blowing out.

Angling Revolution New for Show Season

The Angling Revolution crew has been burning the midnight oil this year and is heading into show season with several new builds designed to give pressured muskies something different to react to.

Squiddy Tubes

The Squiddy Tube features winged appendages that create a unique action on the fall, allowing it to glide, turn, or even slide back toward a following fish. It has proven especially effective as a throw-back bait when a fish shows itself but will not commit.

Whip Tail Blade Kits

Whip Tails are a trailer hook system that adds flash, vibration, and noise to the back of tubes, bucktails, or other baits with minimal added drag. They can be added to a wide range of baits to change profile and sound without reworking the entire setup.

The Little One Bucktail

The Little One is a downsized bucktail built with a blend of marabou and tinsel, paired with a modified bell chamber designed to produce a distinct internal rattle. That subtle change stood out during head-to-head testing against similar bucktails. Here’s a look at what’s hiding under the bell chamber.

All three will be available in limited quantities at the shows, with Squiddy Tubes especially limited.

TrueGlide Small Batch Baits

For those of you who love chuckin’ high-quality, handmade lures, you’ll want to take a peek at TrueGlide Small Batch Baits, built by bait maker Joe Peterson. 👀

Joe turns out some of the best-looking baits in the game. They feel more like functional works of art than mass-produced musky baits, but they’re still built to take a beating.

Pictured above are just a few examples of Joe’s one-of-a-kind custom creations. Each bait is dialed in, durable, and designed to get thrown even if you hesitate for a second before sending it into a musky’s mouth. 😅

TrueGlide baits tend to disappear fast at the shows, so if you want to get your hands on one, stopping by early is probably a good move.

Just Encase Custom Carry Boxes

For anglers who like to grab and go while staying organized, these new Just Encase Carry Boxes are a slick option for hopping in a buddy’s boat, packing for a trip, or keeping baits dialed at home.

Designed to handle everything from giant crankbaits to big rubber, the three different carry box sizes help keep your setup mobile without turning into a tangled mess.

Made from clear or grey-tinted polycarbonate, these boxes are built to handle the wear and tear that comes with musky fishing while letting you quickly find the bait you want instead of blindly lifting baits one by one.

You can check out the new carry boxes at the Just Encase booth along with the rest of their bait storage lineup.

 

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Custom Show Colors 

Custom Red October Tubes

If you’re a Red October fan (and who isn’t), you’ll want to take a peek at their fresh custom show colors. 👀

Pictured above are a few new, sexy colors that don’t even have names yet . . . and you can help change that. Red October is running a bait-naming contest on their Instagram and Facebook channels, giving you a chance to score some free baits.

They’re bringing a batch of brand-new, expo-only colors to the shows this year, and these won’t be available anywhere else for now.

They’ll have plenty more custom options at the booth, but if history tells us anything, stopping by early is probably a good idea before the hoarders clean ’em out. 😉

Thorne Brothers Custom Colors

Thorne Brothers is headin’ to Chi-town with a trailer full of custom colored baits.

They’ve got a stacked lineup of Musky Innovations custom colors you can already drool over on their website including Pounders, Pounder Double Dawgs, Magnum Double Dawgs, Swimmin’ Dawgs, Mag Dawgs, Quad Dawgs and their exclusive Ultra Dawgs.

Here’s a quick peak of the paint menu… 🎨🔥

And these Chaos custom colors look extra tasty as well! 👀

In all honesty, we’re just scratchin’ the surface. There will be a ton more new musky gear floating around the show floor, but hopefully this is enough to wet your whistle.

Friendly reminder to set a spending limit… or bring a buddy who doesn’t fish to help carry your bags so you don’t end up looking like this guy. 👇

Mashup time!

#1 – Jack Bollman Outdoors shares this fine clip. “Every once in a while a fish comes in so hot, you just know it's gonna eat the second you see it.” This one wasn’t about to let this Angling Revolution 8/9 slip away. Gotta love a boatside eat. 👀🔥

#2 – Brian Peeler shows that at Blane Chocklett’s musky school, they’re already smashing 2026 goals thanks to next level musky education and doing things the right way.

#3 – Tight boat? No problem. The Muskie Bumper Trifold has the same 60” length and folds down for easy storage. Find it over on Ezoko's website. 

#4 – This commission piece by Ryan Keene deserves a second life as a print. Straight 🔥 and absolutely wall-worthy.

Kickin’ things off with a June Pink Day bruiser that taped out at 52.5” for Ezra Warkentin. He’d moved this fish multiple times the day before, but she wouldn’t commit until a Suick hit the lineup and got absolutely smoked on the retrieve. 💥

Low light and just right. When they’re this big, you don’t lift ’em, you hoist ’em. 💪 Jack Schnaubelt wrangled this 55.25” giant that crushed a BAB flutter glide.

Solo mission. Storm rolling. Fish landed. Pete Gale slid this Kawartha beauty into the bag just in time and still got soaked on the way in. Worth it.

Tyler Lancaster shows off this fall fatty that was, without question, deep into feedbag mode.