NEW Mike Lazarus Stuff – 40ish pounder caught – Meme Parade
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Chattin' with Lazarus
Just got done listening to an EXCEPTIONAL episode of the Backlash Podcast featuring legendary guide and enigma Mike Lazarus.
We'll share a few fun quotes from the chat, but we'd highly recommend listening for yourself. Mike shares a good bit of info and a boatload of musky enthusiasm.
They covered a number of topics, including some good stuff on coldwater fishin':
"The big feed happens on the fall from 50 to 40 degrees, that’s when they put on the weight. Once you get in that 40 to 30 degree range, a fish could eat a walleye and digest it in 10 days.
"What people don’t understand though is you can still play on the musky’s aggressive behavior. Even though the fish aren’t eating, they are still making a move here and there whether they are going to spawning areas or moving between photoperiods. When they move, you can still play on their aggressive behavior."
Mike talked about how he rarely trolls slower than 5 mph and how he's normally up around 5.8 or so most the time. He'll drop down into the 3's when water temps drop into that 55 degree range.
He's a big believer in the law of averages: covering more water and putting your bait in front of more fish = catching more muskies.
That said, sometimes he goes slow..... like REALLY slow:
"I spend hundreds and hundreds of hours trolling .5 to 1.5 mph and I know nobody in the musky business does that at all. In fact, some of my biggest fish ever were caught between 1 and 1.5 mph."
He's also a big fan of short-lining:
"I’ve probably caught 500-750 fish with zero on the line counter at 5 to 5.5 mph. Think about that for a second."
...and I'd love to get my hands on one of these:
"I like to use these baits that I make myself, some people have called them trains. They’re three Kwikfish tied together or three Flatfish tied together. They move like crazy and go real slow."
There are too many good quotes to list here – just listen to the podcast for yourself!
40ish Pounder from Illinois
This central Illinois 'skie from guide Thad Hinshaw didn't lose a dang pound after a winter-long stay at Fat Camp:
At 47" x 26", the weight calculators have the closest weight guestimate at just under 40 pounds – which is right up there with the Illinois record.
Breaking records is cool, but you gotta love when a monster like this gets returned to the resource. #LetThemGoSoTheyCanGrow
Another interesting fact: this particular lake has a 48" harvest minimum, so Thad couldn't have registered it as a record, even if he wanted to.
Crazy to think that this big fatty was still hungry.... Here's what she said to Thad's whitefish-flavored SS Shad before taking a bite:
Trollin' T-Bone!
What's worse than breaking off and losing your trollin' bait?
Losing your bait AND a Water Wolf underwater cam – that's an expensive oopsie!
That's what happened when Master Crow Outdoors hooked up with this frisky 'skie:
Luckily a local bass angler found his setup about 6 miles down the river and returned it – thank goodness, because that was a sweet T-bone strike!
You can watch the entire video right here on the YouTube machine.
Meme Dump!
Let's wrap this thing off with some good ole fashion meme-ery!
We've seen some seriously impressive pics of big, clean prespawn muskies this spring. Most of them probably wouldn't have made the newsletter if they were caught after doing their deal....
If you've spent any time at the musky expos, you know this one's true:
The hammer-handle pike phenomena makes a lot more sense after readin' this meme 😂
QUICK HITTERS:
– MN fishing license sales up 45% (link)
– Jim Saric partners with MuskyFrenzy and Chaos Tackle (link)
– Kevin Cochran Trolling Seminar (part 1) and (part 2)
– Maina and Gussy chase LOTW muskies (video)
– Tips and Q&A with Jeff Andersen (video)
– Electrofishing Musky for Broodstock in Kentucky (video)
– Solo cast-to-catch in a small boat (video)
THIS WEEK'S LUNAR TIMES:
(Times based on Minneapolis)
THIS WEEK'S MONSTER MUSKIES:
Feast your eyes on this plus-sized fly-munchin' 50.5-incher that Justin Hokanson and his girlfriend Afton put in the boat.
Southern Wisconsin musky opener was good to guide Jon Ghinazzi this year – he put four in the boat, including this bronze beauty!
The funky lighting makes it look like Luke Herndon is hoisting a strange Amazonian strain of esox, but this beauty came from the Nolichucky River in Tennessee. #yakskie
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