Timely Tips - Tourney Results - Glass Muskies

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Timely Tips

Last week, Musky Insider PRO instructors Josh Borovsky and Spencer Berman got together for a Live Q&A and it was loaded with juicy info that can help you catch more muskies right now.

They kicked things off with some great “finger on the pulse” reports from their home waters sharing deets about where they’re finding ‘em and what they’re doin’ to get bit.

Here’s a few tips from Josh on strategy during this unseasonably warm weather much of the musky belt is experiencing.

“There are some things really critical to success right now in my boat. We’ve had a lot of unseasonably warm weather lately without much wind or cloud cover. The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting cooler. So we have a situation where surface temps can both rise and fall in the same 24-hour period."

"When it gets cool at night and the surface temps fall even one degree, the fish will often push up shallow on inside weed lines and sand, you can find them there early in the morning. It’s important not to fall into the trap of staying shallow all day just because you’re catching there early. As things heat up those fish typically slide out of the shallow sand into thick clumps of weeds with most of them sliding out to the deep weed edge."

"You need to move with these fish as they move out. With the lack of wind and cloud cover we’ve had, it’s been critical to pay attention to the angle of the sun and shade lines. You can extend the shallow morning window longer by saving and targeting specific shallow areas with steeper elevation shorelines and tree lines that face away from the sun. This will stay shaded and cooler longer into the day."

"When I lose my shade shallow, I slide deep. But, I am still paying attention to the angles of the sun and shade. In tough conditions like this, the muskies parked on the deep weed edges that face away from the sun just seem more willing to chase and bite."

"Keep in mind, this time of year, the shade angles will change from west facing, to north facing, to east facing over the course of the day. So there’s a lot of strategy in the sequential order of the weed lines I am fishing based on when they provide shade."

"On these flat, sunny days, you can have two boats fishing the same handful of spots, with the same baits, and they can have entirely different outcomes at the end of the day if one boat fished the spots at the shaded times of day vs the other boat that didn’t."

"Keep in mind, making contact with those thicker clumps of shallow weeds, or fishing docks (where there is always shade) can also be options. Something to think about 🤔 if you are faced with these conditions anytime soon."

Spencer really stole the show though. He throws rubber most of the season and shared some of the little things that seem to make the difference between the people that catch a lot of fish in his boat and those that don’t.

Spencer covered . . .
🔹Specific cadence and retrieve techniques with video clips of him on the water.
🔹How to identify the best running baits off the shelf at the tackle shop.
🔹How and where he adds weight for different situations to get the most bites
🔹How to tune your rubber baits 

Rubber baits are like fine wines, they get better with time. But only if you can repair them and keep them running.

Spencer takes rubber bait mods and repairs to another level. He even made his own mold to repair the heads of baits.

There was way too much info in this Q&A session to include in the newsletter. If you’re an Insider PRO member and missed the live version, be sure to log in to the member portal and check it out. If you’re not an Insider PRO member and would like to be, get your name on the waitlist. We will be giving the first ten people on our waitlist the opportunity to get in this week!

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McIntosh Gets Back to Back Dubs in Tourney’s

The George Wahl Memorial tournament took place yesterday on 13 of the twin cities metro area’s best lakes. The weather was hot, flat, sunny, and the bite was tough.

There were only six fish 40 inches or larger (the minimum required size limit) registered out of 156 participants. Those six fish came from 5 different lakes.

While there wasn’t a hot lake or hot pattern, there were a few common denominators and key takeaways . . .

1. Half the fish were caught in the morning during the first hour of the tournament.

2.While the fish were caught on a variety of baits including bucktails, topwaters and rubber, all the fish came from less than 10 feet of water.

3.Only two of the six fish came from the clear water lakes (Minnetonka and White Bear) even though the lion’s share of the field was fishing them. So less boats on the dingy water lakes caught more fish.

The big story of the tournament though was Keegan McIntosh. He took home the first place hardware 🏆with this 51 inch Lake Independence tank caught by aggressively ripping a Medusa over shallow weeds.

Keegan’s had quite the hot hand in tournaments the past few weeks! He got this 50+ on his last cast, in the final minute, of the final day of the Frank Schneider Memorial Tournament earlier this month.

Then he followed it up by winning the St. Louis River Shootout in Duluth last week! That’s back to back wins a week apart on different waters. 🔥 #impressive

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Glass Tiger Musky

Check out this beautiful glass tiger musky hand blown 🔥 by Martin Gerdin.

Martin’s glass works came up in our social feed. But, we found some more deets on him and his story in this Fly Lords Magazine article.

“Toward the end of high school I made my first glass fish, which opened a rabbit hole I’m still falling down to this day.”

She comes in at 38” and $9k and you can special order it in five different size categories, up to 44” here.

Look at the dental work required to attach these teeth! 👀

“One of the most fascinating properties of glass is the way it will fuse to itself. When hot glass touches hot glass, the once separate pieces are instantly fused into a solid object. I use this property to adhere the fins onto the bodies of the fishes.”

“Molten glass is a mystical material. It is liquid yet stable and so hot that it puts off a soft orange glow.”

Definitely, some of the coolest musky artwork we have come across!

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This Week's Mashup:

Mashup time!

#1 – We all want to get bit on our next musky outing, but not like this! That’s Kristine Fisher getting bit (literally) boatside. 😳 #ouch

#2 – Check out these Doug Wegner Fishing exclusive custom color Red October Baits 10” Monster Tubes. "Perfect Perch" and "Rough Rock's Revenge" are available in limited quantities right now, only at Thorne Brothers.

#3 – Someone challenged Ty Sennett to do a figure-8 on Luke Ronnestrand’s shoulders. But, we think that may be more of challenge for Luke than Ty. 😂

Luke didn’t disappoint. We don’t think he skips leg day either. 💪 #nailedit

#4 – Smoker Tackle SS Shads are great river crank baits, especially when you’re tryin’ to stay high in water column. Our friends over at Taps and Tackle recently got stocked up on some cool custom colors. Get ‘em while you can.

 

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QUICK HITTERS:

– Catching TIGER Muskies - Hybrids LOVE this trick! (video) w/ Musky Mastery

– MUSKY FISHING EAGLE LAKE - MINOR vs. MAJOR? (video) w/ 54 or bust

– Isaiah Hahn - From Classroom to Monster Musky (link) w/ Back Lash Podcast

– Lakes at Stake - The Hidden Threat of Wakeboat Propwash (video)

– MUSKY In 4 Minutes!! September Musky Fishing!! (video) w/ Todays Angler

– ZIGGY CUSTOM CUSTOM LURE SHOP TOUR (video) w/ Smith’s Fishing Outdoors

Wanna be featured in Musky Insider? Send in your recent trophy musky photos by replying to this email. You might just see your pic in next week's newsletter. 🤙

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