I missed the Minnesota show. Usually theres a post following a show, but maybe it's just the same stuff over and over. Was there anything new and exciting I missed?
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I missed the Minnesota show. Usually theres a post following a show, but maybe it's just the same stuff over and over. Was there anything new and exciting I missed?
The Minnesota Muskie Expo (aka George’s Minnesota Muskie Show) was a good show and concluded a great show season this year. It was good to catch up with so many of the good folks that I’ve fished with over the years. That’s probably what I like best about all the shows. Wherever I’ve done a show - Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison, Twin Cities - I get a chance to catch up a bit with the folks from that area that have made a trip to Mille Lacs and chose me to be their guide. It was good to see everyone.
Here’s a summary of what looked good at the show. As usual, I didn’t get much time to stroll the aisles and look at everything, so there’s probably stuff I missed. Being the last show, though, I did spend more time shopping to load up on stuff I’d need for the upcoming season. My wallet was a lot thinner at the end of the weekend. Here goes:
Spanky Baits:
I loaded up on the Spanky Baits that need for the coming season. I picked up a few more 11” Fireballs, a lot of 8” Fireballs, and a bunch of the new St. Clair Special. I’ve thrown the St. Clair Special in a little pond behind the house and it looks great. The Flashabou skirt doesn’t get sucked up in a ball behind the blades like on a double-10, but shimmers behind the blades in a slimmer profile. It has a single blade and pulls a little harder than the 8” Fireball but should still be a great burner. The blade turns just fine at slow speed, too. This is the new lure from the off-season I’m probably most looking forward to using.
http://www.spankybaits.com/
Stealth Leaders:
I bought a couple dozen more leaders, just to make sure I had enough. In a previous post following the Milwaukee show I mentioned that I’m using Stealth #150 this year. I got more of those and a half dozen or so of the #200. I’ll be using the extra-stout #200s anytime I’m throwing Pounders or similar mega-sized plastics. I wanted to make sure I had enough; I plan to throw Pounders a lot more during the whole season. I also got some of the new weighted leaders. I think these were the brain-child of Jeff Hanson, the guy who is The Man on the Madison Chain. I have a few applications in mind where these would be perfect.
http://www.stealthtackle.net/
Live Action Lures:
I loaded up on a the year’s supply of Big Joes and Mo Joes that I’ll need for the year. They also have a great-looking line of crank baits. The cranks I liked are a jointed, hybrid style with a plastic Big Joe tail. The ones I got run around 1-3 feet deep (I’m guessing from the video I saw, I haven’t actually thrown them yet) and have an awesome action. They swing pretty wide for a jointed bait, which usually run pretty tight. With the wide action they should push quite a bit of water and the plastic tail looks great. We’ll see what the fish think. I don’t think you can see these on the website yet, but I’ll include the link for contact information.
http://www.liveactionlures.com/
Cochran Tackle:
I picked up some spinner baits from Kevin Cochran that look great. He makes the best double-10 spinner bait (safety-pin style) made, way better, in this guide’s opinion, than the one made by Bait Rigs. The way the blades attach to the overhead arm is very innovative and the quality is great, too - no crappy rubber strip skirts that quickly fall apart like the BR version. I haven’t caught enough fish on those, but it’s my own fault for not throwing them much. It’s been too much of a habit for me to keep reaching for my favorite inline double-10s. Hey, nobody’s perfect. I got a bunch of his Flashabou version of the single-10 bladed spinner bait. Kevin is the kind of guy I’d hire if I was in his area. He fishes Bemidji and Cass and all the smaller lakes in that area. He’s a local who has a bunch of out-of-state interlopers in his back yard, but I’d hire the local. I haven’t seen the Flash version of his baits on any retail sites, or his own, so you might have to contact Kevin to find out how to get them.
http://www.kevincochranguide.com/
Waterwolf Lures:
I got a bunch more of the Shadzilla. I stumbled onto these while looking around at the Milwaukee show, and posted some early impressions on my post that followed that show. I’ve thrown these on a small lake near home since to check them out and they’re awesome. The tail thumps really hard from side to side and the middle of the body shakes hard, too. The action is fantastic. I have several spots on Mille Lacs in mind where these things will be perfect. The durability is still in question. Plastics are pretty easily repaired, though, so they should hold up OK, but we’ll see. I got these at the Big Wood Musky Lures booth. Big Wood is the only retailer I know of that’s carrying Water Wolf. Big Wood carries all the standard stuff and some hard-to-find stuff no one else has.
http://www.waterwolflures.com/
http://www.bigwoodmuskylures.com/
Musky Innovations:
The guys at MI came out with a shallow Pounder that should be awesome. It’s long overdue. They only had a limited selection of colors that were special colors for the show. The standard colors are on their way to the retailers and should be available. I got a few at the show and will load up on more when the other colors are available. There have been zillion times when I wanted to throw a Pounder, but the standard 13 oz. model was running too deep for the spot I wanted to fish, or I had to fish it too fast. The shallow model will be a great to have for those situations. I like big baits. I already bought a new Lakewood Extreme for the upcoming season; my old one is already overstuffed and the new one will probably be full when I’m done loading it.
http://www.muskyinnovations.com/
Hey Paul,
I was wondering what everybody thought of the Just n Case tackleboxes
that were at the shows.
They're really nice boxes, but expensive. If I didn't already have a custom casting deck extension in my boat, I'd consider having one built. They're ver nice boxes, but there are other options for storing or transporting lures that are a lot less expensive. But, it's up the the individual. The way each musky angler organizes his stuff, especially lures, is one of the most individualized things we do.