Reviews and finds for the 08 season???

[MUSKY18]

Well....with the musky season over for most of us and a few of the die hards out fishing still, I was getting ready to put my lures and poles away and got to thinking. Over the course of the season, I found some new lures that worked great, like the Mini Super Humper, Homewrecker, and Hellhounds. I finally got with the program and gave the double tens their fair share of water time and realized how productive they actually are. Had some new things that I tried that turned out to be a bust, but I am not mentioning any names as I don't intend this to be a product bashing post.

So what lures or other products did you discover during this past summer that really surprised you, or that you liked more than you thought?

[Croix]

Still skunked on dogs just unlucky with that lure, but I still love Cisco kids! My season is not over yet so I can't write a review just yet, still looking for a musky or two more so I'll keep casting till ice or seasons end...Oh how could I forget purchased the Penn 975, AWESOME is all I can say! More later...

[cjac]

The "swoosh" sound of a Weagle and the "tick tick tick..." of a pacemaker are still hard to beat. For that matter, the excitement of topwater fishing is hard to beat, really for any species.

A Hookpick can make easy work of a bad looking mouth full of a bait....

I settled on Cortland Bronzeback as my preferred line.

A $5 cig adapter for the handheld GPS paid for itself tenfold in batteries.

A simple box of bandages saved a lot of lost time waiting for a cut to close over.

Costa Del Mar sunglasses: Worth every penny. I compared to "decent" sunglasses while on the water and there was really no comparison.

Sunscreen and Aleve! Both saved a couple days out....

Beyond that, not too many real big product-related revelations in 2008. In general, the fun stuff and cool lures etc. don't do too much good without all the basic essentials in place. I can't stress the importance of a good net, pliers, cutters, etc. enough.

One more.... dielectric grease, put that on your battery terminals and keep them clean and a lot of headaches on the water can be avoided.

[Esox_Magnum]

New baits I came to like/love, DBL 10's got my personal best, started the season throwing a DDD and got one and then tied my

PB on another ( I know have several DDD's) 11" Wades Wobbler, I love having 11" of wood to throw. Curlie Sues, Super D's and Mag Dawgs gained my confidence. Few of the old gimme baits wasn't working this year. DBL 10 blades aren't just for bucktails, work great on a Dawg or even a Wades ,more experimenting needed but looks cool in the water. Some fish will hit a bait no matter how badly fouled up it is. Hoping seasons not over yet but Mother Natures not playing fair. Found a few new spots to hit and found a few big fish I'll be after next season.

If my season is over I have no complaints. Got to spend alot of time on the water, found a new fishing partner and even got a few fish in the net. Soon I'll be sitting on the ice and watching the ones I have yet to catch swim under my shack and stick out their tounges at me.

[Tippman]

One of the biggest things I learned being fairly new to muskie fishing was taking advantage of a few different fishing guides. Sure they are expensive but when you think of how much they teach you it's nill. It's their career, and they know what they're doing. I learned so many new fishing spots this summer because of guides, spots I will remember and take with me the rest of my muskie fishing days. How valuable is that!?

[b1gf1sh1]

i found a couple new knots last spring reading here. that minnesota still has lakes inside it's borders and i should get to them more often. i'm sticking it to mille lacs next year a few times no matter what. next year ''she's'' all grown up. that's my prediction... ''she'' get's caught and kept next year. instead of being released and kept hush hush like her older ''she'' cousins were. gonna be a sad day. invented and tried a new top water. found out it works. learned how bad i ''need'' a walker strike vision downrigger next year that it's gotta be a color camera or forget it. found a few things that don't work and that i'm stil a sucker every year with new stuff.

[Croix]

Still skunked on dogs just unlucky with that lure,

Skunked no more, after 4 years of bad luck I finally caught one on a dog, haha.

[Nick Kuhn]

Covering a lot of water that looks like it will hold a couple fish (usually a perimeter weedline) is just as effective as hammering away at a prime spot (if not more effective).

[50inchpig]

Bulldawgs rule - ice out to ice up.

It's always cool to see someone catch their first (and second) nater, or PB (2 for Debo).

Keep release tools, especially hook cutters, available and accessible at all times.

Blades sucked this season for me, but they were mostly thrown on a rather sucky lake, and sometimes you just can't reel them fast enough to keep them interested.

Shimano Corvalus is still tough as nails and I'll buy my 3rd this winter.

You just never know........

[Jay Hanson]

tossing cowgirls, bucktails, n spinnerbaits all yr will always catch fish but by throwing lots of different lures and retrieve styles will catch more fish and really mixing it up!! for 08' trolling really stunk, but was decent in 07' (what happened?)

[pinkfloyd4ever]

Lots of fun metro lakes within a short drive and if you go during the off peak times they are more enjoyable.

A poorly lit landing and no flashlight do not make a good combo.

Don't stop reeling your top water when you see the fin of a monster approaching it 10 feet away.

A ice cold beer on a hot summer night sure tastes good

[nater]

I agree with Tippman also as a new muskie fisherman to take advantage of guides.

In my case it was 50inchpig (not a guide, but close to it! ). He taught me a lot about the habits of muskies as well working lures.

The most important thing I think I could have learned during my 1st season is to stay focused and determined. You never know when they are going to come flying out of a weedbed in 5 feet of water mouth wide open!

I'm looking forward to '09!!

[Cooter]

Pushing a 3/0 through the middle of your finger is no fun

[Ranckenstuff]

Jerkbaits: Drive northerns crazy, caught my first intentionally targeted ski on one, lost AN ABSOLUTE MONSTER on one.

I love jerkbaits.