I was on a wooden plug making kick a while back. The time and work that goes into one 5” lure, would have had about $10/hr for my time to sell at $100/lure. Granted, much of that time was experimenting and other design/development. I’m sure these musky lure makers have cut a lot of time in making larger batches of lures, but I doubt at even $100/lure, they are really making all that much per hour when everything is added up. I’d imagine many musky fanatics have dabbled in lure production to cut costs. Trolling all day long at 7-8mph I’m guessing adds up on fuel costs to their $50k + boats many have. I could maybe justify that if I didn’t have kids or they were fishing nuts. Definitely a bit more of a budget than my annual fishing expenses.

Moved 2 pallets of these by hand yesterday at camp. What a way to spend Fathers Day by myself.

 
 
  Think most were in the 12" - 15" range? 
 
 
 

FishinGuy
Heck yeah. (Pics or it didn't happen)

Hecks ya. Very healthy looking fish. As of right now, looking like Saturday's wind might be the best for the Big Lake. Like I said, for right now. NOAA is more bi-polar than one of my daughters. 🙄😆

👍👍

 Opps, one pallet of the Bulldogs and the other was Googan Contender's/Revolver's. Nice looking Fish!!

pensfan1
As of right now, looking like Saturday's wind might be the best for the Big Lake. Like I said, for right now. NOAA is more bi-polar than one of my daughters. 🙄😆

Yeah I fish the east end of Erie (Barcelona, Dunkirk) Saturday and Sunday say 0.3 wave height for now....
I also heard the bugs are emerging, I might have to focus on slow trolling with the butterfly rigs.

In other news: I spent an hour cleaning the river scum off my boat yesterday, that stuff was nasty.  
 

Some of the recent posts regarding the tough fishing, got me thinking about the good ole days.  My fishing back in the 60s and 70s was from a 12ft row boat (with a 12lb Shakespeare trolling motor) and my dad and I caught many more fish than I catch now.  
 
Today I have a fancy side-imaging fishfinder, a trolling motor with gps autopilot and spotlock, etc.., which help me some, but makes me think how did we catch all the fish in my youth without them.  In reality, my dad was just a better fisherman than I am.
 
Dead Gator mentioned a mister twister was his go-to bait when he was a teen.  Mine was the beetle spin.  It caught everything!

CTKsnowman

pensfan1
As of right now, looking like Saturday's wind might be the best for the Big Lake. Like I said, for right now. NOAA is more bi-polar than one of my daughters. 🙄😆

Yeah I fish the east end of Erie (Barcelona, Dunkirk) Saturday and Sunday say 0.3 wave height for now....
I also heard the bugs are emerging, I might have to focus on slow trolling with the butterfly rigs.

In other news: I spent an hour cleaning the river scum off my boat yesterday, that stuff was nasty.  
 

Flat lining Hot n Tots and Bandits in thatsub 25FOW could be the game. Theyr slaughtering them at Ashtabula at night, 10FOW. Hoping for water temps around 65° 66° for Saturday. Last I looked it was 62° off Erie.

I went 45 years without so much as ever hooking a musky that I know of. Never tried for them intentionally.

In the last 3 years I’ve lost track of how many I’ve caught (more than 10 and less than 30) without even targeting them on 3” & 4” soft plastics. They are downright annoying when I’m trying to fish for other stuff and I’ve often thought about joining the Toss Em in the Weeds Club. Although I won’t, it’s tempting.

Shoot, a couple summers ago when my son was 11 he caught three muskies (two in one day) on his fly rod. While he was using a single kernel of corn on a size 16 hook fishing for carp to warm up for steelhead.

I see lots of guys hucking those giant baits to no avail and just chuckle. All ya need are some 1/8 oz jig heads, a pack of Gulp minnows, and to fish in the right places. And there are several of those places around NWPA that we’ve found.

Snagged one of those bulldog lures crappie posted a couple weeks ago in nearly brand new condition. Guy I saw fishing nearby told me it was worth $30 or $40. If any of yinz want it, I’ll let it go for $50.