Ahhh- spring is definitely on the way- developed a new stinger rig for the ESOX Alien. The stinger hook sets in front & has free movement on hookset-just like the rear hook. Thought I'd test the Alien with the stinger to see if it affected the action in actual water- ~10th cast playing around- ~ 30" fish takes a wack at it on the drop, give it another pull & drop, fish on. Didn't really want to catch a muskie- just checking the action of the lure. Quick fight, she was on the stinger, kept her belly up in the net while unhooking, no roll's or violent reactions- she was green, but very calm belly up- dipped the edge of the net under and rolled her over- she was gone in a flash of the tail.

Barbless hooks sure make releases easy.

Decided the new Alien rig action test was sucsessful & left. God it was tempting to take a few more casts. Checked the water temp- ~34F.

Saturday off to Rainbow Casino for the fishing show- Onalaska Omni Center was sold out of booths for that show & Mike didn't have info on New London. So I guess I'll have to put up with some WI River fisherman. Should be a fun day. They tend to be a little more rustic than your average muskie guy. I think they were trained by Ranger & SWorrall.

Have fun
Al

Al, I wish I would have known that you wanted to do New London! I would have gotten you in touch with them. Sorry to hear you are not gonna be there (at least my candy dish is safe, teehee).