Couple Questions

[mrcold]

1) I've been using a lot of the Spro Bronzeye topwater soft plastic frogs lately for bass, and it got me thinking about muskie on frogs. I've fished this lure a fair amount at 7/8, or did the last couple years, and never had a muskie take a swipe at one. Has anyone had any luck on muskie on these baits? Actually, that's not my intended question...my question is does anyone know of muskie companies that have a large topwater soft plastic frog? I'd love for a Spro Magnum or something, but haven't seen anything like it from any companies.

2) I don't know the current status of the muskie stocking program at NGPC, but if you have a lake where you'd really like to see them stocked, is there any way to present the idea to the NGPC. There's a local Omaha lake that's absolutely FULL of weeds, along with tons of small panfish and small bass, and it seems like an ideal lake for them. Is there a way to go about "begging" for a stocking program to include a certain lake, or is that a waste of time? (or does anyone know any reason that Walnut Creek wouldn't be ideal for em?)

[danager]

I don't remember the brand name, but yesterday I was at Scheels and I almost picked some large frogs up. They were probably 8-10 inches and were on sale in the musky section. Check them out!

[LincolnLunger]

yes the scheels in omaha has a few different musky size frogs i beleive and i have one plastic frog with paddle tails (which is about 9 or 10 inches long) i would never use it just because it spins and rolls too much but if i had a better brand of frog i would defenitely use it. i like the idea of a spro magnum frog! maybe some day they'll catch on and make one. but anyway I have watched videos of muskies going crazy in the weeds chasing frogs on the surface. so i dont know why a muskie wouldnt go after one. i might try a regular sized bronzeye frog for muskies at wagon train sometime If im fishing the weeds.

[mrcold]

Originally Posted by LincolnLunger

yes the scheels in omaha has a few different musky size frogs i beleive and i have one plastic frog with paddle tails (which is about 9 or 10 inches long) i would never use it just because it spins and rolls too much but if i had a better brand of frog i would defenitely use it. i like the idea of a spro magnum frog! maybe some day they'll catch on and make one. but anyway I have watched videos of muskies going crazy in the weeds chasing frogs on the surface. so i dont know why a muskie wouldnt go after one. i might try a regular sized bronzeye frog for muskies at wagon train sometime If im fishing the weeds.

I've seen Frogzilla if that's the one you guys are talking about. My problem with it is the Spro just has a nice look to it and the legs on it are so much nicer than Frogzilla. I sent an email to Spro today letting them know I need a magnum frog...if they knew how many of their regular size I've bought, they'd probably start making em.

[LincolnLunger]

i dont think the one i have is a frogzilla but anyway if spro somehow decides to make a bigger version lemme know id definetily want to get one...maybe i could email them and try to get them into making one.
I can see a muskie going after a big ol' spro frog right now

[mrcold]

On 6/8/08, Syd Rives <syd@spro.com> wrote:

Brian,
We are in the process of making the King Daddy Bronzeye frog. The bait should be available about a year from now. Thank you and have a nice day.

----- Original Message -----
From: Brian
To: contact@spro.com
Sent: Sunday, June 08, 2008 12:22 PM
Subject: Bronzeye Frog Question


To whom it may concern:

I'm sure you get requests for baits all the time, but I just wanted to know if there are any plans for or if there's anyway to encourage plans for a Bronzeye Magnum lure. I like to target bass mainly, but also pike and muskie, and would like a frog with a larger body. Could you tell me if there are any plans for a larger bronzeye?

If not, then I guess just chalk this up as another vote for one if you guys are looking for bait ideas in the future. Oh, and as far as current colors...***, ***, and *** are all GREAT colors. I've had limited success on some other colors, but those three just flat out produce fish.

Thank you for your stellar products, and here's to hoping I can catch some huge bass and esox on the Spro Bronzeye Magnum!

Sincerely,

Brian
Omaha, NE
Official Spro Fan

[esoxjunkie]

Brian, Daryl showed us the stocking strategy at the last Muskies Inc meeting. With their new schedule they are stocking every three years, so there won't be any muskies stocked until 2011.

Depending on the particular lake, you need to probably propose your plan to the district biologist.

Of course I have to make a plug here, so I'll say that as a group Muskies Inc is working with the Game and Parks on all aspects of muskie management in Nebraska. If you were a member of Muskies Inc....



As far as muskie frogs go, I've got lots of topwaters for muskies, but none of them are soft plastics. I can't speak to their effectiveness.

Jamie

[mrcold]

The current status is that we only stock pure-bred muskellunge, fish that are a year old and about 12 inches long when stocked. Those fish are raised on minnows or other small fish. We are coordinating all of our stockings so they occur in the same year, once every 3 years. We stocked muskies around the state this year; 2011 will be the next year we plan to produce muskies for stocking.

Now let me tell you a few other things about our muskie management philosophy. Would you believe that the first muskie stockings in Nebraska occurred in 1958? Those fish were stocked in Lake Minatare. Minatare was stocked one time and one time only. To my knowledge there has never been a muskie caught from Minatare. We have tried a variety of stocking strategies over the years stocking both tiger muskies and pure-bred muskellunge. We have stocked everything from fry to the yearling fish we now stock. Over the years we have stocked no less than 71 different water bodies in Nebraska with muskies or tiger muskies. A lot of those waters should have never had muskies stocked in them in the first place.

The muskies stocking strategy we use now has proven to be very successful. We invest a lot in raising those fish to age-1 and 12-14 inches before they are stocked. If we ever go back to stocking muskies in 70 different bodies of water around the state, I will be the first one to complain. I love muskies, and believe we have places for muskies in Nebraska, but we are NOT going to stock them in every body of water. I believel our best strategy will be to target a few bodies of water for muskie stocking. Those bodies of water should be habitats that can support muskies, should have an abundance of prey, and should provide anglers with opportunities to catch a trophy fish they would not otherwise have had a chance to catch. I believe our best strategy will be to have a distribution of muskie waters across the state, but probably are not going to have muskies in a lot of different water bodies in the same area.

In the Omaha area we have stocked Zorinsky with muskies in 2007 and 2008. I believe Zorinsky will be capable of supporting some muskies and should produce a viable muskie fishery. I doubt that we will be stocking muskies in any other Omaha metro waters since we have them in Zorinsky. Walnut Creek Reservoir might be another habitat where muskies would be successful, but we are not going to be stocking muskies in a lot of waters and with them already present in Zorinsky, Walnut Creek would not be high on the list of potential muskie waters.

Daryl Bauer
Lakes and Reservoirs Program Manager
Nebraska Game & Parks Commission
daryl.bauer@ngpc.ne.gov

P.S. Please feel free to share this message with others.

I'm just going to read between the lines here and assume Daryl wants me to relocate as many as possible to the lakes where I want them stocked.

*edit: Guess I should make it abundantly clear that I'm completely joking about relocating any fish of any kind, especially these expensive ones...plus I'd have to catch one in order to relocate it. *

[esoxjunkie]

Wow, you read waaaaay between the lines! No matter how many different angles I turn my laptop, I don't see any implication like you read

Jamie