Minnesota Muskie Fanatics locked up in cabins, basements, and garages took a break from sharpening hooks, making online equipment orders, and drooling over trophy Muskie videos to attend their favorite off season gathering, the Minnesota Muskie Expo. Held 100 days into the season's 190 day closure, the Muskie Expo is the "over the hill" celebration as folks count down the days until the first behemoth lures can hit the water June 7th.

Sunday, March 9th wrapped up the 14th annual Minnesota Muskie Expo at the National Sports Center in Blaine. On hand were vendors from all muskie fishing avenues. Replica makers, retail outlets, outdoor publications, guide services, boat makers, fishing resorts, lure makers, and custom rod builders all pandered to the muskie angler.

Helping close out the Expo's Seminar series was FishingMinnesota's own Rob Kimm, editor of Esox Angler magazine. Kimm talked about combining spot selection and presentation to maximize your success while on the water. Kimm spoke about when to fish community spots and how to target overlooked secondary spots like 'fish trap' travel routes, ugly spots like shallow slop, small clumps of rushes, or sandy substrates; and underfished 'out-of-the-way' spots. Presentations are a bit more situational, but Kimm advised you should never fish lousy hooking lures. Anglers may be wise to create a small box of 'essential' baits, structure contact lures that trigger strikes rather than waiting for the feeding binge, speed lures for speed fish, and pressure release lures like jigs or smaller inline spinners when fish are seeing lots of lures and many times lots of popular baits. Wrapping up the talk, Kimm asked the audience about the assumptions they make as anglers when fishing certain Muskie spots on a lake. Are you fishing the right spots for the right reasons?

Occupying the largest booth in the show and sponsoring shuttle services to the parking lot was Thorne Bros. Custom Rods and Tackle. To say there were busy would be an understatement. For those that missed the Expo this year a trip to Fridley to Thorne Bros. would be a decent consolation prize. They will carry all the hot lures for 2008 as well as your old favorites, not to mention rods, tackle storage, and everything a muskie enthusiast could want.

For many muskie anglers the goal for 2008 is to break the 50" mark. A wise decision would be to get in contact with Tim Anderson's Big Fish Hunt Guide Service. Anderson was on hand to answer questions and line up trips, with many photos highlighting a stellar 2007. Tim's booth also sported a 54.5" replica from a Mille Lacs trip he guided a client on in November 2006. Muskie guides are a dime a dozen, but when you want to get your personal best Tim Anderson is the man for the job. Big fish are his game, and he can put you on the largest of nearly any species.

A number of big name muskie anglers are raving about Keith Terlinden's Professional Edge custom rods. Mike Hulbert, Jack Burns, Rob Kimm, and Dan Craven have been using and loving the rods for a couple years. On hand to showcase a few of his models and talk muskies, Terlinden's booth was one of few that handcraft individual rods. Now Terlinden's business has expanded, and orders are coming in from everywhere. Built on Edge, St. Croix, and Diamondback blanks, Terlinden uses the best components available for truly exceptional rods. He's particularly excited about the growing popularity of his bass and walleye rods, to compliment his fine line of Muskie rods. A KT Professional Edge rod may be just what the doctor ordered for your cabin fever blues as you wait for winter and spring to pass.

Another successful Muskie Expo is in the books. New baits flew off the displays, old and new friends met, and anglers took a vacation from counting down days on their calendar. See you at the Expo next year and good luck on the water in 2008.

Scott R. Mackenthun