The first harbinger of spring has arrived: The Minnesota Muskie Expo that starts this Friday, March 8, and runs through Sunday, March 10. If that’s not reason enough to start sharpening hooks and rechecking your fishing slush fund account balance, nothing is.

I’m not actually sure how long the show has been around, but I can historically trace my tracks to when it used to be at Concordia College and before that, the sports complex in Fridley, Minn. On a guess, that probably covers the last 25 years, give or take a couple of years. The show traditionally accounted for the bulk of my musky spending budget for the year. As a precaution, I always left my credit card at home and only took cash money to guarantee that I didn’t exceed my budget. Musky tackle is my kryptonite rendering me powerless to resist the urge to buy just one more “gotta have” lure.

This year’s show will be different, not in terms of buying strategy but rather in terms of personal interest. One of my net men, Justin Buchholtz of Menomonie, Wis., and owner and proprietor of Haymaker Lures will have a booth at the show. Up to now, he has been selling his lures online. Calling them lures doesn’t do them justice because they are actually more artwork than fishing tools. It reminds me of the adage, “you never work a day in your life if you love what you do.” You can tell Justin pours himself into his work.

At the Haymaker Lures booth you can expect to see custom painted lures that glisten and are so detailed that they look almost too good to use. These custom lures include topwaters, glide baits, and crankbaits in the following patterns: perch, crappie, northern pike and bluegill.

I have known Justin for about 10 years and we have spent countless hours in the boat traveling from western Wisconsin to northern Minnesota. Fishing with him and testing his lures has been awesome but listening to him talk about making the lures and watching his business grow has been even better. I am thrilled to be a very small part of it, in that I am his Critical Component Strategic Placement Technician (I put hooks on lures).

“The Show” is in the Warner Coliseum at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. It’s on Friday, 2-8:30 p.m., on Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and on Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. I hope to see you there but at the very least, stop by Haymaker Lures and tell Justin you know his CCSP Technician.  

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