I haven't been fishing musky for long, but know plenty of people that get them to bite on the second or third follow, sometimes with the same bait, sometimes with a different throwback bait. I wouldn't wait all day after a follow, but a couple extra casts will sometimes induce them to strike. If not, depending on the aggression shown during the follow, you leave, then come back to the spot later with a different presentation. I'm leaving tomorrow midday for a fall trophy hunt near the WI/UP border. Freezing temps means lots of warm clothes, slower moving baits, and a couple big fat suckers on quick strike rigs hanging over the side. I can't wait. By the way, a few musky guys I know from OH, KY, MO, etc. inform me that gar are in fact a blast to catch. Hard to get the iron into their bony mouths from what I'm told. Somebody also mentioned they can be caught with a frayed piece of nylon rope? Kevin I like muskies.

Thanks for the comments Kyle. Mallets grow very well in summer but suck in winter. Rexes and Rhizomatous are fairly easy - do not keep them soaking wet but don't let them get bone dry either. So I check most everyone of them every day just to see if any are wilting and water when I see this for sure. I also like to run a mist/cone shower over them as well to keep them somewhat humid. They need light to excel but no full sun during the hot part of the day either. As the summer winds down I usually like to move them to a sunnier location but again only a few hours of direct sun. Some like callosa are in full day sun and seem to be loving it. If your begonias are rotting then maybe it is time to repot with a faster draining mix (again I use Miracle-Gro potting mix so I don't have to worry about any secret formulas - I've gone through 8 full size bags so far this year and bought 3 more ready for use). Top off any pots that are low as the fertilizer included helps the plants get a boost. Here is a sample of what I have growing pretty well (two weeks ago) valida next to U358 Sylvan Triumph I think the trailer is Bob-o-link and the one in front is ludwigii grown by our club's youngest member from seed a few begonias Virginia Jens (big leaf) and aconitifolia (about six feet tall now) platanifolia (very large leaf on a thick cane like stem) my own seed grown maculata (maybe a hybrid but it looks like its mother plant) Snow-Capped, Cancan, Island Magic, and Judy Cook in among rose of Sharon seedlings Speculata with some torn leaves from falling debris U445 is really cool - tall shrub or thick-stem (?) with palmate leaves.

Thanks FrozeBudd. It is a big job moving everything outside for summer and back indoors for winter. My basement runneth over as I try to organize them into their cubby holes just to keep them alive. I still have about 20 extra large pots to move indoors before Monday (our first freeze). The plants get bigger, new plants come in faster than old ones check out, propagation makes things worse as space is limited, and I am another year older. UGH! This is from last December Confetti on left, Hugh McLaughlin on right. Not sure what is in the back. Amelia blooming, Cowardly Lion (striped rhizo), and it looks like Big Mac (glossy green) Helen Teupel (purple with silver edges) and some unknown silver curl. Flirty Girl (a seedling from Ozzie Johnson who is a member of our begonia club) Jack Black with a cluster of blooms My Special Angel (polka dot cane), Taconite (large dark green leaves), and U450 or U540 (seems like the tag was mislabeled) is the silver leaf with dark veins. rexes from Walmart or Lowe's (Exotic Angel nursery) Proud Mary various begonias I propagated for fun.

I agree with Dave on this being a fussy cane begonia. Root rot comes from too much watering as well. I keep mine in the basement and have learned to keep them on the drier side in winter. Mildew is the one issue that can make these types quickly turn ugly. I don't mist my canes but I do water by hose so if some of the leaves get wet, not a huge deal. I have several I've grown from seeds collected off the mother plant that seem identical or slightly different. I wished I had known about watering back when I started getting canes. Here was the mother plant back in Sep, 2009 in the same 18" pot of Encanto Bronze (the bigger cane), Mrs. Hashimoto (the plain green one with white blooms, and Morocco. close up of it, Mrs. Hashimoto and Morocco. Here it was in bloom that year. The seed grown ones last Sep in a slightly smaller pot (maybe 15") and blooming. The plant to the left is Begonia platanifolia (another good sized begonia) This same pot the winter before had mildew so bad that I lost some stems and almost all the leaves before I did anything to remedy the situation. Now if I had a big GH like at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, we could grow them to 12 to 14 feet tall.