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| Plan on doing some sucker fishing this fall. Wondering if folks start based on the calendar or water temps, or some combination thereof. Was out yesterday here in Oneida County and water temps were 66-67. Within a week that should begin to drop. |
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Posts: 1208
Location: E. Tenn | This time of year I've had hammerhandle pike get t-boned by muskies, and on one occasion an impossibly huge northern, I was wondering if it's legal to rig one up on a quick strike rig... |
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Posts: 2280
Location: Chisholm, MN | I don’t use suckers anymore but when I did I rarely used them when the water was over 60 degrees. They work but they die easier at that water temp and usually fish are chasing bucktails shallow before that. Once the water gets below 60 you can target deeper fish with suckers and have them be more lively. |
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Posts: 20180
Location: oswego, il | They start working well up north towards the end of this month. When the water gets to 60 like Kirby said. The colder the water gets the more effective they become. By the end of October I wouldn't waste my time fishing for Muskies without them up there. |
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| Thanks. I have used suckers in the past and had some success but didn't the last couple years. Thinking by end of this coming week water temps will be down and will give it a try then. Last night I went out for a little while and when I came back in about 9 PM, water was still over 66 degrees but over night air temps dropped into the upper 30s. |
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Posts: 2280
Location: Chisholm, MN | Yeah could be 60ish by the end of the week |
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Posts: 32799
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Interestingly, we shot a deep water Fall pattern crappie piece yesterday, and on two lakes they were definitely in the deep water. So were a couple of muskies, clear as could be on the Mega 360 chasing crappies around. Temps below average for the next few days too. |
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Posts: 1194
| Till the water cools off more you get a lot of drops and or muskies grabbing them by the tail. |
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Posts: 386
| In MN, I only fish them when the eyelets and reels start freezing up. If I get over to WI and can cast and drag meat then the 60 mark is legit. |
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Posts: 608
Location: S.W. WI | Turnover and after. normally early October |
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| Was at the Musky Shop yesterday and they were doing a lively business in suckers, including the larger, 15" suckers. I was there to get a replacement net but multiple guys with coolers/buckets buying suckers. The cost of suckers is put in perspective when you wander the store and see multiple lures in the $80, $90 range. |
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| OK, what did I do wrong? Bought a couple of smallish suckers yesterday and went out, casting and dragging a sucker on a Shumway rig under a big Thill slip bobber. After about an hour, the clicker alerted me something was up, the bobber was a couple feet down, then disappeared all together. Line going out quickly. I picked the rod up, lightly put hand pressure on the line and there was something solid there. Engaged the reel, reeled down and set the hook, hard. Nothing. No fish and no sucker. I don't fish suckers often but have missed fish before but always got the sucker back, even if chewed up. The fish was clearly going away from the boat, moving the sucker about 25 feet before I tried to set the hook. The trebles on the Shumway looked smaller than my other quick set rigs but still, two trebles, high/low opposite sides, seems like I should have connected. And I had made sure the hooks were sticky sharp before using the rig.
Edited by North of 8 9/29/2021 12:09 PM
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Posts: 608
Location: S.W. WI | Just a few possibles..... Sucker may have been grabbed by the tail. Maybe a small pike had it- tougher to hook small fish. maybe just bad luck.
. I believe smaller fish tend to run after they grab a sucker. normally the big ones just eat and sit there or move slowly. . . Normally.
With the way fish have been lately, I would bet it was tail grabbed.
Edited by Rudedog 9/29/2021 1:10 PM
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| Rudedog - 9/29/2021 1:02 PM
Just a few possibles..... Sucker may have been grabbed by the tail. Maybe a small pike had it- tougher to hook small fish. maybe just bad luck.
. I believe smaller fish tend to run after they grab a sucker. normally the big ones just eat and sit there or move slowly. . . Normally.
With the way fish have been lately, I would bet it was tail grabbed.
That could be what happened. I was very hopeful in that in the area I was fishing I have raised a really nice fish several times over the last couple years. Never got hooks in it, but had it up on top water. Last fall it missed a Fat B. twice in one cast. My main concern was if I did something wrong. Don't fish suckers a lot and not at all last year. |
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Posts: 408
Location: MN | Even if you do everything right, some % of them will not connect.
Not seeing the sucker again is good. The most important function of the quick strike rig is that it releases and the hooks tear out. Ideally you should never see a sucker again after you set the hook.
It sounds like you didn't do anything particularly bad. I like to be fairly close to the fish when setting, but if it's clearly swimming away from you, 30-40 ft should be OK. Did you have a hook in each side of the sucker, around the middle? I've tried a few different hook placements, have never arrived at a magic solution. I like one on each side, roughly in the middle with one a little more forward than the other and both on the bottom half of the sucker. Pretty sure sworrall and Herbie had a good video showing this kind of placement.
To answer your original question, I used them last year with water in low 60s in late Sept. That's the earliest for me. I got a bite first trip out and some after, but I'm definitely not starting that early with them this year. Baits are still effective at those water temps, cover water better, have a higher hookup %, and are much less of a hassle. If I lived in WI, that would be a different story - I'd probably start dragging them along as soon as I could get them! |
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