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Posts: 347
Location: Vilas County, WI | On average when does the sucker bite typically turn on in northern WI (Oneida/Vilas Counties). I know this is subjective and many factors/variables may affect the answer. Just looking for an estimation.
At work I have Oct 18 - 22nd open; is that too soon?
Any feedback is much appreciated.
Thanks
Big Show |
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Location: SE Wisconsin | Sounds like a perfect time for suckers to me |
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Posts: 2687
Location: Hayward, WI | You should be able to run suckers by then, or well before if you fish earlier than that. I'd say they'll eat a sucker at any time. The only real limitation is water temperature - keeping suckers alive when the water temps are above 60 degrees or so is a little tougher. |
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Posts: 256
| Fish will eat suckers at anytime. I think the reason guys don't fish suckers more in the summer is two fold. 1. They are harder to keep alive in warm water; and 2. They are hard to find in the summer because they take more effort for bait stores and bait vendors to trap. |
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Location: Contrarian Island | spot on Kustomboy... muskies like suckers all year, I've caught 45"+ fish on them in July and August in WI with water temps 74-75... it's live bait, what would make musky fishermen ever think they wouldn't work all year?!!! 
Edited by BNelson 9/3/2014 8:19 AM
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Posts: 1168
| They will eat suckers on opening weekend or in the middle of July and August or on the last day of the season. Keeping suckers alive in warmer temps is a pain.....If there was only something you could use that was easier to keep when temps are warmer, that would be pretty neat.....hmmmm  |
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Posts: 566
Location: Elgin, IL | Somebody should think of a way....
Edited by Northwind Mark 9/3/2014 11:30 AM
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Posts: 518
Location: Cave Run Lake KY. | Northwind Mark - 9/3/2014 12:19 PM
Somebody should think of a way.... ;) There is a way, but in most States it is illegal Marv. |
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Posts: 574
Location: Elk Grove Village, IL & Phillips, WI | Just catch a panfish or better yet a bull head and quickset it. They stay alive much longer than a sucker in warm water and will catch a musky. Perfectly legal in Wisconsin as long as you don't transport the fish to another lake and count it toward your daily bag limit. |
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Posts: 230
Location: St Paul, Minnesota | I missed an upper 30's on an 11" sucker on Monday (Sept 30th) in Polk County, WI. Depending on the state and county regs I wouldn't be opposed to dragging a sucker while fishing from here on out through the end of the season.
Edited by Cloud7 9/3/2014 2:13 PM
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Posts: 345
Location: Poynette WI. | i've heard keeping suckers in a plastic bag/similar container with water from the bait station, then when you get to the lake fill up the live well and set the bag/container in the water without dumping will allow for the bait acclimate slowly helps. Some days in the fall muskies also seem to favor a sucker over a muskie lure. Sometimes casting lures in the fall is often to draw fish into the suckers, where as from opening day through out the summer(warmer) months you have equal chances when casting or soaking suckers of getting bit, which is what i like to do as soon as the water is below 55 degrees.
Edited by FISHFINDER101 9/3/2014 2:33 PM
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Posts: 347
Location: Vilas County, WI | Thank you for all the replies. I do understand that suckers work year long - I was more less looking for indicators of when the sucker bite gets full swing in the fall.
The water temp info helps too! Much appreciated.
Thanks
Big Show |
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Posts: 265
Location: Manitowish Waters WI | Good luck getting hands on suckers this fall. With all the rivers blown out it's going to be a rat race to the sucker stores. Got lucky and found suckers on my third stop today. Bait guy said he ordered 200 and got 30. Dealers told him it is the worst it has been in 10 years. They said they would be lucky to have suckers by the end of the week and the rest of the fall will be bleak. Call ahead and make sure they have them in before you get to dead set on suckers. |
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Posts: 341
| esox1980 what are the general water temps in Manitowish today? |
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Posts: 25
| I have to second esox1980's post. It will be a tough fall for finding suckers for sale. I live in central WI and talked to a few bait dealers/collectors last week and they all agreed that with the extreme high water from recent rains they couldn't get out to trap bait and those who raise them in ponds are already pretty much tapped out. Get ready to pay more when you can even find them. I wouldn't be surprised if prices in many areas to rise to double digits for a sucker! But what the hay, we all spend more to catch these dang things than just about any other freshwater species, live bait or artificial! |
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Posts: 4343
Location: Smith Creek | Conspiracy to raise prices.
I wonder what the excuse will be next year, koi herpes? |
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| I wish I knew a little more about the process of bait dealers acquiring musky size suckers. The last few years have been one excuse after another. Too much water, too little water, brutal winter and on and on. |
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Posts: 265
Location: Manitowish Waters WI | It's not conspiracy it's fact, suckers are running $10 right now if you can find them. No ones fault, just the weather factor. Muskycore, I was out sunday and I had 58. I'm betting it's dropped since then. Some one who has been out this week probably has some better temps. |
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Posts: 1
| Is anybody aware of where you can find suckers in Wisconsin or Minnesota? |
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Posts: 1
| Big minnow in Holcombe has a bunch right now and Ross's Sport Shop in Phillips is sitting good with suckers. |
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Posts: 2515
Location: Waukesha & Land O Lakes, WI | Rollies was sold out on Thursday of last week, I've been getting mine at Bent's Camp in Land O lakes, Lg were 9.00 and that's all they had.
Typically I start running meat around the mid Sept. up in NE Wis. Water temps on Big St Germain were 54.5 when I left yesterday and she was turning. |
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Posts: 8715
| For those of you who fish suckers in warmer water, how do you keep them alive? We've tried it a handful of times and they're usually dead within a few minutes. |
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Location: Contrarian Island | what do you consider warm water? i've run them in water up to surface temps to 75..stayed alive all day... key is lots of oxygen. not sure where the idea came from that they can't live in warmer water? the streams they live in reach 75 in the summer.. |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | are you able to run hair nation when aerating at that level ... |
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Location: Contrarian Island | of course! |
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Posts: 8715
| BNelson - 10/7/2014 12:47 PM
what do you consider warm water? i've run them in water up to surface temps to 75..stayed alive all day... key is lots of oxygen. not sure where the idea came from that they can't live in warmer water? the streams they live in reach 75 in the summer..
The last time I tried we had 75 in the morning and 79 by the end of the day. They were fine in the livewell, but after 5-10 minutes in the lake they weren't even swimming. Had to rig up 2 and keep switching them out.
Then there are the suckers you get on your own. You can't kill those things no matter WHAT you do to them. |
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Location: Contrarian Island | yah, maybe you had the pond raised sucker rather than wild suckers? ours were wild.... have caught fish to 46 in july and august w meat... the idea that suckers only work in the fall is comical.... um yah, a live sucker and why would a musky not eat it any time of the year???
Edited by BNelson 10/7/2014 8:26 PM
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Posts: 1220
| Bait'rAtor
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Posts: 8715
| The fresh caught wild river suckers are what we like to call "bionic bait"... They don't even die when they are all shredded up with guts hanging out. The ones you get at the bait shops are usually half dead to begin with. A good black sucker that leaves a bunch of poop in the cooler/livewell/bucket? Yeah, look out.
We usually resort to a perch, pike, or a rock bass in warmer weather. Seems like the suckers you buy in the summer are pretty well worthless.
I just wondered if there was something we were missing with the bait shop suckers, but it looks like it's back to the river for us if we're going to use live bait in the summer...
Edited by esoxaddict 10/7/2014 9:45 PM
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Posts: 1220
| Warm weather, add ice. Cold weather, save your live well pump from busting. Like Popeil...it really, really works!
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