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| Maybe because it is getting cool over night and we have had frost warnings, I have been thinking about sucker fishing. When do you start fishing with suckers? Is it decided by the calendar, water temps, or just when they are available at the bait shop? |
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Posts: 1396
Location: Brighton CO. | Water temperature because if the water is too warm it's hard to keep your Suckers alive. Also when fishing Suckers we have to slow down boat speed when working spots. so that goes hand and hand with slower lure presentation. It's get harder to find Suckers at the bait shop too. It can be expensive but effective. |
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Posts: 1396
Location: Brighton CO. | When the water is warmer the Muskies tend to tail grab the Suckers and tear them off of the harness. That gets expensive too. |
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Posts: 620
Location: Seymour, WI | Prior to turnover, you can get muskies to chase fast moving baits like bucktails and surface baits.
During and after turnover, the fish move much slower and that's when suckers shine. |
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Posts: 159
| Live bait fishing with suckers is lame. All this talk about FFS causing a higher rate of mortality and yet there are plenty of people targeting them with suckers. Ironic to say the least.
I've done it about 5 times in my life and I'm pretty sure I'll never be doing it again. All you do is wait, drink beer, and wait more. Then drink more beer. Beyond boring. |
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| gimruis - 9/25/2024 12:51 PM
Live bait fishing with suckers is lame. All this talk about FFS causing a higher rate of mortality and yet there are plenty of people targeting them with suckers. Ironic to say the least.
I've done it about 5 times in my life and I'm pretty sure I'll never be doing it again. All you do is wait, drink beer, and wait more. Then drink more beer. Beyond boring.
Well, I have never drunk beer while sucker fishing and am casting the whole time, so maybe try another approach? |
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Posts: 1396
Location: Brighton CO. | The only time I use Suckers is after turn over and fishing with a guide and the guide watches the Suckers while we cast, and the Suckers are on a quick strike rig and you hit them right away. safe for the fish. (or at least as safe as using a lure.) Fishing and boating while your drunk? ..... |
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| When I have fished suckers, always try and bring the lure past the sucker. Sometimes the musky will grab the sucker. I fish them under a big slip bobber and when a musky is pestering the sucker, it reminds of being a kid and bobber fishing. They will often just swim around the sucker without hitting it. My nephew had a video from a few years ago where a nice ski chased his sucker to the surface and generally harassed it for the better part of 15 minutes before finally swimming away without ever biting. |
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Posts: 1396
Location: Brighton CO. | The ole decoy trick, that works well, last fall we had the opposite thing happen we had two Suckers out (one on each side of the boat) and the guide goes look there's a Muskie following one of the Suckers (he could see it on the sonar) it was the one on the Sucker on the opposite side of the boat Do I take my Bondy out of the water and drop it on the other side of the boat? It's not my turn for the Sucker so I don't. I'm jigging Bondy and I go to left up and there's weight so I hit it and hooked and landed the fish. Sometimes they want the Sucker and other times they hit the lure. In Minnesota and Ontario that's not a option. I was fishing in Wisconsin. On the same trip we had a couple fish swim by the suckers and try to get the lures coming in. We did get two on Sucker that trip too. |
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Posts: 159
| North of 8 - 9/25/2024 12:59 PM
gimruis - 9/25/2024 12:51 PM
Live bait fishing with suckers is lame. All this talk about FFS causing a higher rate of mortality and yet there are plenty of people targeting them with suckers. Ironic to say the least.
I've done it about 5 times in my life and I'm pretty sure I'll never be doing it again. All you do is wait, drink beer, and wait more. Then drink more beer. Beyond boring.
Well, I have never drunk beer while sucker fishing and am casting the whole time, so maybe try another approach?
Neither have I. Just because I'm drinking beer doesn't mean I'm drunk.
One line allowed here. I'll be #*^@ed if I'm gonna sit there watching a $15 sucker minnow for hours on end when I can cast instead.
Live bait studies have data showing that they kill fish from hooking mortality. I'm about not killing muskies, so I'll avoid the live bait thing. There's this huge crowd that is against the use of FFS with artificial lures but they're apparently fine using a big sucker minnow. The irony is beyond hypocritical.
Edited by gimruis 9/26/2024 11:21 AM
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| My point was, at least in WI, you can cast and still have a sucker out. Not mutually exclusive. As to mortality, I have worried much more about fish I have hooked on multi treble baits than those I have caught on quick strike rigs. Maybe some folks wait too long to set the hook, can't say, but all of those I or others fishing with me using quick strike rigs were hooked in the jaw and easily released. I have missed some as well because I may have tried to set too early. |
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Posts: 1396
Location: Brighton CO. | When I fish in Minnesota with one line no way in heck I'm fishing a Sucker. If done properly it is no harder on the fish as lures, but guess what I'm sure there are folks who don't do it right. There are a lot of folks who mishandle fish. (net them drop them in the bottom of the boat for example) The main thing is not put quick strike rig and a old school single hook shallow rig in the same category. Skilled fishermen catching lots of Muskies on single hooks really did a number on the fishery. Letting fish go that swam off fine and later died. if you hit a fish right away like we do with lures there's no difference. |
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Posts: 2015
| I’ve never fished suckers for muskie and doubt I ever will, who knows maybe when I’m 70 and have ffs? All sorts of ding dongs on YouTube and TV fishing suckers on quick strikes… hit them as quick as a lure you say? No body does that… wait til they are going away they say… heck they often wait 30 seconds or more… barbless single hook fly/fishing … it’s the way of the future, you’ll see your fly perfectly on your ffs… should be fun! We’ve got to protect these fish!!! Please ban suckers and make the season shorter before it’s too late!!! |
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Posts: 6
| Honestly, I start fishing with suckers when the water temps start to drop, usually below 60°F. That’s when predatory fish like muskies and pike get more aggressive. But it also depends on when they’re available at the bait shop. Sometimes, I just go by the calendar and start in the fall when the weather cools and frost warnings kick in. So, for me, it's a mix of water temps, the season, and whether I can get them at the shop. |
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Posts: 1396
Location: Brighton CO. | Yes I've caught Muskies on Suckers but it can be a pain in the butt if fishing a couple guys and the guide and if it's your turn for the Sucker rod and all that. My dad's side of the family is from Wisconsin and my mom is from Minnesota, so fishing in Minnesota where you get one rod that's OK the possibilities are endless. Org. Bondy, Fuzzy Duzzit, Bulldawg's, Twinn Finn, Medussa, Royal Orba, Tubes, countdown cranks, Jigs and Jigging spoons. Slow roll a single hook Spinnerbait. And if you work Eddiebait real slow a fish will come a long way to kill it. In post turn over fish from the bottom up, so get something down to there level and go slow and hang on. |
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| Something that always bothered me but I know won't change is the opposition to circle hooks instead of quick strike rigs. My brother in law was a commercial fisherman in Alaska for over 50 years and because he lives off grid can still put out set lines for halibut as a subsistence resident. Commerical fishing, he caught thousands of salmon on long lines with circle hooks and everyone was hooked in the jaw. The halibut he catches on the set lines, which are out for 24 hours, are hooked the same way, in the jaw. Yet musky fishermen claim they won't work that way on musky.
When we talked about it he estimated he had caught close to two dozen different species with circle hooks and all were hooked the same. |
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| Something that always bothered me but I know won't change is the opposition to circle hooks instead of quick strike rigs. My brother in law was a commercial fisherman in Alaska for over 50 years and because he lives off grid can still put out set lines for halibut as a subsistence resident. Commerical fishing, he caught thousands of salmon on long lines with circle hooks and everyone was hooked in the jaw. The halibut he catches on the set lines, which are out for 24 hours, are hooked the same way, in the jaw. Yet musky fishermen claim they won't work that way on musky.
When we talked about it he estimated he had caught close to two dozen different species with circle hooks and all were hooked the same. |
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Posts: 1396
Location: Brighton CO. | I've hard the same thing with the circle hooks I guess they don't always hook in the corner of the mouth and if they shallow it a dead fish. And yes if you fish a quick strike rig and you give em a little more time to be sure and they swallow them same deal you got a dead fish. Other extreme you may plain miss a fish with a circle hook. A quite a few years ago lots of folks gave the circle hook thing a close look to see if it would work. |
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Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | gimruis - 9/26/2024 11:19 AM
North of 8 - 9/25/2024 12:59 PM
gimruis - 9/25/2024 12:51 PM
Live bait fishing with suckers is lame. All this talk about FFS causing a higher rate of mortality and yet there are plenty of people targeting them with suckers. Ironic to say the least.
I've done it about 5 times in my life and I'm pretty sure I'll never be doing it again. All you do is wait, drink beer, and wait more. Then drink more beer. Beyond boring.
Well, I have never drunk beer while sucker fishing and am casting the whole time, so maybe try another approach?
Neither have I. Just because I'm drinking beer doesn't mean I'm drunk.
One line allowed here. I'll be #*^@ed if I'm gonna sit there watching a $15 sucker minnow for hours on end when I can cast instead.
Live bait studies have data showing that they kill fish from hooking mortality. I'm about not killing muskies, so I'll avoid the live bait thing. There's this huge crowd that is against the use of FFS with artificial lures but they're apparently fine using a big sucker minnow. The irony is beyond hypocritical.
The studies I think you are referring to were single-hook rigs, now known as kill rigs. If not, post the link. Unlike almost every other type of lure I've used, I've never had a single quick strike rig swallowed. |
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| My experience is the same as yours Steve. I have had double 8 bucktails swallowed the only thing sticking out of the corner of the mouth is the loop the leader attaches to. Never had that with a quick strike rig. |
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Posts: 1279
| The key to a circle hook is never set the hook. I'm wondering if people who tried them and didn't like them, may have been setting the hook. The fish has to tighten the line and set the hook on themselves. The fish can have it halfway down it's gullet, and as it swims away, it pulls out and doesn't hook anything until it starts to come out of the mouth. That's when the hook grabs. I still probably wouldn't use it on anything I didn't want to kill, just in case, but if used correctly, probably would only hook in the corner of the mouth. |
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Posts: 10
| Looked up that single hook "kill hook rig". Was interesting, average time from strike to hook set 17 minutes, average time to handle 5 minutes, fish caught had leaders cut, assuming gut hooked and hooks left in place. 40 muskies in a 1 acre pond, 22 caught. Couldn't find any studies on quick strike rigs but anecdotally would seem "safer".
I agree with previous poster, if ffs is spotlighting deer, dragging suckers sure seems like hunting over a pile of corn. I don't have strong opinions for deer corn or suckers by the way. Just notice it does seem hypocritical from my current point of view. |
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| TCESOX - 9/27/2024 6:10 PM
The key to a circle hook is never set the hook. I'm wondering if people who tried them and didn't like them, may have been setting the hook. The fish has to tighten the line and set the hook on themselves. The fish can have it halfway down it's gullet, and as it swims away, it pulls out and doesn't hook anything until it starts to come out of the mouth. That's when the hook grabs. I still probably wouldn't use it on anything I didn't want to kill, just in case, but if used correctly, probably would only hook in the corner of the mouth.
Yes, that is why long liners and set line rigs use them. The fish hook themselves. |
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Posts: 159
| There is no requirement that you have to use a quick strike rig. At least there isn't one where I fish. So there are plenty of people still using a single hook and big sucker. Come later this month, there will be quite a few doing it too. Once water temps drop below 60. That's the mortality I'm referring to.
I caught one on Labor Day and it had a rusted hook lodged inside its mouth, with 16 inches of line attached. Obviously I removed it properly before I released that fish. Real life evidence that sucker fishing with single hooks is still being done.
I was amazed that fish could even eat properly.
I can and will not jusify fishing that way if the intent is to release a fish alive and healthy. Nor can I justfy spending 15 bucks on one sucker minnow. If there comes a day when I cannot cast anymore, I'd rather not fish at all than sit there with a sucker minnow. The health of the fish is more important to me than trying to catch one that way.
Edited by gimruis 10/1/2024 9:09 AM
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Posts: 1396
Location: Brighton CO. | I don't know anyone who uses a single hook kill rig. Two of the four days I fished last fall in the Hayward area were on the flowage, I had not been on a late season Muskie trip in years a few observations, We saw two groups of people fishing from shore AKA Tony Rizzo's secret method and a number of people just rowing around with a couple Suckers out under bobbers.
We fished four days on two different bodies of water, three days we cast lures and had Suckers out and one day we just trolled lures. If you are on shore and your Suckers are not right in front of you where you can hit them right away you are asking for trouble, same thing in a boat by yourself and you have multiple lines out "what happens when you get on the second Sucker? that's trouble! Or even if your casting a lure by yourself and you hook a Muskie on your lure and another grabs your Sucker more trouble. Yes Sucker fishing can be hard on the Muskies if done wrong,
1. don't use a single hook.
2. Don't fish with two lines if your by yourself.
3. I don't think fishing from shore is a good idea with a quick strike.
If done right Sucker fishing doesn't hurt the Muskies any more then fishing with a lure.
If I was leaving on a late season Muskie I would bring my countdown cranks, slow moving Jerkbaits, plastics, jigging lures, and a slow rolled single bladed spinnerbaits and would hold my own without Suckers. |
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Posts: 205
| Our group typically schedules about 5 days every fall to slow troll suckers targeting specific open water lake structures. One major advantage with suckers is the bait is in the strike zone 100% of the time if done right. I move along at .5 mph and get the suckers in the twilight zone - that is the depth where light penetration fades usually 12 to 15 feet. Past two years we have had multiple fish days last year 4 fish 32, 42, 43, 44 with two tigers. Very effective and haven't killed a fish that I am aware of. Circle hooks are great for small soft baits. I used circle hooks exclusively in the salt. Snook, reds and tuna. Baits are typically herring, pin fish or other white bait along with cut bait. Put single circle hook in one end of a 14" sucker and there's too much guessing and a lot that can go wrong.
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Posts: 1396
Location: Brighton CO. | Trolling Suckers is effective as heck, years ago fishing with Tom Stark (the Tom Stark from the earlier post) we were fishing at the Muskies INC fall board meeting in Eagle River we had Suckers out and we went 50-75 down the shoreline with the Suckers out under power of the trolling motor and a friend in the boat caught a Muskie it was big fish (only 33") of the board fishing trip a cold front went thru and made for tough fishing. At that time if the Game Warden saw that we would have been in trouble. |
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| gimruis - 10/1/2024 9:06 AM
There is no requirement that you have to use a quick strike rig. At least there isn't one where I fish. So there are plenty of people still using a single hook and big sucker. Come later this month, there will be quite a few doing it too. Once water temps drop below 60. That's the mortality I'm referring to.
I caught one on Labor Day and it had a rusted hook lodged inside its mouth, with 16 inches of line attached. Obviously I removed it properly before I released that fish. Real life evidence that sucker fishing with single hooks is still being done.
I was amazed that fish could even eat properly.
I can and will not jusify fishing that way if the intent is to release a fish alive and healthy. Nor can I justfy spending 15 bucks on one sucker minnow. If there comes a day when I cannot cast anymore, I'd rather not fish at all than sit there with a sucker minnow. The health of the fish is more important to me than trying to catch one that way.
How does a musky with a single hook in its mouth prove single hook sucker fishing? Folks use single hooks with bait for pike, for catfish, etc. My niece's husband fishes for big cats with 8-inch suckers on single hooks in rivers. By me in northern WI, lots of guys use big minnows on single hooks under tip ups through the ice for pike.
I have lost tiny crappie jigs tipped with a minnow to muskies. |
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Posts: 8782
| We fish suckers with a single treble hook rig. It's like your regular QS rig minus a bunch of hardware. Typically we're fishing them weighted on a slow drift and keeping them a foot or so off the bottom. It involves a lot of graph watching, and a lot of reeling up a few feet as you drift over humps/etc. and then letting a few feet of line out when you're past the structure. We're holding the rod as we do this, so the minute a fish grabs the sucker you can stand up and set the hook. You will usually feel the sucker freaking out a few seconds beforehand. Not the most exciting way to fish, but it is effective.
We also net or catch our own suckers when we can. There is no comparison between a store bought sucker and a fresh sucker. Plus, it's fun catching them. |
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Posts: 159
| No catfish in the lakes by me. None whatsoever. And the only pike are 20 inch slime darts. The only possible target with a big single hook is a muskie.
People say its effective. Well so is FFS. Maybe there's a reason live bait is banned in tournaments.
Edited by gimruis 10/2/2024 1:02 PM
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| gimruis - 10/2/2024 12:52 PM
No catfish in the lakes by me. None whatsoever. And the only pike are 20 inch slime darts. The only possible target with a big single hook is a muskie.
People say its effective. Well so is FFS. Maybe there's a reason live bait is banned in tournaments.
Interesting body of water where pike top out at 20", yet musky can grow bigger. |
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Posts: 159
| North of 8 - 10/2/2024 1:15 PM
gimruis - 10/2/2024 12:52 PM
No catfish in the lakes by me. None whatsoever. And the only pike are 20 inch slime darts. The only possible target with a big single hook is a muskie.
People say its effective. Well so is FFS. Maybe there's a reason live bait is banned in tournaments.
Interesting body of water where pike top out at 20", yet musky can grow bigger.
That's most of the entire central part of Minnesota. A sizable pike is now rarer than catching a muskie. Which is why the daily bag limit is 10 pike per day and 9 of them have to be under 22 inches. Its a serious problem. |
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Posts: 8782
| gimruis - 10/3/2024 2:15 PM
North of 8 - 10/2/2024 1:15 PM
gimruis - 10/2/2024 12:52 PM
No catfish in the lakes by me. None whatsoever. And the only pike are 20 inch slime darts. The only possible target with a big single hook is a muskie.
People say its effective. Well so is FFS. Maybe there's a reason live bait is banned in tournaments.
Interesting body of water where pike top out at 20", yet musky can grow bigger.
That's most of the entire central part of Minnesota. A sizable pike is now rarer than catching a muskie. Which is why the daily bag limit is 10 pike per day and 9 of them have to be under 22 inches. Its a serious problem.
I would hope that you MN guys would be harvesting them every chance you get. The Y bones are a PITA, but they are awfully good to eat. |
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Posts: 2325
Location: Chisholm, MN | esoxaddict - 10/3/2024 3:54 PM
gimruis - 10/3/2024 2:15 PM
North of 8 - 10/2/2024 1:15 PM
gimruis - 10/2/2024 12:52 PM
No catfish in the lakes by me. None whatsoever. And the only pike are 20 inch slime darts. The only possible target with a big single hook is a muskie.
People say its effective. Well so is FFS. Maybe there's a reason live bait is banned in tournaments.
Interesting body of water where pike top out at 20", yet musky can grow bigger.
That's most of the entire central part of Minnesota. A sizable pike is now rarer than catching a muskie. Which is why the daily bag limit is 10 pike per day and 9 of them have to be under 22 inches. Its a serious problem.
I would hope that you MN guys would be harvesting them every chance you get. The Y bones are a PITA, but they are awfully good to eat.
I would but the last thing I want to do is clean fish when I get home at 2-3 in the morning. |
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| Something that I didn't use but would have if I had caught one, at Temple Bay Lodge, part of our package was fish cleaning/filet. For two bucks, they will do the Y bones in a pike in addition to basic filet. That would be two bucks well spent for me. I always make the dog's breakfast out of that and seldom keep pike for that reason, feel I waste too much. Guys I went with said normally they get some while jigging for walleyes, but not this trip. |
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Posts: 159
| Kirby, I agree. I don't mind the taste of them out of colder water, but they are a pain in the rear to clean because of the y bones and slime. I have a friend that pickles the smaller ones and that is a great way to utilize an abundant, easy to catch resource. |
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Posts: 1396
Location: Brighton CO. | 40 years ago at this time I took one of my favorite trips ever to Northern Wisconsin, It was the first time in my life I was not enrolled in school and I lived in Southern California. The trip was from 30 Sept- 8th Oct. and the trees were at there fall peak and it was nice and cool. September was the month of hell in California Temps in the 90's-100's it was just what the doctor ordered. I had a 5' 8" glass rod with a 1979 5500C and 30# Dacron line I didn't fish with Suckers and only had a few fall lures 6" Reef Hawg, unweighted 9" Bobbie and Suick (I put a rubber core sinker above my leader) for those two lures and I had a jointed Pikie minnow and a early Bagley DB08. I fished out of a 12' row boat and had a 4 horse motor and a set of oars and no depth finder or temp gauge. It was the time of my life and never saw a Muskie the whole trip. We have talked of seeing Bold Eagles on this sight and saw them I as a teenager however this was the first time I saw a Loon (I never saw a single Loon all summer long in the 70's.) Flying home from the Twin Cities to LA Price was on my flight (this is 1984 right before the Purple Rain tour) If you don't want anyone to talk to you or even look at you DON'T wear Gold sequence from head to toe including your hat. He did have two big bouncers with him for security. I made my next fall trip 1989 and used suckers for the first time, no Muskies just Pike on this trip. All the Pike caught on the DB08. I caught my first fall muskie in 1993 on a Reef Hawg on Lake Of The Woods. In 1991 moved to Colorado and have made many trips up North in the fall and have caught a few fish on Suckers but mostly on lures. |
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Fishing Suckers