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Posts: 1137
Location: Holly, MI | Does anyone use a quick strike rig on anything other than Suckers? I think it varies by state but it is legal here to use a fish caught by legal methods and of legal size as bait. Suckers are near impossible to find here after ice fishing ends and big ones are non-existant. I was thinking about trying to catch a perch or sunfish/bluegill on an ultralight setup then soaking it by the boat while casting. It seems like the injured, struggling fish would work even if it wasn't a sucker. Why not? |
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Posts: 2427
Location: Ft. Wayne Indiana | Small northern pike, just as good as suckers at times! |
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Posts: 3242
Location: Racine, Wi | As long as it's legal, I say go for it. A perch, bluegill, pike, or bass will all work.
Just don't tell the meat mongers what your using. We have enough trouble with them thinking muskies eat all their fish.
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Posts: 1137
Location: Holly, MI | I thought about bass and small pike too but the minimum legal size makes them pretty big. At least that is my thoughts for early season anyway. It would be nice to catch som fresh lively suckers in a stream on the way to the lake but I don't think I would have the patience to put off the Muskie fishing if I was that close to being on the water with the big girls waiting for me. |
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Posts: 2091
Location: Stevens Point, WI | I know a lot of guys who use red-tailed chubs in the spring. They usually twitch them. |
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Posts: 956
Location: Home of the 2016 World Series Champion Cubs | I think the thing to check on is whether or not "game fish" can be used as bait. In Illinois you can use bluegills or sunfish caught on the same waters they will be used as bait. I always wanted to used crappies w/a Q-S rig as I've had more muskies follow/strike whle crappie fishing than anything else. But not worth losing my fishing privliges when caught. |
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Posts: 389
Location: Presque Isle Wisconsin | Larger red tail chubs or large black chubs rigged on a spinning rod or bass set up work very very well in the spring or during cold front conditions. Hook the chubs through the back with the proper size hook and they will swim upward not down as when mouth hooked. This will keep the bait from tangling up in most situations.Vary the retrrieve action until you find out what they are looking for.Jst slowly twitching back to the boat has worked well for me.Set the hook imediately to avoid gut hooking the muskie |
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Posts: 2515
Location: Waukesha & Land O Lakes, WI | I dont use the quick strike rig, I use heavier walleye gear (7' med heavy St.Croix Spinner, Shimano 4000 Symetre, 30 lb Fire line, and slip bobbers) with either Sucker minnows or Red Tailed chubs....the sucker minnows never really stay swimming, they seem to "play dead", the Red Tails are very active and like 7islands said, hook them through the back and be very very quick on hook sets. |
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Posts: 1046
| Salamanders from the yard work excellent, but you have to keep pulling them up to get air. They will catch the biggest musky,pike,bass and walleyes! No crap! |
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| Chubs work great early in the season if you can't find suckers, but suckers work the best. Redhorse are also supposed to be better than suckers, but very hard to catch. I have never tried that but heard it from Jim Linder at the Chicago Show.
Steve |
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Posts: 57
Location: Racine WI | The Handyman - 4/28/2004 1:27 PM
Salamanders from the yard work excellent, but you have to keep pulling them up to get air. They will catch the biggest musky,pike,bass and walleyes! No crap!
This might explain why a Moore's creature or other black squirmy bait works well for sight fishing on clear water in the early season. Could muskies be killing these notorious egg-eaters, like bass do? |
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Live bait other than Suckers?