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| Call me an old-school guy, but I don't get how to use these big soft baits. Do you jig them or reel'em straight in? Does anyone know of a good video that shows proper technique? |
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Posts: 550
Location: So. Illinois | I cast them out, count them down to the depth I want, then use long pulls with pauses. |
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Posts: 240
| The best way I find is to work them like a suick. Give them sharp one foot pulls with the rod while reeling in line and in-between. A good thing to do as well is give the head of the lure a slight bend up and to the side. This gives the lure a nice erratic action. You can also jig them being careful to to have to much contact with the bottom (they snag easy). This is what has worked the best for me.
Cory |
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| it's a jig. lift and drop, swim and jerk. just be ready to feel the thump, reel up, and lay into her. there's no wrong way to do it, you just lack confidence |
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Posts: 86
Location: University of Hartford | When I was first learning to use them Herbie told me that think of it this way, you are a magician and the rod is your wand, if you want the dawg to do something then do it with the rod. That being said I count them down and give it 2-5 HARD rips to start things off followed by reeling straight and occasionally stopping and letting the dawg drop, a quick pop and its back to reeling. or its the fish are being uncooperative then throw it out and reel it in.
Alex |
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Location: Twin Cities | There is no wrong way. This year i've caught fish on these with straight retrieves, short pause, long pause, jig, rips, trolling. That tail just needs to be moving! |
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Posts: 1460
Location: Kronenwetter, WI | Guy---how you fish them depends on where you are fishing.
I have a spot off a liitle river where there are weeds just subsurface and have picked up numerous fish off that one spot..technique there is cast and keep rod tip pointed at the sky as the bait hits...immediately start issuing short pops upwards repeatedly over and over and over just to keep the bait out of the slop..as the bait gets nearer, lower rod tip to keep the bait just subsurface.
Further down river is a steep breaking bank that I've done well on....here I right up by shore and give a pull...let it drop down the break..wait.....pull......let it drop even deeper....pull...let it drop even deeper, etc....
Like eating a Reeces...there is no wrong way.
Best thing to do is clip on a dawg and force yourself to work it over a variety of structure doing what makes sense for some extended time...you won't be dissapointed. |
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| I agree with all of the above answers. There is no wrong way. With that being said I had the opportunity to get a glimse of the 2009 Musky Innovation baits, and I can tell you that they are unreal. The bull dawg has been completely remanufactured. A new stronger material that will help deter torn tails and lead coming through the head, stronger hooks and split rings. Tested for a yearthey have been working great.
The Jimmie, a new bait that would be considered a combination of a tube and reaper tail. It has irrated action that has caught several fish this past year in tested. It has a 14" profile and is pad printed with a clear coat finish.
The Pro Dawg. It has a jointed harness that is strong but adds more flexability to the bait much like the old 7 strand that MI did years ago. It also has the new pad printed pattern and colors with a 3d clear coated finish.
All of these baits will be available at the 2009 musky shows. |
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Posts: 303
| in the words of scott kieper.......shimmy shimmy pop.......Pop shimmy pop..... |
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Posts: 415
Location: madison wisconsin | Alot of guys do the sweep, pause... Sweep, sweep, pause method. When I asked how do you work a dawg, thats the most popular response. It is true though, there is no wrong way to work a dawg!
That sounds great kevin. Can't wait to see them at the shows! I just only wish that I could have better luck with them on the mad chain!!! |
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Posts: 4053
Location: Land of the Musky | Make sure you tune them right too. Any of the big swimbaits (Savage, SuperDs, Bulldawgs, etc.) with a wire harness you will be able to tune or bend the wire body slightly. If they are jointed, have a cable, or plastic harness you will not be able to tune then at all. So, if they are cork screwing in, diving or "bananaing up", right or left, etc you may have a slight bend in the lure body. Many guys will put a bend in them but some like them to run straight. You can do a lot with these types of swimbaints. I know a lot of guys will tune them to rise on the jerk and it also lets them glide a little more. I plan on making a webpage for this with video. Not sure if I will get to it before the ice comes!
James
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Posts: 415
Location: madison wisconsin | That would be great James. There are alot of people (myself included) that could use that information. I don't throw D's/dawgs alot compared to other baits due to confidence. Video's will hopefully bring my confidence up. |
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Posts: 4053
Location: Land of the Musky | My buddy spends a lot of time tweaking swimbaits. Simple rules he follows but it is kind of an art to get them to do exactly what you want. A little bend 1-2mm too much and you get a totally different action. He goes a little overboard but he can really make his baits sing in the water. He also catches a lot more finsh than I do so I am sure he is doing soemthing right  |
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Location: Twin Cities | I tune mine to bend downward, that way on a straight retrieve the get deep. Then once I know they're running "true" in that sense, I know how I can work my rod to make the lure do other things, whether it's popping up with a jerk retrieve etc. |
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Posts: 2686
Location: Hayward, WI | Like the others have said, a bait like a Dawg can catch fish doing a lot of different things. I will say this though - most of my fish caught on them during the middle of the summer came while I was really working the bait hard. RIP, reel, RIP, reel, all the way back to the boat. Earlier in the year the same basic technique worked (pull-pause), but I was swimming the bait on the pulls more so than hard rips/jerks.
It seems like once the water got to 75 degrees or so, that agressive ripping triggered strikes when fishing the bait "easier" wouldn't.
curleytail |
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| I used to use bull dogs, but now I have seen the light and switched to shack attacks curly sues. These lures catch fish and they are not just one fish baits. I rip em, jerk em, as long as they are wet they flat out catch fish.
Rob
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Posts: 41
Location: Oregon, IL | I don't it hangs in my box most of the time. |
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How do you work a bulldawg?