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| Me and my dad were talking about this the other day. As we were going threw our new baits we purchased and comparing our collection, he ask if I remember the first muskie lure I purchased? Of course I do it was like it was yesterday. Even thought I was around 10 years old and on my first muskie trip to the Hayward area. The first bait I purchased was a toprader. At the time it was a small fortune for a 10 year old and a kid that has never muskie fished nor eve seen a muskie. Take you back 16 years here we were, my family heading up to Hayward to a small lake to go muskie fishing. We barrowed a few big rod and reels from one of my dads friends, and his boat. We fished panfish at the time but that was the extent of our fishing. Everyone that we talked to thought we were crazy for even wasting out time muskie fishing. Well anyway first night nothing. Second nite, nothing. This went on for 4 nites. I was beginning to think everyone was right. On the 5th nite my sister wanted to go with. At the time had not even went fishing. Well there we were casting away and it happened. She said I think I have one. Sure enough she has the biggest thing I have seen come out of the water. She even said what is it? Well to make a long story short she hooked the fish at boat side with a Zebco hawg with no drag on a mania Burt. We netted the fish in our little butterfly net. We were in aww. We zipped back to the lodge to get a measurement on the fish. The big girl measured 49 ½”. Since that moment I have been hooked. I still feel bad to this day that we killed the fish. Anyway amazing how far muskie fishing has came from buying muskie lures in little gas station to what it is. Lets here how you others got into muskie fishing? |
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Location: Apple Valley | Topraider!!! I bought the bait in the morning and later that afternoon I boated my first muskie. A 32"!!!!
Brian |
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Posts: 1530
| creek chub pikie. just a few years ago |
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Posts: 443
Location: Indiana | Rapala f18 magnum in silver. |
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Posts: 2894
Location: Yahara River Chain | About 1975 a Mepps #5 musky killer bucktail. Brass willow blade with yellow Mylar hair (single hook). I was into trout fishing ans was using Rootertails spinners back then and that's probably why I like those willow blades. |
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Posts: 135
Location: Irvine, KY | I have heard stories about muskies from my father (a trout fisherman for the most part) for as long as I can remember. about how big they were, the teeth, etc,. Dad had a hatred for the toothy critters... always complaining about them eating his trout or crappie or whatnot.
But the thing that intruiged me the most about muskies as a young child growing up was how he talked about guys fishing all night long and calling it a good night if they even got a bite. The challenge always made me want to catch one.
I never fished for them until last year... the first bait I got was a black musky killer with an orange blade... havent caught anything on it but a few good sized bass, but I plan on changing that. I spent well over 1000 bucks trying to catch that first fish... but it was worth every penny lol.
Oh yeah btw, my father is now spending all his free time after retiring making musky fly lures in order to catch his first musky this year.... on a fly rod! LOL (I knew Id get him to come over to the dark side!)
Edited by Muskiecut 3/1/2009 6:44 AM
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Posts: 706
Location: Richland Center, WI. | My first lure was a black Rizzo Wiz that I bought at Kmart in Madison WI.
Ken |
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Posts: 171
Location: indiana | My story is similar to Rod's. First trip to Winter, Wis. stopped in gas station to buy a few baits. Bought a 10" beleiver, a 10" grandma, 8" reef hawg, and a topwater bait I have never seen again in any store. I was 14 years old and spent almost my whole summers earnings on those baits. My dad caught a 32" in that tournament. He had never fished before either. He got the fish to the boat and then threw the rod down and started handlining it in the boat. He was pretty excited. That was in 1986. I didn't catch my first musky until 1990 on lotw. I can remember like it was yesterday. Still have those same baits and use them regularly. |
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Posts: 48
Location: Twin Cities | Black Topwalker, first fish I caught on it was a nice largemouth bass while trying to learn the figure 8. Scared the you know what out of me. |
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Posts: 90
Location: ne53 | My first muskie bait I bought new was a small suick. It's been modified over the years but is still in the tackle box. It does not have one muskie to its name but lots of pike and bass. After not being satisfied with one lure, I called Scheels out of Omaha, NE and ordered a Depth Raider, Shallow Raider, Believer, Jake, Grandma, and a Smitty jerk bait. |
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Posts: 1184
Location: Iowa Great Lakes | 7" black/orange Wades Wobbler. Still have it and still moves/catches fish. |
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Location: Lake Tomahawk, WI | The good 'ol Rizzo Whiz. Hot early season bait in N.WI, might still be, haven't thrown one in awhile. Might have to dust off the old milk crate full of my early tools.
JS |
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Posts: 731
Location: martinsburg wv | creek chub pikie |
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Posts: 529
Location: Not Where I Want To Be | A Perch Pattern Crane bait And a 6" Perch Jake. (Purchased 2 Baits that day)
First fish came on the 6" Perch Jake a 34" in Vilas County |
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Posts: 386
| Purple rizzo wiz -- landed me a ton of fish! Still love me the rizzo wiz. |
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Posts: 409
Location: Almond, WI | Mepps Musky Killer, orange blade/brown tail. Come to think of it, I've never caught one on it, though my dad and cousin have. |
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Posts: 531
Location: Hugo, MN | A black and silver Giant Jackpot. I never did catch a fish on it. Just weeks after that I attended a tackle swap and picked up a bunch of used baits. The bait that got me my first was a handmade bucktail with natural colored hair and a brass colorado blade. It cost me $1...unless you count the $ I've spent since trying to catch that feeling again. |
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Posts: 1237
Location: South Portsmouth, KY | A firetiger squirrly burt and a orange suick from the old poppin rock bait store in morehead. |
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Posts: 337
Location: Central WI | 9" Suick when I was 11 years old(21 years ago...I cant believe it's been that long!!). Throwing it with bass gear and 12# mono on our trips up to MN. Never caught anything but it was fun trying and dreaming of getting the big one. I still have the Suick. |
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| Mine was a Perch Suick in 1978. Followed not long after by a Black/gold Mepps Musky Killer. The Suick brought the first follow but the Mepps caught my first musky, a 36 incher on Big St Germain. It took a long time to catch that first one with many small Wisconsin pike getting caught before the musky. It was probably good though, as it gave me experience at playing fish.
This thread is great, though. It brings you back to the beginning. Stopping in a Jack's Sport Marine in St Germain to see the fish in the cooler. The front window had the weight of a musky written in soap to draw you in. It worked every time. Check out the big musky in the cooler and find out what it was caught on and go check out what the bait looked like in the bait department. That was how I picked out that first Suick.
Jeff |
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Posts: 100
Location: Bemidji/Cass Lake | The all chartreuse buchertail. |
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Posts: 433
Location: Cedarburg, Wisconsin | No. I think it might have been a Mepps Musky Killer with a black bucktail and a silver blade. I used River Runts, Daredevils, and anything else I found in my box or my dad's when he wasn't looking to fish muskies when I started. Funny how those old lures are worth a bunch to some people and for me if they didn't catch fish they were worthless and no tears were shed when they wound up on the bottom attached to a log or rock. Caught my first legals on chubs. I don't even have a clue what lure may have been the one I caught my first legal fish on. |
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Posts: 294
Location: Bloomer, Wi | A green/char giant jackpot when I was in 7th grade (1st I bought myself with my own money) |
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Posts: 676
Location: Wisconsin | Mepps Musky Killer black and silver. Thought it was such a large bait at the time, compared to them now..... |
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Posts: 2515
Location: Waukesha & Land O Lakes, WI | Purchased or "borrowed"? I took a Creek Chub from my great uncle's box on Oxbow when I was 6. I still have it. |
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Posts: 406
Location: Stones throw away...finally!! | Jointed sucker colored shallow raider...first of three baits I picked out for my first trip. Trolled it with a medium heavy bass rod and boated my first fish...44 1/2 Lake Carleton, IL fish. Used to go back to the lake every year for the next 3-4 years, but haven't been back for a number of years. Great memories!!! |
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Posts: 1462
Location: Davenport, IA | Rapala Magnum 18 in firetiger. I still have it, but do not use it. It never produced anything anyway. But I do remember climbing onto a tree to retrieve it and falling in the lake. |
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Posts: 101
Location: Northern Illinois | Silver prism blade, black haired Buchertail. |
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Posts: 415
Location: madison wisconsin | A chart blade/chart hair mepps musky killer. Put it on lighter spinning gear (I only owned 1 rod/reel at the time) and slammed the pike on that trip...... No skies though. |
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Posts: 3240
Location: Racine, Wi | I got my first baits at the same time. They were a yellow with silver blade Mepps Musky Killer and a perch colored suick. Still have the suick 25 years later, although it's now black and has 2 hooks rather than 3, but it's got a bunch of fish under its belt. |
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Posts: 157
Location: Wausau/Phillips WI | My 1st was from Pat Dewitts Bait Bucket in Sayner. My Grandpa took me down there and bought me a Marathon Slim Jim black bucktail. I think it was around 1965. He gave me all his old baits a couple years later when he couldn't musky fish anymore. Pat also gave me a couple baits made by her dad, Joe Froelich. |
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Posts: 82
Location: Minneapolis,Mn | Big Black Arbogast Jitterbug ! |
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| M&G spinnerbait and silver Shad rap from Ashland Wisconsin Wallmart Sept 07 |
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Posts: 432
Location: mpls | 1978 , I was 10 years old and spent my allowance on a small Perch colored Suick, caught my first Muskie with a couple of days later 
Joe
Trueglide.com |
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Location: Twin Cities | Black top raider, caught my first muskie on it too about two weeks after that. Someday i'll frame it and put it on the wall or something fun like that. |
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Posts: 4266
| Radke Pike Minnow |
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Posts: 2017
| 1988 for me - Black/Nickle Super Buchertail (stamped into the blade) - still have it |
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Posts: 221
| Musky Hawk. White/red silver blades. |
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Posts: 283
| A topraider that i got signed by joe bucher when my dad took me to a seminar of his when I was six. Still one of my go to baits.
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Posts: 2323
Location: Stevens Point, WI | The first bait I actually bought was a Topraider, the first baits I ever owned are two that are made in my hometown of Antigo. The Mepps Muskie Killer I got from a friend who was the sales rep during that time and a variety of Suicks in all different sizes and colors from Steve Suick himself. |
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Posts: 956
Location: Home of the 2016 World Series Champion Cubs | My first "fishing trip" ever was in my late teens when I was asked to join some friends to head up to wabigoon in sept 1986. None of the team really skilled as far as muskies goes as they were mostly experienced in walleyes smallies and pike. My experience was limited lm bass, perch and bluegills. They offered some tips and I headed over to Hermans sporting goods and picked up a 6.5' fenwick trigger stick, an abu Garcia 6500graphite, some 30# musky master Dacron, and four baits: mepps Muskie killer (natural color), black suick, brown fudally stump hawg and a green perch eddie bait. In retrospect that turned out to be very solid start. No skis that trip but a sweet 45" pike. Only 2 casualties on tv 20+ years since. The eddie bait through heavy use etc split lengthwise and the rod fell victim to a car door. All baits ha e produced muskies in subsequent years and yes my gang has de eloped a much higher level of Muskie skills.
To that group of guys who today still fish together I have to say thanks to the "dotheads"
Edited by KARLOUTDOORS 3/1/2009 11:14 PM
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Posts: 1060
Location: Palm Coast, FL | About 15+ years ago, I went to a shop in Edwardsburg, Michigan called Lunker's. I had gone out a couple times with my dad and used his equipment. I was young and has some extra cash...about $200+. I walked out of that store spending almost everything I had on 12 muskie baits. The most expensive at that time was a 12" AC Plug in blue/silver/white. Not sure if any of you know what the lure looks like but very interesting and different.
I caught my first muskie on that bait. It hit about every bit of 4 feet from the boat and flew through the air right over the corner of my boat. That is when the addiction started and look at me now...I will be giving a muskie seminar at that very store this weekend. Pretty cool and brings back lots of memories. |
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Posts: 1348
Location: Pewaukee, WI | 9" Suick in the grey sucker color. I purchased the bait for a Canadian trip in 1970. The pike absolutely destroyed the bait so I no longer have it.  |
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Posts: 550
Location: So. Illinois | I purchased a black mepps muskie killer but with the intention of fishing for large pike. The first bait I purchased with the intention of fishing for Muskie was a Perch colored Rapala Super Shad Rap. At the time, I thought the size was rediculous, now it is one of the smaller baits in my box. |
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Posts: 742
Location: Grand Rapids MN | Black/Orange Windel's Musky Harasser with willow blade and single tail. I later bought a brass/yellow of the same thing. Threw these on the Mississippi from shore for years. I still remember my next few lures: 10" Red/white suick, 8" Orange/Yellow Reef Hawg, Jackpot. This is all I used for years. |
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Posts: 32892
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | A Suick. Still have it, somewhere. It was black and white. |
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Posts: 1996
Location: Pelican Lake/Three Lakes Chain | Black and Silver Mepps Tandem Musky Killer. |
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Posts: 1083
| Assorted Daredevil spoons, ie, classic red & white, yellow w/ red five of diamonds, cracklin frog, Red Eye Wigglers, etc, Jitter bugs, several Rapalas, some assorted spinnerbaits, both in-line and safety-pin sytle, of different brands and sizes. Some of which I still have those original baits...others..have made their way from my tackle boxes over the years into the grubby hands of some of my cousins, some lost to snapped lines, etc... |
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Posts: 1316
Location: Madison, WI | black and orange bulldawg, lost it after my 3rd cast on a backlash... Pretty much summarizes my first few years of musky fishing |
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Posts: 145
| I bought A 6" southbend inline spinner I think it was a rizzo tail, silver blade white and silver rubber skirt, never even got a look from ANY fish. Then my dad insisted I get a bait that was shaped like a fish so I got a fire tiger jake 3 trips later with a different bait and a better spot I landed a 30" er. |
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Posts: 697
Location: Minnetonka | Fun topic... the memories...
Black Gooch's Tallywacker: First muskie C&R, from a dock at Spider Lake Lodge, Sawyer Co., WI... fishing solo.
The insidious disease stemmed from there. She has grown into a raging beast that can only be tamed by ice and snow.
aNDY
Edited by Hammskie 3/2/2009 10:39 AM
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Posts: 415
Location: madison wisconsin | Magruter - 3/2/2009 10:13 AM
black and orange bulldawg, lost it after my 3rd cast on a backlash... Pretty much summarizes my first few years of musky fishing :)
I hear that Magruter. Isn't it funny how that works? |
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Posts: 2089
| Very cool thread. I'm amazed at how many of us had the Perch Suick! 7" perch in 1975. Still have the bait and rod/reel . 5'3" fenwick Lunkerstik and a Zebco Cardinal 4. Ahhh, simpler times for sure. |
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Location: Northern Wisconsin | bucher tail |
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Posts: 620
Location: Seymour, WI | My Dad was the one who got me interested in musky fishing. I can tell you all of the musky baits that he had in his multi species tackle box. 7" sucker colored Suick, 6" Bobbie Bait, 6" Creek Chub Pikie, Cisco Kid, Mepps muskie killers, silver blade, natural tail. His favorite bait was a # 6 white Rooster tail. All of these baits were thrown with a small Abu bait caster with a light action bass rod & 17lb mono.
He fished out of a small alum boat with a 7 hp johnson.
One of the things that got me hooked on musky fishing was a story he used to tell about casting out the Suick only to get a terrible backlash. He spent a long time getting the backlash picked apart while the Suick floated back to the boat. When finally reeled in all of the slack from the backlash, a musky hit the suick boat side as soon as he moved the bait. He loved to fish N. Twin and we raised and caught some nice muskies there before he lost interest in fishing.
The first musky baits I bought myself we definately Mepps musky killers. Still use them quite a bit today.
Grass |
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| A Bobbie bait in 1982! Wow,... seems like yesterday. Cught my first legal that day which at that time was 30'' if I recall correctly. Jason |
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Posts: 670
Location: Otsego, MN | Poes Giant Jackpot, used to watch Simply Fishing when I was younger and I thought those hits were so cool. It still is working and has taken many fish. Still be best working walk the Dog bait I've ever owned, I've never had a Jackpot like this one. |
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Posts: 457
Location: Minneconia | Mepps #5 Musky Killer nickel blade purple hair. Caught my first muskie that day within a half hour, lost another an hour later, then didn't catch another one until the next year. Lost the bait the same day when my Abu backlashed, snapped my 30# Fireline, and sailed into the lake. All in all a very memorable day and I haven't been the same since:) |
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Posts: 8788
| 9" Perch Grandma
Casted it, casted it, casted it some more. Ripped it, jerked it, straight retrieved it, cranked it down and twitched it. Casted it until I wore moons i the plastic and the paint started to peel off. Then I trolled it a bunch of times. To this day I have not caught a single fish on that stupid lure. Finally sold it at the swap for $5.
That bait was cursed, man. |
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Posts: 566
Location: Elgin, IL | Wooden Creek Chub Pikie. Red with white body.
Still fish it. Still works. 
Good thread..........
Edited by Northwind Mark 3/2/2009 5:58 PM
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Posts: 130
Location: Chicago | A black and silver giant jackpot and a Mepp's musky killer in squirrel with a gold blade, I've caught ski's on both and still have them both I bought them back in 1987. |
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Posts: 519
Location: Bloomington, IL | Sure do. I bought a couple on my way to Canada for my first muskie fishing trip. I bought a 6" Hi Fin Trophy Minnow (Orange Tiger), a Cisco Topper ((Brown/White), and a one or two Mepps. I bought them from a bait shop in Hermantown, MN (can't remember the name).
That Trophy Minnow was magic on that first trip. Not only did I catch my first muskie on it (35") that first day of muskie fishing, but caught 3 that first day. I wound up catching 9 that trip, 7 of which were on the Trophy Minnow, capped off by a 44" the second to last day of the trip.
I still have the lure, but it was retired during the battle when the lip broke off. That 44" is the thrid largest 'ski I've caught.
Needless to say, that first trip hooked me on muskies for life!!!
Edited by Nupe 3/3/2009 4:19 PM
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Posts: 624
Location: Bloomington, MN | In about 1974 I bought a Marathon Muskie Houn at Klien's Sports at Evergreen Plaza in Chicago. I hated the white and red parrot head weight, so I cut it off. The lure also had weed guards and the dullest chrome plated hooks ever manufactured. I dressed it up with a tail made from cutting up a white bathing cap. Never caught a fish on that bait! On a side note, my friend caught an undersize (?25"?) on an original Bomber yellow w/ the black "arrows" crank bait. Another friend instantly declared that as a "Lunge Lure"! His turrets syndrome over that weekend enforced that bait was a "Lunge Lure". My friend (w/o the Turrets) passed away about 18 years later, and I inherited his tackle. I was on Pelican in 1995, the year of his passing, and decided to make some memory casts with his baits. When I came up to the east end of Indian Point, I knew what bait to toss. The "Lunge Lure" was snapped on, and I caught a 34" muskie, and a 24.5" walleye in two casts. That was the best back to back casts I've ever made, or will ever make. The lure will never be used again.
Edited by Clark A 3/3/2009 8:04 PM
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Posts: 432
Location: Eagan, MN | A red & white swim whizz and a chartreuse buchertail in 1992. I remember getting that buchertail stuck about 15' up in a tree w/ no branches on Moose Lake, WI. I had caught my first muskie on it a few weeks prior to that trip, and there was no way in hell that I was leaving it behind. As luck would have it our rented cabin had a ladder inside, so I was able to reclaim my little green cherry-buster.
Phil |
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| Silver blade, purple body Mepps #5 Musky Killer bucktail |
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Posts: 27
Location: FORT ATKINSON | Black Creeper |
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Posts: 692
Location: Pelican Rapids, MN | MY dad bought me two lures when I was 7. (1979) We were near the Chip and he got me a Billy Finn Bucktail and a Black Suick. I still have the hair, but my dad ended up giving the lumber to my neighbors kid in '92. I visited their cabin last summer and they had it hanging on their mantle. I came close to stealing it back.
The first lure I ever paid was a Tallywhacker when I was about 11. It has since been lost.
Jerry Sondag |
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Posts: 724
Location: Southern W.Va. | My first was a lure given to me by my uncle, a "Mustang Minnow" back in about 1971 or 72. Fishing the Hughes River here in W.Va., I hung it up on a log and had to swim out to get it back. The 1st that I bought for musky was a 7" Redfin but it wasn't my 1st musky bait that I owned.
Mauser |
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Posts: 1456
Location: Kronenwetter, WI | I remember that day well...was on my way up to Lynn Ann's Campground for a week long stay with my wife at her parent's RV. I never have seen a real live musky but heard there were some in this lake. I borrowed my uncle's musky rod prior to the trip and convinced my wife to stop at the baitshop in Woodruff that used to be in the NE lot on the corner of 51 and 47. I walked in and told the guy I was going to do some musky fishing and could he suggest a couple lures. He set me up with a yellow Mepps#5 and an orange tiger Tallywacker. Upon arrival to camp the 'locals' hooked me up with a guy who knew the lake...he stayed by himself in one of those 'scamp' trailers and stayed all summer fishing. He marked up a map for me showing me some spots to fish. That week I fished the nearby spots from my father-in-law's 15' aluminum tiller. Never did see a fish, but remember my heart pounding in anticipation. I will never forget as darkness was starting to fall and I had to get back to camp as there were no lights on the boat. It was the last night and I threw that topwater over and over as I entered the cove at Lynn Ann's. Never has a blow up, strike, or follow, but I kept throwing that darned bait just one more time, one more time, one more time, convinced that IT was about to happen. Never did that trip but it was the start of a way of life....man, this musky thing has gotten completely out of control for me...and the rest of you too, eh? |
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Posts: 6
| Back in 1982 - Hi Fin Fooler picked it up at the local bait shop in Turtle lake WI as it Closed. It was kinda a brn perch pattern
Has not caught a thing, still have it, I had it custom'd by Stan Durst. It is only a matter of time now before we hook up. |
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Posts: 304
Location: Lino Lakes, MN | I remember probably the first 5 -- A 6" cisco Reef Hawg, A black creeper, a 9" Sucker Suick, a Eagle Tail tied by none other than George Wahl and a Harrasser. I also think I bought a "Muskie Brute" jerkbait at a T.C. MI chapter meeting at Little Jacks Cafe in NE Minneapolis in around 1989/1990.
FYI That Muskie Brute was the most appropriatly named muskie bait ever... Was hard to work. I still tend to bring it along in the boat for old times sake. I think I had a follow on it once
Steve |
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Posts: 670
Location: Otsego, MN | Poes Giant Jackpot. Caught a few northerns on it before I began muskie fishing. Ended up with my first Muskie ever on it and have been hooked ever since. |
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Location: SE Wisconsin | First musky lure was a natural sucker 9" suick my dad and I found stuck to the tip of a log just barely sticking out of the water while canoeing on Escanaba 16 years ago. . . First musky lure purchased was a perch grandma. . . Practiced casting it from shore on Rock Lake (no muskies) in Lake Mills when I was real young, but never used it for musky. My dad bought a couple Mepps #5 Musky Killers (1 bras blade/orange buck & 1 silver blade/black buck) in St. Germain at a gas station while collecting gas for the boat (we were at Fath's Big Woods Resort), and we used those that weekend on my first musky excursion. . . Caught a 34" tiger, then later caught a 42" barred ski with one of those bucktails on a little rod with 6lb. mono and a steal leader.
Edited by Sam Ubl 4/23/2009 8:54 AM
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Posts: 1169
Location: New Hope MN | Mepps musky killer, just like everyone else. No musky, but tons and tons of bass & pike. |
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Posts: 55
| mepps musky killer or 6" grandma, not sure but one of those two |
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Posts: 661
Location: Roscoe IL | Lelure Creeper & a Burt bait on the same day. Still have both. |
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Posts: 656
Location: Forest Lake, Mn. | I don't remember the first muskie lure I bought, but I do remember the first one I owned. When I was somewhere around 8-10 years old, 1968-1970, I was given my first tackle box as a Christmas present. I had mostly terminal tackle, bobbers, etc, a Bass Oreno, Helin's Flatfish, Lazy Ike, Dardevele and in the bottom of it was an all black 10inch Suick Musky Thriller.
Dad put that lure in there as a joke. We didn't fish muskies we fished panfish. Something for the table. Things were different then. If you had a 10 horse motor that was a big motor. Chances are you rented your boat and didn't own it and the boat was usually wooden, and leaked. Rods were either bamboo canepoles or steel, fiberglass rods were new. Levelwind reels held nylon line, dacron was just coming in. Mono was stiff and like a guitar string.So a 10" suick was truely a joke lure for us. Dad just wanted to see how big my eyes got when I saw that lure.
That Suick laid in the bottom of that tackle box for years. I didn't have a rod to throw it with and no clue as to how to work it. I had no use for it, but there it stayed because I knew that someday I'd use it! Some day I'd catch the fish of my dreams on it. A slight twist there because the fish of my dreams back then were of 30 pound PIKE not muskies. (Still have not caught that pike either, I've got 1/2 way there with a 15 pound pike) Years went by I grew up and still that lure laid in the bottom of my now old tackle box. I had thrown it a couple of times but didn't like it. It just came through the water like a stick. Obviously, I still hadn't learned how to work it.
More years went by. It had come out of the tacklebox now and hung in my bachlors apt. as a decoration. More years went by and I met the love of my life and started her fishing. We found the muskie bug together. So I started buying lures but that old yet new condition Suick hung in my house. A few more years went by and Dad got sick. He was in in 80's by now and hadn't fished in years. (Sorry Dad that I didn't take you more after all the times you took me.) He had cancer.
He fought it as best he could and as his time neared we sat and talked. I asked him if he remember that old black Suick that he'd put in my christmas tackle box alll those years ago? He said he remembered it. I told him that when he was gone, if it was ok with him, I'd like to put that Suick in his casket and bury him with it. He fought back a tear and said yes.
So after he was gone, that's what I did with it. So my first muskie lure rests with my Dad and I have never owned another Suick Muskie Thriller in my life and never will. I thought it was the best way to honor and say Thank You to the man who gave me life and taught me how to live it and how to fish.
I wonder what will become of all my 500+ lures when I'm gone? I don't have any kids to pass them to.
P.S. I still have that old Flatfish. I wonder if it's worth anything now? If you don't know what a flatfish is, ask an old walleye guy.
Edited by fishpoop 4/24/2009 3:09 AM
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Posts: 317
| I was 13 and had read a great article in Fishing facts or field and stream (I can't remember) called "the yellow boy" It was about a kid my age in Northern Wisconsin who fished all summer trying to catch a Musky with an old Globe type bait. Great article, wish I could find it again. Of course, I bought a yellow globe and it was the only bait I used one muggy August fishing Virgin Lake (Part of Three lakes Chain) I swear, every time I cast that thing out, something blew up on in. I can still see it now, the bait coming close to the boat and a wide open mouth behind it. It hit right next to the boat and the fight was on! This thing, I remember, came straight out of the water next to the boat like a cruise missil. It was a beautiful bronze color with vivid stripes. It went under the boat and cut my 30# dacron. I was hooked ever since. |
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Location: SE Wisconsin | Fishpoop- Great story. Makes me think about dad. . . gotta get him out more. |
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Posts: 392
Location: lake x...where the hell is it? | i think my first musky bait was a bucktail, a black buchertail. |
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Posts: 229
| my first bait was a Mepps musky maribou black/white |
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Posts: 16632
Location: The desert | Does stealing them from your Dad and Grandpa work? |
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Posts: 656
Location: Forest Lake, Mn. | Sam Ubl:
Thanks for the kind comment. Um, Ubl is a rare last name. I went to school with a Jeff Ubl and his parents were Paul and Martha. Any relation? |
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Posts: 1185
Location: Iowa | A walleye colored 8" reef hawg was mine...never caught a fish on it or had even a follow...it has been part of my "benchwarmers" box for prolly 3 years now...
Big Perc |
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| Swimm Whizz redhead with white body,1975,followed by a Creek Chub Pikie Minnow JtD. 2600 Series in Coach-Dog color with a lip bent with modifications by Niagara River Muskyman Alex Drew.
Capt. Larry D. Jones
www.mostlymuskies.com/reports.htm
Repeatability Is 90% Of The Hunt! |
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Posts: 686
Location: Tomahawk, Wisconsin | A Mepps number 5 gold squirreltail out of that musky hotspot Upper Post Lake!! |
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Location: Northern Wisconsin | bucher anniversary bucktail that i recently lost to a snag on a local river :/
at the same time also bought jigs and a pack of manns jellyhoo's for some reason maybe some day ill actually fish them lol |
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Posts: 201
Location: Stevens Point | Great stories.
I bought 5 chartruese and firetiger spinnerbaits off of M1 in the spring about 6 years ago. my friends and I caught a couple fish on them on a trip to the TFF that 4th of July. One even in the first couple of casts!
I had caught my first fish the previous august on a barrowed rod from my uncle and a borrowed creeper from a friend.
Caught a 31 and proceeded to loose a low fortys twenty minutes later after while saying "Would it be funny if we(3 rookies with barrowed gear) boat two fish and the other guys don't get any"- unlike that big fish I WAS hooked! |
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Posts: 135
Location: Elgin, IL | This is an awesome thread. Beyond what Pointerpride mentioned (stealing baits from Dad and Grandpa), mine was a black Mepps Musky Killer in 1985. Caught my first muskie on it in N. MN. Still have it hanging in the basement somewhere... |
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Posts: 139
| An original Ty Sennet Rough Runner from Ray's Landing (St. Germain) in 2002. Funny thing is, when I started throwing it, I called it the hawg wobbler because I just couldn't get over the look of that thing in the water after fishing for bass and walleye my whole life. Little did I know the Hawg Wobbler name was already taken......I still call it the Hawg Wobbler when I throw it though. |
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Posts: 335
Location: Minnesota | I bought a chart blade/chart hair mepp's musky killer when I was about 13 at a bait shop/gas station near Kenora. My family all fished a fair amount, my dad was an occasional fisherman but my uncle and older cousin were my fishing idols. They fished all the time and caught the biggest fish I had ever seen. When we went on our annual family camping trip up on the Winnipeg River the fishing was mostly for northerns. I bought that musky killer to try and catch fish as big as my older cousin and uncle always seemed to find. I caught my first musky (42") on a red & white daredevil about 15 minutes after I took that musky killer off and put that spoon back on because my grandpa was telling me that I wouldn't catch anything on that big of a lure. The next year I placed an order (about 8 lures) through Musky Fever (Reed's) and bought a red/white suick, grandma, and a couple other lures that I can't remember the names of but still have all of them. Since that first musky, almost 20 years ago now, I haven't looked back.
Edited by brmusky 5/1/2009 3:13 PM
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| I bought $100.00 worth of Cobb baits in 1990. Back then I got 12 or 13 baits. Sounds like a lot for the money. But all of us baitmakers know how much everything has gone up. I still have all of the baits and all but one has caught a Musky |
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Posts: 264
| dreamcatcher bucktail and a buchertail |
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Posts: 136
Location: Chicago | Suick and a 6'' jake |
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Posts: 284
| Reef Hawg, still can't get the thing to swim right. |
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Posts: 86
Location: Wauwatosa, Wisconsin | TOPRAIDERRRRRR!!! havent caught one fish on it yet haha |
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Posts: 10
| I bought a black 12" Suick when I was about 12 years old. I had no idea how to use it. I just was told it was a musky lure and I wanted to catch a musky. I still have it. I'm 53 yrs old now. I hope I catch at least one fish on it. I think I paid about $3 for it or something like that. I'd have to save up for about a month to buy something like that back then. Its' a special lure to me. It brings back lots of memories. |
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Posts: 485
Location: On my favorite lake! | Bought two a Perch Suick and a Silver blade /Black Mepps muskie killer. |
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Posts: 485
Location: On my favorite lake! | Bought two a Perch Suick and a Silver blade /Black Mepps muskie killer. |
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Posts: 2515
Location: Waukesha & Land O Lakes, WI | An orange Suick with black spots. |
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Posts: 53
Location: Stillwater | mepps musky killer |
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Posts: 53
Location: Stillwater | mepps musky killer |
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Posts: 1887
Location: syracuse indiana | man i cant think back that far...lol no it was a solid black double bucktail with a nickle blade at a tackle shop right there on lake tommahawk in the year had to be sometime in the early 80's and the money my uncle made we work for. cuttin the grass at the cottage my family owned.. and i still have it today. dont use it much but i still got it....bill |
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Posts: 1887
Location: syracuse indiana | whoops i click twice sorry
Edited by archerynut36 5/13/2009 6:06 PM
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| I did'nt know #*#* about muskies except that I wanted to catch one. So I walked into Ed Shirly's off LaGrange and bought a Len Hartman dbl. skirted bucktail blk/org. |
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Posts: 99
Location: Hartford, Iowa | The first bait I purchased was a Buchertail 500 which seemed big at the time LOL. Then a perch colored Depth Raider and a firetiger Shallow Raider. I should have stopped there because I was catching alot of fish. Sometimes it seems like the more you think you learn the less you really know!!! |
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Posts: 27
Location: FORT ATKINSON | Creeper and I still have the bait and still us it once and awhile. |
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| Black perch baby depthraider. |
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Posts: 36
Location: Honor, MI | Back in the late 50's when I was a kid my uncle owned a bait/tackle shop in Lac Du Flambeau, WI. One summer when my family came up from Chicago on vacation he told me I could pick any lure in the shop as a gift. This was back when the Burmek brothers were tearing up the skis. I remember this big display ad in the store promoting the Tony Burmek Secret Bait. It claimed 200 musky in 10 days or something like that. I had to have it but when I took it out it snapped
my fiberglass buggy whip rod on the first cast.
Speaking of memories, anyone old enough to remember the Flame Musky Bar in Flambeau? Never saw so many 40 pound plus ski mounts in one place; most of them caught or guided by Louis St. Germain. Anyone remember Louis? He was
my first musky guide and legend has it that he guided four presidents. Louis' and my uncle are long gone now and the Flame burned down in the early 80's along with all the muskies. All that's left are the cherished memories of a young boy, a big lure and a great summer vacation.
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