Posts: 38
Location: Forest Lake, Mn | I realize this is vague and probably has been talked about but there seems to be a lot of experience on this board and I would like to tap some of it. I have heard that bull dogs and bucktails can be used any time of the year, but when do you start throwing the other stuff and see success? Is there a certain time of year when say surface baits start paying off, just as maybe a certain time or water temp when crankbaits and twitch baits start paying dividends. I find the small baits are productive in the early season but then again my wife catches musky all season long throwing her Mepps Cyclops. I just wanted to get your ideas on when and why you throw what you do. Thanks for any and all responses!
WS |
Posts: 189
Location: Hoboken, NJ / North Webster, IN | You will tend to hear....Burn Bucktails in Summer, small baits in Spring, Big Swim baits in Fall, topwater in low light, etc etc etc....but I personally don't really think there is a specific time and place for most baits.....more so reading the fish and the water on a given day.
If you're throwing bulldogs and getting follows and not strikes, switch presentations to something more eratic, or switch to a more eratic lure(magic maker, belly up, etc..) or soemthing vibrating to try and trigger strikes. If you see fish busting shad on the surface, switch to a prop bait or walk-the-dog surface lure and mimic those scattering shad.
Don't be afraid to go against the "rules".....
-A few weeks back I had a fairly bluebird day...with fairly low wind. Threw topwater, 9 "pacemaker, all day and had 5 hookups, 3 more blow ups.
-My father had one summer where he threw a Titanium Firetiger Spinnerbait all summer....mainly for bass and around pads...and had an amazing summer catching upper 30 something muskie on it.
-Sometimes on our lake a 1oz Rattle Trap type will score well with the muskie, though some would think it too small for muskie.
Anyway, get 4-6 lures you like and have some confidence in and try them out. If you aren't confident in a lure, you won't do much with it...and you can't get confidence in it without throwing it.
That all being said I'd say 90% of the time I'm throwing either a pacemaker/topraider, kickn' minnow, SS Shad, homemade jerk bait(think Magic Maker) homemade walk the dog surface bait(think Jackpot), or some Shallow Raider type crank bait. Rarely throw a bulldog or a bucktail actually.
That's my 2ยข for what it's worth.
Josh
Edited by muskiefishman 6/11/2007 8:00 PM
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