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Posts: 292
Location: SW MI | This is my first season really going after muskies and from what I've read here I want to use smaller lures in the early season. Why is that? What size should I think about using? Can I get a list of basic "must haves" from the seasoned vets around here? |
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Posts: 670
Location: Otsego, MN | In my personal experience I have had just as much success in the early season with your "normal" size and "big" baits as I have had with smaller baits. I don't really down size in the early season I have seen no real trend in my experience for the smaller baits. |
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Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Usually, it's hitting the shallow water early, a 'location' issue, that tends toward smaller lures, especially cranks, spinnerbaits, and the like. |
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Posts: 170
Location: Chicagoland | What would fall under the category of a small lure? A 6 inch fat shad like crank? A Mag. musky killer? The lures for musky vary so much from the wiz to "The Pounder" that it is hard to tell |
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Posts: 71
| anyone ever use topwater baits for early season muskies....early spring to mid/late spring....and if you do what kind of topwaters????propeller,walk the dog,creepers,ect and feel free to mention what the names of those topwaters are....it would be much aprrictiated.
musky12 |
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Posts: 1455
Location: Kronenwetter, WI | Popped a 48 on opening day few years back on a topwater...and then only after I began BURNING it back to the boat midway through the retrieve.(really I was just trying to see what noise it would make b/c it was my first cast with that bait)...anyhow I learned a lesson there....burning a topwater is NOT something you'll likely read in a magazine article, but it worked!!!
we need to keep in mind that all the 'rules' we hear about like small baits in spring should be viewed as perhaps a good place to start....just like the rest of the season, versitility of presentation is very important. To throw small twitch baits all day long on the opener without a sniff all day just wouldn't make sense...
Edited by Cowboyhannah 3/13/2008 10:20 PM
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Posts: 1287
Location: WI | I had a boatside strike on topwater last season on opening weekend. It was a prop bait. |
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| I tried the small bait thing because everyone and everything said to "match the hatch." Pretty darn tough to find a 1cm long perch crankbait to use in early spring. |
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| having fished all over the midwest in early season I think it depends quite a bit on the size of the forage. With waters that have shad and cisco I think you can have good luck on large baits early but panfish type lakes the smaller lures will get noticed and eaten on a more consistent basis. That's not to say you can't have good luck with big lures on panfish lakes early but if you are playing the odds go with smaller 4-8" baits early on. Shad and Cisco lakes try larger. Like anything there will be days they want the opposite.... |
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Posts: 785
| Have had some topwater strikes in April fishing some resevoirs in Iowa. I also really like using 7-9" twitch baits, standard sized spinnerbaits, and maybe some medium sized plastics and jerkbaits.
Lots of good advice on hear, I think being versatile and using something you have confidence in under the current conditions will be your best way to go. |
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Location: Eau Claire,WI | I used to think that too,till last season.I was at my first spot when I had a follow from a 40" class fish,on a 6" Crane.The water is about 8' where she was but there is a shelf before the drop,might have been where she was.Anyway i wanted a lure to get down and get her attention,I tried a Mag Dawg,only one I had in the boat,2 casts later I have my first muskie EVER on a Mag Dawg, a monster 28"er,about 10 casts later another hit, another fish,a 32"er.I kept on fishing the area and got 2 pike about 25" each.I was determined to get that first big fish...I made a cast where I thought she might be,let the lure sink and 2 twitches/pulls later I have a 41",landed her, muskie in the net! ALL 5 fish on a Mag Dawg and within 100 yards .That was opening day,next day,same place/area same lure type I got a 32 and a 36 on Mag Dawgs plus a 34 on a 8"jake.
So do big lures work,yep,I will make sure I have them this year!!!! |
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Location: Eau Claire,WI | Forgot to add,Topwaters work from opening day till ice up.I have gotten muskies on Hawg Wobblers,globe type baits and dual prop baits like the Cisco Kid.I like to slow my presentation down when possible.Walk the Dog Tops do pretty well too.I have a friend that gets lots of fish on them in the spring. |
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| I go small on Opener to work in the upper body incrementally after jiggin all winter!! #5 Vibrax French and #8 Vibrax Fluted are probably my most productive bucktails that time of year (late June where I fish). #5 Mepps can also be a good one for casting. |
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Posts: 3480
Location: Elk River, Minnesota | Hi Everyone,
From my own experience, I have found that my choice of lure size and style is highly dependent on the local conditions. Things like current water temp, the overall weather conditions of the week prior or so etc. play a significant role in many aspects.
In most cases, the colder and less stable the weather, the smaller and slower my presentations will be. The more stable and higher water temps put me using faster moving presentations, slightly larger baits, etc.
I may also fish a little deeper as well, but that is dependent more on where I have been able to locate fish. I try both shallow and deeper and let the fish (if I am successful in making contact/sight with one) dictate a starting pattern. Sometimes, I have had fish right up next to shore in the brush, sometimes, off the first break.
I also take into consideration how far past spawning temps we are as well. If temps are warming, but still not far along from spawning temps, I will downsize a touch and slow the presentation down. Again, spot choice will be dependent on where I start to make contact with fish, and I work from there...
Always exceptions to the rule too. I've done the topwater thing with some success at dusk. I can remember one year over opening weekend in MN, I was the only boat left on the lake after a very busy day, and managed to get 4 to explode on it...I was having a bunch of fun, although I did not manage to put hooks into any of them...so goes the game of muskies sometimes.
Steve |
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Posts: 1046
| For me it seems if at opener it is just getting into postspawn and alot of smaller males are hitting I stay with small stop/go lures. As soon as I start to move or catch bigger female fish, I tend to go real large and fish that way untill it does not work anymore. Sometime thats all season, and sometimes because(pressure,forage,bad weather) it lasts only a week or 2. Point is, always,always let the fish tell you what to do, DO NOT try and tell the fish what to do. As in life and with the wife, you will always LOOSE!
P>S- I have got topwater fish at 39 deg. water temps.
Edited by The Handyman 3/14/2008 10:40 AM
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| I feel that during winter they foraged for food at a slower rate. When spring comes there metabolism is speeding up and there eating more and wanting more. In those conditions imagine 1 white castle burger floating by with 1 wendys triple decker, based on size your probably thinking the big one is more of the one to consume. Just my 2 cents. |
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| I think if you are just using smaller lures you are missing fish. Opening day, 3 fish all on pounders. the other boat we were with got 4 and 2 on pounders 2 on cowgirls. You want to catch smal fish? throw small lures |
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| guest: that type of big bait only thinking WILL cost you fish. imo. There are days those big baits won't put fish of any size in the boat but a smaller bait will. Let the fish tell you what they want, always.
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Posts: 3867
| I start with long distance casted jig/creatures on the warm side of the lake; land that booger right on the shore, not in the water. Pull it in the drink and watch any nearby fish plow water to grab it. Amazing how shallow big fish will sit to be in that warm water. And they're hot. If you can find a stream/creek entering the lake, well, that's a gold mine. |
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| I agree with both Muskyswen and Bulldawger. In my neck of the wood, I throw the big stuff from day one, mag dawgs, big double-10s, and the like. If you think about it, the forage that time of year is either teeny-tiny stuff that just hatched (another poster referred to 1 centimeter perch), or it's forage left over from the previous year. So the large majority of forage is big. Still, I agree with Bulldawger that you have to mix it up and find what the fish want. That's maybe even more true this time of year than later in the season. |
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