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Posts: 909
| Does anybody do this? How do you go about it? |
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| VERY VERY SLOWLY...with your trolling motor on about 3 and about 2-4 oz of weight on them, depending on depth you want to maintain |
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Posts: 909
| do you use some type of quick strike rig? |
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Posts: 89
| You definitely want to use a quick strike rig. I personally use lift off rigs like the Herbie Rig or Mania Lift off Rig. The key is to get over the top of the fish, with the fish facing away before setting the hook. I like to troll six suckers at a time. I run two suckers heavily weighted off the sides of the boat, two suckers spaced about 20 feet back and 40 feet back on slip bobbers. I also run two suckers on planerboards with slip bobbers about 20 feet behind the board. Troll slowly, so the suckers can still swim easily. For added attraction, I run large spinner blades a few inches above the sucker, kinda like a giant nightcrawlers harness. |
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Posts: 1169
Location: New Hope MN | I troll with suckers all the time and it works great! You can troll suckers 2-4mph for hours on end. They do tend to die easier in the summer, and I never try to troll in the weeds (beats them up).
I use handmade strip on spinners (I can make you some after X-mas, out of supplies). Here’s a pic of a generic strip-on (not mine). You push the wire all the way through the sucker and out his butt. Then you put on the hook. I use an extra treble to help with the hook set. Then I use dipsy-divers to weight them down. Muskies don't care about the divers... Sometimes you have to add a little weight (1/4, 1/2oz) to the underside of the sucker to help him stay upright at high speeds.
Another trick that works really well is to use old spinner baits. I would use ones where the hair had lost its color or was falling out, but news baits would work just as well. Simply attach a stinger hook(s) to it and troll it behind the dipsy-diver. It holds the bait vertical very well. Hook the snout with the single hook and attach the treble with a rubber band or directly into the sucker.
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Posts: 909
| Doeas this method kill the bait? Does it matter? Anybody ever try this (sucker trolling) in rivers?
Thanks...Brian |
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Posts: 1169
Location: New Hope MN | If you are trolling so fast the sucker starts to skip on top of the water you might have problems. |
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Posts: 656
Location: Forest Lake, Mn. | The strip on spinner rig is an old method of trolling minnows. I used them when I was a kid in the '60s. Any minnow could be used on the rig but a sucker would be less likely to get beat up and fall apart from the water flow created by trolling. The rig kills the bait immediately. If you look closely in the photo, you'll notice that the hook is a double hook and not a treble. To rig the minnow you remove the hook from the wire loop and shove the wire down the minnows throat until it comes out the vent. The piece that's between the wire loop and the last beads goes into the minnows mouth.
Then you replace the hooks to the rig. The hooks will tear up the bait quickly so it tends to go use up a bunch of minnows. Also you limted to the size of minnow used by the length of the wire that passes through the bait. The minnow tends to curl up on the wire if it is too large for the rig. Which can be a problem.
Originally these were made by the Prescott Spinner Co. in Mn. I believe in Isle Mn at one time and were used on Mille Lacs for walleye fishing. The old ones used a stranded wire and I don't think that they were strong enough to stand up to landing a muskie. Also this rig is limited in terms of speed. You can't fish it very fast because the rig will start to spin just like a bucktail and you can't fish real slow like a live bait rig because the minnow is dead. I still have some in my tackle box but haven't used them in years do to the limitations I've listed.
Mepp's made ( still does?) a similar rig with a plastic minnow on it instead of a real sucker. A Mepps Agilia minnow I think the rig was called. Basically it's the same as trolling a bucktail but with a minnow instead of hair. In my opinion it's more of a "lure" than a live bait rig. If the goal is to get a muskie to bite a "live bait" rather than strike a "lure" you'd be better off fishing one of the other sucker rigs already mentioned or using a regular artifical lure.
Having said all that, I used to catch a ton of pike using this rig when I was a kid. I'm sure it would catch a muskie but I feel that there are better ways to fish suckers. |
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Posts: 71
Location: Loves Park, IL | Is this legal in Wisconsin? I was under the impression it was not. If you are constantly running the trolling motor, it is no longer considered position fishing. A friend of mine got stopped by the DNR for doing this with worm and a hook, believe it or not. Maybe the law has changed since then.....Just curious.
CheapTrix
Edited by CheapTrix 3/3/2009 4:58 PM
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Location: The Yahara Chain | CheapTrix - 3/3/2009 4:56 PM
Is this legal in Wisconsin? I was under the impression it was not. If you are constantly running the trolling motor, it is no longer considered position fishing. A friend of mine got stopped by the DNR for doing this with worm and a hook, believe it or not. Maybe the law has changed since then.....Just curious.
CheapTrix
It is legal to troll on many lakes in Wisconsin. |
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Posts: 3912
| So many of us are totally into CPR. How in the world does a boat dragging 6 suckers manage to ensure a released musky lives? I've stayed with a 40"+ boated fish for over a half hour, holding/moving her at boatside, until she could swim away and not turn belly up. You can't do this dragging 6 lines. Man, why not just get a great big heavy gill net and rape the lake? Grrrrr....... |
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Posts: 67
| If you're considering trolling, don't overlook drifting. This used to work for me, if you're using 8''+ suckers, hook a 7/0 single thru the top lip, and let out about 100ft of line.
s54 |
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Posts: 71
Location: Loves Park, IL | Just so everyone is clear.....Trolling suckers is not allowed statewide in Wisconsin....only of certain lakes....I didn't want anyone to get in big trouble with the WI DNR. Here is a quote from the 2009-10 WI Fishing Regulation handbook:
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Motor Trolling
“Motor trolling” is trailing a lure, bait, or similar device used to attract or catch fish from a boat while being propelled (forwards or backwards) by a motor or a sail or
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while being towed by a boat being propelled by a motor or sail. Motor trolling is illegal except in some counties and waters as listed in the section titled Special Regulations—Listed by County, beginning on page 22. Casting and immediate retrieval of a bait or lure while being propelled (forwards or backwards) by a motor or a sail or while being towed by a boat being propelled by a motor or sail is not motor trolling. NOTE: Trailing a bait or lure from a boat that is being propelled by motor or sail at the same time casting and immediately retrieving another bait or lure is considered motor trolling
and is not allowed.
“Backtrolling” is only legal in waters where motor trolling is allowed. “Position fishing”
is fishing from a boat where the fishing line extends vertically into the water while the boat is maneuvered (forwards or backwards) by a motor used to position or maintain the position of the boat over underwater structure. Position fishing is allowed statewide in all waters.
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Thanks, CheapTrix |
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