|
|
| whats the warmest water temps you've been running suckers without them going belly up too fast |
|
| |
|
Posts: 400
Location: North/Central WI | 75ish...smaller (11"-13") suckers last a lot longer than bigger ones. I typically only run them in deeper water and put them about 10' - 12' down. This will keep them pretty lively. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 55
| thanx alot warmer than i would have guessed |
|
| |
|
| If the water temps are nearing 70, you're going to be wasting money on suckers, IMO. They will die off much faster than in the fall, and they are probably going to be 'iffy' from the moment you get them out of the baitshop. I was talking to a bait shop owner today in Sawyer County, WI who only had small ones in, and warned that they were coming in to him small, and not that healthy to start with.
On the other hand...if the water's that warm, you don't need tham anyway. Get the Bucktails and topwaters out, and get ready for some good action. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 2060
Location: Appleton,WI | I think scott kieper runs suckers all summer long.Ive ran them only if we get a really bad cold front thqat turns everything off,other than that use them if you can keep them alive. |
|
| |
|
| Never give one an even break. |
|
| |
|
| At upwards of $5.00 a sucker, And limited life in warmer water. I am not a sucker. But muskies are suckers for them, so if you have money to burn go for it! I always listen to the old timers at the baitshop. When they see a guy come in and buy a half dozen muskie suckers during the summer. I hear them say, '' A fool and his money are soon parting.'' Or ''There is a sucker born every minute.'' 
But seriously- good luck on opener everyone! Go bust those felons! |
|
| |
|
Posts: 55
| thanks for all the input! I saw the Scott Kieper video too and thats what sparked the question. Great video! |
|
| |
|
Posts: 667
Location: Roscoe IL | I'll use them any chance I can, they out produce all lures period. Not every day, but over the long haul there is no better bait. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 96
Location: Eau Claire | I've weighted dead suckers to stay upright to drag behind the boat. They work once in while. Good way to extend the use of a sucker if it dies. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 203
Location: Germantown, WI | If you saw the Scott Kieper video he also mentions using other fish as live bait suck as small pike. This is completely legal in WI as long as those fish are caught legally, are not transported to different waters, and are counted toward the daily bag limit/size limits. I've also heard several seminar speakers that mentioned using panfish such as small bluegills as bait.
A couple of years ago before the VHS thing came out we had two separate local guides talk about using live bait in the Summer for muskies during seminars at our local Muskies Inc chapter. Both guides said that the secret was using wild chubs and suckers. They were using smaller baits than are normally used in the Fall (6"-10"). They were also mainly fishing them on the bottom instead of just hanging them over the side of the boat. One of the guides would use circle hooks on small chubs and suckers, but only in the Summer. He was clear that in the Fall he only uses quick strike rigs on larger suckers. This was due primarily to the difference in musky metabolism during Summer and the way they strike a live bait in warmer water as opposed to cooler water.
I don't fish much in Northern WI, but if I did it would be interesting to see what would happen if you hooked up some small pike on quick strike rigs. Since there is generally no size limit in Northern WI you could use small 12-18" pike which are below legal size in Southern WI.
If the VHS rules were not in place I would definitely consider catching some small chubs and suckers from some of the local streams to use as musky bait. I wonder what those same guides are doing now. Since they both said it was a go-to presentation for them they are probably not catching as many Summer muskies as before. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 413
Location: Madison WI | When the water temps get to warm start using panfish if legal in your state. I personally run live bait all season long and rarely use suckers anymore except late fall. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 8865
| I've never had any luck keeping them alive once water temps get up into the high sixties, and they never seem to be very lively until you get down to 60.
I have been known to put a perch or a small pike (where legal) on a quickstrike rig on a really tough day, but even then it seems like you're just wasting time and table fare once the water gets too warm. Usually, if I'm going to sacrafice an eater sized pike, it's going on the table.
Edited by esoxaddict 5/28/2010 6:45 PM
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 152
| Here is a trick i use to keep them alive no matter the water temp. Keep them in your live well for two days before you use them as long as you boats not parked in the direct sun. Go to your local pet store and pick up some Bio-Coat or Stress Coat for tank fish. Treat the water in your live well with the solution about four times what the bottle says and bamo. This really works well and the suckers will not die no matter how warm the temp of the water. The Stress Coat not only makes the sucker more hearty it can actually heal the ones that have been previously hooked over night. Its like magic. The holes from the hooks heal up overnight and their as good as new and ready to get eaten the next day |
|
| |
|
| The hooks holes aren't going to heal up over night and although they might be lively and on crack in the livewell they are fish and are cold blooded animals ... |
|
| |
|
Posts: 152
| trust me i found out about his stuff when one of my Oscars took a hunk of the other so big it exposed a silver dollar sized mass of white flesh. I asked the pet shop owner if he had a way to keep this fish from dying and when i used the stuff the wound was totally healed up in two days. The scales took a few weeks to grow back to the same size they were but the skin had completely covered the meat in just two days. This is what this stuff is made for and it works. Try it i wouldn't tell you about it if it didnt work. Like i said its like magic. I dont know why it works it just does. Just try it out and if you dont see results ill send you a free musky chimes quick set rig |
|
| |
