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Posts: 122
Location: Bloomington, IL | Hey Guys!
I'm new to the world of Musky fishing. I caught my first pure muskies this spring (have done LOTS of fishing for northern, and have gotten the occasional tiger). Even though they were only 37" and 35", I'm a convert...and am obsessed!! 
http://www.scolba.com/muskies.html
So I have been building up my musky tackle, and got to thinking...though i am embarassed to admit it....I dont' really know the BEST way to fish some of these lures!! I am very comfortable with bucktails. The two I caught this spring were on a Mepps Aglia #5....so just a lil dude.
What I was hoping that you guys could could help me out with, is take a look at the cranks and jerks that I have so far, and help me out with the best methods of working them. I'll list the bucktails too, so maybe you guys could let me know of any gaps I have, and what I should look to get next. Its a never ending cycle, much to my wife's shagrin. lol
So heres what I have so far:
Bucktails
- Mepps Musky Marabou (gold/black), Mepps Marabou(chart/chart), Musky Killer(orange/black), Giant Killers, Comets, and aglias.
- Double Cowgirl in nickle/black, and nickle/rainbow
- a few musky busters, bucher tails, blue fox vibrax, and some ones that appear homemade (bought them in a lot on ebay.)
- Storm WildEye Swim Shad w\ spinner in Walleye
Cranks/Jerks
- Shallow Invader (crappie)
- 8" Jake (black perch)
- 9" Grandma (holoform tenn shad)
- 9" unweighted Suick (sucker, i think)
- 8" beliver (firetiger)
- Storm Big Mac (chrome,black back)
- Storm Shallo Mac (about every color you can think of...I used to collect Storm Macs and still have the shallo's..lol)
- Rapala Super Shad Rap (bluegill)
- A few Husky Jerks...can't remember the colors
So far, I only have one topwater, and thats a Musky Buster Stomper in black/orage. Topraiders will be on my shopping list soon, but after that, I dunno whats next!
So the main ones I am unsure about are the Invader, Grandma, Jake, Suick and Believer...I figure that all will work fine on a straight retrieve, but have you found certain ones to be better if twiched, or jerked, or what??? So any tips that you guys could give me would be GREATLY appreciated!!!
Thanks a lot!
Scott
Bloomington, IL
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Posts: 135
| The great thing about musky is that they will hit about any presentation depending upon their mood, you just have to find out what they want. Sometimes on the cranks they want it burned fast, sometimes slow twitches. Almost always a pause in the retrieve or a few jerks during retrieve is a good trigger for following fish. It's a good idea to play with them boatside to get a sexy action that you feel good about, then let er' rip. Sometimes on cranks I do rip 'em - Rip them with rod and reel about 3-4 feet at a time, take up the slack making sure to keep as little slack as possible, cause the fish will usually hit after the rip on the pause. Shallow Invader, gramma are great twitch baits, as is the Shallow Mac. Also great for ripping. Believers are great anyway you use them. If they are jointed, try them at dawn and dusk in calm water on top. Just let them float and reel them in very slowly so they shake their cake on the surface, one of my favorite topwater baits! The super-believer with rubber tail is even better.
Suicks take some time to master but they are one of my go-to baits. Do a search on this site for Suick and you'll see some good descriptions of how folks like to work them. If you've got it going well they are a combo platter of glider and jerk bait, going down on each pull but also kicking out to one side or the other on each pull. I almost always prefer the weighted Suicks as they hang on the pause a little longer. As with cranks, Suicks get hit most often on the pause. Again experiment with them boatside to get an action you feel good about. Takes a rhythm between rod tip and reel to get them working well, just practice. |
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Posts: 122
Location: Bloomington, IL | fantastic! Great info, thanks a lot!! a few more questions, then too.
So when using the Believer as a topwater, and yeah, the one I bought is jointed, do you use the shallow eye? or will it work on either one going that slow?
Also, I guess, I do have a bucktail question, too.....does the pause triggering a strike apply to bucktails as well? Or is it best to keep them mostly steady? |
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Posts: 159
Location: NYC (and many weeks in MN during summer) | id suggest investing in some spinnerbaits, like the grim reaper triple threat, great flash and the psycho spinner by musky mayhem. these are very versatile baits that can perform better than bucktails in the weeds, etc
randy |
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Posts: 431
| I don't like pausing bucktails. I prefer to give bursts of speed. You can also change the direction of the bucktail with your rod tip. |
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Posts: 122
Location: Bloomington, IL | Cool, I'll look into getting one, ore more, of those spinner baits. Makes sense about the weeds.
And I'll give the burst of speed a try too. I probably dont' retreive at a rock steady rate anyway, so should be easy enough! :D Thanks! |
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Posts: 117
Location: champaign, illinois | Scott, if you haven't already you need to join the Central Il. Muskie Hunters over your way. Also, again if you haven't already, contact Thad Hinshaw who guides on Evergreen. Greaty guy to share the boat with and you will end up with a TON of info. Here's Thad's contact;
http://www.evergreenmuskie.com/
Hope to see you on the water one of these days as I go to Evergreen myself.
Jay Meeker - Lake Shelbyville Muskie Club |
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Posts: 135
| I always use the shallow or front eye on the Believer when doing topwater. Agree about the bucktails, no pause, maybe a rip or a rip upward.
Also agreed on the spinnerbaits, get a variety of sizes (Weights) and blade sizes. I always use a trailer hook and almost always use a twist tail or boot tail on the trailer hook as a teaser. While you're at it, you'd be wise to pickup a SuperD from Tacklebooty, or a 9" Curly Sue from Shack Attack. Black with Orange tail or walleye is always a good color. I'd say pickup a Magnum Bulldawg, but until they get their plastic situation worked out, I'd stay away. Bulldawg type lures are one of the most successful in the musky world.
Good luck man!
W |
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Posts: 122
Location: Bloomington, IL | GREAT!!! Thanks again guys!
Unfortunately, I'm not quite ready for the big heavy plastics yet. I have to get an H or XH rod first....so, that will be a little while yet. Those curly Sue's look more realistic than the bulldawgs or superd's....does that not make as much of a difference as one might think??
Hey Jay! I have actually looked into both the club and Thad as a guide, but haven't pulled the trigger on either, yet. It will probably happen once I get THOROUGHLY frustrated at getting skunked out there. lol
We actually may have met already....A few weeks ago (maybe months?) we were out on evergreen on a 90* day, that was broken up by a 15 min torrential downpour at about 2:30 or so. When we took out after dark, we met a guy from Champaign who was musky fishing all day. I think he needed a socket or a wrench or something to fix one of the bunks on his trailer. Was that you?
Edited by scolba 7/25/2008 1:35 PM
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