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Posts: 639
Location: Hudson, WI | My father is a sucker fanatic. He literally fishes with 2 float suckers and one boat sucker, set at different depths everytime he fishes, May through November. Typically, the bite on some of my lakes is shallow in the spring, so if I fish with him we never get in water under 6 feet because the suckers get caught in the weeds. Last year, he literally caught one fish all year and it was in October, and quote, "I told you they work, the sucker strikes again!" Tell me, how many guys fish suckers all year long (not just fall) and what sort of success do you have with them? I have caught plenty of fish with them, but up until October I have had very limited success and prefer throwing baits 100 times more than sitting there with suckers. In WI you can have your cake and eat it too, but tending 3 suckers is kind of a pain and limits your ability to cast. Any thoughts or ammunition I can use so I don't have to wait for the bait store to open tomorrow so we can get suckers and sit on the breaks all day long, whether the fish are moving there or not? |
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Posts: 208
Location: Northern Wisc. | i was fishing with a guy last year during the michigan opener on may 15th. he through out a 12" sucker all day long. about 1:30pm we had a 37"ish fish take the sucker. we only got to the side of the boat and it came off, but I was sold on fishing suckers all year round. I also know of a couple of guides that will troll a sucker behind the boat while fishing all year long..... |
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Location: Des Moines IA | Once the water gets above 65 degrees I've found it very difficult to keep them alive. I mostly use them in the fall. |
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Posts: 3867
| I use them some, especially big ones in the fall. I always try to have one hanging during daytime match fishing. Mike, you can keep your suckers going by using a cooler with battery powered areator and ice frozen in zip-lock bags. They seem to need lots of air.
Sucker story - Some years ago I decided, "dang it, I'm going to catch a couple suckers in a local river and use them at Bankson Lake. Well, I bugged all sorts of people until I found an old cane pole. Took it to the river and used corn to get me two $6 dollar suckers. And I DID! Caught them and next day dragged one for hours right up until I hit the landing to leave. At the landing this guy walks over and says, "I've never seen anyone use carp for bait." Yup, I had caught two small carp, not some type of colored-nose suckers. Oh, for dumb.
Edited by Ranger 6/7/2008 12:25 AM
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Posts: 434
Location: searchin for 50 | Muskies will eat carp also  |
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| If I am not mistaken, carp are members of the same family as minnows. They, I think, are just a larger version. I would imagine a modest size carp would be an effective bait. Of course I am not an expert on this. |
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Posts: 968
Location: N.FIB | suckers are to hard to keep alive in the summer,unless it is a cool summer.I won`t use suckers in the summer any more,it`s a waste of money to me to see your sucker 20 mins later swimming sideways getting ready to die.about the only way I would use them is if a raised a monster in a certain spot and came back at prime time. |
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Posts: 578
Location: Sheboygan Falls, WI | Why use suckers during the summer when you can just catch your bait for the quick strike rigs? What you ask? The first "snot rocket" or "goat fish" (other wise known as northern pike) that is of the typical Wisconsin trophy size of about 15" (okay, I am exagerating on the smallness of the Wisconsin trophy size, it may be 16", LOL) put that on a quick strike rig. As long as it comes from the same lake, it is legal to use. They work very well for musky. I know of a northern Wisconsin guide that does this during the summer and does quite well with them.
I have had guys tell me about using bluegill as well, but I am not sure if it is on a true quick strike rig. I really do not know how they rigged them.
Just some ideas so you don't have to try to keep the suckers alive.
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Posts: 3867
| Castttting55 I use to feel the same, but the cooler set-up I mentioned above keeps them alive. Maybe I should be more specific.
The bait cooler I made about 14" tall by 16" long by 14" deep. I drilled a 1/4" hole about 4" below the top on one side of the cooler. On the same side as the drilled hole, I attached a Mr. Bubbles portable areator with a metal picture hanger (bolts hold the hanger) in place. Plus, once in hanging in the hanger, I use velcro to hold the little box tight against the side of the cooler. 1/4 clear tubing goes from the areator thru a 1/4" locknut then thru the cooler wall and then another 1/4" locknut and then thu a 1/4" stainless nut and then to a bubble stone. The two locknuts hold the tubing in place in the hole(each locknut tight against the outside and inside of the cooler wall), there's about 12" of tubing going down into the cooler. The stainless nut is placed about 2" above the bubbler in order to prevent the bubbler from bouncing around too much. The locknuts are covered with clear silicone, as are the little bolts that hold the hanger in place.
I would use this cooler to hold no more than two 12-14" suckers. (It also hold a dozen 6" suckers.) I put the suckers in it when I buy them and turn it on at once. When I get to the lake then the cooler holds only one (cause the other is on the quick strike rig).
When at home, I have a medium sized fish aquarium areator with a 20" 1/4" tube and a bubbler at the end. I just turn off Mr. bubbles and drop the aquarium bubbler in that same cooler. BTW - Mr. Bubbles uses two D-sized batteries and they keep that little pump going for a long long time.
I have a second smaller cooler I use to hold 6-8 flat zip-lock bags of ice. That cooler also holds beer/pop and some ice cubes. Once at the lake I keep one bag of ice in the sucker cooler at all times.
Last, when on the water and in the sun, the suucker cooler is covered by a wet white towel. (Why in the heck do cooler makers use dark colors on tops of the coolers?!)
It works, summer and winter. |
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Location: The Yahara Chain | Chuck that Pike would have to be of legal size to use as bait, it also counts towards your daily bag limit. If the lake has no size restrictions on Pike you would be fine. |
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Posts: 578
Location: Sheboygan Falls, WI | Correct Bytor. Where I fish there are no size limits on the pike, but you are exactly correct. You are also correct that it counts towards the daily bag limit. Thanks for clarifying that for the others.
Chuck |
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Posts: 2691
Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin | Suckers are great in the Spring and Fall when its easy to keep them alive. I run them opening weekend with glide baits, twitch bait and rubber. Once the water temps get into the mid 60's I will start working faster and that kind of hurt the chances of the suckers getting hit. By this I mean boat movement, slow and easy is great for suckers on bobbers and over the side of the boat. Once I start casting faster with more speed on the lures the faster pace of the boat kind of drags the suckers to fast.
As for depths to run them: Deep you already know I bet, weed lines is easy with one sucker deep and the other shallow. Shallow water I run them shallow over the weeds with a slip bobber or just over the boat a foot down. Most Spring sucker fish are hit on the top of the water. The muskies will chase them up to the surface and you get to see the hits happen most of the time. Very cool to watch the muskies pound the suckers boatside. The muskies are not boat shy yet so they don't even care about the boat.
Once I start using bucktails, top wtaer and start covering more water the suckers just don't get hit as much. So to answer the question as to when its best to run them I would have to say ice out up to 65 degrees and 55 degrees to ice up for me. I catch a lot of fish on suckers every Spring and Fall. I will always run them when I can.
Bluegills also work great. I will run a treble in the top of their back and a smaller treble in the mouth. A circle hook also works good if your not into the quick strike like me. I don't like to wait when a fish hits my live bait. Click, click, click......WHAM, FISH ON!!!
Here is another reason to run quick strike rigs with suckers in Spring. Three muskies at one time. All hit suckers at boatside. Story is on my website if you want to look back at the 2006 Opener fishing report. With a circle hook I would have only got the one 35-incher. Three is always better than one. Doubles are also possible with suckers in Spring and Fall. Suckers work, they just have their prime times.
Edited by Mikes Extreme 6/8/2008 10:00 PM
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