What's the first question that usually comes to mind when you get out on the water? "What do the fish want today?" As far as I'm concerned fish are like cats. Sometimes they'll pounce on your offering. Other times they just turn up their nose in distain. I was fishing on Big Muskellunge Lake in northern Wisconsin a number of years ago. My father and I raised the same musky, a beautifully marked hybrid about 36 inches in length, to within two feet of the boat, at least a dozen times in succession, without it even taking a half-hearted nip at our lures. With any attempt at a figure eight the fish would just turn away and head back down. It was one of those fish that we've all seen, the kind that seems to be in a hypnotic trance and just has to follow, but only follow, the bright shiny object in front of it. After the fourth or fifth follow we started changing lures trying to find the magic trigger. Nothing doing. Finally, I decided to try an experiment to see just how apathetic this fish was. I had switched back to a bucktail. When the musky dutifully came up to the side of the boat I stopped reeling and let the lure hang straight down motionless just under the surface of the water. The musky stopped with its nose literally one inch from the blade and just sat there looking at it. It was at that point when I moved my rod so the bucktail actually bumped the fish's snout. No erupting water. No blur of motion. No nothing. The fish just kind of looked like a college freshman the morning after his first frat party and slowly swam off. I'm not sure anything could have enticed that musky to react except possibly some form of live bait or scent attractant to give the illusion of live bait. Unfortunately, we did not have either. If we had maybe we could have gotten that fish to take a taste so to speak. I have used cod liver oil on ½ oz. tinsel tail jigs shore fishing for salmon with a noticeable increase in hookups. I think it is wise to always have some scent attractant with you. There are days when artificials seem to draw fish like a moth to a flame. I have also seen days when if you weren't using live bait you never saw a fish all day. So, in answering the question "What do the fish want today?" you will have to consider the need for live bait. I have used live bait at all times of the year and in all types of conditions. I use both live bait and artificials simultaneously when legal and feasible. The later in the year it gets the more I use this tactic. By fall, I will be sure to drag a sucker behind the boat while drifting down a weed line tossing artificials.
If you ask someone what their definition of live bait is they will usually say minnows, crayfish, leaches, frogs, worms and insects. Obviously the type of live bait must be targeted toward the species. You don't catch many musky and northern on worms for example. Notice I said "many" because I have caught both using live worms and artificial worms. They all were "over-achiever" hammer-handles. However, I watched a friend of mine catch a 32" northern on a Texas rigged plastic worm. Since, esox anglers use suckers and minnows as their live bait of choice almost exclusively I will concentrate the remainder of this article on them. It is critical to understand the implications regarding the condition of the bait. By my definition, there are three kinds of live bait: "live" live bait; "half-dead" live bait and "dead" live bait. This may sound funny but it is an important distinction. I have used all three types with some interesting results. For the sake of simplicity I will now refer to the three types as live bait, half-dead bait and dead bait respectively.
Live bait has the ability to actively swim, wiggle and squirm. If you are going to use live bait, livelier is better. The object is to attract fish from a distance so movement counts. You want action not lethargy. Without trying to sound inhumane, quite frankly, you want your bait to struggle. It should look like wounded prey. And more importantly you want your bait to be courageous and self-sacrificing. I generally use three methods of rigging live bait: a single hook with or without added weight, a quick strike rig using VB hooks and a quick strike sucker rig that utilizes the rubber band through the nostrils technique (it's similar to the one Pete Mania uses). I want to make a distinction right away. The single hook method I am referring to is the use of a "small" plain hook or jig hook when using minnows or small suckers. I am not at all suggesting the use of classic large single hook musky harnesses. Too often they gut hook fish in a way that prevents you from making a clean release. Please do not use that type of rig. Either of the two quick strike rigs are every bit as effective, if not more so, and much less traumatic on the fish making a clean release much more likely.
I use a single hook for minnows up to about a maximum of 5 inches in length. Beyond that and I switch to one of the two quick strike rigs. With a single hook I insert the point of the hook into the minnows mouth and then up through the upper lip. (See figure 1.) A single lip hookup keeps the minnow alive longer. Think about it. Fish breath by moving water through their mouths and passed their gills. If you hook both lips shut you effectively stop the movement of the water and start suffocating the minnow immediately. I have used plain single hook rigs with slip sinkers as well. The majority of time I attach the hook or jig to a 12# or 18# bronze Sevenstrand wire leader. I know some pros advocate using heavier mono line but I lose too many fish that way. Again, don't wait too long to set the hook. Even a small fish can swallow this setup pretty fast. So, what's my track record? This classic setup has yielded many fish over the years. I have caught a nice 35 inch musky on a walleye jig with the tiniest stinger hook. Naturally, it was the stinger that hooked the fish. I have also tried using live bait (and dead bait) on spinner baits. It did not seem to make any appreciable difference in the quantity or size of fish.
Figure 1 Single Hook Rig (side view)
The VB quick strike rig consists of an 18 inch length of 27# bronze Sevenstrand wire leader. The two VB hooks used have one small hook used to attach the hook to the bait soldered to a larger hook used for catching the fish. Note, when attaching the small hook to the bait just penetrate the skin. Do not insert the small hook too deep. It will not break free on a hook set. One VB hook is threaded on the leader so it can slide up and down and therefore allow for adjustment for the length of the bait. The other hook is attached to the end of the leader. (See figure 2.) Wrap the leader several times around the shank of the lead hook to make sure the bait is being pulled evenly by both hooks. The VB quick strike rig is good for minnows or suckers up to about 9 inches maximum. Any larger and I switch to the rubber band quick strike rig. I use the VB hooks as opposed to treble hooks because the VB hooks tend to be more weedless. I'll say it one more time, don't wait too long to set the hook. I had a 30 inch northern suck this rig all the way down in less than a minute. Fortunately it was a legal size fish and it went into frying pan. VB Hook Figure 2 VB Hook Quick Strike Rig (top view)
The rubber band quick strike rig consists of the same 18 inch length of 27# bronze Sevenstrand wire leader. One end of the leader is attached to a ball bearing swivel snap. The swivel snap is clipped on to a split ring. Two pieces of wire leader are attached to the split ring; one leader is slightly longer than the other. Various size treble hooks are attached to the opposite ends of the short wire leaders. A rubber band is threaded through the sucker's nostrils using a bait needle and then the loops are also attached to the swivel snap. The two treble hooks are then attached to the sucker, one on each side. (See figure 3.) What's nice about this rig is that the sucker stays very lively for quite a long time. It can swim relatively freely and naturally. If you leave a little bulge in the leader the leader actually acts as a type of weed guard.
Figure 3 Rubber Band Quick Strike Rig (top view)
My favorite local lake is fairly weedy. When using either of the quick strike rigs I suspend the sucker under a bobber about 2 - 3 feet down rather than running the baits deep. The bobber is sized just big enough so the sucker cannot take it down at will. I get far more action suspending the sucker. I suspect that due to boat traffic the fish can be reluctant to come all the way to the surface. I keep the suckers down by using a ½ to ¾ ounce egg slip sinker. (See figure 4.) I have caught any number of musky and northern on both quick strike rigs. What is interesting to note is that my two biggest muskies, both fish in the low 40 inch range, came on the VB quick strike rig using a 6 - 7 inch sucker and not the rubber band quick strike rig using 12 inch or larger suckers. It defies the bigger bait bigger fish theory. To date, I have never had a really big fish on the rubber band quick strike rig. That's not to say I won't ever but it is an interesting observation. My theory is that the bigger fish are more wary and the VB quick strike rig runs the leader across the top of the bait giving a more natural looking presentation when viewed from below. The same can be said for the VB hooks versus the larger more obtrusive looking trebles. What's even stranger is that on more than one occasion I caught a number of largemouth bass on the rubber band quick strike rig using 8 - 10 inch suckers. The bass were nice but not exceptionally large. Honestly, I don't know how some of them would have swallowed a sucker that large had they had the opportunity. It seems that if the largemouth are hitting the muskies and northern aren't. I'm not sure why this is but I have made that observation numerous times on several different lakes.
Figure 4 Bobber Drop Rigging (side view)
My dead bait rigging is basically a variation of the VB quick strike rig. Only in this case I use smaller size treble hooks. 5 - 6 inch minnows seem to work best. The only weight I add is maybe a small split shot. I want the bait to be fairly neutrally buoyant or fall very slowly. The other trick here is to adjust the hooks a little too short so you force the minnow to arch slightly into the shape of a parentheses ")". (See figure 5.) Wrap the leader several times around the shank of the lead hook to make sure the arch stays put. The way you fish this rig is to twitch it. The arch makes the bait dart sort of like a walk the dog action, but because of its neutral buoyancy it stays down about a foot below the surface. This can be a deadly (no pun intended) presentation under the right conditions. The first time I tried this setup was on a Father's Day outing with my brother and my father. It was a gorgeous June day. As you might expect the lake we chose was packed with swimmers, skiers, boaters, sailboats, wave runners, sail boards, etc. Not the kind of conditions that you expect to catch a lot. We weren't getting much action of any kind. We switched to the twitching rig and started connecting right away. We caught several muskies and northern between 20 and 30 inches. Why did this method produce when not much else did? I think the twitching action mimicked baitfish wounded by all the boat traffic. The fish were making a quick opportunistic dash and grab at the bait, presumably to get out of the way of the next boat. You can't really use live bait with this rigging. The arch in the bait is critical and live bait actually will ruin the action. I must add that it can be a little disconcerting to intentionally kill your not so cheap minnows before using them in this manner.
Figure 5 Dead Bait Twitching Rig (top view)
As bait goes, half-dead bait is only slightly better than dragging a hotdog around. Actually, it may not be as good. I read an article some time ago where someone actually caught a musky on a piece of hotdog used as bait while fishing for catfish. Go figure. The reason I take a negative viewpoint is the fact that using half-dead bait is usually wishful thinking at best. You know it's alive but it barely acts like it. You wish it were live bait. But, it's not. As a result it is barely effective as well. Half-dead bait is the bottom of the bait bucket so to speak. It is the bait you use when all the live bait has been used up. Half-dead bait may spasm occasionally but basically it just hangs there. What's more half-dead bait is generally not used in the same way that dead bait is used. You're usually trying to use it as last resort live bait. I think this is a mistake. By all rights you should stop and change tactics by finishing off the half-dead bait and using it as dead bait with the twitching methods I described earlier. Once you realize that your previously live bait is now trailing behind the boat as half-dead bait stop and check your bait bucket. If you have any live bait left, change to it immediately. I have done this enough times to know that it can make all the difference in the world. Drag a lively sucker over the same spot you just came through and many times you can trigger a strike.
I am still working on refining all of the rigs I discussed. My objective is to use the lightest most natural looking presentation I can come up with. I am going to try using slightly smaller trebles and lighter leaders. I have even thought about trying a circle hook rig. I know that some musky guides like to attach a small spinner blade or piece of tinsel on the tail of their suckers as an additional attractant. And, I will try additional scent attractants on both my live bait and artificials. Hey, maybe a kielbasa or brat would work? The possibilities are endless. Well, like I always say, so much water, so little time.
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