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56 inch monster! – Musky Data/Graphs – Fall Musky Tactics

Category: article

 Sep 20th, 2021 by Keith Worrall 

Modified Sep 20th, 2021 at 10:06 AM

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Fall Sucker Tips

Sucker season isn’t far off – that means NOW is the time to start gearing up!

Here’s a quick rundown from MN metro musky guide Ryan McMahon on how he rigs up for fall livebait fishing:

“Fall is here and livebait sucker fishing is a super effective way to put muskies in the boat. Once water temps hit the low 50’s, my boat switches over to livebait.

“When I’m fishing suckers on clear Minnesota waters, I like to have them trailing the boat under Thill slip bobbers.

“I run a variety of Stealth Tackle’s live bait harnesses, but my favorite is the dual treble inline harness. I like to use a small octopus hook for the lead hook because it will stay in the suckers front lip without having to pierce into any cartilage, allowing for a clean rip out on the hookset.”
“I always start with an in-line 3/4 oz weight above the rig. If the sucker won’t stay down or I’m fishing deeper than 6-8’ down, I’ll add rubber core weights to the line or clip on weights to the solid ring that connects the rig to the line.”

“Proper weighting will keep your suckers running at the desired depth, but the #1 most important factor for sucker presentation is boat control. I use the remote control for my trolling motor and keep my boat right on the weed edge in most cases.

“I want my boat moving at .7-.8 mph. This makes the suckers fall in line and stay out of the weeds but doesn’t pull them too fast and wear them out. An active sucker on the weed edge won’t be safe for long!”

Here’s all the hardcore livebait-heads “patiently” waiting for that 50 degree mark….

GIF Parade
The “GIF Parade” is one of our favorite segments….

Musky fishing is often defined by just a few short seconds when you encounter an active fish – success and failure all hangs on how you react in that moment.

Here’s a few of our top GIF picks this week:

First up, how insane is this boatside dive-and-rise blowup from Angling Anarchy:

Next, we’ve got a wild yak-side musky tantrum right at Mark Odegard’s feet:

Here’s another swing-and-miss, this time from Master Crow trollin’ a spinnerbait:

Gotta love it when they smack the topwater right before you start your eight.

Killer clip from Slime & Slay:

Frank Schneider Tourney

The Frank Schneider tournament is one of our favorite events of the year – it’s always well-attended and we get to see some BIG fish hit the leaderboard.

Congrats to James Hanson on taking home first place ???? with five muskies (two more ‘skies than 2nd place) measuring 40.25″, 45.25″, 48.25″, 44.5″ and 40.5″.
Also gotta give a shoutout to Matt McDonald on taking the two-spot as the only angler to boat three muskies. He caught some bigguns, too, including a 48 incher and two 50’s! ????

There were seven 50-inchers caught in the event – pretty dang impressive!

We’re lovin’ the sweet results page on Lake Labs’ website. They’ve got a boatload of data from the event and some cool graphs, too.

Here’s the lake-by-lake breakdown – looks like Leech gets “King of the North” honors this year:

Also thought this graph was really cool, showing how many muskies were caught on the major, minor or none:

Pretty interesting stuff!

This Week’s Mashup

Mashup time!

#1 – Not sure how this made it into a musky fishing newsletter, but how insane is this fishin’ pole from Cashion Rods?? They call it the “Game Changer“, and I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to be a joke…. never know with those bass guys though! ????

#2 – Ever hear your walleye fishin’ buddies complain about a tough bite??

#3 – Forget goldfish, how sa-weet would it be to have a minnow-munchin’ grass pickerel as a pet?? ????

Props to Kuba Otfinowski on taking the fish tank game to another level!

#4 – Never thought I’d see a picture that made a rod/rod holder look cool. Props to Get N Bit Productions on the wicked sunset photo….

QUICK HITTERS:
– Full moon night fishing on Green Bay w/ Burnin Eights (video)

– Fishin’ Rubber w/ Todays Angler (video)

– How to fly-cast for muskies (video)

– Musky chasin’ w/ Madison Angling (video)

This Week’s Monster Muskies:
Huge congrats to Rick Martin who busted his new personal best ‘skie with this 56 inch Green Bay mega-monster!

Check out the #GIRTH on this potbellied pork-nanny from @dick_skic. He caught her jiggin’ a Bondy Bait after hours.

That’s 54 inches of extra-clean Georgian Bay muskellunge! Props to James Modie on putting this beauty in the bag. ????

Another big Green Bay beast! Props to Doug Wegner on poppin’ this beauty while castin’ a Top Raider topwater! #PlopPlopPlop

Wanna be featured on Musky Insider? Send in your recent trophy musky photos by replying to this email. You might just see your pic in next week’s newsletter. ????
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