| 

Musky Innovations Chat

Category: chat

 Mar 16th, 2006 by OutdoorsFIRST 

Modified Mar 16th, 2006 at 12:00 AM

Slamr: MuskieFIRST Welcomes Brad Ruh of Musky Innovations to the Chat Room! Thanks for being our guest tonight Brad! Slamr: Let the questions FLY! Brad_Ruh: You’re welcome – go ahead bnelson: Are you looking to make the Real Fish Sucker in a bigger size???? Brad_Ruh: The prototype process is under way for magnum style sucker and bullhead Mark_Gostisha: Brad, the new Chatter bait looks VERY interesting and radical. Did you guys test the concept last year? muskihntr: or how bout a shallow version of the real fish? bnelson: I like that idea! Brad_Ruh: Yes – the chatterbait comes from a company in SC – he made the bass version and we went to him to make the musky size one. The vibration on this lure is incredible Slamr: Brad, can you tell us a little about the history of Musky Innovations? Brad_Ruh: I am getting samples of bull head in the shallow version to try – the flowage guys are all over this! GOTONE: Brad, I used the new Chatter Bait on Kincaid this week, and it is a great lure. Are you planning on changing the snap? I had problems with it, but did boat a 45″ at the boat with it too!!//2 Brad_Ruh: History – Started 14 years ago with the bull dawg and bucktails – dropped the bucktails and started down the road to soft plastics. That is our forte and we are going to make even more in this area. Brad_Ruh: If you look at some earlier posts, I answered about the snaps. The snap is 80# – all you have to do is crimp it shut with a pliers for good and it will not open. We continue to try to improve all baits we make Slamr: Brad, can you tell us a bit about some of the newer baits for 2006? theedz155: Hey Brad, any personal experience with hookups on that big single hook on the back? I theedz155: I have talked to some guides who cut that hook off. I’ve had all my hookups on the bottom hooks, never on the top one. Brad_Ruh: We went back to our roots with the realfish. I had this idea for about 4 years and finally had the chance to make them. Slamr: can you tell us a bit more about the Real Fish lures? Brad_Ruh: Also, we saw the chatterbait in Las Vegas in the Bass Size – this lure really impressed me – even before all the fan fare. That is why we made it bigger – we did great on it Brad_Ruh: If you are talking the back of the bull dawg, I bend that hook up and sharpen the hell out of it. I have stuck a bunch on fish that way. I do not cut them off – the more hooks the better woody: When exactly will the Mini Shallow Invader be available? Been looking around unsucessfully. Brad_Ruh: The realfish are made for high-pressured waters. We all know now what plastics can do – we wanted to match the hatch with these baits and give a real profile. Musky911: pastikas has them theedz155: Thanks mountainmuskies: hi brad, I don’t know if this has been asked becuase I just came in, but will you be making a bigger version of the pounder? Brad_Ruh: Fish them similar to a dawg – but each one has its own swimming action because fo its body shape. You can even walk the perch and walleye! Brad_Ruh: The small shallow invader – call the shallow invader JR will be available in about 3 weeks. We had to make a few alterations to get them working like the big one! Shabbona_Special: Since we all scrounge ebay and old stock at our favorite bait shops for 7 strand dawgs, any chance of ever going back to that style of dawg? Maybe with beeefier 7 strand? Brad_Ruh: What kind of rod are you going to use with a bait BIGGER than the pounder????? sworrall: that’s a good question mountainmuskies: hmm, I don’t know I was thinking a pool cue Shabbona_Special: tuna stick mountainmuskies: maybe put some screw eyes in it mountainmuskies: for guides Brad_Ruh: I will not make a seven strand dawg again – the reason is that when the baits were over used, the 7 strand would break leaving hooks in fish – I can’t continue to make something that will kill them DEMolishedyou: when do expect you will ship the chatterbaits that people ordered through your Web site?? Pikiespawn: I agree, with these larger baits, which are in vogue, there will be rod breakage regardless of model mountainmuskies: that’s good to hear brad Brad_Ruh: I am getting Musky Chatterbaits in tomorrow! We will be shipping next week. MNmatt: is there a shallow pounder? bnelson: Some guys love the 7 stranders…I think guys shouldn’t even throw them…. bnelson: Are you at Chicago Extreme this weekend? Brad_Ruh: There is no shallow pounder – I made one a few years ago, but people were not happy with them as they were very unstable and tended to spin when retrieved MNmatt: k. thanks. Brad_Ruh: I will not be at the Chicago extreme show – I am finally done with shows for the year – 5 musky shows! mountainmuskies: Hey Brad, have you ever tried making a bulldawg with a bigger jig head like one that would get down deeper more quickly? Pikiespawn: How close are the Purple Dawgs to being completed?? Brad_Ruh: I have – and it did work – but it would be hard to inventory so many different sizes and weights! If you saw the latest Musky Hunter article, that is how I would weight them to get them deeper faster Brad_Ruh: The purple dawgs are due in near the end of April Pikiespawn: Cool mountainmuskies: I haven’t seen it yet. I’ll have to check it out Slamr: can you tell us a bit about the hard baits you market: the Jammer, Seducer, and SuperFreak Brad_Ruh: I have about 75 coming and I think I sold about 50 -60 of the purple dawgs mountainmuskies: I’d like to hear about your hard baits Brad, will any of them be at the gander mountain store in washington pa? what about realfish do you know if they have ordered any? Brad_Ruh: Our idea behind our hard baits was that we wanted to bring the bass bait quality finishes to the musky world. These baits are beautiful! Brad_Ruh: The jammer is our most underrated bait – it should be used like a slash bait – it only runs about 4-5 feet deep but looks like it runs 7-8 feet. We have done tremendous on this lure. Brad_Ruh: The seducer may be the easiest walk the dawg top water I ever used – and great hooking – I went 6 out of 7 last year on it Brad_Ruh: I know Gander has them in the system – I ship to the distribution center so I do not know what stores carry them. IF you want them in, just talk to the fishing manager and he/she can do a store buy! mountainmuskies: thanks, I’m hoping when I go there Saturday they will have some Brad_Ruh: Hey Mike – sure, give me a call. Brad_Ruh: If you want to see more about my hard baits of see the colors, please check out my web site muskyinnovations.com Slamr: http://www.muskyinnovations.com mountainmuskies: anything new in the workings, Brad? RobMyers: yeah… like 2lbers??? AWH: The rattles on that Seducer can be heard from a long distance. Think you will keep the rattles? Some say it’s too loud! AWH: I was never a fan of walk the dog top water, but I do like the Seducer! Brad_Ruh: We always have things in the works – some that we bring to market and some that we do not. We are working on more soft plastics – some stuff that I am really excited about but can’t give too much Shabbona_Special: I bought a magnum dawg @ the chicago show which had a much thicker tail than normal. Is that a new design modification? mountainmuskies: imo, I’d love to see a couple more realfish series lures in pike and musky, those would be pretty cool! Brad_Ruh: That is a good question – I think sometimes the rattles help and sometimes hinder – We are considering offering both. We are working on a smaller version that will be without rattles. mountainmuskies: shabbona, I think they changed back to their original tails which are thicker and have better action then the curly ones Brad_Ruh: The thicker tail is to try to make the tail more durabable – I also THINK that is will give off more vibration – the action of these tails are awesome! Shabbona_Special: looks great in the water that’s for sure Brad_Ruh: We have several new styles of realfish we are working on. As I said earlier – we have a trout that is available through me only right now – and will be getting a cisco soon mountainmuskies: cool, I’ll check those out bnelson: any idea how big the cisco will be? RobMyers: brad, will you be down for the ext. show tomorrow? Slamr: (Brad, might be a good idea to post a few pics of the new baits that you are selling direct on the board with contact info) Brad_Ruh: If you want to see photos – send me an email and I can send you photos – right now, the trout and cisco are the about the size of reg dawgs bnelson: your email is [email protected] right? Brad_Ruh: I will post them – Brad_Ruh: Yes – that is my email Slamr: thinking situationally, early spring: what do you see guys reaching for out of the Musky Innovations line-up? bnelson: how long before the larger sucker might be available? mid summer? Brad_Ruh: Early spring – spring dawgs – shallow invaders – micro dawgs – shallow invader JR. And shallow dawgs. Brad_Ruh: We will prototype the larger sucker this year and have it available to the massed next show season Shabbona_Special: Can’t wait for the magnum real fish ….. Slamr: as you move into the early summer, and later in the year, when do you see guys moving into using the bigger dawgs? mountainmuskies: if there is gonna be a magnum realfish, will there be a spring version? Brad_Ruh: I think that was the most frequent question at the shows this year – these are cool – when will the bigger ones be available? Brad_Ruh: I know a lot of really good fisherman that use large dawgs year round. I start opening day with regs and switch to mags in July when the temps are up and the fish really get in gear. Brad_Ruh: There will probably smaller versions – but it may not be until 2008 Slamr: what is your number one seller? Bait, color Brad_Ruh: Reg Bull Dawg Walleye or Black/Orange – however, in recent years, the mags are starting to sell almost as good as the regulars mountainmuskies: what do you sell the least of? Brad_Ruh: Teasers mountainmuskies: lol lambeau: what was the original idea/inspiration for the bulldawg? Brad_Ruh: That is a long story – but in general, we wanted to make a soft plastic jerkbait – a bait the came alive in the water but was used like a jerk bait – after a bunch of prototypes – this is what we came up with sworrall: Is there a right/wrong way to work a bulldawg? Brad_Ruh: When asked how to work a dawg – I tell people there is no wrong way – just keep it wet. I think the biggest mistake is to fish it too slow. I fish it as erratic as I can – may twitched and jerks – fast not slow – I never use it as a finesse lure as people may think about soft plastics Lure_Guru: I fish them the best way – fast & straight sworrall: so working it fast is OK, that’s good Slamr: a bait that you’ve had in the lineup a while, but gets little mention by the masses is the Invader. Can you tell us about how people use it affectively? Situations, styles, etc. Brad_Ruh: The faster and more erratic the better! bnelson: I do really like the shallow reg dawg as more of a finesse bait… Lure_Guru: None of that bad back twitching for me – fast & straight mountainmuskies: brad, did you fix the problem with the deep invaders filling up with water in the head? Brad_Ruh: The shallow invader gets a lot of attention – it is my #2 selling bait – great action – great twitcher. Brad_Ruh: The deep invader had its fans. It has great action at slow speeds – but speed kills this bait – fish it slow and steady and it works down to 12 feet and has caught a lot of big fish Slamr: how about the Deep Invader? That one has always been an enigma at least to me Lure_Guru: Deep Invader is first musky lure I ever bought Brad_Ruh: the guys down at cave run probably buy the most deep invaders – they work them throught the trees and catch a lot of big fish every year on them sworrall: straight retrieve? mountainmuskies: did you fix the leaks in them though?? Brad_Ruh: Yes – straight retrieve and steady – then rip it up at boatside Brad_Ruh: All the leaks are fixed – but if you ever have a problem – let me know and I will take care of it! mountainmuskies: okay lambeau: Brad replaced one for me within 2 days of emailing him…great service! (thanks) muskihntr: brad, I’m looking at my chatterbox right now what pound test snap is that on there?? mountainmuskies: I had a shallow invader with a cracked lip one time, e-mailed him and in a few days had a brand new one you’re right excellent customer service Brad_Ruh: It is actually called a chatterbait – the snap is 80# – what you have to do is take a pliers and crimp it shut so it will not ever open and you should have no problems muskihntr: got ya thanks Turkeyhunter10ga: is there a fav color of invader they buy down there at Cave run ? Brad_Ruh: They like fire tiger and black/silver Slamr: what are some of the biggest fish that have been caught on Musky Innovations baits? mountainmuskies: Brad, what are your top three favorite lures that your company makes? Brad_Ruh: I know of a 57″ and a 58″ – but in recent years some monsters have been caught in MN – numerous 40# fish. If you look at my table at the shows – I change those photos every year Brad_Ruh: My top three favorites are Bull Dawgs, Shallow Invaders, and Seducer. That may change as I fish the realfish and chatterbaits more however. mountainmuskies: i bet Slamr: any last questions? mountainmuskies: will there ever be a bigger version of the seducer? Brad_Ruh: Usually when I prototype a bait, my pro staff gets to fish them more than I do – the results on the realfish and chatterbaits have me very excited for this next season mountainmuskies: say 10-12″? mountainmuskies: and one more, how bouyant is the jammer? Brad_Ruh: Everyone is asking for a smaller version – you are the first to ask for a bigger one. SO, I think there may not be a big market for a larger one GOTONE: Do the retailers have the Chatter baits in stock? muskihntr: does the jammer troll good at high speeds without blowing out?? say up to 7 mph? mountainmuskies: I see, I’d love to see a smaller one also say 7″ Brad_Ruh: The jammer is very bouyant – when paused, it will back up and away fromt he cover. I am not a big troller but I know guys that are trolling it in IL with a lot of success – not sure how fast mountainmuskies: is it better then a depthraider in your honest opinion? Slamr: have guys seen much success trolling ”dawgs, and if so w/ what setups? mountainmuskies: I know that you always wanna promote your own lures, but in your own opinion Brad_Ruh: It is not in the same class – the depth raider is a deep diver with a wide wobble – the jammer does not dive that deep and has a tight wobble like a rapala. Brad_Ruh: They both have their place – the depth raider is a great bait and has been around for a long time and had caught a lot of fish. mountainmuskies: I see, thanks Slamr: any last questions, before Brad gets to relax his fingers a bit? Brad_Ruh: Dawgs are being trolled a lot with tons of success – they are trolling them shallow and deep – the IN state record was caught trolling a dawg. Slamr: MuskieFIRST thanks Brad Ruh for taking the time to talk to us all about Musky Innovations, and their great products, thanks again Brad!