Since I primarily chase muskies on clear water bodies, I have had to make some figure-8 adjustments over the years because my conversion percentage was poor-ish. These adjustments have been both with posture and equipment. The advent of longer rods and fluoro leaders have really helped converting followers into eaters. The longer rod revolution has allowed us to lengthen our leaders while maintaining large ovals during the fig-8 which has increased hook-ups at boatside. The longer rod has really helped in keeping the fish away from the boat therefore decreasing detection by the fish at boatside. Since I usually find myself standing in the bow (higher in the air compared to the guys in the stern) of the boat, I have been able to see following fish sooner than the rest of my crew BUT the fish also see me much easier too. To help combat this problem, I have been doing much more crouching during the fig-8 process and have noticed an increase in hookups. Yes, it is a pain in the arse to bend over and extend the rod away from the boat each time the bait nears the boat but I have seen better boatside results over the past couple of years when I am disciplined enough to do it! It amazes me just how many fish we do not see at boatside (but they are there) that are just out of sight waiting to pounce, possibly.

I won't lie and say I do the crouching fig-8 every time I do not see a fish ("blind fig-8") BUT I will say that everytime I am on a big fish spot or during low light conditions, I definitely do. If we all added up the number of fish that we spook or show up while our baits are exiting the water as we are preparing for the next cast, the numbers would be significant..........significant enough to understand that if we could only convert 10% of those fish, the "bonus" fish would be worth the trouble. Especially, if one of those fish were a stud!

Out of the 42 days I have musky fished since June 1st, I would guess there were about 12 times when a fish showed up late and/or a lure was exiting or NOT in the water at all. My point is this: If we treat every cast as if there is a fish behind/under your bait and take every precaution when initiating the fig-8, we would likely catch several more muskies each year. The thing that scares me the most is missing a BIG fish that shows up late (or is spooked during a tight-to-boat fig-8) and the only way to sleep well at nite is knowing for sure that I did everything in my power to catch her........that all starts with correct repetition of a textbook fig-8 every cast.

For instance (this one stung a little), last summer I had just finished a fig-8, pulled my lure from the water and was actually talking to my client while my lure was about 2 feet above the water. After about 20-30 seconds, I look down for some reason and I see a very wide tail swishing from side to side as a real stud had already inspected my lure and was heading back down to the depths. What if I had just left my bait in the water until I was ready to make the next cast??