Steve Herbeck livebait tips for musky fishing.

[Red Childress]

Even though I never use livebait rigs for muskies anymore, there are lots of folks who do. This info may help others save a few fish. We used to have lots of fish that would take the bait deeper into the throat and stomach very quickly. Even the smaller fish would sometimes inhale the bait. (We explored with circle hooks for a season but still had the same results with SOME deeply hooked fish.) Getting large, local suckers was very tough back in the 90’s and I was stuck with 7-9 inch “bait” making it even tougher to prevent deeply hooked fish. Then, the new study on deeply hooked muskies and mortality came out. That was an eye opener to say the least. The next day, I (along with some other guides and fishermen) decided to move to artificial alternatives.

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For many folks, fall musky fishing = sucker draggin' season!

With that in mind, here are some A+ livebait thoughts and tips from sucker fishin' guru Steve Herbeck:

#1 – On how long you should wait to set the hook:

"They call it a ‘quick set’ rig for a reason. The hookset should occur within 30-45 seconds, no more if possible – just enough time to see which direction the fish is moving and get in position. The smaller the bait, the quicker this needs to occur. Baits that are over 13-14 inches generally get carried sideways longer than baits 12 inches and under. Anytime you see a sucker’s head inside the mouth of a musky or pike, it means you waited too long.

"The longer you allow the musky to hold onto the bait, the more things could go wrong. Your chances of gullet hooking the fish increases, and points/barbs can also get twisted and buried in the bait on the hookset due to jaw pressures and repositioning of the bait inside the musky’s mouth, etc."

#2 – On his go-to "tough bite" sucker harness setup:

"When you start getting too many ‘lookers’ that won’t bite, it’s because the fish are shy and your harness isn’t right. In these situations, I go with 60 pound 7-strand wire and black 2/0 or 3/0 hooks depending on the size of the sucker. I inspect my rigs after several fish and have never lost one due to broken leaders. The only time I’ll use a heavier rig is when I feel like I can get away with it."

#3 – On sucker release systems:

"The type of release system is irrelevant as long as the sucker breaks free on the hookset. However, rubber bands, and to some extent clips, are better suited for aggressive presentations, whereas the smaller nose hooks are fine for passive presentations like bobbers or vertical below the boat where there’s little-to-no contact with weeds, rocks, etc.

"When I’m fishing clear water, bright sunny days, lakes or spots with lots of livebait pressure, I like to go with more ‘aggressive’ presentations. That might be long-lining away from the boat within a couple feet of a weed edge or inches from a rocky bottom where I might need to occasionally clear a hangup. In these situations, black rubber bands will outperform anything else in the long run.

"If you’re fishing darker water or fisheries with little pressure and more aggressive fish, you can get away with passive presentations and just about any release system, as long as the bait breaks free."