Sucker Soaking Time?

So its that cold time of year... went out on Lake Wissota close to home this last Thurs.... threw bulldawgs all day and had one BIG fish on... my dad got a quick glimpse of it before it screamed out 15-20 feet of my line and BROKE my line that far up (NOT a fan of power pro any more) Dad thought it to be the first 50"er he'd ever seen while in the boat (would have been mine too)

Question of the day for me is... do I keep throwing bulldawgs in this cold weather or do I start to soak suckers? I've never sucker fished for muskies, just northern, so any advice would be appreciated!! Do I fish deep or shallow water with them? How deep do I set the sucker? How big of sucker do I use? How much beer do I bring?:D Thanks in advance for any opinions and good luck to everyone out on the water!

p.s. Also wondering if it is worth heading up to the flowage for a late October weekend of fishing???

I like pulling a sucker behind me because I've had fish that followed my casted bait in and wound up hitting the sucker. They do slow you down though.

Can you use your trolling motor to reposition your boat if you have a sucker out? I know motor trolling is illegal on the flowage, and I see guys row trolling every year. But if I am drifting along a shoreline with a sucker, can you use the trolling motor to keep your boat from spinning around in the wind? Just as you would do if you were lindy rigging for walleyes essentially. I guess I'm just nervous to even have my trolling motor in the water as this could be left to in interpretation to a warden. What do you guys do?

Dan

Ty addressed your question in a post from a few days ago. You might take a look to see his thoughts. I believe you are at the mercy of the mood of the warden.

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Originally Posted by danimalw

I like pulling a sucker behind me because I've had fish that followed my casted bait in and wound up hitting the sucker. They do slow you down though.

Can you use your trolling motor to reposition your boat if you have a sucker out? I know motor trolling is illegal on the flowage, and I see guys row trolling every year. But if I am drifting along a shoreline with a sucker, can you use the trolling motor to keep your boat from spinning around in the wind? Just as you would do if you were lindy rigging for walleyes essentially. I guess I'm just nervous to even have my trolling motor in the water as this could be left to in interpretation to a warden. What do you guys do?

Dan

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My interpretation of the trolling law is that if you are using your trolling motor in any manner while there is a bait in the water that your not actively retrieving, it would be considered trolling. For example while dragging a sucker and casting with another rod at the same time you would be considered trolling even if your just using the trolling motor to keep yourself from turning in the wind. But if you had a sucker out and had that rod in your hand you most likely would not be considered trolling. Obviously its at the discretion of the warden, they are usually watching your for quite awhile and if they see a baits in the water that are not being retrieved and your propelling yourself along. get your $$ out.

Steve

To answer the rigging question first, start with 100 pound line and a sucker rig with at least 90 pound seven strand. The sucker fishing thing always gets a bad rap but if you use 100pound line you don't run the risk of breaking off and killing fish. Sucker fishing is safer than any artificial bait if done right.

As for what type of rig to use try the Herbie rig or one of the lift off rigs sold at most of the muskie shops. Kind of a complicated setup but it works good.

As for the trolling deal, it's kind of up to the warden. The wording is something they are trying to clean up. I know the wardens around here have said it is somewhat of a grey area and would like it changed to read easier.

Was out this past Monday and had 4 muskies take suckers. Not a one got hooked. We got one in the net because it held onto the bait, but lost it because I never flipped the net over and basically had just a flat net. Thats a different story though.

Was using Herbie rigs and put the hooks up by the dorsal fin. Is this the correct place to put the hooks? Each time we went to set the hooks everything ripped out and never even touched the fish. Good for the muskies bad for me.

When setting the hooks I always thought you wanted them to be swimming away from you. Is this correct or do you want to try to get above them?

One was an upper 40 inch fish which was heartbreaking.

Ray

Ray, it sounds like you are doing everything right. You can try placing the hooks a little lower on the sides of the sucker though. Maybe Fidler can set the hook for you next time and hand you the rod.