Cool Rubber Mod – September Tips – Big Heiting Bonus Fish
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Cool Bondy Mod
Anyone lookin' for some fresh, new bait mods??
Here's a good one from Darcy Cox, who guides on LOTW:
Pretty cool setup, especially if you're a fan of fishin' Bondy Baits, and you're lookin' to minimize hooking mortality.
The basic premise of the modification is removing the trebles on the bottom of the bait and replacing them with one big single hook on the top – similar to a jigs that folks fish for bass/walleye.
The hook placement significantly reduces the chance of hooking the fish in the gills or tongue. Check out the full video for all the deets on how Darcy rigs it up.
September Musky Tips
We might be in the THICK of a late summer heatwave, but September is officially here and some early fall weather is just around the corner (probably 😂)
To prep you for the season, we're reviving this writeup from Metro guide Ryan McMahon, which features some killer tips for chasin' early fall, September 'skies:
"This month is one of the most exciting for pursuing big fish. When talking fall fishing, I often find myself putting the season into different categories such as “early fall” or “mid-fall” or “early-late-mid-fall” (joking about the last one 😂).
"What I’ve come to realize is that the first half of fall is basically just different waves of fish pushing up onto structure. Different moon phases and weather patterns seem to drive fish from their warm weather deep haunts up onto shallow water structure, and I like to be there to intercept them!
"Shallow is a relative term when it comes to muskies. I'll catch muskies in less than three feet of water on some lakes – these are typically darker water bodies. On fisheries with gin clear water, eight feet might be considered 'ultra shallow'. Regardless, you'll find me checking these shallow areas when water temps drop through the low 70’s and upper 60’s."
Now let's dig into some of Ryan's favorite baits:
"When I’m fishing shallow, I’ve traditionally liked fast moving baits like bucktails and prop-style topwaters. I can cover water quickly and pick off the aggressive fish."
"That said, slower moving baits will sometimes produce some of our better bites. Flaptails and Hawg Wobblers (above) are a couple go-to choices. Additionally, I like to fish the Cannonball Jr. – slower than most – to get fish to follow up behind it, then I'll close the deal by speeding it up once fish start pushing a wake.
"Another bait that has made a huge difference in my boat is the Kramer Bros. Woodtick. This bait has the Revolution style blade with tickers, but has a buoyant wood body that allows it to be fished slowly right under the surface."
"These slower moving baits have become go-to’s for me as fish push shallow and remain shallow throughout all the phases of fall."
Thanks for the info, Ryan!
Understanding where fish move throughout the season and why they do it is extremely important if you want to consistently put fish in the net. 💪
Walleye Hunter
Musky fishing is the best kind of fishing..... Period.
Not only do we get to catch the biggest overall fish in the lake, we also get to catch all the biggest bass/walleye 😂
It's an undeniable truth that monster-sized predator fish like to eat big baits.... (sometimes anyways 😅)
Saw this fish/story on Target Walleye – that's Steve Heiting with a 32-inch walleye that took a bite at his musky crank:
The coolest thing: He caught her in the figure 8!
Here's the rundown from Steve:
"Just as I had done 1,000 times that week, I swung the big crankbait around in a figure-8 alongside the boat. As the crankbait hesitated in a turn, a fish flashed out from beneath the boat and T-boned the lure. I set the hook and grunted “Fish!” to let my partner know I was hooked up to what I thought was about a 40” muskie, judging by the width of its head.
"But I was stunned to see a white tip on the fish’s tail waving much farther back in the water than it should have been. I’m a muskie fisherman first, and all the walleyes that hit muskie baits were incidental catches. But when something occurs multiple times when fishing, you’ve discovered a pattern, and big walleyes on big baits is a great one."
The anticipation is SOO high when we're musky fishing that catching a trophy-sized non-musky is almost always a huge disappointment for most of us.
That said, I don't know too many folks who would scoff at a 32 inch eyeball!
Still not as cool as catching a musky, but it's a better story than, "I didn't catch anything, but I had a couple follows!" 😂
Kinda reminds me of this video from last season where Toby Kvalevog and Chris Whitney boated 31 and 29 inch walleyes on Leech Lake throwing 10-inch Posseidon swimbaits:
#Pattern??
This Week's Mashup:
Mashup time!
#1 – Not a musky, but still some REALLY cool artwork from Anthony Stack:
#2 – Our buddies at Taps & Tackle have some A+ Swimmin' Dawg colors in-stock right now – pictured from top to bottom: Reverse Sunset Perch, Blotchy Sucker and Orange Sucker
#3 – Saw this on the MN Muskie Alliance FB page via the Pelican Rapids Press.
We're always happy to see the local newspapers helping set the record straight, especially after the crazies in local government over there tried to pass aggressive anti-musky legislature a few years back.
#4 – Just when you thought hammer-handle pike couldn't get anymore ridiculous, check out this shot Jonas Lundqvist who caught three of 'em on one cast....
QUICK HITTERS:
– Canoe musky fishing w/ Todays Angler (video)
– Dustin Carlson, Dave Williamson & Maina on Next Bite TV (video)
– Fishing musky league w/ Smiths Fishing (video)
– 3 bait musky challenge w/ 54 or bust (video)
– Eagle Lake topwater musky fishing w/ AA (video)
– Mercury has a couple new electric outboards (video)
THIS WEEK'S MONSTER MUSKIES:
Check out this big 53-inch spotted 'skie from Tim Willems. This fish was tagged, which allowed Tim to find out that she was stocked in 2009 at 11.5-inches long.
Awesome photo of a gorgeous 'skie that John Vogeler caught while exploring new musky waters 🔥
Beautiful north-of-da-border porker from Dylan Didiano, fishin' with guide Dale at French River Fishing Guides:
Wanna be featured in 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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