November 09, 2026

Sucker Secrets - New WI Record - Cold Weather Commando Tips

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Sucker Fishin’ Tips from Gregg Thomas

Nick Weesie with one of the two 50-inchers he put in the bag fishin’ with Gregg Thomas.

When we had Gregg Thomas on for a recent Musky Insider PRO live Q&A, he and Nick had just put a 50-incher in the bag on each of Gregg’s first two days of fall sucker fishin’ in western Minnesota.

How long would you stick with a musky that’s been eyeballin’ your sucker? Gregg figures he worked those two for about 35 minutes apiece. So what makes him think a fish is worth that kind of time?

See if she’ll come with ya

When a musky takes an interest in a sucker along a weed edge, Gregg likes to ease the boat toward open water and see if she’ll come with him. He figures he’s got a better shot at getting her to eat once she’s clear of the weeds and there’s less to draw her attention away from his sucker.

Gregg typically pulls suckers at 0.5 to 0.8 mph, but sometimes he’ll bump it up to 1 or 1.2 mph on the way out. A musky that’s willing to leave the weeds and pick up the pace to stay with that sucker? That’s one he’ll spend some time on.

How low will she go?

Once he’s out over deeper water, Gregg will often hit Spot-Lock and slowly feed out line to see how far the musky will follow the sucker down. If she starts losing interest as the bait drops, he’ll bring it back up. But if she keeps following, he’ll let that sucker go all the way to bottom.

Why bottom? Gregg says a sucker will often start swimming harder once it gets down there, and that little burst of activity can get a musky to commit. That’s how he got one of those two 50s to eat. The sucker touched bottom, started scootin’ around and… chomp.

Bring a second sucker to the party

The other 50 wanted the bait higher. Once Gregg had a sucker where the musky wanted it, he kept it there and put his second rod to work.

Gregg likes to have one sucker on a down rod beside the boat and another out on a bobber. When a musky locks onto the sucker on the down rod, the angler on the bobber rod can reel in, remove the bobber or its stop so the line slides freely, and lower that second sucker alongside the first. Sometimes the two suckers get each other moving. If you can get the musky going back and forth between ’em, Gregg says she’ll often get more fired up with each trip.

In this case, the sucker on the bobber rod had been putting in some serious overtime. With the first sucker still holding the fish’s interest, Gregg swapped the tired bait for a lively one and sent it down. The fresh sucker got eaten.

Gregg says the sucker he brings in second almost always gets the bite. Imagine being the guy whose sucker did all the work while his buddy got to set the hook. 😂

Another day, another 50 for Nick. 👊

Two riggin’ details worth stealin’

✅ Leave room for the sucker to swim. Along a 12-foot weed edge, Gregg might set his down rod about 8 feet down. With a 30-inch leader, the sucker can still swim down to around 10 feet, and Gregg can keep it from burying itself in the weeds. The rig he had beside him during the Q&A had 2 ounces on it. When the wind picks up and the boat drifts faster, he’s gone as heavy as 4 ounces to keep the line more vertical and give him better control over where the sucker runs.

✅ Why he likes a 16- or 17-inch sucker. For Gregg, it comes down to hookup odds. When a big musky grabs a sucker that size, he feels better about having a hook near her mouth when it’s time to lean into her. A 20-incher gives her a whole lot more sucker to grab between hooks. He still keeps a few big ones in the livewell, though. If he figures he’s working a particularly big fish, he’ll sometimes give her a look at the biggest sucker he’s got.

And that was just the tip of the iceberg. Gregg and Josh also got into…

✅ How a bait that rode around in Gregg’s tackle box for two years kicked off a bite that produced 62 muskies in 21 days.

✅ A couple of outside-the-box ways to get a lazy follower to eat at boatside.

✅ Which weeds Gregg likes best on Lake of the Woods (his pick might surprise ya).

✅ What he sees in the way muskies follow that tells him it’s time to give a spot a couple days off.

✅ Gregg’s favorite ways to work a Dying Dawg and when he’ll stretch out the pause.

Already an Insider PRO member? You can watch the full Q&A with Gregg in the member portal.

Want in? Musky Insider PRO registration is open! Get signed up here to watch Gregg’s session and dig into the full PRO library of classes and Q&As.

His First Musky Sets a New Wisconsin Record

Some of you have spent 30 years chasin’ muskies, own enough baits to open a tackle shop, and can still tell us exactly where the big one got away.

Dave Grisar can point to the stump. About 40 years ago, he was fishin’ out of a canoe with his brother on Wisconsin’s Roberts Lake when a musky wrapped his line around it and broke him off. Catching one had been on his bucket list ever since.

So this fall, Dave called Capt. Nolan Koepp of Nolan’s Top Gun Charters. The two had fished smallies and walleyes together before. On October 7, they headed out on Green Bay to put Dave’s first ’skie in the net.

They spent the morning trolling six crankbaits behind planer boards on the southeast side of the bay without a rip. Around noon, with a west wind gusting to 25 mph, Nolan pulled lines and ran across the bay to get some protection along the west shore.

That move paid off in a hurry. Shortly after Nolan reset the spread in about seven feet of water, a fish hammered a perch-colored 5″ KO Shad from Blue Water Baits.

Dave grabbed the rod while Nolan cleared lines and turned the boat to run with the waves. When Dave caught a glimpse of the fish in the churned-up water behind the boat, it looked so long he thought he might’ve hooked a sturgeon. 😂

Nolan knew it was a musky. He slid the net under it, and the bump board told the rest of the story…

57.5 inches. On his FIRST musky. 👀

Dave’s fish edged Sam Becker’s 57-incher by half an inch, giving Green Bay its fourth straight Wisconsin live-release musky record. After a few photos, Dave and Nolan watched it swim off and disappear below the surface.

Dave told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he felt a little guilty thinkin’ about all the musky nuts who’ve put in years without catching one that big.

You’re good, Dave. We’re happy for ya. Might take a few of us a minute, though. 😉

Cold Weather Commando Tips for Late Fall Casters

What do a blowtorch, a thermos of boiling water and a bottle of WD-40 have in common? Come November, they all qualify as musky gear. 😂

For those of you still chuckin’ baits with ice building up in your guides, we went diggin’ through a couple of past November issues. Between ’em, we found a pile of tricks for keeping your reel turning and your fingers working. Let’s start with the one you can take care of before you even hook up the boat.

Give the ice a little room

Musky Insider PRO instructor Josh Borovsky likes his spool about 70–75% full when he’s fishin’ below freezing. Fill it to the brim and it takes surprisingly little ice to bridge the gap between your line and the reel frame. Leave some room and it takes longer to freeze up, plus you can get at the ice easier when it does.

Fresh braid carries less water back to the reel, too. You can put on new line or reverse what you’ve already got and fish the fresh end. After testing different braids side by side, Josh likes Sufix 832 Advanced when the guides start icing up.

Raid the old reel pile

Still got an Abu Garcia 7000 or a Daiwa Saltist layin’ around? Those old round reels with big levelwind guides can keep chuckin’ long after some of the newer low-pros have called it a season. If you’re stickin’ with a low-profile reel, look for one with a bigger opening for the line to travel through. The older Abu Garcia Beasts and Daiwas with the T-Wing get the nod from Josh here.

One reel that’s especially tough to freeze up? The Shimano Trinidad. There’s no levelwind to collect ice in the first place.

Check the guides on the rod, too

ilding up on the plate. When ice does form, he finds it stays slushier and easier to clear.

Josh had Thorne Brothers build him late-season rods on the same Stealth blanks he already liked, only with oversized guides. Same reel, same line, same blank… and he could cast a whole lot longer before he had to stop and knock the ice out. If you’re picking between rods you already own, take a look at the guide size before you grab your usual favorite.

Think twice before you drop your trolling motor

When it’s below freezing, Josh likes to spray a little WD-40 Specialist Silicone on the metal plate his trolling motor rests on when it’s deployed. That plate can freeze to the motor while you’re fishin’, and you might not realize it until it’s time to pull the motor and head to the next spot. Josh finds the spray helps keep ice from building up on the plate. When ice does form, he finds it stays slushier and easier to clear.

As for the trolling motor shaft, check the specs for your model to see what lubricant, if any, the manufacturer recommends for cold-weather use.

Josh also uses the WD-40 Specialist Silicone on the moving parts of his reels before casting and throughout the day as needed for the same reason.

A few more worth packin’

✅ A blowtorch. Solves problems when things get frozen. Keep the flame well away from fuel, fumes and anything you’ve sprayed with WD-40.

✅ Boiling water. A thermos comes in handy for thawing ice in spots a torch can’t reach or where a flame would be unsafe.

✅ Dry gloves, somewhere warm. Bring several pairs and keep the next pair inside your bibs or jacket with a hand warmer. You’ll appreciate that little detail after you’ve had both hands on a November musky.

✅ Adhesive toe warmers. But not just for the toes. The adhesive keeps them in place in your gloves on the backs of your hands.

✅ A small flathead screwdriver. Handy for gently working a stubborn chunk of ice out of a reel when your fingers can’t get at it.

This is just a casting-specific list for dealing with the cold. But there’s plenty more to prepare for and bring

If you really want a master class in all things late fall fishing, be sure to check out our Late Fall Musky Tactics class with Josh and legendary guide Steve Herbeck. The class includes four hours of A+ tips coverin’ everything from turnover to ice-up. 👀

It’s included with a PRO membership. Learn more and get signed up for PRO here⁠, or grab the Late Fall Tactics class individually here⁠ for a taste of what PRO is all about.

This Week's Mashup:

Mashup time!

#1 – Waist deep in a river, @shorelineanglerss spotted this giant lurking behind a boulder and got her fired up with a fly. One quick pivot, a few sweeps, and BOOM! Talk about an adrenaline rush! 😳

#2 – Fall rubber season is in full swing, and it’s time to bring out the BIG stuff! Ezoko has the monstrous 14” Warhammer from Toddy Tickle Baits ready to go to work. There’s even a few leftovers from the ’25 show colors in stock too. Better snag yours before they disappear for good!

Shown clockwork from top left: Lemon Tail, Black Perch, Color Shift Magic Cisco, Stan.

#3 – You ever go from “Got her!” to “Oh no…” this fast? 😂 Greg Attard Outdoors caught this boatside rodeo on camera.

#4 – Check out this eye candy! 🎨🔥 Grayson Sierra brings this tiger to life with incredible detail, right down to the colorful fly riding along its back. This beauty found a home at Red Cedar Fly Shop in Menomonie, Wisconsin.

QUICK HITTERS:

– OCTOBER MUSKY HUNT | Three Generations, One Passion (video) w/ 54 or bust

– The Cold-Water Fall Muskie Secret: Suckers & Neutral Buoyancy (Northern WI) (video) w/ Musky Mastery

– OLD SCHOOL COMPARISON TO NEW SCHOOL MUSKY LURES (video) w/ Hang it on the Turn

– Took My WHOLE LIFE To Catch This Fish!!! (video) w/ Todays Angler

– E174 - Tourney Talk w/ PMTT Champion Pete Blicharz (video) w/ Muskies On Tap

This Week's Monster Muskies:

No hidin’ the size of this monster! 😳 At 53 ¼” with a ridiculous 28” girth, there’s no need for any fancy camera tricks. This beast is an absolute UNIT! What a day on the water for Mathieu Pepin with Guide de pêche Simon Lauzon! 🔥

Green Bay is still kickin’ out the goods! 🔥 Troy Hermsen shows off this gorgeous 48 ½” bruiser with a serious set of shoulders and some killer colors on the horizon to match.

Now that’s redemption! 🔥 Jaylee Bourgon-Tea lost this exact fish on a bucktail back in August and spent the next month hunting her down. Thousands of casts later, she finally HAMMERED a topwater near Montreal! The payoff? A gorgeous 53” PB! Persistence pays off! 💪

Conor Broderick had a sucker hanging next to the boat on the Chippewa Flowage when this gorgeous 44 ¼” tiger musky decided it was dinner time! One heck of a fight and an absolute stunner of a fish. Those markings are unreal! 🔥

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