Musky Baits look terrible?

[AKRISONER]

So the other day im fishing with my buddy who likes to collect swimbaits for bass and it occurs to me...Why in the heck are musky fishermen still using such oldschool weird looking baits?

For those not aware, there is a big movement in the bass industry especially amognst younger anglers that is simply called the "swimbait movement" Quite literally though, this same movement just does not exist in musky fishing.

The oldschool baits, Yes...i get it, they work, Ive caught musky on blades and weird looking stuff, but ive also caught musky on big rubber paddle tails that to put plainly, just look like poop when in comparison to what we are seeing on the bass swimbait market these days.

Am I on to something here? Is musky "swimbaiting" the next frontier? or is it deeper than that, is musky fishing dying off with the 50+ crowd and boomers? Is musky fishing just not as "cool" anymore?

Whats your take on this?

[lew]

If it ain't broke don't fix it.

I said it for years, you don't need fancy to catch muskies and some of my favorite baits were the ones with most of the paint worn off or the big spinnerbaits with hardly any hair left on them.

[North Channel Cottages]

Most of the lures look amazing because they need the people to buy them, it's like a shiny new car or polished tools.

[BillM]

If you can find a swimbait that pushes water and makes as much commotion as burned Double 10 does, I'm all ears  

[AKRISONER]

1 hour ago, North Channel Cottages said:

Most of the lures look amazing because they need the people to buy them, it's like a shiny new car or polished tools.

then you get exactly what I am talking about. Absolutely, you can go and throw a mister twister on a lead jig head and smack smallies, or you can go throw a jackall neko flick with a tungsten nail weight and gamaktsu octopus hook. 

Of course, if it "aint broke dont fix it" is the classic adage, its not as if people didnt catch bass in the days before JDM tackle and swimbaiting, but in the era of "getting the edge" its surprising to me that no one out there is making incredible looking musky baits?

Maybe its simply due to the fact that theres really no such thing as a tournament industry that causes anglers to one up the next angler? 

A lot of talk about pressure as well has people coming up with all sorts of ways to rig baits to provide a "different look" I dont see this sentiment at all in the musky business. Kinda blows my mind to be honest, we are talking about one of the hardest freshwater fish to catch, yet no one thinks, hmmm maybe if we go with stuff that looks more realistic, i can get the upper hand or advantage?

[lew]

10 minutes ago, AKRISONER said:

its surprising to me that no one out there is making incredible looking musky baits?

Kinda blows my mind to be honest, we are talking about one of the hardest freshwater fish to catch

Not really sure what your talking about when you refer to "incredible looking baits" as there are so many different baits on the market you couldn't count them all. Many of them work extremely well and many just catch fishermen. I had boxes full of baits but I knew what worked for me on the waters I was going to be fishing on a certain day and time of day or night.

As for muskies being the hardest fish to catch, that's more to do with the the skill of the angler in a lot of cases. In the Kawarthas they're relatively easy to catch when you know where and when to fish for them and getting multiple fish in a day is very common. For many years I kept a log and usually caught between about 80-100 fish per season and my best year was 115 fish in the boat not even counting the ones my fishing partners caught. One morning I went out at 7:30  and by 10:00 I'd boated 9 fish.

Bigger bodies of water like the St. Lawrence or Nippising don't hold as many fish but if you know what your doing and where & when to go you can still do well.

The "fish of 10,000 casts" is only for those that don't understand the fish.

[BillM]

Lew, that log book going up on Ebay anytime soon?  GPS coords included?  lol!  

[Weeds]

Musky baits already cost a fortune. I can only imagine how much they’d be if they were ultra realistic. Musky (in my little experience) don’t really seem to care how a bait looks, more how it acts. Probably bass too but what do I know. I do see where your coming from but I think probably the majority of hardcore musky fishermen are indeed a little older and more likely to go with what is known to work already. Pretty sure you could find some highly realistic musky lures if you looked hard enough, just don’t think they are huge sellers and would probably set you back an arm and a leg

[AKRISONER]

Just now, Weeds said:

Musky baits already cost a fortune. I can only imagine how much they’d be if they were ultra realistic. Musky (in my little experience) don’t really seem to care how a bait looks, more how it acts. Probably bass too but what do I know. I do see where your coming from but I think probably the majority of hardcore musky fishermen are indeed a little older and more likely to go with what is known to work already. Pretty sure you could find some highly realistic musky lures if you looked hard enough, just don’t think they are huge sellers and would probably set you back an arm and a leg

the bass ones are musky size...and do costs an arm and a leg, doesnt stop bass fishermen though lol.

 

Some of the trout swimbaits coming out of california are $200 and up! for bass!!

[North Channel Cottages]

27 minutes ago, AKRISONER said:

then you get exactly what I am talking about. Absolutely, you can go and throw a mister twister on a lead jig head and smack smallies, or you can go throw a jackall neko flick with a tungsten nail weight and gamaktsu octopus hook. 

Of course, if it "aint broke dont fix it" is the classic adage, its not as if people didnt catch bass in the days before JDM tackle and swimbaiting, but in the era of "getting the edge" its surprising to me that no one out there is making incredible looking musky baits?

Maybe its simply due to the fact that theres really no such thing as a tournament industry that causes anglers to one up the next angler? 

A lot of talk about pressure as well has people coming up with all sorts of ways to rig baits to provide a "different look" I dont see this sentiment at all in the musky business. Kinda blows my mind to be honest, we are talking about one of the hardest freshwater fish to catch, yet no one thinks, hmmm maybe if we go with stuff that looks more realistic, i can get the upper hand or advantage

I think your line "hardest fish to catch"  is the key thing in all this. In my experience of owning this lodge(3 seasons) people are happy just to catch something and don't want to spend all day just for one even if it would be big. 

The no tournament scene definitely limits the muskie lure production as well, no big money behind this stuff unlike the bass market. Which is just fine in my opinion. Muskie fishing is a very niche market, we don't cater to the hardcore fishing guys as some lodges do but even after specifically advertising to muskie fisherman because our season opens earlier than Nipissing we had little interest. 

I think the younger generation or say the generation with kids in the pre teen stages also don't want to go out all day and maybe catch one. It's not very fun not catching fish of course for younger people.  

[Weeds]

I defer to Lew, the man knows his stuff. Still have some of his old Suicks, tangled up in my musky ball. The ultimate lure, maybe 50 treble hooks intwined. A bit like a Rubik’s cube, a lot like the hellraiser cube. The potential pain involved in unraveling it is huge.

[Tom S]

I think it has to do more with market forces than anything. Muskie-sized baits are a niche thing already, much smaller market than bass-sized baits. There may be a niche within the niche for super-realistic muskie baits, but it's not something a larger-scale manufacturer will pick up. More likely out of someone's garage.

Also, the bass angling market is geared towards people looking for fast action, large numbers of fish. They're told they need the edge with the latest and greatest of boats, electronics, baits, and tactics. Muskie anglers tend to be the opposite - they realize they'll have a lot less fish but will patiently wait for the ones that are worth it. They could spend the whole day without a follow. That mentality is going to lend itself to throwing proven baits in situations where you know it's going to work. 

[BillM]

47 minutes ago, AKRISONER said:

Some of the trout swimbaits coming out of california are $200 and up! for bass!!

Guys are paying a lot more then that for muskie baits, especially ones that are discontinued.    

[misfish]

1 hour ago, lew said:

The "fish of 10,000 casts" is only for those that don't understand the fish.

Think I made about 60 casts to get my first 2 Lew. Then again,they were just 30" fish. Nothing big. On medium size spinner baits.

[AKRISONER]

my first muskies were accidentals bass fishing, but my first "real" muskys definitely took a lot of casts and they were on pigeon lake. It was worth it though. That first 40+ fish 46 to be exact made my sore ass arms feel better in no time lol. Funny i caught it on the last cast of the day after casting blades all day for 8+ hours too.

[porkpie]

I know walleye guys that have 6 special mates filled with multiples of custom painted cranks.  A couple boxes deeps, couple boxes mids and shad baits, couple boxes of shallows.  Each box maybe a couple grand all in?  I have a fair Arsenal of tackle including some custom stuff, and more tied up in rods and reels than I want to admit.  But theirs no way I’m stepping over the edge into that abyss.  The minute tournament is mentioned, guys go off the deep end.  Mega imaging, huge screens, boxes of tackle that would make a small independent shop jealous, trolling motors worth more than a used car.  They need something to spend money on, and guys are gadget crazy to begin with.  I don’t mind it, your going to have some sort of hobby and may as well keep the fishing industry healthy!  But anyone that thinks they need these ultra lifelike lures and all the other stuff that comes with it in order to catch fish,  bass, musky, pickerel or otherwise is fooling themselves so they can really sell it to the better half!  Some of it for sure makes it easier by a landslide, gps, gps trolling motors.... I’m like an addict for that stuff, I literally need it now and get pissed off if I have malfunctions lol.  You can’t take it with you!

[AKRISONER]

ill admit, im a bit of a nutcase when it comes to tackle, yes i use $30 lures to catch bass and rods...too expensive than i care to admit lol. 

 

But all of that I thought was crazy until i bought my bass boat. just a game changer when it comes to dropping cash. Believe it or not I used to catch bass out of a 14 foot tinner with a retrofitted casting deck and a basic minkotta power drive...but lets get serious ripping across the lake at 100kmh and seeing clouds of bait on down imaging just makes everything more fun.

I seriously wonder though, is the musky and perhaps even the walleye industry a dying breed as less and less people are catching to eat regularly? I personally think that the boat industry is on a course of destruction with the prices of boats these days. Yes i get it, the boomers have a pile of money and equity that they gathered while things were good, but for a 30 year old, owning a 100,000 bass boat while houses start at a half million dollars is a pipe dream. Not sure what the future holds, but I think the fishing industry is in for a massive massive change in the very near future, infact in a lot of ways I think it has already started with it really showing in Canada where walleye and pike ruled for a long time, and now people are thinking more about fishing bass. Can you blame people though? Id rather catch 10 smallies over walleye any day of the week. 

Talk to anyone my age that fishes and only a few have the patience to fish musky, and even then its a "special occasion" type deal. Maybe our attention spans just arent of that of our predecessors 

Edited July 4, 2019 by AKRISONER

[singingdog]

I have fished musky with ultra-realistic lures and they just don't produce like traditional lures. I have some absolutely beautiful glide baits and jointed swim baits that just don't get follows. I have a couple of custom painted lures that look like they are breathing. A bumblebee or strawberry (2 of the weirdest paint jobs in the world) believer will outfish them everytime on my waters. 

[lew]

27 minutes ago, singingdog said:

A bumblebee or strawberry (2 of the weirdest paint jobs in the world) believer will outfish them everytime on my waters. 

2 of my most productive lures ever were Bumblebee. One was a 10" Believer that I removed the rattles from and the other was a Double "D" twitch bait that I hand painted.

Strawberry Sledge was another great bait that also put many nice fish in my boat.

Both incredible colours for sure.

[woodenboater]

kinda going OT here, but since it was semi-mentioned here...

What if someone held a tourney, no graphs and maybe 5-10 lures. Each boat has the same set of cranks/spinners etc.. 

But back to muskies. I think the younger gen of musky hunters are not digging the forum thing, instead they're all over Insta and FB. There's a cohort of younger women that throw huge arse streamers on sink tips etc.. Otherwise as everyone said, marketing, and bass fishermen are drawn to shiny objects, so to speak.

Edited July 4, 2019 by woodenboater

[craigdritchie]

There are basically two types of anglers in the world.

There are those who like to catch fish.

And there those who like to spend money on gear.

You see it in every segment ... bass fishing ... steelhead fishing ... fly fishing ... saltwater ... and yes, muskie and walleye fishing. Frankly, I couldn't care less if a muskie bait looks terrible or not. Does it catch fish?

To me, at least, catching fish matters far more than appearances or keeping up with whatever some marketing campaign says I can't possibly live without.

 

[Sinker]

I"ve had the same musky lure on since last season, and still using it. Last year I got 61 musky, this year so far I have 13. How many have you got on the fancy, lifelike, glitter rigs that cost a fortune??  

Simple is usually more effective. Just because It costs more doesn't make it better. 

That said, i think you are out of the loop on custom musky lures. There are PLENTY of custom lure makers who make some beautiful gear, and no, its not cheap. Generally bass guys, and musky guys are two different breeds, that don't really mingle well in most cases.  I don't buy much of my musky gear at tackle shops. Most is ordered, straight from the lure maker, in the colours and patterns I want made. 

 

S. 

[JoshS]

I kind of get what you are saying.. the innovation in musky lures doesn't keep up with bass etc, but it doesn't make sense for it to come close if you think how much smaller the market is. The musky sector has grown however a lot recently with a lot more anglers getting into it and some lure innovation from both manufacturers and customer bait makers. There have been a good handful of swimbaits introduced recent years and a swimbait "movement" maybe relative to bass if you consider the breadth of the musky market compared to bass. Musky swimbaits didn't really exist prior. There has also been explosive popularity in custom baits as of recently. So it's there just not to the same level as the bass industry nor should it. Not sure I would like that to be honest. And it's very true that the old proven baits consistently produce.

[aplumma]

I have fished for muskies with some of the finest musky friends and guides and I still have a perfect record of zero. I have beat them all using all kinds of old school lures. I will watch them  cast or troll there second best lures after making sure they have giving me the best in the boat. I always win ,

they usually are letting me cast first to the choice spots and willing the fish to attack but I have a secret weapon it is anti musky magic. I am not sure any lure no matter how good it looks will increase the odds of me catching a musky. I still say to all of those people who have tried to make me catch a musky Thanks it is always a pleasure to spend time with my friends in a boat talking and fishing. 

Art

[grimsbylander]

Doesn’t matter what you catch a musky on, they still taste lousy.