salt water tactics for ski's

[lunge]

I was just wondering if anyone has tried, floss rigging suckers for trolling, umbrella rigs, or bubblers or other large squid lures. in addition kites.

ive used kites down in fl for tarpon/sharks but havent had any exp. in the midwest, any people out there trying this?ive seen someone near prescott running a kite, and on hunt for big fish with larry dahlberg.

also ive tried floss rigging suckers,and large shinner and trolled them at higher speeds had alot of luck. but mostly big eyes,pike and sub 40" ski's. also who had tried souping up a walleye spinner rig with floro and some #8-10 blades with a sucker? ive tried but with limited sucsess, I dont troll much so I want your opinion.it seems like when ive tried this the fish wanted to hit the blades and not the bait, so I strung two of my double tens together and it works but once a fish rolled and it tore up the fish badly, so needless to say I dont do that anymore. also ive tried large tuna/mahi lures that look like squid but it seems like you have to troll them at 6-10 mph and imo its to fast, but what exp. have you had?? also ive tried large williamson lures like a 16" ballyhoo, and 14" mullet- both were prerigged with circle hooks and ive done real well with then. the ballyhoo outfished my ddd's, pounders on greenbay. well anyway just wondering what everyone has to say, I just want to see what everyones tried and what exp. they've had?

[JRedig]

CHeck out Larry Dahlberg's HSOforum/forum, he's done a bunch of this stuff.

[lunge]

I heard the kite thing from him on his show, ive looked at his forum and posted some stuff but not many people responded. I just figured id try here?!?!? I talked with him about some of this stuff at the mn muskie expo and was looking to see if any of you had exp. with this-

[10,000 Casts]

some crazy ideas in there and they just might work...

[traveler]

I've only fished the salt on the west coast, and not many kites to be seen there. From my knowledge of them, they keep a bait right on top with no term. tackle in the water to spook finicky fish. I guess i don't see muskies as a species that require that...not exactly boat/term. tackle shy fish. And the less extra gear the better in my book. As for trolling, the chuggers and jet heads we pull for dorado, marlin, etc...do indeed get pulled FAST, I'd liken it to speed trolling for northers (and then some). I've thought of trying a couple, and it would be something the muskies have NOT seen, which could be a plus. Otherwise, most of the lures I've sen pulled, Maruaders, etc...are really high speed open water lures for fast palagics; again, not exactly what I picture for muskies, but who knows? I do use some saltwater gear for trolling rigs, good to get a little local use from them. Rigging baits with floss would certainly work, but I haven't used live bait for muskies, although I've thought of incorperating the circle hooks we use for marlin and giving them a try in the fall.

[lunge]

thats it, no one else........ ok have any of you tried an different kinds of things that are "out of the box" what kind of exp. have you had with circle hooks? I dont want to start a debate I use quick strikes, unless im trying the techniques above, I dont know if any of you have seen them but in the cabelas catalog and on jannsnetcraft and other parts places ive seen these plastic "attractors" that consisted of little plastic blades that look like blades from a buzz bbait but they were only 1" or so around. In the testamonials some expert said they were spose to mimic the sound of a struggiling baitfish, and give off bubbles and squeeks and what not, anyways have you guys ever though of trying something like this on a glider or t.w., Id think a crank would work the best since its always moving. or trolling but a larger version? anyways any thoughts- have you played around with anything different? this is different but once I tried using a short chunk of wire with a downrigger realease and attached it to my anchor chain with like a 40' lead in heavy current wtih a large swimmin jig, and laiter in the day a jake.... got one on the jake, now im just rambling but whatever- best,e

[jsondag]

I haven't kited any muskies, but I had a bunch of chuggers and other assorted offshore trolling baits that I have tried. I have had a little success but the biggest issues are with performance. Most of those lures need to be trolled at high speed to get them to perform correctly. For example, a chugger isn't just supposed to bulge and disturb the water like it does at 5 MPH. It is supposed to bust violently spraying water creating air pockets and making "Chugging" noises, hence the name. To get the most out of these lures you will have to go 10-12 mph - Which I learned isn't too fast for some muskies, just most of them. Jet heads sink too quickly, and many other baits, speed is still the factor.