MUSKY MANIA "SQUIRRLY BURT"

[P.DONA]

Anyone ever use one? I just got 2 of them. and also the regular 11" BURT I've never used this big of a lure!!! Any other tips to use these besides what the directions say?? Should I use a steal leader or what I use now, direct tie 60 lb fluro?? swivel??

Thanks in advance.

[cliffy]

I have a few squirrelly burts and one or two regular burts. They seem to be pretty good baits. I had a lot of problems losing the rubber tails…..I tried various kinds of glues but they never held for very long. I finally just drilled a very small hole through the hard plastic body at the rubber tail section and inserted a small piece of single strand leader wire and gave it a slight bend at the ends. This worked perfect and didn’t change the lure’s presentation at all.

The only other problems I have come across are getting them to run true. Just follow directions on the back of the package…and you shouldn’t have any problems.

I have used a single strand leader, seven strand leader and fluorocarbon leaders with these baits. I think it’s a matter of taste, but I liked the fluorocarbon leader the best. As far as presentations go, I just worked it like a suick. Short jerks, pause, short jerks…..worked well for me over shallow weed beds. I know one of my burts is a weighted model….worked it the same way over rock beds, short hard jerks, smacked it on the rocks, short jerks…etc.

Just my two cents.

[gundy89]

I have a regular burt. It's not one of my favorite lures, but I have caught some nice northerns on it. I wouldn't worry about the size. It's no bigger than some of my other lures.

[RuKiddingMe]

I had a regular one, and had no confidence in the bait, never seen a fish using it and maybe it was just me but I couldn't get that thing to run right for the life of me. I ended up trading the bait plus $10 for a Musky Nut Wabull, and I have to say I think I made out like a bandit on that one.

[RK]

Hiya,

I use both flavors of Burt quite a bit. Straight burts are great off the edges of stuff, over rocks (can clang them off rocks all day and it doesn't mess them up) and above weeds. Squirrley's good the same places, plus he's one of the best jerkbaits there is for thick weeds. Fish slow and easy, make contact with weeds, stop him and he backs up out of trouble. Fish murder the things. Both are good hookers, and squirrley's exceptional. For some reason, fish really head hunt squirrley. Almost every fish is hooked on the front hook.

When to use which? Seems like when fish are really 'hot' the straight ones work better, maybe because they can be made to work a little more wild. Get used to how you need to tap them and you can really make them scoot out to the side. A weighted Squirrley's a great cold front bait. I generally reach for squirrley first all thinsg being equal I guess. Something about that rubber butt that gets fish moving.

For the squirrley tails, best glue there is is Carlson's Fishin' Glue. Just clean the socket out good with a pocket knife (or a willow leaf spinnerblade if you can't ever find a knife when you need one like me).

As far as leaders go, I pretty much use the same leaders I use with everything else, which is a single strand wire one. If I started switching leaders every time I switched lures because I wanted to sue this leader with that lure and that leader with this lure, I'd get confused in a hurry. I'm not too bright so I need to keep it simple - that's why I fish muskies instead of fish that are hard to catch like walleyes

Cheers,

RK

[barnyard]

I fish Burts quite a bit. I believe that you could take off the front and back hook. Every fish that I caught on a Burt has smashed it dead center. Even fish that hit on a figure 8 were hooked on the middle hook.

There doesn't seem to be a wrong way to work them either. Kind of like a Reef hog in that respect...

Tom B

[Cooter]

The plastic tail is what makes the squirrly burt stand out and produce fish. The action of the lure itself(a reg. Burt) isn't anything special.

[P.DONA]

Thanks for the info, everyone!! The weighted squirrly burt won't always work well??? could that be the 20" 60 lb fluro leader I'm using ?, should I shorten it, or go with 12" steel??

[JohnMickish]

I use a squirly burt with a single strand leader and the action looks great to me but since this is my first year fishing for these fish I am a rookie. Heck, if I where a fish I smack it!

[Anderland]

I've actually used this bait quite a bit. Although I tend to only use the wighted models as I also find the regular style to be somewhat cumbersome, and it also runs too shallow for most of my situations. I've experimented with the action quite a bit, but for my money a slower-steady-short-glide-pull technique gets a much "sexier" action out of this bait. To me a more "violent" Suick type of jerk completely ruins this bait's potential. Anyway, this has become a confidence bait for me...but in my opinion it's also a bait that takes lot's of practice to understand how to use it effectively...squirrly or no squirrly.

[guideman]

Scott hit it right on the head, most people just try to work this bait to hard and fast. It just doesn't need to be pulled that hard to produce.

The unweighted model is great for working over a weed bed or over shallow boulders. Slow pulls at different angles can really make this bait dance.

"Ace"