top water musky baits

[icefishing21]

i fish this lake in northern wisconsin for a week in august every year. i usually fish for walleyes but the lake has alot of big northern and muskys in it. i wanted to try it out this year and i know some spots to go to but you need to fish the top waters cuz its only 5 feet deep. i was just wondering what are some good top waters to use. thanks for any info.

[Lals]

Good time for Top Waters -- Two Types would cover most conditions -- Tail spin like a Top Raider and/or Pacemaker and the other type is side to side like a Jackpot. Also, you should consider burning bucktails like a Double Cow Girl just under the surface.

[b1gf1sh1]

spinnerbait in 1/2 oz or larger, reel fast. yes topraiders are great. bucktails with single hooks instead of trebles if its weedy or a stump field. mister twister's top prop is great for steering around stuff too. rapala's sub-walk might work good too. there are so many option's out there. you probly need to worry about color more than anything else.

[Esox_Magnum]

Weagle

[Quackaddict9]

what esox said.

[Rebel9921]

There are plenty out there... as for colors: I would go for black or pink for night...

Pretty much the popular ones would be:

Weagles, Jackpots, Homewreckers for Walk-The-Dog retrieves... if you want smaller, you can go for baby weagles...

Pacemaker (2 sizes), Topraider, Super Topraider, LOWrider (Lowrider comes in 3 different sizes) for straight prop retrieves...

There are many overlooked topwater lures... and from what I know and have seen... it appears that the topwaters is little bit more expensive than other type of lures...

I know one FM moderator who loves using Mouldy's Topper Stoppers and Cisco Toppers...

There also are several lures that combines the aspects of bucktails with topwaters... Musky Busters does that with their Topwalkers (It comes in regular and magnum version) and I love how it works... Prop front with bucktail rear...

Keep in mind that no lures are used for the same reasons... Lures such as Jackpots are excellent for searching but I've heard many complaints about how its too light that when a Muskie hits it... it gets blown out of the water without hooking the fish... People tend to switch over to heavier topwater once they find a fish or switch to other type of lures... On other hand, weagles has excellent hook-ups during daytime, not night-time... I dont know anybody who would throw a WTD bait at nighttime... but prop topwaters works great at night as long you reel very SLOW... Its way harder for the fish to zero on a wtd lure at night than a straight prop...

This year will be the year of topwaters and plastic baits for me... but I can say that cowgirls do work well at night... especially black/black, nickel/black, and pink/pink... Like Lals said... bulge them under the surface can be a killer tactic...

[Andrew Erickson]

all time favorite topwater that has caught alot of fish for me is a viper

[Tim_Anderson]

For all around, I like the topraider. In waves or if I want more noise, I like the pacemaker. For a more subtle presentation, I like the stomper. And for a super slow one that hangs in the strike zone when you have that big momma located, try the Hog Wobbler. The first three are straight retrieve style prop baits. The Hog Wobbler is jointed and wiggles back and forth...you have to reel it really slow for it to work properly, so it really requires some patience. I don't throw it for long periods of time, but usually when I am on a tried-and-proven spot, or if I have a fish located and I'm coming back on it at a prime time. Someone else mentioned it here and I agree, the Viper is a great walk-the-dog style bait. It's one of my go to baits when I really need a bite, and for me, it has a better hook up percentage than many of the other similar style baits.

Good luck!

[cjac]

For August, a mix of muskies and pike, and assuming you're not looking to drop a lot of coin, I'd look to the spinnerbaits and bucktails. $50-$60 bucks would put you on a 1/2 dozen or so lures that will do what you want. 3/4oz spinnerbaits will trigger fish, as will some "standard" size bucktails. $12 or so will get you a Mepps Maribou, nice size and profile in the water, and pretty easy to keep up in the top foot of the water column. Grab a couple quality leaders too, they're a must.

If you have any muskie gear, and a rod & reel set-up for it, then look to some of the bigger topwaters mentioned above.

[Andrew Erickson]

 Quote:

$12 or so will get you a Mepps Maribou, nice size and profile in the water

thats a great bait.Its also really easy to fish because it doesnt have as much pull as some of the other bucktails out on the market today,and its cheap and will put fish in your boat.

[Nick Kuhn]

If you're thinking of the weedy bays of Namekagon I would go small because that's all you'll find in those shallows is small northerns, as the bigger fish take the deeper weedlines. Same deal with Yellow, that weed flat in the south has a lot of smaller pike but haven't found the big girls in there yet. Spinnerbaits and inline spinners/smaller bucktails will catch fish in those areas, just maybe not the fish you want.

[sbro73]

Anybody use the Rumblers ?

[PDXFisher]

I have one, no action on it yet. There was a problem many people had with them sinking. Mine is pretty heavy and I have to keep the rod tip pointed pretty vertical to keep it on top of the water, especially in chop.

[castmaster]

Dont hesitate to try a creeper.

[Rebel9921]

SBro... I have the Black Magic one... and so far, it only enticed a weak strike, probably from a small bass.. but then again I havent really put too many casts on the Rumbler... That should change this year...

The number one complaint with Rumblers is that often the front half sticks and rolls with the prop rear, or the rear wouldnt rotate at all... I've read somewhere that pretty much 1 out of 2 or 3 will do that... I dont know if Crazy Crank fixed this problem... I didnt have that problem with my Rumbler, nor did I have any problem with mine sinking... and dont see how it could sink unless you added more weight to it...

I havent used it on choppy water yet... but personally, I would rather use Magnum Topwalker, Magnum LOWrider, or Pacemaker over Rumblers...

[sbro73]

Do they have a PINK Pacemaker ?

[eyehead]

I picked up a pink and purple pacemaker from Ty at the Expo. Im not for sure if he sells them or if that was a custom color for the expo??

[Rebel9921]

SBro... I did ask Ty about that on Saturday at the Blaine Expo...turns out that its the Show Custom... not standard color... but he did say that he will sell unpainted/unassembled pacemaker so you might would want to go down that path and paint your own pink then assemble it... no harm in that...

Eye... I must have missed that one... otherwise I would've had gotten it...

[namtkd1]

Although I haven't seen anyone mention it, I like both the Hi-Fin Teasertail and Hi-Fin Twin Teasertail. They work great for me but the only thing is they tend to roll over on their sides during the retrieve rather than lay flat on the water. I don't see stores carry them anymore.