“There he is again!” I can still remember my old guide client Freddy Stokes barking out that statement over and over again as we played cat & mouse with the same four footer throughout an entire day. Each and every time we came back to this isolated rock hump, the same big fish would chase in his lure. On our first attempt, the fish responded to a bucktail, following it all the way to the boat, but staying three to four feet behind it. After that, we tried a myriad of baits, and got the same reaction to most of them, that same cautious follow. Yet, we were never able to get the fish more interested in one lure or another. Finally, at around 5 p.m. I suggested we head in, catch a quick dinner, and return for one last try.
My plan here was to ignore this fish until sunset; figuring the diminished light might increase its (the fish’s) desire just enough to trigger a more aggressive response. Secondly, I suggested we give this fish a lure that had a lot of action with very little speed, and that an extra long cast be made on the spot so the fish would have plenty of room to follow and hopefully make a decision to strike. Up to that point, all the lures Freddy had cast to this fish were bought back with a fast retrieve, and the lure’s built-in action required this kind of presentation.
Now, while most of us have a tacklebox full of lures that need speed in order to perform correctly, few of us own a lot of baits that demand a painstakingly slow retrieve. In fact, I only owned two of them at that time: a Hawg Wobbler and a Creeper. Freddy also owned a Creeper and was anxious to try it on this fish. Lures of this design require a slow retrieve, and frankly, they move too slowly for most angler’s patience. Furthermore, I firmly believe that these particular baits perform best when they are retrieved ultra slow. The wings on a Creeper actually beat faster when you slow it down. The wiggle of a Hawg Wobbler is faster on a slow retrieve, as well. Both of these lures, therefore, give off that perfect illusion of speed, at an ultra slow retrieval. Personally, that’s why I save them for just this situation – the cast back to a pinpointed fish.
Anyway, some additional cloud cover right after sunset darkened the dusk period more quickly as we approached the target. Just before Freddy made his cast, I inspected his Creeper’s hooks to make sure they were razor sharp, and touched them up with my file. However, as I examined Fred’s bait, I noticed that it had the small factory installed hooks on it, and convinced him that a much larger rear treble was needed. Begrudgingly, Fred waited as I quickly changed the rear hook from a 2/0 to a 4/0, and then I hit it with a few quick strokes from the file. The battle plan was ready.
When we edged into casting position, I reminded Freddy one more time how important it was to make an extra long cast, and to retrieve the bait as slow as he possibly could. I also told him that I was going to nudge the trolling motor as soon as he started his retrieve in order to keep the boat away from the fish. This would also help move the bait forward and decrease his role on the reel. All he had to do was barely turn the reel handle. Furthermore, if he saw the fish make a pass at the bait, it was important NOT to set the hook until he was certain the fish actually had taken it.
Even though this was more than twenty years ago, I can still remember that cast. It was one of the longest casts I had ever seen made with a musky outfit. In fact, that one cast ended up giving Freddy his new nickname, “Long Bomb Stokes”. My friends and would call him that for the next ten years. The Creeper finally landed, and the whole plan was enacted. Freddy started out cranking the lure a bit fast in order to get the bait working properly, and I immediately reminded him, “slow down”. About half way back a bulge suddenly appeared about ten feet behind his bait, and both Fred and I spotted it at the same time. “Here he comes”, Freddy whispered. “Slow down”, I reminded Freddy one more time as I twisted the trolling motor control on its lowest speed.
The wings on the Creeper responded to the decrease in speed with a faster side-to-side wing beat and a higher pitched plopping sound. The bulge closed the gap almost immediately following only inches behind the struggling lure. Within a few seconds, the bulge was so close that it was actually upsetting the action of the lure, making it nose heavy. But, Freddy kept his cool, cranking at a snail pace. “Easy Freddy. Easy” I kept reminding him. Don’t set until he nails it.
No sooner did I get those words out of my mouth when the water erupted in a huge swirl and the Creeper was suddenly gone. I was just about to yell “set” when I saw Fred’s rod double as the fish’s weight took the stretch out of the line. Freddy responded with a solid sideways shift in his body driving the hooks home. “I’ve got ‘em”, he grunted. Four to five minutes later the big fish cruised by the boat at close range and I could see that big treble that I’d just installed on Fred’s bait, firmly planted in the corner of the fish’s mouth. I confidently assured Fred that this fish was history. After a few more short runs, a 48 ½ incher was firmly sealed inside my large landing net. That fish now adorns Fred’s trophy wall.
This was one of the ultimate examples of a solid cast-back strategy that worked. And, even though it happened long ago, it has set an example that I have since duplicated many times. Coming back on a clear water follower at last light with a slow moving, high action surface bait. The combination of reduced light after sunset, and a patient stealthful approach did this fish in, and will do the same for you.
Triggering followers is one of the ultimate challenges in musky fishing, and truly tests an angler’s strategy and technique. Actually, outside of developing better boat control skills and knowledge of the waters you fish, this is where you can grow the most as an angler once you’ve boated a few fish and logged in many hours on the water. Simply put, if you want to step up to another class, improving your ability to trigger followers is certainly one way to accomplish this. The best musky anglers in the business have a definite edge here. They truly have developed a few time proven tricks that trigger those reluctant followers. This is a crucial key to any musky angler’s success since so many fish are likely to follow. Think about it — if you’re able to trigger even a small fraction of these followers into strikers, it adds up to more fish in the boat per day, per week and per year. Eventually, these increased odds culminate when a big fish opportunity arises.
I made this statement at a seminar more than two decades ago, and I believe it still holds true. The best musky fishermen don’t necessarily see more fish than the rest of the pack. But they are simply able to catch more of these fish than the rest. One of the key reasons for this is their superior ability to trigger followers — and make the strike. This is only developed through experience, but it also demands that you put a higher priority on mastering a few tricks and honing your presentation skills.
The example I just sighted is rarely used, but one that still works well. When ever a fish follows a fast retrieved lure, following up with a slower one that has a lot of built-in action, can definitely do the trick. However, just the opposite answer is sometimes required. This is especially true in clear water. Always give them a completely different look on the cast back.
When I first started guiding on deep gin-clear lakes I quickly realized the “need for speed”. Clear water muskies are sight feeders, and live in an environment where everything around them, including their prey, can see well. That’s where the superior speed of a musky on the attack makes the difference between an empty stomach and a fat and sassy one. I firmly believe that a clear water musky can move faster than any high speed baitcaster can crank. And, that you will certainly trigger a much higher percentage of strikes by cranking very fast most of the time, no matter what the season.
I first experienced this phenomena back in the late 1970's while guiding a party out of Wildcat Lodge up in Boulder Junction. Prior to this outing, I had spotted a hot area on a local lake called White Sand. The large sand bar had a deep grass finger protruding off its west side that seemed to be loaded with active muskies. You could hardly make a drift off this spot without getting at least one follow. However, I wasn’t having much success at actually catching these fish. Just seeing them. And, some of the ones I saw were BIG. This encouraged me to take this party out there. I knew that at the very least, these folks were going to see a lot of musky action. My hope was that eventually one of those many muskies that were following would actually hit. Little did I know this would be the day, but for another reason other than it was just the right day.
As we launched the boat, I was initially disappointed to see large white capped waves and whipping tree tops. It was only 8:30 a.m. and the wind was already blowing hard. My first thought was to switch lakes, since boat control was going to be tough, and drifts would be “too fast”. Little did I know that this was exactly what we needed to trigger those fish. Big waves, a fast drift and lures retrieved at very high speeds.
Two lures, in particular, really seemed to be exciting muskies on previous outings. One was a natural pattern bucktail with a silver/chrome blade and a white twister tail trailer. The other was an old minnow bait with that same white/silver flash. Being that these were my two confidence baits, I immediately suggested these two my two clients. Without argument, they both snapped on the baits and began casting. I positioned the boat upwind of the deep grass finger, and decided the best approach with the strong wind and waves was to simply drift across it again and again. Taking on a slightly different drift pattern on each pass. The wind and waves were simply too strong for the smaller trolling motor I had at the time rendering it basically inoperative. I also instructed the bow angler to cast as much directly out from the bow at a cross-wind angle as he could, and I would do the same from the stern; leaving the center angler as much room as possible, and maximizing our coverage on each pass.
Within a few casts, I could see that the boat’s excessive drift speed immediately created some problems, or so I thought. The center angler simply couldn’t keep up with his bait. He was using an old red Ambassadeur with the low gear ratio, and the no matter how fast he cranked, the minnow bait would barely wobble below the water’s surface. He couldn’t get enough crank speed to submerge the lure. At the same time his partner’s bucktail was running so fast that the blade would occasionally break the water from too much speed. I thought both baits were running too shallow, and at the wrong speeds.
I kept these thoughts to myself as we continued our drift, and I contemplated an answer to the problem. We were just about to hit the very upwind tip of the grass bar when the bow angler yell “Got one!”, and the water immediately off the bow erupted. Admittedly, I was surprised since I couldn’t get any of these fish to hit before, and this guy already had one on only a few casts into the morning. Excitedly, I struggled to free the landing net. Then, I realized the fish was upwind, making it very difficult to land. No matter how hard I pulled on the trolling motor, I couldn’t over take the power of the strong wind and waves. Believe it or not, I couldn’t get the boat close enough to the fish to land. Finally, I decided to start the outboard in order to try to circle upwind of the fish. As it turned out, this was a wise move, and my first success on White Sand muskies was a reality. A fat 41 incher was safely in the net.
Back in those days, we kept most of the muskies we caught, and this day was no exception. Into the gunny sack it went, and we went back to start yet another drift. Since the fortunate fellow had a musky in the boat, and the legal limit was one-per-day, his day was technically over. I suggested he sit back and sip on a pop or some coffee while his partner gave that same bucktail a try.
Switching positions in the boat, the middle angler was now on the bow casting that same bucktail. Unlike his partner though, he was struggling with the cross-wind cast so he opted to cast more downwind to prevent backlashes. However, this created that same speed problem he had with the minnow bait. Only this time, because it was a sinking spinner style lure, he couldn’t muster enough speed to get the blade spinning. The bucktail was coming back with a “dead blade” (the blade not spinning). After about a dozen casts like this, I suggested that he make less casts but make that effort to fire it more off the bow so he’d get the needed speed to get the job done. I also suggested he use his partner’s new high-speed version baitcaster. He agreed to use the higher speed reel, but backlashed on his first attempt at a cross-wind angle.
After struggling to free up the tangled line he began to crank up all the slack. However, his lure was now way up wind of the boat due to the fast drift speed. He turned to face into the wind and began cranking the lure in fast in order to get it out of the water and make a fresh cast, but about 10 cranks into his retrieve the lure stopped like it his a brick wall. “I’m snagged”, he yelled. I looked over and noticed his doubled rod had a lively thump action. This was no snag — he had a fish on! I immediately hollered back “set the hook. You’ve got a musky!” Totally confused by this mishap, the guy just kept cranking. Because we were moving with so much force from the strong winds, luckily the hooks probably set them selves against the sheer weight of the fish.
However, I again had the same problem. We couldn’t get to the fish due to the wind and wave force and the fact that we were down wind from the battling musky. Once again, I started the outboard and circled above the hooked fish. Within a few minutes we boated an even bigger 45 incher. Since this fish was also kept, we had our limit. We hadn’t been on the water for more than an hour or so and we were already heading back for the landing with two muskies in the gunny sack. When we got back to the lodge, the proprietor asked if we’d forgot something. I wise cracked, “yeah. We forgot a camera.” We spent the rest of the morning taking photos of the two muskies and telling this incredible story.
Since that day, I have made it a point to go high speed on clear water muskies, and that seems to work no matter what the season or the water temperature. My good friend Mark Maghran from the Buffalo, New York area has experienced the same thing with his clear water trolling muskies. So have the folks on Lake St. Clair. Remember, clear water muskies are sight feeders and are use to chasing down prey. Crank or troll a bait slow in clear water and you’ll likely get nothing more than follows. Put some speed on it, and you’ll probably have more results. The “need for speed” is a must for clear water. That first experience on White Sand taught me a lesson that has helped me ever since. Whenever I’m fishing clear water muskies, I speed up whenever I get follows. It has made a world of difference in that one all important goal — getting strikes.
These were two complete opposite tactics that both resulted in, not only immediate success, but many more successes down the road for me. Both situations seemed puzzling and insurmountable at first. And both began with the same scenario — a following musky that would not strike. Yet both were solved by a change up. What’s important to note here is that some lures require more actual speed, while others give off the illusion of more speed by actually slowing the bait down. One occurred on a calm evening, while the other on a monster “blow”.
Experience is always the best teacher, and these two initial encounters taught me some very valuable lessons that have helped me boat hundreds of muskies since then. These two techniques are certainly not cure-alls for every following musky. Instead, they are part of a much larger playbook that should be exploited whenever the conditions develop a certain way. The key here is in recognizing what those conditions are, and then what is the proper strategy to utilize at that particular time. Sometimes, even a backlash can help to reveal the secret! Although I wouldn’t try this on a regular basis.