There is no question that the most misunderstood subject in all of musky fishing is lure choice. Advertising focuses on the successes of certain lures, writers talk about their favorites, and sporting goods stores promote the "hot bait" as their cure-all. I don't claim, for a minute, to be innocent of any such charges, but I do want to take these next few pages to separate fact from fiction, as well as show you, the readers, a quick easy-to-use formula for that makes lure choice simple. Here's basically how it works.
In my estimation, the average mucky angler starts out with the wrong philosophy when he or she attempts to select a lure. His basic reason behind choosing a particular lure is either previous success (confidence) or because someone else had recent success with the lure; the "hot bait" principle. Without hesitation, I say, this is the WRONG reason for bait selection.
Instead, a specific lure should be chosen strictly and only because it is the BEST TOOL for the job. Yes, this is over-simplified, yet, as you will see, this philosophy really helps answer the "What do I use?" question. Of course, you will need to analyze several specific factors before you can consider a tool. Here's a few of the most obvious factors to decipher:
(1) What depth is the fish at?
(2) What kind of terrain (cover) is the fish holding in?
These two basic questions will answer a lot, and eliminate most lure choices right off the bat. For example, if the musky is holding in 6' of water with heavy cabbage weeds that top off near the surface, a deep diving crankbait or jig is definitely out of the question. Even if the biggest fish in town was just caught on one of these lures. Get my drift so far?
Lure choices can be broken down even further by utilizing my much written about principle of "search and finesse". Basically, I think all lures will fall into one of these two categories. Is it a fast moving, run & gun search lure; best used to cover lots of water and locate a hot, unpressured fish? Or does the lure require a slower retrieve, a twitch, jerk, or some other rod manipulation technique; better suited for a slow approach on a known hotspot, and a musky that has already seen plenty of baits? With this in mind you need to ask yourself questions 3 and 4:
(3) Am I uncertain of a musky's location and simply trying to cover a lot of territory?
(4) Do I already know the musky's location, and need to slow down, and patiently finesse' it into striking?
Now, with just this much information alone, lure choice is instantly made easier providing you already know what categories your lures fall into: search (run and gun) lures, or finesse' (slow down and tease) baits. In order to make this as simple to understand as possible, I have prepared a small chart that functionally places all the basic lure styles in one of these categories. I don't want to argue the possibilities that one lure might be used in some off-beat manner other than what it was originally, basically intended for. What I'm trying to do here is simplify things, and put your entire lure arsenal into a tool-like categorical concept.