Michigan Muskie Alliance

What`s your favorite finesse /trigger bait for springtime muskies..lets say 45-60 degrees.Twitchin cranks,jigs,dawgs,plastic,spinnerbaits,maybe even topwater????Please be specific on retrieves and sizes/water conditions..

TX
Dave

NSTAGATOR wrote:What`s your favorite finesse /trigger bait for springtime muskies..lets say 45-60 degrees.Twitchin cranks,jigs,dawgs,plastic,spinnerbaits,maybe even topwater????Please be specific on retrieves and sizes/water conditions..

TX
Dave

Most lures have some type of trigger in the action or an angler imparted action. Are you asking what our favorite finesse bait is?

guess i was gettin at....what`s your favorite minnow bait/crank bait,twitcher.............whether it be a little claw,grandma,bomber long A,etc..and your retrieve.Guess I was refererring to a line of smaller twitch stick baits,but SS shads,and everything under the sun included....sorry..........kind of a wide open ended question........

In any conditions, these will get it done. Hopefully this makes sense...
Grandma - Snap pause, snap snap pause... repeat.
Jake - Jerk, jerk, jerk, jerk, etc.
Little Claw - Rip pause, rip pause, rip pause, etc.

It's kinda hard to give a verbal pool demo...

The kid likes tan perch little claw.Deadly spring time bait.

spring - bomber model A or bucher shallow raider jointed

summer/fall - believer, shallowinvader, suick

Love the 9" Big Game ( hate the paint jobs). Have two new Grandma Jerks (shallow lip version) i'll be test twitching this season.

Jason

Well here goes , I invented the Little Claw because I got tired of wrecking perfectly good crank baits to make them spin out or do radical tricks like turn sideways or reverse direction. Guys like Dahlberg and Spence Petros wrote scads or articles on this trigger twitching subject. removing the bills from Rapalas and adding mecury to Balsa baits to make them neutral bouyant. You see that is the trick to making a lure act like no other. When it doesnt float or sink its weightless. Claws are almost weightless in the water which makes them suspend. Every one is a little different in its trick department. They are my favorite Twitcher when I have at least 1 foot of water to work with. say over cabbage in 10 foot of water with the weeds coming to within 3 feet of the surface. When I get into the real shallow stuff slop and such its the old Crane baits 205/206/207 304/305 I have been getting unpainted ones from Bill Crane and shooting my own finishes on them . Im working on larger Claws but have not found the right combination of wood thickness and bill size yet. Getting close though. I also like the big games but hate the paint jobs. S.S.Shads are very cool and have accounted for my best fish on but lost due to the fact that they are fat and made of balsa. I had a very big Musky sink its teeth nearly 1/4 inch into one and this gave me no hook set. Im not a fan of Plastic but but recognize the achievments of many of the Jake/Grandma/bucher baits and such. Kingfisher

Kingfisher - I've got an idea for the larger Claw!

probably get laughed at for this but the shallow invader works for me!!!

Im all ears :D :D . When you get back from fishing this weekend send me some mail. Im working on the P.M.S. right now. So far I have removed the tail Hook and moved the belly hook forward and put the tail hook 1/2 inch from the tail on the belly. Kind of like a rattle trap. Its got a different wobble now so Im off to the pier saturday for some testing . Kingfisher

I'm thinking slash bait... it will take a little larger lip and a change in the angle but I think it would be wicked good especially since the buoyancy is perfect.

Illbe cutting blanks this weekend . Ill make a bunch of test blanks in the larger sizes. Mike