I free spool when going into my figure 8 and then 'thumb' the reel. I do this after every cast as I do an 8 or circle after every single cast. I usually speed up the bait if i see a fish following but it depends on the mood of he fish. When doing an 8 I will speed up and go high in the water column on the turns going away from the boat. I will then bring the bait down deeper on the turns coming into the boat. Its hard to explain but I hope that kind of makes sense. 99% of the fish I catch on figure 8s hit the bait when I increase speed and bring the bait high on those turns away from the boat. I think this triggers them as they believe it is a baitfish trying to escape. When you scare minnow with your lure, what do they do?? They go high into the water column and even jump out of the water. I think this is what the musky thinks is happening when the bait speeds up and goes higher in the water column. I dont have the exact number right here but its around 20% of my fish caught are on the figure 8. It was about 40% last year but have caught a lot away from the boat this year.

Heres a video that shows it pretty well. Almost all my fish have hit at that same point of the figure 8. Watch how he goes up and out on those turns away from the boat and back down when near the boat.
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This is where I really like long rods (9') so I can make huge/wide turns so the fish doesnt get turned around by short/quick ones.

Those examples are great and I thought I knew how to figure 8 or do the "O" but I was wrong. The guides up at Eagle Lake were able to school me and what they showed me was very close to what Will has shown. I know each person has their own style and the 8'6" rods that I have make a huge difference in my ability to make these turns. At Eagle they catch 80%-90% of the fish at the boat and 80% of the fish hit on the outside turn (Letter C) on Will's diagram. The Muskie I caught on Ovid was on the "O" so I now do (2) on every cast because I have had fish "pop up" after one and then they are gone. Great information!

"Will Schultz" said:

I always hear people talk about their vertical movements during an eight and always get a chuckle… (Not picking on you Jason) Vertical movements are going to happen no matter what you do it is the physics of the movements. It just isn't possible to keep the bait deep on the outside, it has to come up or you'll fall in the water. (The top to bottom of the movement is 4' and the length is about 10').

I know you’re not picking on me and I know that it is part of the movement I was just explaining that I exaggerate it more than most people I’ve fished with. I was just trying to explain to make the 8 as wide as possible because the major mistake I see (and used to do) is people make too small of an 8 and the fish gets turned all around trying to follow the lure. That is what I took when fishing up at Eagle; the big fish cant turn on a dime or anything so making wide/smooth turns seems to work best up there. Thanks for the diagrams!!; they are very nice. I think Cory Painter (spelling??) had a nice article about figure 8s in a musky hunter magazine last year.

"vkop" said:

Are you willing to say a bit more about triggering fish when they're still eight to ten feet away from the boat, before the point at which you go into the L turn?

You know sometimes it works and sometimes is doesn't… last night every fish I caught was in the eight right in the sweet spot. Sometimes that's just how it works though.

So… back to your question. The moves that you'll impart will depend on the lure. This could end up being 1200 words so I'll keep it short (pool demo anyone?). Direction and speed change is the key. For each lure category there are some basic moves like:
– raising your rod to bring the lure from deep to shallow (Joel mentioned he had discovered this trigger w/ his DDD)
– for a high riding bait or topwater taking it down or under 10' out can trigger a following fish
– stopping a bait dead (aka – deathrise)

Basically what I'm looking for is something that happens in an instant that is completely different from what the lure was doing for the entire retreive. Even an erratic retrieve starts to look plain if the lure has been moving the same way for the entire retrieve.

Thanks all, this was a great thread and is appreciated!

One thing I'd add for bait/boat-shy fish… I do this if I am getting fish that are pretty actively chasing straight-retrieve baits and then darting away from the boat (like they've been shot at) when I go into an 8. First off, if I see the fish 10+ feet out then I will try something different with the bait like Will was saying (speed up, slow down, change of direction, etc…). If I don't see them until the last 10 feet, and they aren't acting super agressive, then I will extend my arms way out from the boat and do my first turn with my arms extended. This makes it a little harder to set the hook but keeps the fish from spooking from the boat. Usually, if they don't hit on this first turn, then they won't hit at all.

uh…….go figure!

"finlander" said:
How long are your leaders (who uses them) and do you keep the lure reel close to the rod tip to keep the speed up? Saturday I saw no follows so I couldn't experiment.

My leaders are 18-20" and I reel the leader right to the rod tip. A leader longer than 20" can make it difficult to turn fast sharp corners when trying to trigger a fish.