Muskie Lure Collection

[dblood1974]

Thanks for the feedback... Just from observing posts I anticipated that response. I have 2 bulldawgs currently and looking to get some more. I landed 3 of the thunderbeasts on eBay for $15 total so couldn't pass that up. Blew it on a lot of bullsaegs though.... 11 dawgs ended up going for $71! I was planning on being online for a last minute bid and ended up not being able to get on. Dude ended up with a steal! Ill continue my bulldawg hunt. Being a bulldawg rookie though, I'd love to hear any insights on most effective way to fish them

[muskyhunter]

Hey Bro,
I think its cool that you are throwing the dawgs. Don't know how long you been fishing muskies but seeing a newer guy c'mon to musky throwing those types of baits already and in your arsenal is freekin' awesome. Musky Innovations has a motto its' " Huge Hawgs Love Dawgs" what more can you say really. Lots of folks like throwing lighter baits its a good idea. But the big fish gotta eat too. First, try a good size like a magnum They are 6 oz but easier to throw than the pounders. 16 oz of melted goo through the air is a little much for me and my shoulders. Plus you gotta have the right rods and reels for those. The mag which I throw. You can fish them pretty easy. Chuck em' and jerk em. Depending how deep you fishing them say 12 ft. You can let them sink a bit. Load your rod ..Tip in the water and give solid jerk up in an angle left or right. Or shorter strokes with the shoulder. Work them fast or slow. Weeds. Flats. Deep flats or just deeper water. You gotta figure that out yourself. If the water is clear you can actually see the fish hit. I had a tiger just put some slobber on a dawg that was falling in like 30 ft of water. Hit it on the fall it was incredible..saw the whole thing. Or you can chuck them and reel them in with slow bounces (to keep the tail spinning) with a slow even motion. If you wanna look online for some guys that fish with big dawgs check out http://www.badfishoutdoors.net" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; theres a guy who absolutely kills the muskies throwing some nasty ugly pounders.. Welcome to the musky fishin world! I do guide and I am willing to share any info I can with you . Pm me or email me.... Hope this help you out a little. Cheers Hombre' , Todd

[dblood1974]

Thanks man...really appreciate it. Very helpful...

I havent been fishing them long. It started when I caught a 42" tiger on a 1/4 oz. Spinnerbait in sept. 2010 while bass fishing. Some days I wish that never happened. I used to enjoy taking the kids crappie fishing, etc......UNTIL that happened, lol. Ruined for life.

Spent the offseason and last year lurking around here and trying to soak up as much info as possible. Many of you have been a big help. Mark was kind enough to let me spend a day with him at Newman as well. Looking forward to continuing to learn about these crazy fish. Having the good folks like yourself and many others be so helpful has been a great encouragement to continue pursuing studying this art of musky hunting. Heck, I've even started building lures , lol.

I will take you up on pming you as I do have a couple questions.

Thanks again,
Darin

[muskyhunter]

dblood,
Load of dawgs for ya! And Shallow Invaders..

[AJ's Dad]

dblood,
I am certainly now musky expert, I'm a pike guy. However I have been investigating these big soft plastic baits as I can be on the water at Newman in about 7 minutes from my house. I have only managed a few muskies so far but I plan to make it more of a priority this year. I bought some of the Tacjkle Industries baits that are very similar to the Bulldawgs. Their's are called the MiniD, MegaD and the Magnum SuperD. Here's a link. http://www.tackleindustries.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; I bought some of the MiniD's to use for pike. I haven't fished them much yet but the little I did, they look great in the water. I believe the prices on them are much lower than the Bulldawgs. I got 3 of the Mini's on ebay from the manufacturer for $21 with shipping included. You may want to take a look at them. There's a comparisson video online showing a guy beating a bulldawg and tackle industries bait on the ground at the same time. The bulldawg was comming apart much quicker than the other one. Just a suggestion.

"Catch and release baby"
"Whether they like it or not"

[muskyhunter]

Dude,
You havent fished the T.I stuff much. Interesting. Tackle Industries..all they do is copy other peoples stuff and sell it cheaper. Your basing your opinion on the Dawgs by someone beating them on the ground, really? Kinda like going to Malwart buying those $1 spinners and comparing them to KVD stuff. Musky Innovations stuff is made by musky fishermen. The hardware is 100% better. And anything you slam on the ground long enough will eventually come apart all over the place. You can use that stuff right from Musky innovations without having to change out hooks like on the T.I. crap. Plus they (dawgs)are made in Wisconsin (U.S.A). I understand tryin to save money but you pay more in the end buying that cheaper, China (not U.S.A.) made filfth. Just a suggestion.
By the way your Avatar is quite interesting.
See ya, todd

[slammerscott]

Tackle Industries D's are killer, will outfish the bulldawgs every time and they don't get torn up like bulldawgs. A lot cheaper also, they are the way to go!

[afk]

Great topic Mike. I think we would all like to help you spend your money. I'm not a Muskie man yet but, it sure is great to see and read all the input from everybody. Keep up the good work. Thanks, Andy

[AJ's Dad]

Dude,
You havent fished the T.I stuff much. Interesting. Tackle Industries..all they do is copy other peoples stuff and sell it cheaper. Your basing your opinion on the Dawgs by someone beating them on the ground, really? Kinda like going to Malwart buying those $1 spinners and comparing them to KVD stuff. Musky Innovations stuff is made by musky fishermen. The hardware is 100% better. And anything you slam on the ground long enough will eventually come apart all over the place. You can use that stuff right from Musky innovations without having to change out hooks like on the T.I. crap. Plus they (dawgs)are made in Wisconsin (U.S.A). I understand tryin to save money but you pay more in the end buying that cheaper, China (not U.S.A.) made filfth. Just a suggestion.
By the way your Avatar is quite interesting.
See ya, todd

WOW Todd ??? I don't believe I stated an opinion.

I was just trying to mention the baits I had bought and that the prices were a little lower. I watched the video and the point was that their body lock harness holds the soft plastic on real well. I have had some emails with the guy that has them on ebay. His ads say they come from the midwest and he told me he was the manufacturer, so I wouldn't be so sure they come from China. Maybe he does have them made offshore, how would I know. Maybe I will email him again and ask. Now, you can dispute that and I imagine you will. It seems you like to do that with my posts. No biggie, we can't all think alike. I don't care which of this type of bait I bought, the first thing I did was trade out the hooks for a Mustad weedless treble so I can hopefully get it back through some weeds better. What next? Are you going to have a problem or a comment about Mustad hooks? I did a little research. I believe the Mustad headquarters are in Norway. Maybe they have theirs made in China to. HHHMMMM
By the way, I'll let you know how well the Tackle Industries baits work after I have had a chance to throw them a little. You find the avatar interesting. Do you like it or what?


"Catch and release baby"
"Whether they like it or not"

[Mike Carey]

I'm still waiting for an answer regarding the dawg lures (and the TI for that matter) - are the tails replaceable? Because if the first muskie you catch rips up the tail it seems like a waste of money, unless $20 per muskie caught is acceptable (it isn't to me).

So what's the word? Replaceable? Durable?

[AJ's Dad]

Mike here's a link to some replacement tails. $5.79 for a 3 pack. They're made for a different brand but they say they work with Bulldawgs and the Tacklen Idustries baits to.
http://www.muskytackleonline.com/acatal ... .html#a425" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Mike Carey]

thank you.

[muskyhunter]

Hi Mark,
Look, I think its healthy conversation to talk about the lures. And how to use them. Where to buy them and such.You stated you've only fished muskies a few times and thats cool you're doing it. It looks as though you fish the northerns alot. So I wouldnt comment alot on the lures to use for them.What I do know is that when I am fishing muskies back home the northerns tear the crap out of every lure you throw when you're not intentionally fishing for those damn fish. Even the dawgs. I fish muskies 99% of the time. Besides, in dbloods' original post he IS talking about the bulldawgs. For an avid, crazy musky guy like myself its really awesome to see a newcomer on the musky scene throwing the dawgs. Its nice to talk about specific baits/lures to use for muskies. All these folks have been trained to use the small baits. Admittingly I got caught up in it too.When every club says go small and it gets pushed into a guys' head at every meeting everytime on the water and such. You get believing its the correct thing to do all the time. So go with your gut feeling not some one's club telling you what you should always use. My view on Tackle Industries is quite simple.They don't make their own lures. Its cheap yes. Copycat yes. They replicate, sell at a cheap price and the dude makes a crap load of money doing it. I have won a few of their lures at raffles but would never buy anything from them. Dawgs are handpoured. In Wisconsin. By musky fishermen! You can get tails made for the Invaders. And if your dawg gets tore up you can write Musky Innovations and they can work something out for you. But I doubt he'd replace them knowing they are getting slammed into the pavement.
So again the volleying of opinions are healthy. Mark, I didnt mean to come across as a smartalic. And well, sometimes I am. Well most the time. But again the Muskies are a passion I have. There are very few people who fish them as I do. And I am grateful that the WDFW found homes for the tigers here in Washington. Which leads me into your Avatar. A northern eating the WDFW? I can see the KNDR but not the Washington guys. I would just say keep your eyes open when on the POR .
As far as hooks go I am a Owner CP guy all the way. But I'm not arguing over hooks. Lol.
I still would like to fish with ya on the Pend or wherever in Idaho. I'm not that bad of a fellow. Just a mad musky fisherman with his boat in the shop and really crappy weather here on the wetside of the state. Argh this sucks! So when I get my boat back Monday I will be spending more time fishing and less time on my butt in front of this darned computer. So don't take my opinions as a personal shot ok. I just think its healthy conversation.
I just have a love, a passion, an addiction to musky fishing and I hope you can see that.
See ya pal, Todd

[slammerscott]

So Todd, your a Musky guide? How much do you charge? What lakes do you fish? How many fish did you bring to the boat last season? Are you licensed and insured?

[Mike Carey]

So Todd, your a Musky guide? How much do you charge? What lakes do you fish? How many fish did you bring to the boat last season? Are you licensed and insured?

Out of respect for the guides that are paying to advertise on this site and that allow us to stay online, I'm going to ask Todd to respond to you in a PM.

Thanks for understanding.

[AJ's Dad]

Todd,
I say your comments in your last post are fair enough. I agree on healthy sharing of opinions. I have fished for tigers more than a few times but unfortunately I have only managed to catch them a few times. Hopefully that will change this year. I will reserve my opinion on the quality of the Tackle Industries baits until I cacth a few fish on them. All I am saying at this point is that copy cat or not, they look great in the water.

As for my avatar, I have attended the meetings held by the WDFW and the Kalispel tribal biologists. My opinion on that is certainly not the topic of this thread, so I'll keep it short and simple. From the two meetings I have attended, both entities are of the same opinion, and are both trying to accomplish the same goal. Completely wiping out the pike in the POR. When fishing the POR last week, I did have my eyes WIDE open and what I saw was a lot of gill nets, and an aluminum boat with two guys wearing bright orange jackets, waving and smiling as he went by us. I could care less who they worked for, but I know what they were doing. They had the mouth of Tacoma creek almost completely blocked off. If I had gone in there I couldn't guarantee I would have made it through without running in to their damn nets, so I didn't even try. Just as we are all allowed to have our own opinions about fishing tackle, I am allowed to have my opinion of what both the tribe and the WDFW are doing, and so far from what I have seen and what I have heard them say. I believe my opinion is accurate.

Enough said.

"Catch and release baby"
"Whether they like it or not"

[PokeyPrasch]

Last summer I caught 2 Tigers on one of these.
Spent all day on Lake Curlew.
42" and another just over 30".

I have some Grunt lures (Super D's?) and some larger blades but have had no luck.
A few follows on a 3.5" ghost Rapala peaked my Muskie fever.

[dblood1974]

As there was some discussion regarding Musky Innovations and Tackle Industries, I thought I'd throw out a neutral perspective. I recently purchased a Tackle Industries Cowgirl Type Inline Spinner (called the Dominatrix ... 10" with flashabou and Mag #10 blades like the Cowgirl). At the same time, I also purchased Musky Innovations Plasma Point Wide Gap Treble Hooks to use for when I build my own inlines.

I gotta say that I wanted to puke in my mouth when I opened the Tackle Industries Dominatrix. The blades are a joke...pretty much perfectly flat and I don't think I could drive the points of the hooks into a bowl of jello with a sledgehammer. ok...maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but they are far from sharp. Will see if I can get a sharp point sharpening them myself.

On the other hand...the 6/0 trebles from Musky Innovations were quite sharp right out of the box. While I usually try to sharpen them before hitting the water, I'd have complete confidence in a good hook set with these without putting a little extra sharpening touch on them prior.

Given the fact that some places you can get the Bulldawgs for even less than the Super Ds (http://www.overstockbait.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) ... combined with what are clearly different levels of quality, I'll certainly stick with the Bulldawgs over the Super Ds without question....not to mention that my Dominatrix Lures will likely be on ebay and out of my hands ASAP. Was quite surprised actually to see the poor quality.

At any rate...just thought I'd share a perspective from a neutral perspective just based on observation in the past 2 days.

Darin

[dblood1974]

Hey Pokey...congrats on the Tigers last summer. What kind of lure is that exactly in the pic?

[PokeyPrasch]

It's a Strike Pro Flex Phantom 6.75"