Large spinnerbaits for tigers

[muskie guy]

Has anyone been experimenting with or have experience throwing large hair, or synthetic skirt, spinnerbaits for tigers?
I have been toying with larger (over 1oz, over 6") spinnerbaits and I am liking the results so far.
I don't care for the profile that baits like the funky chicken have in the water. The marabou doesn't have much bulk or action compared to bucktail or silicone.
Baits like the ducktail spinnerbait have a more compact profile then the M/G, and I think I like the shorter upright wire arm on the ducktail.
Any thoughts, or opinions?

[Don Wittenberger]

My personal experience has been that Washington tiger muskies prefer smaller lures (6" - 8"). The all-hair Musky Buster bucktail (7", 1.6 oz.), which is sold by Thorne Bros., has been my go-to bucktail for years. This bait has a heavy Colorado blade, so it runs deeper than other bucktails. Its size seems about right. All I can say for sure is fish consistently eat this bait, and I use it for about 80% of my fishing. But our tigers get caught on lots of different lures, and other anglers likely will tell you different things. One of my pals threw a $2 bargain bin crankbait with the ugliest paint job I'd ever seen. I stopped laughing at it when he caught a 48-incher with it.

[muskyhunter]

Heyah mg, I still have some of the best luck with those musky things. Purple, red and black. Also been throwing suicide baits, double 8's with tinsel. Never got to much into the 10's. Though I've gotten a couple bigger reels lately, higher speed reels to pull those along. I've tried to get away from the 6-8" in lines and gone to bigger ones. Definitely find the active fish baits. Been throwing more rubber. Mag dawgs and pro dawgs have been producers. Guys gotta start throwing bigger baits. The big girls love them. Depth raiders have done well for me...got my biggest on tapps a couple years ago. A piggy 47 . Just can't break the 50" inch club yet. Knocking on the door but not in yet.

[AJ's Dad]

I haven't fished the tigers much but last year, I got after them a couple of times. On the last outing, I had made up a hand made inline spinner with some beads, a 2" orange blade, and put a 5 1/2" Big Hammer swim bait behind it. That makes the bait about 7 1/2- 8" long. I missed one fish and caught one on this bait. The tiger was only 32" but it did a good job of swallowing that combination. The Big Hammers have a nice wiggle to them and the inline spinner blade gave the whole bait some extra wobble. I'm anxious to throw it at them again this year.

[muskie guy]

Great replies guys. Some good info there!
I am definitely moving toward the larger selections in my tackle boxes. I always start the spring off with smaller baits, like the Fudally Musky candy spin and 6" spring dawgs. But it's heating up out here quick, and I'm going to be tossing the standard 9" Bulldawgs and #8 doubles more this year.
I'm also keen on trying my newest swimbaits; 8" & 10" savage gear thru line trout and burbot. I rigged them with 16", 80# floro leaders and even though I've never been bitten off with 80#, I'm considering re-tying with 100#. I guess time will tell. I haven't met a leader shy tiger yet. Anyway, going to try Silver lake tomorrow very early.

[muskyhunter]

Musky frenzy makes a triple bladed inline that's long as a 10 but is super easy to rip through the water with triple #8 blades on it. Check those out..

[muskyhunter]

Work just as well as those Dadsons..but way cheaper