Casting suckers

[Pjonas]

The dead bait topic below brought to mind a question I've had since seeing a musky show on PBS about these guys who have some sort of secret method for rigging and casting live suckers rather than just hanging them or slow trolling them.

Does anyone use this method? Is it successful?

Also, has anyone seen the show I'm talking about? It's the one where they block out the rig like it's a soft core porn on TBS to keep the "secret" of how this sucker is rigged.

[suckerchucker]

Casting suckers WORKS!
There is no secret to rigging them, as they are hooked thru the mouth, running the hook thru the top of the skull, then tying the sucker and the hook together so the sucker won't rip off after a few casts. That took lots of practice, and it was difficult to learn to tie. WELLER made a square hook muskie rig, with 24" of 90lb cable and a 10/0 hook. The usual method was a short cast, and a slow jerking retrieve. You could make the sucker act alive, and the method caught lots of fish. The downside was that when you got a strike, you had to let the fish run with the sucker, then stop. Sometimes it took as long as an hour for the muskie to actually kill, then turn the sucker in it's mouth and finally swallow it. When this happened, the muskie would start a run, either a fast run towards the surface to jump and disgorge the sucker if it felt the hook, or just a steady swim off. In either case, that was when you finally set the hook. The downside of this practice was that it usually killed the muskie, because it was either hooked in the stomach or the throat. This was common back from the turn of the century (1900) to the 1960s, then died out because the CPR practice became popular (thank GOD!). The same system will work today, but the sucker should be rigged on a quickstrike rig, in order not to do damage to the muskie. A GOOD casting sucker quickstrike rig has never been designed, but if somebody comes up with one, it will definitly catch fish, and probably sell well... Good luck!

[muskie tamer]

A lot depends on the size of the bait. a 12"-18" sucker or (catfish, my prefered bait) has never been my freind for casting. They only live for a few casts and are not in good health after the first one. Smaller bait ( 6",max in Pa ) I've rigged in the mouth and up thru the head, or long needle thru mouth and out the tail ( just like trout fishin ). Almost all of my muskie stikes happened when playing the catfish to the boat. Have seen some guys doin the surf casting thing with some good sized bait, nothing 12" and up though. Good luck Good fishin.

[Primetime Pete]

I too have seen this tape and became very interested in the rigging of the sucker for casting. I went as far as trying to contact the people on the video and couldn't locate them. I searched near and far for a quickstrike rig that was made for casting but there seems not to be one out there. The part that made me so interested in the rigging was the bait could be used dead. Not having to worry about keeping bait alive and healthy all season would be great. Just defrost a frozen sucker or two and start your fishing day. With vacuum sealing the suckers and possibly even "brining" them like the herring I use to troll for salmon I think it would work rather well. I just have to make my own rig I guess.

[Petterr]

Anyone that fishes Musky with a sucker is not a true Musky fisherman.
It's to hard on the fish boys, let the fish be in the fall

[Primetime Pete]

NO, Anyone that is not willing to explore new techniques has lost what it takes to become a better fisherman. Simply being satisfied with what your current comfortable patterns makes you more predictable than the fish.

[Jackpike]

Have you guys ever tried drifter floating live baits it seems the ideal method for Muskies