Planning for a Musky hunt can never start too soon. This year, in addition to the normal array of lures in my arsenal, I have added 3 lures that were bought to give me the option of down-sizing my lure presentation to match seasons or weather conditions. The conventional wisdom holds that in Spring the smaller lures seem to get more attention that the larger lures that we throw in Summer and Fall. Having the flexibility to down-size is an important option. How many times do you hear about the guy fishing for another species with a jig and minnow who ends up with a nice sized Musky at the end of his light weight tackle? Many anglers will also encourage using smaller lures after a cold front comes through during the Summer months.

So, here are my choices for down-sizing for this Musky season:

This is a down-sized Crane shallow running crankbait. I plan to increase the size of the hooks a little bit from the #2 shown above to the #1/0 shown below.

The lure is about 6½ inches long, made of balsa wood and has a little glitter added to the epoxy coating for some flash. It can be used as a crankbait or twitched.

This is a small version of the Suick. It is a weighted lure and it is about 7 inches long. The lure is an excellent configuration and I hold high expectations for the lure in the coming season.

This little gem is a Water Walker. It is an excellent small surface lure, about 4 inches long. The one piece body spins freely on the shaft propelled during the retrieve by the tail blade as it 'thumps' against the water. The neat thing about the lure is that the configuration is somewhat flexible. You can use it as you see it or you can attach an additional dressed skirt and trailer hook to the existing split ring as long as you don't make it too big or heavy.

You can find these lures at most any tackle shop at prices that range from $9.00 to $19.00.

As I said earlier in this article, it is important to have the flexibility during the Musky hunt to vary the size and presentation of lures to match the seasons and changing weather conditions. There are other fine 'down-sized' lures that one could consider like;

• The Bagley Monster Shad

• The Brooktails Reactor

• The Slammer Minnow Baits

• The Grandma 6" Deep Diver (as a twitch bait)

• The Rapala 5" Super Shad Rap

• The Mepps Muskie Killer

• The Wiley 5½" Musky Killer

Jackson Lures Unlimited has a good assortment of lures at very good prices.
You should also visit your local bait shop.

Don't lock yourself into a single lure size or type.

We Are All In This Together !