RULE BREAKERS
It sometimes pays big to ignore tried-and-true tactics to catch fish, as these expert anglers reveal
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Gord Pyzer says bass (along with muskies) will also chase an unsnagged lureEXPERT ANGLER: GORD PYZER
MUSKIE (AND SMALLMOUTH) TACTIC: GET HUNG UP
One late-October day, I was trolling in the dark when I felt my lure smack into the face of a rock-wall structure and hang up in roughly 15 feet of water. I backed up the boat to get behind the lure, then yanked it free and started to reel it in to inspect the hooks. That’s when a behemoth muskie of world-record proportions swooped in like a fighter pilot, hammering the bait just as I lifted it out of the water.
Since that day, I’ve landed so many magnificent muskies after first getting snagged and popping my lure free that I consider it one of the deadliest muskie-triggering tactics going. The fish will circle the trapped lure, watching it shake as you try to jerk it free; when it finally pops free and shoots up to the surface, it resembles a cisco, sucker or whitefish desperately fleeing for its life.
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Whether I’m casting or trolling, it’s such a deadly tactic that I now get ready to figure-eight a pursuing predator every time I get snagged. It’s so productive, in fact, I secretly hope someone in the boat gets hung up, even when we’re using one-of-a-kind, handcrafted muskie lures costing $200 or more.
Remember to check your hooks after snaggingAnd as a bonus, the presentation also hoodwinks smallmouth bass. I’ve regularly wedged my bass bait between a couple of rocks or buried the barbs into a submerged log, only to bow-and-arrow it free and feel a hefty bass pounce on it. I’ve even had bass attack my lure and liberate it for me as I was trying to wiggle it free.