THE ZOMBIE EFFECT
Wait, don’t toss out those dead minnows! Here’s how to give floaters a second life to still catch fish
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My first introduction to using expired baitfish was decades ago, sitting in a tin boat on a weedy back bay with my great-grandfather. He first started chasing muskies long before the sportfishing industry began producing specialized tackle specifically designed for the species. He used the heaviest rod and line he had, with a big single hook hanging under a red-and-white spring bobber. His bait of choice? A hefty sucker minnow—dead or alive. In fact, he’d boated more muskies than he could count on dead bait. That blew my 10-year-old mind! If you could fool the king of our freshwater lakes and rivers with a dead minnow, I wondered, what other fish could you catch with them? I’ve been finding out ever since.
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Most freshwater anglers know that soaking large dead baits such as ciscoes and suckers can be an effective static presentation for pike and muskies, or when targeting large bottom-feeders such as channel cats or sturgeon. Once you downsize your dead minnow offerings, however, you can also catch a wide variety of other sportfish, including bass, walleye and trout. After all, those dead shiners in your bait bucket already have an enticing scent and profile—they just need a little help in the action department to catch fish consistently. Here’s how to put those pesky (and expensive) floaters to good use.