Spring musky gear/tactics?

Suggestions/tips for spring musky fishing would be greatly appreciated. I'm considering downsizing my braided line to 50lb test with the smaller musky lures. Also what lb test floro leader......apprehensive about using anything less than 80. Thanks Again!

Ulbian I agree with you there except for bucktails...i would say the entire retrieve is much slower then... at least that's what has worked well for me

I should clarify the speed thing. I'm not talking about slowing the entire retrieve from the point your bait enters the water to the time you pull it out for your next cast. In fact I'll twitch harder making that bait snap more instead of being lazy....but the pauses are much longer. Total retrieve time is about the same, it's just that the segments of time used for pauses and bait movement even out so it's close to that of a mid-summer time frame.

One thing I can add is that even though the waters cold and the skis may be a bit sluggish, dont be afraid to try topwater lures. Try using slower moving baits like hog wobblers, kreepers, and whopper ploppers and topraiders worked slower then normal. These lures will produce fish all season long. Hell...I may even throw a big jitterbug this spring.

Thats a good point Ulbian. Seems like when it comes to musky fishing, getting away from the "norm" tends to catch fish. Never thought of that aspect. Thats quality input. Thanks.

Agree with Ulbian here, people buy into the small bait thing too much in the spring. I'd say throw whatever you're confident with but work it slow. If things stay the way they are we're going to have cold water temps for the opener.

If downsizing in the spring gives you more confidence then go for it but you don't have to. One popular thought on this is to "match the hatch" but that doesn't make any sense at all. Those perch that just hatched are not going to be anywhere near the size of the smallest bait you will use even if you downsize. I go the other way and go big. Probably throw more bigger baits in the spring than at any other time of the year simply because many of those larger baits make it easier to work at a slower pace. Tossing on a 14 inch Jake, the larger DDD's or Hellhounds, etc. can be incredible early season baits but they are severely underused. Depending on the type of water you are on you can run into an amazing open water pattern very early in the season. It's probably the best time of the year to develop high levels of confidence roaming around over the abyss....but this is dependent on the system you are on. Those deep clear lakes that are considered "tough" provide some crazy good opportunities and you often have little to no company on systems like this due to the "it's a tough lake so it must be tougher in the spring when water is colder." Such a fun misunderstanding. On very few bodies of water I'll crawl up shallow this time of the year but 98% of the time the shallowest I'll be is on the secondary break or "out there."

Oh...I almost forgot... At the Milwaukee musky expo, I found some mini shallow invaders as well. They look killer!

This is the first year I plan on really getting after muskies in the spring. The gear and lures I plan on using: I bought a new st croix 7' premier rod with the new daiwa lexa reel spooled with 65lb test sufix 832. Super bad ass set up. I have a 6" flouro leader from VMC on there. Those leaders are cheap (about $10 for 2) and have nice snaps and swivels. As far as lures I plan on getting wet for the first time...I grabbed some of the smaller whopper ploppers, spring dogs, some esox cobra musky jigs with shad trailers, buchertails slopmaster spinnerbaits and one of the smaller sqirkos. Ill prob also throw some smaller bucktails for good measure. Rule of thumb for spring is downsize. With downsizing in the spring, theres always a chance to hit some big pike when they come up shallow to feed and spawn after winter as well. Im really excited to try some of these new lures and the new rod n reel. Also it should go without saying that you should always do your figure eights and have proper release tools on hand. Net, long needlenose pliers or hook outs, and hook cutters are always a must. You prob already know this but I always say it anyways. Hope this helps and good luck this spring, buddy.

" small bulldawgs, I think they call them uptown dawgs " They make all sizes of bull dawgs., nano dawgs, micro dawgs, spring dawgs, reg size, mag dawgs, pounders, two pounders. I use the spring dawgs early in the year.

This last spring I had a TON of action on small bulldawgs, I think they call them uptown dawgs on 6'6" and 7' heavy rods in anywhere from 6-10 fow. Caught this one opening day last year using this tactic.

I've used Vicous 80 pound for two years now. I have no problems throwing small bucktails. I use a 200# flourocarbon leader year around. Catch plenty of spring fish on that setup. Depending on where you are, you may want to try live bait fishing for muskies, either with small suckers and a harness, or with a heavy spinning pole and a jig/minnow. Or you could try short line trolling. Plenty of tactics work in the spring, just have to find what the fish want. I usually start slow (presentation) and work up from there until I see what they like.

I normally use bass sized 6'6" and 7' rods with a Abu 5000 class reel spooled with 50 LB braid in the spring. I'm normally throwing much smaller lures at this time. Sure, you can probably get them on the bigger stuff, but this works for me especially in the shallows near the spawning areas! Smaller bucktails, the regular 4 inch Zara Spook or the small jackpot (not the giant or yukon), and 6 inch jakes. This one was last spring, right off my pier on a Zara Spook.

65lbs year round, and in the spring, sometimes no leader and smaller baits, twitch,twitch

Also, anyone have feedback/used vicious(50 or 80lb) braided line? I've been using Tuffline(80lb tst)XP curious to know if their is a significant difference or not.