Musky Lures For Trophy Largemouth?

[Cgolf]

I didn't want to hijack the 250 buy or not thread, so I will go with a new thread.

Has anyone used musky lures in place of the giant mostly high dollared swim baits for trophy bass?

Those lures generally run in the sub 50 buck range and tempt many of trophy musky. While the paint jobs aren't always the most realistic, the actions of the baits should be spot on. Also big soft plastic baits like the Bull Dawgs and others should work great. The Musky lures are available in a lot of styles including some swim baits. I would think a serious trophy hunter may give some of these a toss? Or Am I way off base here?

I can only speak to the difficulty of getting big muskys to strike, it sucks, I have never had a 50+ follower take a bait at the boat. I have yet to have an opportunity to fish trophy bass waters, the biggest fish I have had on or hit in clear water would have only went in the 23 - 25" range.

[Big C]

I literally looked at muskie lures yesterday for bass.  These are the forerunners, and probably won't be long til I own them.  The wildest thing about these lures is, like you said;  they super cheap for what they are.  Now I'm sure you would want to switch hooks or take off steel leaders (if muskie aren't around), but some look good for bass.

 

1.The Baby Beaver Lure $45.  Wish I could post the video (low tech man in a high tech world, just google "baby beaver lure").  It's a 12" Frankenstein Swimbait thing that looks exactly like a beaver swimming in the water.

 

2. The XL Jitter bug.  It's just like the original but, this one is 6" long $7.99. 

 

3.There is also the "Mr. Wiggley" $27.  It's a River2Sea swimbait that Larry Dahlberg designed.  It's 12" long, and comes with two in a pack.  It has some pretty crazy life-like action. 

[bigbill]

I just had muskie and great northern pike lures, light Jensen peacock bass lures and saltwater poppers painted in lmb colors.

The mister twister super top props, light Jensen props and poppers look great. I did post pics years ago.

There painted in perch, bluegill, redear, sunfish, goldfish blue/orange bottom on the poppers.

Mepps Anglia #3, #4 & #5 inlines.

I'm thinking big lures bigger bass. Terry Clark did the work.

[Cgolf]

Here are three I have, not a big musky guy, 2 savage gear, the larger is 18 bucks and an LC LL Pointer that I think set me back around 30. I put a baby king shad in the picture for a size comparison.

[Big Bait Fishing]

i dont use musky lures for big bass , but i do use musky rods for big bass !! musky rod blanks in my opinion are where its at for throwing big baits . most swimbait bass rods are usaully 7'9''- 8' , i prefer 8'6'' and 9' rods for big baits . i do use a lot of Savage Gear baits that they promote for both bass and musky , but the ones i use are in color patterns that are primary bass forage ( trout, hitch, etc..)

[Cgolf]

The bonus in the Midwest is that the color patterns are perfect for both. The downside is we really only have a handful of bass worthy of that sized bait. Personally I have seen 2, a giant I had hooked up briefly last year and a female on a bed that bumped my tube and just swam away earlier this year.

Unfortunately we don't have bows in our lakes, just lakers in some of the deeper lakes. Savage Gear does make some nice baits that aren't too rough on the budget.

[Big Bait Fishing]

The bonus in the Midwest is that the color patterns are perfect for both. The downside is we really only have a handful of bass worthy of that sized bait. Personally I have seen 2, a giant I had hooked up briefly last year and a female on a bed that bumped my tube and just swam away earlier this year.

Unfortunately we don't have bows in our lakes, just lakers in some of the deeper lakes. Savage Gear does make some nice baits that aren't too rough on the budget.

 

if you have seen one or two big bass , that means there must be more , keep fishing for them , they will come to the party !!!

[Bluebasser86]

Most muskie baits are still around the same price as lower end swimbaits though? You can get a 168 or 200 S waver or Savage Gear Glide swimmer for very reasonable prices if you want to get into big baits for bass, and they work!

[Gone_Phishin]

I like to fish the large muskie plastics for bass...big reaper tails, big salt shakers, giant lizards, etc.

[Dogmatic]

Not hard swimbaits much,but plastics, spinnerbaits and big cranks. Like others said, Savage gear makes an excellent product, and they're primarily for esox, bass fisherman have just caught on. I've definitely caught my share of musky, pickerel, and pike on my "bass" swimbaits.

[Neil McCauley]

Mepps Anglia #3, #4 & #5 inlines.

Don't know why I always see these mentioned regarding "trophy" pike/LMB. Although they're great lures, these spinners are tiny compared to true pike/musky spinners. I catch a lot of dink bass and sunfish on them.

[Raul]

There ain´t no musky in mexican waters so I have never purchased musky lures, but I have used saltwater lures for bass fishing, Rapala Magnums.

[Nice_Bass]

There have been lots of days I have had fishing for musky and when I get a fish to hook up I have to say " d**n, just another stupid bass"

So yeah, they work just fine. 

[CTGalloway21]

I caught about a 6lb bass on a 9" Shallow Invader one of the last times I was musky fishing. 

[Bluebasser86]

It isn't always the big bass that will try to eat a muskie bait either.

[Cgolf]

Most muskie baits are still around the same price as lower end swimbaits though? You can get a 168 or 200 S waver or Savage Gear Glide swimmer for very reasonable prices if you want to get into big baits for bass, and they work!

That was part of my point, at this point many musky baits are cheap compared to many bass baits available now. Not too long ago I decided to stay out of the musky game due to the price of the tackle. I only have two setups and a few buck tails and cranks of different styles for those days I feel like chasing them.

Maybe ten years ago musky lures ran 20-30 and bass lures were 4-6. Now there are many solid musky baits under 20 and of course many bass baits are pushing that range, raps for one have really shot up lately. So it is weird that musky bait prices are holding or dropping and bass bait prices are really climbing right now.

That was why I had wondered if guys had looked at musky baits as a cheaper option to some of the pricier bass baits.

[SirSnookalot]

I'm going to give you an alternative.  Being a saltwater lure you may not be familiar with a Bomber Windcheater, comes in 2 sizes, a 4.5" and 6" priced 8-9 bucks.  Very sturdy well built lure, one of the most durable I use.  I mainly use them saltwater but I have used them in fresh with success.   If you are pattern concious the Green Mackerel looks good for freshwater use, my personal favorite is white with a red head.