Finesse baits have their place in other corners of the fishing world, but hard-core Esox fans routinely send supersized lures into battle. Effectively fishing such behemoths without beating yourself up during marathon casting sessions requires the right gear and approaches.
Thankfully, improvements in rod, reel, and line technology have made big baits easier than ever. Years ago, medieval casting combos such as 6-foot pool cue rods paired with Dacron line made casting monster-sized lures for hours on end a torturous, if not a downright impossible proposition.
Casting Considerations
Today’s advanced casting gear changes that. Still, it pays to choose your tackle with care. Guide, lure designer, and In-Fisherman Contributor Jeff Andersen matches rod, reel, line, and fishing method to the lures and conditions at hand. “Giant rubber baits weighing upwards of a pound are about as big as it gets for casting,” he says. “I’ve been experimenting with a couple Giant McRubber models from Svartzonker Lures that are 17 inches long. With optional weight systems, they weigh over a pound.”
Andersen favors a 9-foot 1-inch, XXH-power Abu Garcia Fantasista Beast for heaving such prodigious plastics. The graphite blank has a dozen guides and a lengthy cork handle to adjust hand position for making a variety of casts. For beefy softbaits, he opts for a wind-milling sling motion that begins by swinging the bait backward by his side on a four-foot tether. “Swing it past your side and continue the motion up and around, so you’re launching it in an overhead manner like a wind mill,” he explains.
“An energy-efficient casting method is critical when you’re on the water 12 to 14 hours and need to keep casting because you never know when that window of opportunity will open and fish will start feeding. This method of casting also reduces the chance of the bait fouling in midair. It tends to sail the bait out without twisting and hanging up on the leader.” He pairs that rod with a high-speed Abu Garcia casting reel that winds more than 30 inches of line per turn of the reel handle. “This helps cover water without wearing yourself out, but a fast reel is also important in getting a solid hook-set with large plastics.
“Muskies often strike on the pause, so you don’t immediately feel the bite and don’t realize the fish has it is there until the line jumps. You need to lower the rod tip and tighten the line fast because it’s imperative—especially with large rubber baits—that you have the line as tight as possible when you begin the hook-set, to move the lure to get hooks into position to set in the fish’s mouth. A fast reel helps you wind slack line and get it done.” He adds that a high-speed reel also helps set hooks when jigging, as muskies often hit on the upstroke and continue toward the surface.
Big is relative to lure type. A 2-ounce buzzbait dwarfs those thrown by bass anglers, yet is none too big for tempting muskies to strike at the surface. “A 2-ounce buzzbait fuels long casts, which can be key to targeting big fish in shallow water,” Andersen says. “The extra heft also helps keeps wind drag to a minimum.” When tossing a beefy buzzer like Bigtooth Tackle’s Klack, he opts for a heavy-power, 9- to 9½-foot rod, which has enough backbone for good hook-sets, yet isn’t so stiff it rips hooks out of the fish’s mouth. He pairs it with a workhorse like Abu’s Revo Toro S, with 80-pound braid.
Such a setup allows him to fish a number of topwater patterns. One of his favorite buzzbait scenarios centers on the late-summer sand bite, which sees monstrous muskies move onto expansive stretches of shallow sand by about mid-August in northern fisheries. Andersen looks for areas that resemble…
