March 11, 2024 • 36 mins
Join us on an exciting journey into the thrilling world of muskie fishing in another episode of "Muskie Mondays". We invite Gus Mantey, renowned from the Muskies On Tap podcast and Sugs Fishing, for an in-depth discussion on muskie fishing gear, tactics, experiences, and his personal journey as an angler.
We delve into the various aspects of muskie fishing, sharing tips, techniques, and personal stories that shaped our passion for the sport. We explore an array of gear preferences, from Musky Innovations, St. Croix rods, Chaos Tackle rods, Bulldogs, Cowgirls, IC7s, and more. Discover our choices of fishing nets, including the unique drifter tackle net and get insights into handling crankbaits and bucktails effectively.
As a bonus, Gus introduces his guide service, enabling you to book a guided fishing trip. Hear more about his journey from a casual pike fisher to a devoted musky hunter, learn from the knowledge he shares, and deepen your understanding and love for muskie fishing.
From wood versus rubber bait to adjusting weights for differing water situations and selecting the perfect rod, Gus provides a wealth of knowledge. We question the popular belief that understanding daily fish behavior correlates with successful fishing and explore new gear releases in 2024 that caught Gus's interest.
Gus concludes our interesting conversation by sharing his approach to adapting to the ever-evolving landscape of muskie fishing. Engaging in this podcast will leave you with a rich understanding, whether you're new to the sport or a seasoned angler. Tune in to celebrate the allure of musky fishing and emerge enriched with practical wisdom and expert advice.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Music.
(00:05):
Welcome to another episode of Backlash Podcast. Nope, not it. Sorry, my bad.
Welcome to another episode of Muskie Mondays with the Team Rhino Outdoors Muskie Fishing Podcast.
If I'm not mistaken, this is now two weeks in a row.
There's a new milestone. Never hit two weeks in a row on this podcast,
so here we are firing up another episode. I'm going to see if I can't do three.
(00:28):
Three is the goal to start with, and then we'll move on from there.
There anyways this week I'm going to talk to Gus Manti many of you may know
him from Suggs Fishing or the Muskies on Tap podcast so that's my guest this
week we're going to talk gear that's what we do every week we're going to talk
gear talk about first muskies and then some off the beaten path.
(00:49):
Baits that may help you catch some more muskies this season
we'll talk about that talk about rods and reels and
you know some new gear for this season so that's kind
of what we do here on this podcast we talk gear to help you catch more muskies and
speaking of gear i want to thank everybody that came out to
visit us at the minnesota muskie expo this past
weekend always a great time coming to minnesota although
(01:10):
i say that and it's not even minnesota muskie expo
didn't even happen yet this is recorded before that so i'm
assuming it was a good time in the minnesota muskie expo let's
hope that my assumptions are correct looking forward to seeing
everybody everybody at the wisconsin muskie expo
march 15th 16th and 17th
that's this coming weekend if my math on
(01:32):
all of this stuff is correct i've been so far ahead of recording stuff for multiple
podcasts trying to prepare for these last two weeks going down the stretch here
for muskie expo season and this is it this is the last one wisconsin muskie
expo this coming weekend so if If you're listening to this on release day,
definitely check us out at the Wisconsin Muskie Expo.
(01:54):
I'll mention this again. If you're new to the podcast, hit the subscribe button.
So that way when this inconsistent podcast comes out, you're aware of it.
I'm going to try to make it more consistent this season. But for now,
make sure you hit the subscribe button so you don't miss any episodes.
And if you're looking for gear, if you can't make it out to the next last show,
make sure you check us out online. It'd be www.teamrhinooutdoors.com.
(02:17):
We are your source for custom muskie gear.
And we have more than anybody else. Let's just say that.
We have gear upon gear upon gear, exclusive colors to Team Rhino Outdoors.
You know, if you're looking for Bulldogs and Cowgirls and IC7s,
those are new this year. You might even find a quad dog yet when this episode comes out.
(02:39):
We might have some of those as well. So check all that stuff out on our website.
You're looking for St. Croix rods, Chaos Tackle rods.
You're looking for the newest from Musk Innovations. We have it.
And reels. You want some Quantum? You want some Abu Garcia? You want some Penn?
Okuma? Check us out for all that stuff. And last, I'll talk to you about nets.
(03:00):
If you want some nets, Clam, Frable, RS Nets,
check us out there and we can even those are the ones that we stock we can even
get you a drifter tackle net if you're looking for a drifter xl great nitmoski
option as well check out team rhino outdoors.com that's it i got nothing else
to say no advertisements to do let's just jump into this conversation talk some gear with gus.
(03:21):
Music.
My guest this week is gus manti sugs fishing
out of eagle river and you may
know him from the sweet sounds of muskies on
tap podcast gus i'm gonna have to tell
you you're gonna have to share this podcast to all your friends to try to help
(03:43):
out my struggling little podcast that i have here you guys are far more successful
with this with yours than i am with this one this one is it's it's a little
bit it's in trouble all right it's it was circling the drain i'm hoping to pull
it out of the drain with you. So you better save it. It's all up to you.
All right, Jeff. Thanks. Thank you so much for having me on.
And I don't know about that. It might just be, when was the last time you had
(04:06):
the Team Rhino podcast going?
Well, aside from last week, because this is going to be two weeks in a row.
First off, I don't know that I've ever done two weeks in a row with this podcast,
but this will be two weeks in a row.
And so other than that, last week, it was 14 months previously.
That was the last time I had a podcast.
It's very difficult to grow a podcast when you put put them out once every 14 months.
(04:26):
Right. Right. And, and, you know, now, now running unless he's on tap podcast
with my brother and, and friend Brian that I've, I definitely know that it's
hard to juggle editing and,
and definitely with your business and, and all that stuff. So I know,
I know the struggles there.
I'm getting them out consistently, you know, having them once a week is a big thing to do. Big task.
(04:49):
It is. It's a commitment. And so hopefully I'm committed to it. We're going to see this.
Like I said, this is two weeks in a row it's gonna be exciting stuff so uh
i would recommend anybody to go check out muskies on tap podcast
these uh fine young fellows do a great job i
call them young because quite honestly i i mean if i would have started pretty
early i and i wouldn't even had to start that early i would have started in
college like gus could literally be my kid so i say young kid young kids he's
(05:14):
he's that way right gus yep yep i'm i'm pretty young i'm still in my roaring 20s.
All right. Well, you know, Gus, enjoy your roaring twenties and enjoy your roaring thirties.
Cause one thing nobody's ever told me, nobody ever told me back in the day was
like to try to enjoy those times.
Like you think, oh yeah, as you get older, you get more financially stable and all that stuff.
(05:35):
And most of that is true. But the only thing they don't tell you is like other
bad things tend to happen in your, in your life.
It's not all, it's not all fun and games. Enjoy your twenties and thirties folks.
If you're listening and you're younger than me, I think I'm going to be 47 here
pretty quick and make sure you, you enjoy that time.
But enough bad news let's talk about muskie fishing let's
talk about baits actually because that's what we do on this podcast we're going
(05:57):
to talk about muskies and and baits and you know
gear that you can use to help catch more fish but first i
want to start off gus let's talk about what got you bit with the muskie bug
you remember your first muskie how was that yeah yeah i mean it was it was quite
a long time ago so back probably 18 or so years ago the parents got a place
(06:17):
up here and Eagle River on the Eagle River chain.
And my brother and I, we fished, but we didn't fish, you know, a ton.
You know, when we got the place, we would always cast off the dock.
We'd bobber fish off the dock.
I think a few years down the line, we got a little 16-foot aluminum fishing
boat that we would take to about three spots on the lake.
(06:39):
And then once we're done fishing those three, we would go in and then go do
other shenanigans like tubing and skiing and all that stuff.
But I want to say, other than maybe encountering a muskie beforehand on the
dock that ate a perch or a bluegill that we were reeling in,
I think the first one that I ever caught was probably around a 30, 32-incher.
(07:02):
Incidentally, casting a, if you know those tiny little beetle spinners that
you use pretty much for panfish.
Like I caught one I think it was opening walleye fishing weekend in May and
we were hammering walleyes off the dock but,
I hooked into definitely a much larger fish on, I think, four-pound test than an ultralight.
(07:25):
And we were freaking out. I think it was, I probably had to call to my dad if
he wasn't there at the dock to go get the net.
And that's how I got the first one.
I don't know how it didn't snap off. But, you know, from there on,
we kind of graduated into using spoons and spinnerbaits on more like bass and pike gear.
(07:46):
And from there, just kind of slowly progressed into fishing more spots on the
chain and then eventually growing out of the chain and going to new bodies of
water and finding all the great things that Biles and Oneida and all the other
surrounding counties have to offer up here in northern Wisconsin.
And just keep chasing these toothy critters, the phantoms, as I like to say
(08:10):
sometimes, because they just appear and disappear as fast as.
I don't know, it's crazy.
It's just a great, great fish, and it got me hooked a long, long time ago,
and then progressed into now where I'm out here guiding in northern Wisconsin
and running the Muskies on Tap podcast.
(08:31):
You know, quickly, let's talk about the guide service. If somebody's looking
to book a trip with you, how do they go about doing that?
Yeah, they can get a hold of me on my phone numbers. It's probably the easiest.
If you call them, I don't answer. Definitely leave a voicemail or shoot me a text at 920-264-3816.
Otherwise, you can find my Instagram and Facebook is Suggs Fishing.
(08:57):
I think Facebook is Suggs Fishing Guide service.
And the website is www.sugsfishing.com.
Sugs is spelled S-U-G-S, which just the sug part is actually my name, Gus, backwards.
I must have signed a few preschool photos back in the day with all my lettering in reverse.
(09:19):
So that's how I got that nickname a long time ago.
Go that's awesome you know looking
back on the first muskie that's that's always
the one usually that gets you really hooked really started on
it it's it always like puts whenever i
think about my first muskie it always makes me think how much more
like i don't know i guess mystique there was within muskies
(09:41):
than what i have right now like how much less you
knew but at that point when you catch your first one how
like the addiction grows you got to have more reels more
rods more baits more everything more
you know the first bait i ever caught a or yeah first bait i
ever caught a musky i was a slippery sam they don't even
necessarily make the slippery sam right now i think recently i
(10:02):
learned that there's like a some of the parts used to make
them are still available and so there's something available similar but you
know like at that point i went out and i bought like 10 of them you know and
you had piles of them but now it's it's a bait that i would never even think
to use anymore it's just weird how like we all go through these like cycles
of of baits we we like to throw and, and,
(10:23):
you know, certain gear we like to use and how, how we kind of fall into little ruts.
It makes you wonder, like if you went back and you, you know,
you talked about throwing some spoons, like if you threw some spoons now,
like how many muskies would you catch?
Because I guarantee you, there's not many musky anglers throwing spoons.
Yeah no i completely agree i mean the addiction is real and and old baits kind
(10:44):
of are they're just tried and true for a reason you know especially if nobody's
been using them for a while and,
i mean i i'm not gonna lie we we we didn't catch very many big ones i think
we maybe landed one over 40 on a spoon i know that we raised a couple really
big ones on spinner baits but But pretty much on spoons,
(11:05):
we were hammering the old classic chain 34.
And they definitely worked. And I'd say the last three years,
I try and just bring it out again.
And it hasn't caught me a fish in a while, but I haven't given it the runtime.
And it's definitely still moved plenty of fish. I mean, I was still using it in the summertime.
But a lot of times when we got bit on those spoons was typically June.
(11:29):
So i don't know if there's something about that that flash
or the way it moves i mean it's a pipe magnet too
so you better be prepared for that as well but yeah going going back to old
baits is it's definitely a good thing i mean there's reasons like baits like
the bulldog and suik are just so good because they just they're just fish catching
(11:50):
machine yeah definitely so gus let Let me ask you,
do you remember the, like the very first spot you caught a muskie from where
you were intentionally targeting muskies?
Intentionally. I mean, I would, yeah, I think I do. I mean, it's for sure here
on the chain out in the boat.
(12:11):
I mean, I can't say I was intentionally targeting muskies to the start when
I was using spoons because we just already were catching a bunch of pike.
And I would I know that the first time I actually used a musky rod and used a maps double eight and,
I hooked up on this, this weed point on the chain that I totally thought it was a muskie.
(12:36):
And I pulled it in and it was a 38 inch pike.
And that was the first fish I ever caught on a muskie setup.
So I was like, I was indifferent about the catch because it's like,
oh, of course I'm targeting muskies now.
And then boom, here's my biggest pike today.
Just so happened to be, but you know, first, first spot. Yeah, probably.
(12:57):
Well i don't want a spot burn here but because i do guide out mushing you don't
have to burn a spot what i guess what i was going to go at is have you ever
caught another muskie off that spot.
Oh yes i do i do still fish those spots
on the chain frequently they do ebb and flow after
chatting with some of my friends and in
(13:18):
league or some people who have fished the
area uh you know just as long as as we
have or longer they they know that
they're good producing spots and we try and hit
them you know every year and just see which one's
producing because that's the thing in the chain there's there's so
many spots out there because the lakes are you know fairly sizable and there's
(13:39):
a bunch of them and you know i definitely find that some spots are better than
others every every other year and i just like to revisit them and and yeah like
you know the old the old spots that we did fish back in the 16 foot aluminum boat.
When I was saying that we'd fish three spots in the morning and head in,
I actually still fish those three spots. Cause they are, are some of the better on that lake probably.
(14:04):
I remember the first spot I caught a muskie off of and how I would,
I fished the lake enough and I would go back and I would hit the spot and I
would hit the spot and many, many, many years go by.
And literally like a couple seasons ago, not last season, I don't think season
before I'm fishing with my daughter and a buddy of mine.
And I'm like, well, we'll fish this spot. This is where I caught my very first muskie.
(14:26):
And I've never caught another muskie here since. And literally the words came
out of my mouth and boom, I had a muskie on.
So it's you know i guess a muskie spot
is one that you can continue a muskie will continue to use it
at some point so you know you do want to go back and continue to
hit those spots what i'm saying is like it took literally probably
20 years in between you know fishing catches
(14:48):
at that spot for me to have that spot produced again it's
just crazy how that works like what was that muskie doing
there 20 years ago how did i get so lucky to have that one that
day right yeah i mean it's is doing
doing the same thing it does these days just it's
a great spot it's a good hunting ambush spot and you know
back in the day how we found spots was a paper map and
(15:09):
2d sonar and on the chain for the people that don't know it it's kind of like
like a half flowogy system of of lakes and the basins aren't super deep so we
knew that the basins are here you know 12 to 20 feet and And as soon as our
sonar read six or six and a half feet,
we knew we were in weeds and we knew we were in the spot. And that's pretty much how we found spots.
(15:33):
And then later down the road when I got side imaging on the boat and figured
out that places had little inside turns, there was cribs near them.
There was also rock bars and all sorts of cool stuff.
And then I would soon realize why those spots were so good back in the day and
why they still are so good. Thank you.
(15:55):
The old nostalgic part of me still wishes that I was using paper maps often.
And like, you'd come home from fishing and you'd be so jacked up because you
caught one or lost one or saw one and you just have to look.
Okay. Now, now let's look for more spots on this lake that look like that.
And you would actually literally pull out hotspots maps and like many different
types of maps to try to search out and learn more that way. And I don't do that ever anymore.
(16:16):
It's like, you know, notes. I used to take really good notes on all that stuff
too. And I don't, I don't do any of that anymore.
Yeah, I try. I do. I usually put stuff into an Excel sheet, you know,
if I remember the weather and the size of the catch and what we're using and
water temps and all that stuff.
(16:37):
And honestly, with the paper maps, we actually utilize that quite heavily.
Tournament fishing, when we go to a new body of water, I mean,
we have our units to look at the maps and Navionics online.
Line but at least with the paper map you can you can
write it down like oh this spot has weeds or this
spot has rocks and we moved one here and then
(16:57):
you can kind of open the entire map on your
pre-fishing or just if you're going to a new body of
water and you can just kind of make a route make an
abc list for the best spots and
and yeah i mean the old one that
we have of the chain here i still have it it's got so many sharpie
marks all over it you know back when i
(17:18):
used to just just mark down hits and catches there's there's
just a and then i'd color coordinate them and it was
pretty funny what we used to do on that map well enough
about nostalgia it's fun to think back on first muskies and first baits you
used to catch muskies and spots that used to catch but let's talk a little bit
about baits because that's kind of what we talk about here let's talk about
(17:40):
any uh offbeat baits not necessarily like the the mainstream stuff that helps
you put more fish in the net?
What's something crazy that very few people use that you use?
Oh man, things that not, I mean, I do use a lot of main staples out there.
I would say I throw a couple added touches.
I mean, for crankbaits, I use some of the mainstays like groundless jakes,
(18:05):
cranes and slammers and stuff.
But what I do like to do is I usually don't run them straight out of the box
and I will switch out hooks a lot.
Not that they come with bad hooks, but I actually want to change the sizes.
Change the buoyancy and actually i'll change the sizes on
certain parts of the bait to change where i want them
(18:26):
to be buoyant because actually if you put a if you put a
heavy hook on the back i'll say a slammer
or something you basically have a crankbait
side wobbling bait that dives down head first
and then rises head up it's basically a
suet that does a little bit more is what I found and
I do love using crankbaits in
(18:48):
a little bit cooler water situations so slowing
the rise of them is has been pretty key
for me that's that's I'd say I guess
a mod of a bait another another
thing that I like to do around here is as I pretty much mess with a lot of bucktails
too i i probably only have a couple meps and a couple other main staples that
(19:14):
i just will use right out of the box and then a lot of the other main manufacturers i will take.
Them if say they don't produce right away or maybe they just don't have that
type of grind i'll take them apart and put different beads below the clevises change the clevis size,
i really like adding a lot of weight so you can bomb cast blades and you can
(19:35):
burn them in without having them kind of blow out of the water because some
of the lightweight bucktails will do that if you burn them obviously you want
to have a couple of those for slow rolling and keeping it high but But I'd say
that's what I for sure do with bucktails.
And then I'd say one, the top bait that did well for me last year,
(19:56):
actually, that I wouldn't say a ton of people use around here.
I think a lot of people use them, but that was definitely the beaver's bait.
And as some people know, I do like to use tubes a lot. I use trailer blades on the tubes.
The beaver was just not exactly a bait that I use the trailer blade.
I like the way that the bait swam on its own because it's basically like a hybrid
(20:20):
swim bait, pull pause, or straight retrieve.
I mean, I'm just a huge fan of baits that you can pretty much customize right
out of the box by only doing a few things, like the beavers adding a few weights,
taking off a few weights, and putting a trailer blade on the back if you want,
and making it pretty much run from the top foot or using it down,
(20:46):
you know, 20 feet in the late fall.
So that would probably be one bait for sure.
I thought those were only used in Minnesota, those beaver baits.
That's a Wisconsin thing too? No.
It's a just really, really awesome bait. I really like the way it looks.
(21:07):
I like to use swim baits a lot, like swimming dogs.
I love tubes and bulldogs and Medusas and beavers' baits aren't going to replace those,
but they find a sweet spot in the middle that I just like to utilize them for
change-ups and stuff like that. Sure.
(21:28):
Well, since you like to add weight, change weights, you mentioned Suex.
Have you played around with any of their new stuff, either the 9-inch high impact
that has the adjustable weights? They knew for this year is that 10-inch weighted wood.
That has an adjustable weight kit in it, too. And then last year,
they had the 12-inch weighted wood that had adjustable weight kits.
Have you played with any of those things yet? Yes, I have.
(21:50):
Since I'm a huge SUIC fan, I'm for sure going to get that 10-inch weighted customized wood.
Uh waiting kit with it the wood one because
i am probably a higher fan of the wood baits you
know obviously you can get some that run a little funky
but i found that if you just keep tweaking them you can
you can get pretty much any suic to do
(22:12):
something and not just run one way or
the other and with those customized you
know waiting ones i just it's it's just really awesome
them that you can have them do all sorts of different
actions by just unscrewing a weight rather than buying
three or four other suics for different
situations and and we did play around with the 12 inch customized weighted one
(22:37):
you said that was last year or two years ago that that was i think it was last
year that it came out maybe it was two years ago i know we got them last year
but it might have it might have
been two years ago yeah well whenever that came out i think we We had one,
one or two years ago, and we started messing with it in deeper water.
Putting almost just a crap load of weight on there.
(22:57):
We were getting bites and caught some fish and, you know, casting over deeper
water where we would normally use heavy heads on bulldogs or,
you know, some heavier rubber or, you know, situations that you could use something
like a mayhem grenade or something.
But we found that to work where you
could actually count down a suic and it kind
(23:19):
of has that same dive and rise action and I
know that we found a good weight I couldn't tell you what exact weights we put
in there but it basically would dive down and then just sit there and then just
start to sink very slowly and it was pretty deadly and over deeper water and
some of the clearer lakes I I definitely want to use it more and,
(23:41):
and get that, get that 10 inch weight, customized weighted suick.
I think that would be, find a very good place in my tackle box.
Yeah, I think so too. I really do like the 10 inch weighted wood.
And I've, so when, when I saw that they had the new 10 inch weighted wood with
the adjustable weight kits in there, I was, I'm actually like really excited
(24:03):
to use that bait this year.
I think there's a handful of applications where, you know,
like even the, even the weighted wood ones from suic i think still rise in some
instances kind of a little quick right and i'm thinking you know by adding that
just that little bit of weight you'll be able to dial it in a little bit where
if you're fishing late fall you got negative fish neutral fish you know you
(24:24):
can get that bait to just pause and hang right in their face a little bit.
Yeah, I think that's very important because there's a time and place for wood and rubber.
You know, I can't remember where I talked about it. I feel like it was, might have been.
Yeah, I can't remember where I talked about it, but it was, somebody was asking
the difference between wood and rubber.
(24:46):
Was that at the Milwaukee show? Now I think about it, maybe.
Somebody asked that. Yeah. Yeah. And there's just a time and place for a bait
where you, on a pull pause bait, where when you pause it, it sinks,
it sits or floats, you know, rises up.
And that's where you can just have the pretty much all in one for the custom
(25:09):
customized wooden suics or any of the high impact. You can kind of just do everything in one.
Yeah. That's that typical, you know, musky, it's a stereotypical musky talk,
you know, like, oh, you gotta, you gotta let the fish.
Tell you what they want that day right and then i i don't like it because what
if they're not talking that day like there's days they literally are not telling
me anything so i'm not a huge fan of that whole that whole line you gotta you
(25:34):
gotta let the fish tell you what they want yeah but there's there's literally
days where they don't tell me a single thing i hate that.
Well they're still saying something it's just it's just
nothing yeah i mean i guess there's something to be
taken taken you know from that no no speech
or no no no feedback that they're giving you i
guess at that point they're they're not liking but i always
look at it like how do i even know that i that a fish has seen one of my lures
(25:58):
that day like that's the part i have a difficult time with that's true that's
when you get no feedback even on like a late side image follow or i mean there's
been days where i i found a spot or two on a lake or maybe more and it's,
later into the day and i haven't seen anything i'm like
are they even here like the weather's
(26:19):
all right they shouldn't be being this dumb but a
lot of times they are being just right you know
let me ask you gus are you one of these types of guys that
has 12 different rods in the front of his boat are you one that's
looking for like two or three is there a sweet spot in the middle there yeah
sure because i'm probably like like a six rod on hand always you know i i try
(26:43):
to have for sure two rubber rods i use i use the saint croix lineup and and the nine foot x heavy.
Has been you know perfect perfect for my liking for throwing pretty much all
sizes of rubber i do use the 86 x heavy too for throwing like a red dog or a ninja tube or mid medusa.
(27:05):
And then from there, I usually will have probably for sure two bucktail rods, maybe three.
That could also work as topwater or jerkbaits too.
I mean, I'll still work jerkbaits on nine, nine foot six rods.
No problem. You just can't go straight down, obviously.
(27:26):
The tip of the rod is going to hit the water too much
and you're kind of going to lose action or lose touch on
the bait and maybe miss a fish from having too
much slack but that's those are another
two that i would suggest like a
nine six heavy nine foot heavy you know
whatever whatever preference you have on height i know everyone's pushing the
(27:50):
10 footers i've used a couple i do like them but honestly i'm not a super tall
guy i'm an aluminum boat tiller i'm very close to the water sometimes Sometimes
a 10-footer gets a little awkward for me.
And I've fished out of a few higher up fiberglass boats and such.
And I definitely understand why it's necessary.
(28:11):
But I think the length is more on the user preference.
And that's something you have to go out and try for yourself and see what you like best.
I would say the actions or the weight of the models are very important.
You know, you, you don't want to over overwork a bait, like having an X heavy
(28:34):
rod for a six inch crank bait.
And then you obviously don't want to have a medium heavy for a Meg dog.
You know, you gotta fit, fill those gaps on having, you know, a couple of each.
So I guess if you boil down to two, I would say nine foot X,
seven and nine foot heavy could
get pretty much the job done for myself on 98% of the baits that I use.
(28:57):
I wouldn't, I wouldn't disagree with that. I've been using, I've been using
the nine foot six jerk master blade master two from St. Croix.
I use that quite a bit last year.
And then I like the St. Croix rods. I like the grass, but it's cool.
But I also did like the Moab from chaos tackle. That's a 2020 assault stick
for throwing big rubber. Have you ever played with that rod yet?
(29:18):
No, I have not tried that one. And I know a bunch of people that do really like
that. Do you, do you have the Moab and a 10 footer or nine, six, or?
I think mine's the nine foot. I, when I got mine, I don't think they had anything bigger than that.
So now, now they offer a few different lengths that are longer,
but I think it's time. It was just a nine foot. And that, that works really
(29:38):
good for, for ripping rubber.
I have a, I'm kind of like you. I don't know if I'd have six,
maybe I have six because I got to have my kids steal a couple of them.
And then I always worry that we're going to break something,
but I I'm probably more of like a three rod type of a guy. I would say like the Moab is always one.
And then the blade master two was always one. And then sometimes I have like
last year I used, I want to say it was like the big dog, eight foot six extra
(30:01):
heavy. I think it was from St.
Croix for, for ripping, ripping Suex. My, my kids were using a lot of times
I'd use like a seven, six for ripping Suex, but my kids were stealing my shorter rods.
So I went with that and it worked really good. Actually, I was pleasantly surprised by it,
but you know, the good thing about musky anglers today is there's so much good
gear available and there's so many good rods and there's so many good reels
(30:22):
that are available for people these days that, I mean, it's almost hard to make
wrong choices in a lot of cases.
I, I agree there. I mean, I started, I've used a ton of different,
you know, manufacturers of rods and, and really for sure what you're getting
on in the higher end stuff is, you know, they're a lot lighter weight.
Faster action, they're usually built, you know, extremely, extremely well.
(30:46):
And you get a really good warranties as well. If something, you know,
like you step on a guide, which I know just about everybody probably has,
we have over the years as well.
I've even stepped on them with bare feet and just had enough to,
to break a little eyelet there. And, you know, that is what it is.
And, and yeah, you really, you really can't go
(31:07):
around with the choices and like i said before just find
find the right lengths that that you find
appropriate for what you're doing you know maybe a
nine footer for you isn't right maybe you do want to use a an
eight footer if you feel comfortable or maybe you're really
tall and you like to throw a lot of big blades and
big rubber you probably should go with a nine six or
(31:28):
ten footer so just got to find the sweet
spot for yourself definitely so gus last
question before i let you go since we are trying to stick with this shorter
form podcast if you want if somebody wants to listen to two hours
of a podcast or two and a half definitely check out gus's podcast
like you guys have no problems rambling for hours and
and you know all the power to you
that's just not something i i'm into but i
(31:51):
do listen to your podcast on occasion i don't always listen to all of
them and sometimes it takes me like a week or more to get through
an episode because i can only do like 20 minutes at a time but if
you're you know there's a lot of new gear a lot of new baits that came out
for 2024 like what's something that you're let's
say most excited about something that i'm
most most excited about that i don't have in
(32:12):
my hands yet is i do really want to get
a net buddy or something to help with the net because i've just used a chair
on on the boat and then you know have the rim of rim of the net over the boat
kind of held stationary and you know i i do have two traxtech mounts on on each
side of the boat So having, having a little.
(32:34):
Whatchamacallit, just one of the net buddies on each side would be really,
really beneficial to, to, to put the net into and, and really not have to worry
about anything and swing.
Cause that was the problem with using the chairs that the, uh,
the handle of the net would just be right across the boat.
And the only way to get around from the front to the back or back to the front is step over it.
(32:58):
And I have tripped over that and, you know, cause
on the side gunnel areas i usually have
sometimes some stuff playing around or you know
one side of the boat's got rods and you don't want to obviously step
on those so being able to swing the swing
the hoop away and and or keep the fish upright and the handle the net out of
(33:20):
the way would be really beneficial that's something i'm really looking forward
to well this episode will come out after the minnesota show and you're going
to be in my booth for the minnesota show so maybe Maybe after the show or during the show, come find me.
I know a guy that can definitely get you one of those net buddies.
I can definitely help you out with that problem.
Sweet. That would be much appreciated. Yeah. And it's a great piece of gear.
(33:41):
I mean, it's definitely it. There's lots of fun gear coming out,
whether we have it in stock now or we're going to have it in stock, you know, coming soon.
You know, Gus, I even tease to you, there's definitely something new and cool
that we're working with a major manufacturer on that should hopefully be like
midsummer release. We got to play with it in the pool.
You know, we'll call it prototyped air quotes and in Milwaukee.
(34:02):
And it worked as we thought it would work.
So we're moving to the next stages here. And, you know, we're going to get some
in the hands of you and a handful of other guides here before we,
as soon as the season starts, we should have them, you know,
ready to roll for, for people to get out, get them tested, get them eaten.
And then hopefully as long as that phase goes well, we'll start seeing them
mid-summer-ish for people.
(34:23):
That's probably one that I'm looking forward to. It's definitely going to be
a very cool bait. I won't, we'll call it new. Yes.
Sure. Yeah. Yeah. You hinted at it to me and I'm, I think that I'll find definitely a spot in my box.
There's there's gaps that that need to be filled on
some of my main staples and you know when
it comes to switching up some size or a profile
(34:44):
or stuff you know of some baits that's maybe
a change that is needed or just you know
somewhere to somewhere to find like i said the gap
in your box and just the
main staple absolutely well gus
i appreciate your time that's you know a 32 minute
at podcasts gone by just like that and i want i
(35:05):
thank you for your time if people are looking for another podcast outside
of this one outside of our backlash podcast there's lots of
musky podcasts available make sure you go check out gus's muskies on tap podcast
yeah it's you brian is a friend of yours max is your brother it's the three
of you guys and you typically have new guests on most weeks i would say so you
(35:26):
know and you're available on all the major podcast platforms i'm assuming.
And then you know if you're looking for a guide this
season you're up in the eagle river area make sure you check out gus and if
you're looking for gear for your next muskie fishing adventures make sure you
check out team rhino outdoors.com where your source for custom muskie gear rods
reels nets all the latest and greatest check us out and we want to thank everybody
(35:49):
for listening to our podcast this week we will be back with another one i'll
say next week i'm going to keep Keep it going strong, Gus. I feel it. I'm bold.
Yeah, it is. I'm putting it out there. We're going three weeks in a row.
I'm going to hold it to you. Yep, three weeks in a row. So thanks again,
everybody. We'll see you next week.
Music.
Music.
(00:05):
Welcome to another episode of Backlash Podcast. Nope, not it. Sorry, my bad.
Welcome to another episode of Muskie Mondays with the Team Rhino Outdoors Muskie Fishing Podcast.
If I'm not mistaken, this is now two weeks in a row.
There's a new milestone. Never hit two weeks in a row on this podcast,
so here we are firing up another episode. I'm going to see if I can't do three.
(00:28):
Three is the goal to start with, and then we'll move on from there.
There anyways this week I'm going to talk to Gus Manti many of you may know
him from Suggs Fishing or the Muskies on Tap podcast so that's my guest this
week we're going to talk gear that's what we do every week we're going to talk
gear talk about first muskies and then some off the beaten path.
(00:49):
Baits that may help you catch some more muskies this season
we'll talk about that talk about rods and reels and
you know some new gear for this season so that's kind
of what we do here on this podcast we talk gear to help you catch more muskies and
speaking of gear i want to thank everybody that came out to
visit us at the minnesota muskie expo this past
weekend always a great time coming to minnesota although
(01:10):
i say that and it's not even minnesota muskie expo
didn't even happen yet this is recorded before that so i'm
assuming it was a good time in the minnesota muskie expo let's
hope that my assumptions are correct looking forward to seeing
everybody everybody at the wisconsin muskie expo
march 15th 16th and 17th
that's this coming weekend if my math on
(01:32):
all of this stuff is correct i've been so far ahead of recording stuff for multiple
podcasts trying to prepare for these last two weeks going down the stretch here
for muskie expo season and this is it this is the last one wisconsin muskie
expo this coming weekend so if If you're listening to this on release day,
definitely check us out at the Wisconsin Muskie Expo.
(01:54):
I'll mention this again. If you're new to the podcast, hit the subscribe button.
So that way when this inconsistent podcast comes out, you're aware of it.
I'm going to try to make it more consistent this season. But for now,
make sure you hit the subscribe button so you don't miss any episodes.
And if you're looking for gear, if you can't make it out to the next last show,
make sure you check us out online. It'd be www.teamrhinooutdoors.com.
(02:17):
We are your source for custom muskie gear.
And we have more than anybody else. Let's just say that.
We have gear upon gear upon gear, exclusive colors to Team Rhino Outdoors.
You know, if you're looking for Bulldogs and Cowgirls and IC7s,
those are new this year. You might even find a quad dog yet when this episode comes out.
(02:39):
We might have some of those as well. So check all that stuff out on our website.
You're looking for St. Croix rods, Chaos Tackle rods.
You're looking for the newest from Musk Innovations. We have it.
And reels. You want some Quantum? You want some Abu Garcia? You want some Penn?
Okuma? Check us out for all that stuff. And last, I'll talk to you about nets.
(03:00):
If you want some nets, Clam, Frable, RS Nets,
check us out there and we can even those are the ones that we stock we can even
get you a drifter tackle net if you're looking for a drifter xl great nitmoski
option as well check out team rhino outdoors.com that's it i got nothing else
to say no advertisements to do let's just jump into this conversation talk some gear with gus.
(03:21):
Music.
My guest this week is gus manti sugs fishing
out of eagle river and you may
know him from the sweet sounds of muskies on
tap podcast gus i'm gonna have to tell
you you're gonna have to share this podcast to all your friends to try to help
(03:43):
out my struggling little podcast that i have here you guys are far more successful
with this with yours than i am with this one this one is it's it's a little
bit it's in trouble all right it's it was circling the drain i'm hoping to pull
it out of the drain with you. So you better save it. It's all up to you.
All right, Jeff. Thanks. Thank you so much for having me on.
And I don't know about that. It might just be, when was the last time you had
(04:06):
the Team Rhino podcast going?
Well, aside from last week, because this is going to be two weeks in a row.
First off, I don't know that I've ever done two weeks in a row with this podcast,
but this will be two weeks in a row.
And so other than that, last week, it was 14 months previously.
That was the last time I had a podcast.
It's very difficult to grow a podcast when you put put them out once every 14 months.
(04:26):
Right. Right. And, and, you know, now, now running unless he's on tap podcast
with my brother and, and friend Brian that I've, I definitely know that it's
hard to juggle editing and,
and definitely with your business and, and all that stuff. So I know,
I know the struggles there.
I'm getting them out consistently, you know, having them once a week is a big thing to do. Big task.
(04:49):
It is. It's a commitment. And so hopefully I'm committed to it. We're going to see this.
Like I said, this is two weeks in a row it's gonna be exciting stuff so uh
i would recommend anybody to go check out muskies on tap podcast
these uh fine young fellows do a great job i
call them young because quite honestly i i mean if i would have started pretty
early i and i wouldn't even had to start that early i would have started in
college like gus could literally be my kid so i say young kid young kids he's
(05:14):
he's that way right gus yep yep i'm i'm pretty young i'm still in my roaring 20s.
All right. Well, you know, Gus, enjoy your roaring twenties and enjoy your roaring thirties.
Cause one thing nobody's ever told me, nobody ever told me back in the day was
like to try to enjoy those times.
Like you think, oh yeah, as you get older, you get more financially stable and all that stuff.
(05:35):
And most of that is true. But the only thing they don't tell you is like other
bad things tend to happen in your, in your life.
It's not all, it's not all fun and games. Enjoy your twenties and thirties folks.
If you're listening and you're younger than me, I think I'm going to be 47 here
pretty quick and make sure you, you enjoy that time.
But enough bad news let's talk about muskie fishing let's
talk about baits actually because that's what we do on this podcast we're going
(05:57):
to talk about muskies and and baits and you know
gear that you can use to help catch more fish but first i
want to start off gus let's talk about what got you bit with the muskie bug
you remember your first muskie how was that yeah yeah i mean it was it was quite
a long time ago so back probably 18 or so years ago the parents got a place
(06:17):
up here and Eagle River on the Eagle River chain.
And my brother and I, we fished, but we didn't fish, you know, a ton.
You know, when we got the place, we would always cast off the dock.
We'd bobber fish off the dock.
I think a few years down the line, we got a little 16-foot aluminum fishing
boat that we would take to about three spots on the lake.
(06:39):
And then once we're done fishing those three, we would go in and then go do
other shenanigans like tubing and skiing and all that stuff.
But I want to say, other than maybe encountering a muskie beforehand on the
dock that ate a perch or a bluegill that we were reeling in,
I think the first one that I ever caught was probably around a 30, 32-incher.
(07:02):
Incidentally, casting a, if you know those tiny little beetle spinners that
you use pretty much for panfish.
Like I caught one I think it was opening walleye fishing weekend in May and
we were hammering walleyes off the dock but,
I hooked into definitely a much larger fish on, I think, four-pound test than an ultralight.
(07:25):
And we were freaking out. I think it was, I probably had to call to my dad if
he wasn't there at the dock to go get the net.
And that's how I got the first one.
I don't know how it didn't snap off. But, you know, from there on,
we kind of graduated into using spoons and spinnerbaits on more like bass and pike gear.
(07:46):
And from there, just kind of slowly progressed into fishing more spots on the
chain and then eventually growing out of the chain and going to new bodies of
water and finding all the great things that Biles and Oneida and all the other
surrounding counties have to offer up here in northern Wisconsin.
And just keep chasing these toothy critters, the phantoms, as I like to say
(08:10):
sometimes, because they just appear and disappear as fast as.
I don't know, it's crazy.
It's just a great, great fish, and it got me hooked a long, long time ago,
and then progressed into now where I'm out here guiding in northern Wisconsin
and running the Muskies on Tap podcast.
(08:31):
You know, quickly, let's talk about the guide service. If somebody's looking
to book a trip with you, how do they go about doing that?
Yeah, they can get a hold of me on my phone numbers. It's probably the easiest.
If you call them, I don't answer. Definitely leave a voicemail or shoot me a text at 920-264-3816.
Otherwise, you can find my Instagram and Facebook is Suggs Fishing.
(08:57):
I think Facebook is Suggs Fishing Guide service.
And the website is www.sugsfishing.com.
Sugs is spelled S-U-G-S, which just the sug part is actually my name, Gus, backwards.
I must have signed a few preschool photos back in the day with all my lettering in reverse.
(09:19):
So that's how I got that nickname a long time ago.
Go that's awesome you know looking
back on the first muskie that's that's always
the one usually that gets you really hooked really started on
it it's it always like puts whenever i
think about my first muskie it always makes me think how much more
like i don't know i guess mystique there was within muskies
(09:41):
than what i have right now like how much less you
knew but at that point when you catch your first one how
like the addiction grows you got to have more reels more
rods more baits more everything more
you know the first bait i ever caught a or yeah first bait i
ever caught a musky i was a slippery sam they don't even
necessarily make the slippery sam right now i think recently i
(10:02):
learned that there's like a some of the parts used to make
them are still available and so there's something available similar but you
know like at that point i went out and i bought like 10 of them you know and
you had piles of them but now it's it's a bait that i would never even think
to use anymore it's just weird how like we all go through these like cycles
of of baits we we like to throw and, and,
(10:23):
you know, certain gear we like to use and how, how we kind of fall into little ruts.
It makes you wonder, like if you went back and you, you know,
you talked about throwing some spoons, like if you threw some spoons now,
like how many muskies would you catch?
Because I guarantee you, there's not many musky anglers throwing spoons.
Yeah no i completely agree i mean the addiction is real and and old baits kind
(10:44):
of are they're just tried and true for a reason you know especially if nobody's
been using them for a while and,
i mean i i'm not gonna lie we we we didn't catch very many big ones i think
we maybe landed one over 40 on a spoon i know that we raised a couple really
big ones on spinner baits but But pretty much on spoons,
(11:05):
we were hammering the old classic chain 34.
And they definitely worked. And I'd say the last three years,
I try and just bring it out again.
And it hasn't caught me a fish in a while, but I haven't given it the runtime.
And it's definitely still moved plenty of fish. I mean, I was still using it in the summertime.
But a lot of times when we got bit on those spoons was typically June.
(11:29):
So i don't know if there's something about that that flash
or the way it moves i mean it's a pipe magnet too
so you better be prepared for that as well but yeah going going back to old
baits is it's definitely a good thing i mean there's reasons like baits like
the bulldog and suik are just so good because they just they're just fish catching
(11:50):
machine yeah definitely so gus let Let me ask you,
do you remember the, like the very first spot you caught a muskie from where
you were intentionally targeting muskies?
Intentionally. I mean, I would, yeah, I think I do. I mean, it's for sure here
on the chain out in the boat.
(12:11):
I mean, I can't say I was intentionally targeting muskies to the start when
I was using spoons because we just already were catching a bunch of pike.
And I would I know that the first time I actually used a musky rod and used a maps double eight and,
I hooked up on this, this weed point on the chain that I totally thought it was a muskie.
(12:36):
And I pulled it in and it was a 38 inch pike.
And that was the first fish I ever caught on a muskie setup.
So I was like, I was indifferent about the catch because it's like,
oh, of course I'm targeting muskies now.
And then boom, here's my biggest pike today.
Just so happened to be, but you know, first, first spot. Yeah, probably.
(12:57):
Well i don't want a spot burn here but because i do guide out mushing you don't
have to burn a spot what i guess what i was going to go at is have you ever
caught another muskie off that spot.
Oh yes i do i do still fish those spots
on the chain frequently they do ebb and flow after
chatting with some of my friends and in
(13:18):
league or some people who have fished the
area uh you know just as long as as we
have or longer they they know that
they're good producing spots and we try and hit
them you know every year and just see which one's
producing because that's the thing in the chain there's there's so
many spots out there because the lakes are you know fairly sizable and there's
(13:39):
a bunch of them and you know i definitely find that some spots are better than
others every every other year and i just like to revisit them and and yeah like
you know the old the old spots that we did fish back in the 16 foot aluminum boat.
When I was saying that we'd fish three spots in the morning and head in,
I actually still fish those three spots. Cause they are, are some of the better on that lake probably.
(14:04):
I remember the first spot I caught a muskie off of and how I would,
I fished the lake enough and I would go back and I would hit the spot and I
would hit the spot and many, many, many years go by.
And literally like a couple seasons ago, not last season, I don't think season
before I'm fishing with my daughter and a buddy of mine.
And I'm like, well, we'll fish this spot. This is where I caught my very first muskie.
(14:26):
And I've never caught another muskie here since. And literally the words came
out of my mouth and boom, I had a muskie on.
So it's you know i guess a muskie spot
is one that you can continue a muskie will continue to use it
at some point so you know you do want to go back and continue to
hit those spots what i'm saying is like it took literally probably
20 years in between you know fishing catches
(14:48):
at that spot for me to have that spot produced again it's
just crazy how that works like what was that muskie doing
there 20 years ago how did i get so lucky to have that one that
day right yeah i mean it's is doing
doing the same thing it does these days just it's
a great spot it's a good hunting ambush spot and you know
back in the day how we found spots was a paper map and
(15:09):
2d sonar and on the chain for the people that don't know it it's kind of like
like a half flowogy system of of lakes and the basins aren't super deep so we
knew that the basins are here you know 12 to 20 feet and And as soon as our
sonar read six or six and a half feet,
we knew we were in weeds and we knew we were in the spot. And that's pretty much how we found spots.
(15:33):
And then later down the road when I got side imaging on the boat and figured
out that places had little inside turns, there was cribs near them.
There was also rock bars and all sorts of cool stuff.
And then I would soon realize why those spots were so good back in the day and
why they still are so good. Thank you.
(15:55):
The old nostalgic part of me still wishes that I was using paper maps often.
And like, you'd come home from fishing and you'd be so jacked up because you
caught one or lost one or saw one and you just have to look.
Okay. Now, now let's look for more spots on this lake that look like that.
And you would actually literally pull out hotspots maps and like many different
types of maps to try to search out and learn more that way. And I don't do that ever anymore.
(16:16):
It's like, you know, notes. I used to take really good notes on all that stuff
too. And I don't, I don't do any of that anymore.
Yeah, I try. I do. I usually put stuff into an Excel sheet, you know,
if I remember the weather and the size of the catch and what we're using and
water temps and all that stuff.
(16:37):
And honestly, with the paper maps, we actually utilize that quite heavily.
Tournament fishing, when we go to a new body of water, I mean,
we have our units to look at the maps and Navionics online.
Line but at least with the paper map you can you can
write it down like oh this spot has weeds or this
spot has rocks and we moved one here and then
(16:57):
you can kind of open the entire map on your
pre-fishing or just if you're going to a new body of
water and you can just kind of make a route make an
abc list for the best spots and
and yeah i mean the old one that
we have of the chain here i still have it it's got so many sharpie
marks all over it you know back when i
(17:18):
used to just just mark down hits and catches there's there's
just a and then i'd color coordinate them and it was
pretty funny what we used to do on that map well enough
about nostalgia it's fun to think back on first muskies and first baits you
used to catch muskies and spots that used to catch but let's talk a little bit
about baits because that's kind of what we talk about here let's talk about
(17:40):
any uh offbeat baits not necessarily like the the mainstream stuff that helps
you put more fish in the net?
What's something crazy that very few people use that you use?
Oh man, things that not, I mean, I do use a lot of main staples out there.
I would say I throw a couple added touches.
I mean, for crankbaits, I use some of the mainstays like groundless jakes,
(18:05):
cranes and slammers and stuff.
But what I do like to do is I usually don't run them straight out of the box
and I will switch out hooks a lot.
Not that they come with bad hooks, but I actually want to change the sizes.
Change the buoyancy and actually i'll change the sizes on
certain parts of the bait to change where i want them
(18:26):
to be buoyant because actually if you put a if you put a
heavy hook on the back i'll say a slammer
or something you basically have a crankbait
side wobbling bait that dives down head first
and then rises head up it's basically a
suet that does a little bit more is what I found and
I do love using crankbaits in
(18:48):
a little bit cooler water situations so slowing
the rise of them is has been pretty key
for me that's that's I'd say I guess
a mod of a bait another another
thing that I like to do around here is as I pretty much mess with a lot of bucktails
too i i probably only have a couple meps and a couple other main staples that
(19:14):
i just will use right out of the box and then a lot of the other main manufacturers i will take.
Them if say they don't produce right away or maybe they just don't have that
type of grind i'll take them apart and put different beads below the clevises change the clevis size,
i really like adding a lot of weight so you can bomb cast blades and you can
(19:35):
burn them in without having them kind of blow out of the water because some
of the lightweight bucktails will do that if you burn them obviously you want
to have a couple of those for slow rolling and keeping it high but But I'd say
that's what I for sure do with bucktails.
And then I'd say one, the top bait that did well for me last year,
(19:56):
actually, that I wouldn't say a ton of people use around here.
I think a lot of people use them, but that was definitely the beaver's bait.
And as some people know, I do like to use tubes a lot. I use trailer blades on the tubes.
The beaver was just not exactly a bait that I use the trailer blade.
I like the way that the bait swam on its own because it's basically like a hybrid
(20:20):
swim bait, pull pause, or straight retrieve.
I mean, I'm just a huge fan of baits that you can pretty much customize right
out of the box by only doing a few things, like the beavers adding a few weights,
taking off a few weights, and putting a trailer blade on the back if you want,
and making it pretty much run from the top foot or using it down,
(20:46):
you know, 20 feet in the late fall.
So that would probably be one bait for sure.
I thought those were only used in Minnesota, those beaver baits.
That's a Wisconsin thing too? No.
It's a just really, really awesome bait. I really like the way it looks.
(21:07):
I like to use swim baits a lot, like swimming dogs.
I love tubes and bulldogs and Medusas and beavers' baits aren't going to replace those,
but they find a sweet spot in the middle that I just like to utilize them for
change-ups and stuff like that. Sure.
(21:28):
Well, since you like to add weight, change weights, you mentioned Suex.
Have you played around with any of their new stuff, either the 9-inch high impact
that has the adjustable weights? They knew for this year is that 10-inch weighted wood.
That has an adjustable weight kit in it, too. And then last year,
they had the 12-inch weighted wood that had adjustable weight kits.
Have you played with any of those things yet? Yes, I have.
(21:50):
Since I'm a huge SUIC fan, I'm for sure going to get that 10-inch weighted customized wood.
Uh waiting kit with it the wood one because
i am probably a higher fan of the wood baits you
know obviously you can get some that run a little funky
but i found that if you just keep tweaking them you can
you can get pretty much any suic to do
(22:12):
something and not just run one way or
the other and with those customized you
know waiting ones i just it's it's just really awesome
them that you can have them do all sorts of different
actions by just unscrewing a weight rather than buying
three or four other suics for different
situations and and we did play around with the 12 inch customized weighted one
(22:37):
you said that was last year or two years ago that that was i think it was last
year that it came out maybe it was two years ago i know we got them last year
but it might have it might have
been two years ago yeah well whenever that came out i think we We had one,
one or two years ago, and we started messing with it in deeper water.
Putting almost just a crap load of weight on there.
(22:57):
We were getting bites and caught some fish and, you know, casting over deeper
water where we would normally use heavy heads on bulldogs or,
you know, some heavier rubber or, you know, situations that you could use something
like a mayhem grenade or something.
But we found that to work where you
could actually count down a suic and it kind
(23:19):
of has that same dive and rise action and I
know that we found a good weight I couldn't tell you what exact weights we put
in there but it basically would dive down and then just sit there and then just
start to sink very slowly and it was pretty deadly and over deeper water and
some of the clearer lakes I I definitely want to use it more and,
(23:41):
and get that, get that 10 inch weight, customized weighted suick.
I think that would be, find a very good place in my tackle box.
Yeah, I think so too. I really do like the 10 inch weighted wood.
And I've, so when, when I saw that they had the new 10 inch weighted wood with
the adjustable weight kits in there, I was, I'm actually like really excited
(24:03):
to use that bait this year.
I think there's a handful of applications where, you know,
like even the, even the weighted wood ones from suic i think still rise in some
instances kind of a little quick right and i'm thinking you know by adding that
just that little bit of weight you'll be able to dial it in a little bit where
if you're fishing late fall you got negative fish neutral fish you know you
(24:24):
can get that bait to just pause and hang right in their face a little bit.
Yeah, I think that's very important because there's a time and place for wood and rubber.
You know, I can't remember where I talked about it. I feel like it was, might have been.
Yeah, I can't remember where I talked about it, but it was, somebody was asking
the difference between wood and rubber.
(24:46):
Was that at the Milwaukee show? Now I think about it, maybe.
Somebody asked that. Yeah. Yeah. And there's just a time and place for a bait
where you, on a pull pause bait, where when you pause it, it sinks,
it sits or floats, you know, rises up.
And that's where you can just have the pretty much all in one for the custom
(25:09):
customized wooden suics or any of the high impact. You can kind of just do everything in one.
Yeah. That's that typical, you know, musky, it's a stereotypical musky talk,
you know, like, oh, you gotta, you gotta let the fish.
Tell you what they want that day right and then i i don't like it because what
if they're not talking that day like there's days they literally are not telling
me anything so i'm not a huge fan of that whole that whole line you gotta you
(25:34):
gotta let the fish tell you what they want yeah but there's there's literally
days where they don't tell me a single thing i hate that.
Well they're still saying something it's just it's just
nothing yeah i mean i guess there's something to be
taken taken you know from that no no speech
or no no no feedback that they're giving you i
guess at that point they're they're not liking but i always
look at it like how do i even know that i that a fish has seen one of my lures
(25:58):
that day like that's the part i have a difficult time with that's true that's
when you get no feedback even on like a late side image follow or i mean there's
been days where i i found a spot or two on a lake or maybe more and it's,
later into the day and i haven't seen anything i'm like
are they even here like the weather's
(26:19):
all right they shouldn't be being this dumb but a
lot of times they are being just right you know
let me ask you gus are you one of these types of guys that
has 12 different rods in the front of his boat are you one that's
looking for like two or three is there a sweet spot in the middle there yeah
sure because i'm probably like like a six rod on hand always you know i i try
(26:43):
to have for sure two rubber rods i use i use the saint croix lineup and and the nine foot x heavy.
Has been you know perfect perfect for my liking for throwing pretty much all
sizes of rubber i do use the 86 x heavy too for throwing like a red dog or a ninja tube or mid medusa.
(27:05):
And then from there, I usually will have probably for sure two bucktail rods, maybe three.
That could also work as topwater or jerkbaits too.
I mean, I'll still work jerkbaits on nine, nine foot six rods.
No problem. You just can't go straight down, obviously.
(27:26):
The tip of the rod is going to hit the water too much
and you're kind of going to lose action or lose touch on
the bait and maybe miss a fish from having too
much slack but that's those are another
two that i would suggest like a
nine six heavy nine foot heavy you know
whatever whatever preference you have on height i know everyone's pushing the
(27:50):
10 footers i've used a couple i do like them but honestly i'm not a super tall
guy i'm an aluminum boat tiller i'm very close to the water sometimes Sometimes
a 10-footer gets a little awkward for me.
And I've fished out of a few higher up fiberglass boats and such.
And I definitely understand why it's necessary.
(28:11):
But I think the length is more on the user preference.
And that's something you have to go out and try for yourself and see what you like best.
I would say the actions or the weight of the models are very important.
You know, you, you don't want to over overwork a bait, like having an X heavy
(28:34):
rod for a six inch crank bait.
And then you obviously don't want to have a medium heavy for a Meg dog.
You know, you gotta fit, fill those gaps on having, you know, a couple of each.
So I guess if you boil down to two, I would say nine foot X,
seven and nine foot heavy could
get pretty much the job done for myself on 98% of the baits that I use.
(28:57):
I wouldn't, I wouldn't disagree with that. I've been using, I've been using
the nine foot six jerk master blade master two from St. Croix.
I use that quite a bit last year.
And then I like the St. Croix rods. I like the grass, but it's cool.
But I also did like the Moab from chaos tackle. That's a 2020 assault stick
for throwing big rubber. Have you ever played with that rod yet?
(29:18):
No, I have not tried that one. And I know a bunch of people that do really like
that. Do you, do you have the Moab and a 10 footer or nine, six, or?
I think mine's the nine foot. I, when I got mine, I don't think they had anything bigger than that.
So now, now they offer a few different lengths that are longer,
but I think it's time. It was just a nine foot. And that, that works really
(29:38):
good for, for ripping rubber.
I have a, I'm kind of like you. I don't know if I'd have six,
maybe I have six because I got to have my kids steal a couple of them.
And then I always worry that we're going to break something,
but I I'm probably more of like a three rod type of a guy. I would say like the Moab is always one.
And then the blade master two was always one. And then sometimes I have like
last year I used, I want to say it was like the big dog, eight foot six extra
(30:01):
heavy. I think it was from St.
Croix for, for ripping, ripping Suex. My, my kids were using a lot of times
I'd use like a seven, six for ripping Suex, but my kids were stealing my shorter rods.
So I went with that and it worked really good. Actually, I was pleasantly surprised by it,
but you know, the good thing about musky anglers today is there's so much good
gear available and there's so many good rods and there's so many good reels
(30:22):
that are available for people these days that, I mean, it's almost hard to make
wrong choices in a lot of cases.
I, I agree there. I mean, I started, I've used a ton of different,
you know, manufacturers of rods and, and really for sure what you're getting
on in the higher end stuff is, you know, they're a lot lighter weight.
Faster action, they're usually built, you know, extremely, extremely well.
(30:46):
And you get a really good warranties as well. If something, you know,
like you step on a guide, which I know just about everybody probably has,
we have over the years as well.
I've even stepped on them with bare feet and just had enough to,
to break a little eyelet there. And, you know, that is what it is.
And, and yeah, you really, you really can't go
(31:07):
around with the choices and like i said before just find
find the right lengths that that you find
appropriate for what you're doing you know maybe a
nine footer for you isn't right maybe you do want to use a an
eight footer if you feel comfortable or maybe you're really
tall and you like to throw a lot of big blades and
big rubber you probably should go with a nine six or
(31:28):
ten footer so just got to find the sweet
spot for yourself definitely so gus last
question before i let you go since we are trying to stick with this shorter
form podcast if you want if somebody wants to listen to two hours
of a podcast or two and a half definitely check out gus's podcast
like you guys have no problems rambling for hours and
and you know all the power to you
that's just not something i i'm into but i
(31:51):
do listen to your podcast on occasion i don't always listen to all of
them and sometimes it takes me like a week or more to get through
an episode because i can only do like 20 minutes at a time but if
you're you know there's a lot of new gear a lot of new baits that came out
for 2024 like what's something that you're let's
say most excited about something that i'm
most most excited about that i don't have in
(32:12):
my hands yet is i do really want to get
a net buddy or something to help with the net because i've just used a chair
on on the boat and then you know have the rim of rim of the net over the boat
kind of held stationary and you know i i do have two traxtech mounts on on each
side of the boat So having, having a little.
(32:34):
Whatchamacallit, just one of the net buddies on each side would be really,
really beneficial to, to, to put the net into and, and really not have to worry
about anything and swing.
Cause that was the problem with using the chairs that the, uh,
the handle of the net would just be right across the boat.
And the only way to get around from the front to the back or back to the front is step over it.
(32:58):
And I have tripped over that and, you know, cause
on the side gunnel areas i usually have
sometimes some stuff playing around or you know
one side of the boat's got rods and you don't want to obviously step
on those so being able to swing the swing
the hoop away and and or keep the fish upright and the handle the net out of
(33:20):
the way would be really beneficial that's something i'm really looking forward
to well this episode will come out after the minnesota show and you're going
to be in my booth for the minnesota show so maybe Maybe after the show or during the show, come find me.
I know a guy that can definitely get you one of those net buddies.
I can definitely help you out with that problem.
Sweet. That would be much appreciated. Yeah. And it's a great piece of gear.
(33:41):
I mean, it's definitely it. There's lots of fun gear coming out,
whether we have it in stock now or we're going to have it in stock, you know, coming soon.
You know, Gus, I even tease to you, there's definitely something new and cool
that we're working with a major manufacturer on that should hopefully be like
midsummer release. We got to play with it in the pool.
You know, we'll call it prototyped air quotes and in Milwaukee.
(34:02):
And it worked as we thought it would work.
So we're moving to the next stages here. And, you know, we're going to get some
in the hands of you and a handful of other guides here before we,
as soon as the season starts, we should have them, you know,
ready to roll for, for people to get out, get them tested, get them eaten.
And then hopefully as long as that phase goes well, we'll start seeing them
mid-summer-ish for people.
(34:23):
That's probably one that I'm looking forward to. It's definitely going to be
a very cool bait. I won't, we'll call it new. Yes.
Sure. Yeah. Yeah. You hinted at it to me and I'm, I think that I'll find definitely a spot in my box.
There's there's gaps that that need to be filled on
some of my main staples and you know when
it comes to switching up some size or a profile
(34:44):
or stuff you know of some baits that's maybe
a change that is needed or just you know
somewhere to somewhere to find like i said the gap
in your box and just the
main staple absolutely well gus
i appreciate your time that's you know a 32 minute
at podcasts gone by just like that and i want i
(35:05):
thank you for your time if people are looking for another podcast outside
of this one outside of our backlash podcast there's lots of
musky podcasts available make sure you go check out gus's muskies on tap podcast
yeah it's you brian is a friend of yours max is your brother it's the three
of you guys and you typically have new guests on most weeks i would say so you
(35:26):
know and you're available on all the major podcast platforms i'm assuming.
And then you know if you're looking for a guide this
season you're up in the eagle river area make sure you check out gus and if
you're looking for gear for your next muskie fishing adventures make sure you
check out team rhino outdoors.com where your source for custom muskie gear rods
reels nets all the latest and greatest check us out and we want to thank everybody
(35:49):
for listening to our podcast this week we will be back with another one i'll
say next week i'm going to keep Keep it going strong, Gus. I feel it. I'm bold.
Yeah, it is. I'm putting it out there. We're going three weeks in a row.
I'm going to hold it to you. Yep, three weeks in a row. So thanks again,
everybody. We'll see you next week.
Music.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.