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Fishing gear, nets, and Upper Peninsula Fishing Lures

No fishing lure is fool-proof. They all can work or not work depending on the mood of the fish. However, the lures below are ones that I have had success on from time to time in the lakes and ponds of the UP. Even if they don’t get hit, they are fun to use, and are a blast when they work. I love experimenting with new lures and tactics - try some of these below!


Big smallie on a BBZ-1 30 size Morning Dawn

Big smallie on a BBZ-1 30 size Morning Dawn

The SPRO BBZ-1 rat is my favorite lure to fish rivers in the UP.  It's a topwater lure that dives to about 1 foot of depth when given a steady retrieve.  I've caught smallies, largies, pike, musky, and even walleye with this lure.  My favorite locations to toss it are in shallow rivers with a bit of current.  This lure can be a lot of fun - I prefer the size 30 or 25 for smallmouth fishing.


The Heddon Zara Puppy is a great topwater lure for a variety of species of gamefish.  It is an old lure that still rocks the walk-the-dog style retrieve that entices big topwater bites. This lure has caught smallies, pike, musky and even some smaller species.  The trick to fishing the lure is fishing it with a lighter line - if you use a leader of metal or heavy fluorocarbon it will entirely kill the action.  IF you are fishing water with lots of pike and musky it would be a better bet to size up to a larger Super Spook Jr. so you can get away with using a heavier leader to avoid bite offs and keep the good action.


The Heddon Feather Dressed Super Spook Jr. and Heddon Super Spook Jr. are great topwater lure options.  This lure is slightly larger than the Zara puppy and will produce more noise and commotion to bring deeper fish to the surface.  Sometimes more size is the key to getting the fish to hit.  The great aspect of this lure is that you can use a heavier leader and still retain the good action of the lure.   


The Yamamoto Senko or Yum Dinger 3, 4, or 5 inch in any color.  This is my go-to bait when other lures are not working. Sometimes topwater just won't work.  When topwater fails I throw this bait rigged weightless, wacky, or with a small splitshot. In the rivers I prefer a small splitshot about 12-18inches above the worm and on lakes I throw it wacky style.

I throw these baits with the Owner Wacky hooks.  They do good work on all kinds of bass.  They are not weedless, but you can rig it weedless by leaving the hook embedded in the worm.  To retain your worms on the hook I suggest using small O-rings to cinch the worm in the middle to keep it attached to the hook.

Largemouth and smallmouth cannot resist this bait - drift it or let it sink.  They will come to it. 


Big musky on a Size 4 Mepps Agila Silver Blade with Brown hair trailer

Musky on a Size 5 Mepps Agila Silver Blade with Brown hair trailer

The Size 3-4-5  Mepps Agila Dressed Spinner is fantastic.  This is my go-to bait when I want to fish fast.  This lure has caught me more pike, musky, smallies, and walleye than any of my other lures combined.

 


The Nikko Hellgrammite 3 inch soft-plastic is DYNAMITE for river smallmouth. I made two entire videos dedicated to this bait and some other Nikko products and you can see the huge fish that I pick up with them. My two colors that I have used and had success with are the lite brown gold flake and the watermelon red flake. This bait can be tossed on a very light jig head with a long shank to give this bait some great movement in the water. Unlike Senkos and worm baits, the Nikko hellgrammite is DURABLE and can catch fish all day without losing any of it's durability. For me, as a conservation minded angler, I like the fact that these are biodegradable and not as harmful for the fish and ecosystem.


I don’t usually fish for largemouth in ponds and lakes… but when I do - I bring this Booyah Pad Crasher Jr. Leopard coloration. This is a great Northern Mid-West largemouth lure. Our fish don’t grow as big as the Southern ones and we need to throw slightly smaller sized frogs. These frogs are so much fun. I usually fish this tied directly onto my braid and on a slightly tougher rod - gotta get these things straight into the thick of the vegetation and let the largies do their work!


Other Fishing Essentials

Below you will find the other fishing gear that I use constantly.


Pflueger Spinning Rod and Reel Combo in both Ultralight and Medium action.  Fishing with this combo is awesome.  I use the ultralight version for trout and panfish and I use the medium action version for smallmouth, pike, walleye, and river musky.  Definitely high quality rods, reels, and line for an affordable price.  I toss on 6 LB test if I am targeting trout with the ultralight version.  If I am targeting fish with the medium action rod I use 20-30 LB braid with a leader of fluorocarbon in front of it.  Check below for the exact line.

For small river musky fishing (targeting musky between 30-40 inches) I suggest a medium heavy / heavy spinning rod like the St. Croix Premiere 7’ XH Spinning Rod paired with a size 40 Pflueger Presidential XT Spinning reel. Musky are not known for their prolific fights and you can usually get them into the net in less than 30 seconds. If you are hunting trophy muskies (anything over 45 inches) in big lakes and reservoirs then you definitely want to upgrade the rod and reel. But, for small river action, this works well.


For a driftboat or raft - you need a large enough net to handle a musky, but also a net that doesn’t take up the entire craft. Here is where the Stowmaster net comes in - it can hold large musky and fold down to be small enough to not be a hassle in the boat. I highly recommend this net. I use the Stowmaster TS94IM. I’ve netted musky up to 45 inches with it and it handled them beautifully.

Kayak nets are hard to find - they need to be compact enough to not get in the way, but also large enough to scoop a big pike, musky, or salmon. The EGO S2 Extra Large Landing Net is great. I carry it in the EXTRA LARGE size - I use a 6 inch handle and it can comfortably land up to 32-34 inch fish. It is a staple that I now bring with me whenever there is a chance I could run into very large fish. I also use it to land smallmouth and while it swallows them - it is not TOO big. The cool part about the EGO S2 net is the removable handles - you can keep the handle very short for a kayak trip and then attach a full 48 inch handle for your canoe or boat trip. This saves room from having multiple nets - a single paint pole extension fits the handle size and can be changed easily. It can net fish up to 36 inches; however, it should not be your primary musky net on a larger boat with more room.


Power Pro 20/25/30 LB Braided fishing line with Rio Fluoroflex tippet is great for your line and then leader material.  If you are fishing for smallies, largies, or walleye and want to avoid the random pike biteoffs and still catch fish you should try this leader out.  Really great to avoid losing lures to 18 inch pike.

I suggest the Rio Fluoroflex tippet.  I use this leader material in the 20, 30, 40, 60 LB size.  The heavier it is, the stiffer it will be, but I have not had many fish bite through this leader.  I know it is marketed towards fly angers, but it works great for spin-fishermen as well.  

Note - please use actual bitewire or metal if you are targeting musky. I have had musky bite through 100 Lb fluoro so this fluro is only to stop random bite offs when targeting other species.


 

 

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