Sep 27, 2026 · 1 hr 10 min · 10 segments
The late September transition into the fall musky bite is all about recognizing feeding windows, adjusting to changing conditions, and knowing where muskies are likely to move next. On this week’s…
Steven PaulHostJay EsseHost
He asked, you know, with the 8.5 Supernatural headlock or matlock, right, would they be big enough to troll in late September on some big water? The reason I – I mean, we told Duff, we've got to get these things.
There's always a place for having the versatility in your running class of baits, right? Heck, we were just talking about the Big Mac or Little Mac.
And what do you do if they're not eating it? Well, the answer has always been throw a bucktail, right? Throw a blade back out there.
Well, if they're not eating that, sometimes it's like size class, right? So you could downsize top water now or like when it comes to trolling, what I like to do is kind of give them the buffet if I have the lines to do it.
You might see me in a typical setup or I might go – You know, let's say it's a two line scenario where it's not uncommon for people.
I might go with a 10 inch and a 12 inch, right? See, I got to have a 10 inch mat lock, 12 inch or 10 inch mat lock, 12 inch mat lock.
I'll rotate out the bigger bait, and then I'll go to the 8-5 and then the 10, right? And just kind of rotate through that, and you start seeing, oh, cool, they're on the 8-5.
You see what I'm saying? So having those options, and I think in trolling, it gets overlooked where people aren't approaching it in the same way we will casting where – If you're getting feedback or lack of feedback, sometimes it's just an overall size profile thing, right? So I'm not going to hesitate to run the 8.5s on big water.
moderate is always my baseline you know i'm not going to come out you're just saying there's some 24 inch crankbait i'm not going to start with that most days right i'm not i'm not going to uh count on feedback to come from the biggest or the smallest I'm going to go moderate, right? If let's say something is just classic, say a depth rater, 8-inch straight depth rater, basically whenever I'm throwing one.
He asked, you know, with the 8.5 Supernatural headlock or matlock, right, would they be big enough to troll in late September on some big water? The reason I – I mean, we told Duff, we've got to get these things.
There's always a place for having the versatility in your running class of baits, right? Heck, we were just talking about the Big Mac or Little Mac.
And what do you do if they're not eating it? Well, the answer has always been throw a bucktail, right? Throw a blade back out there.
Well, if they're not eating that, sometimes it's like size class, right? So you could downsize top water now or like when it comes to trolling, what I like to do is kind of give them the buffet if I have the lines to do it.
You might see me in a typical setup or I might go – You know, let's say it's a two line scenario where it's not uncommon for people.
I might go with a 10 inch and a 12 inch, right? See, I got to have a 10 inch mat lock, 12 inch or 10 inch mat lock, 12 inch mat lock.
I'll rotate out the bigger bait, and then I'll go to the 8-5 and then the 10, right? And just kind of rotate through that, and you start seeing, oh, cool, they're on the 8-5.
You see what I'm saying? So having those options, and I think in trolling, it gets overlooked where people aren't approaching it in the same way we will casting where – If you're getting feedback or lack of feedback, sometimes it's just an overall size profile thing, right? So I'm not going to hesitate to run the 8.5s on big water.
moderate is always my baseline you know i'm not going to come out you're just saying there's some 24 inch crankbait i'm not going to start with that most days right i'm not i'm not going to uh count on feedback to come from the biggest or the smallest I'm going to go moderate, right? If let's say something is just classic, say a depth rater, 8-inch straight depth rater, basically whenever I'm throwing one.
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