Cast to Catch- New River Muskie

       Here is a short "cast to catch" video from out last outing on the New River while targeting Muskie. This clip was captured while filming our new series Peelin' Drag Extreme Fishing "The Show" coming in the Spring of 2015. Enjoy!

-Josh D.

Making a Double Cowgirl Muskie Bucktail

Making a Musky Bucktail

(Double Cowgirl Inline Spinnerbait)

The “Double Cowgirl” spinnerbait is one of our favorite baits to throw for Musky. No matter what the conditions are. Even if you can’t get the fish to bite, these oversized “Mepps” style baits will always raise fish off of the bottom, out of aggression or out of sheer curiosity. Considering it costs between $20-$30 for just one bait, we took it upon ourselves to learn how to make them at home. Not only to save money, but to make the color patterns you simply cannot buy. Here’s how we do it…

          Materials needed- (Most components were purchased at Muskyshop.com or Lurepartsonline.com, whichever is cheapest.

·        .051 gauge wire

·        #8 - #12 size blades (personal preference)

·        Mustad 5/0 3X strong treble hooks

·        Regular Flashabou or Magnum Flashabou

·        Lure Bodies

·        Lead Lure Bodies (optional)

·        3/16” Pop Rivets or Size 16 – 14 Solder Grip Heat Shrink Splices

·        Brass Beads

·        Extra Large Clevises

·        Large Heavy Strength Split Rings

·        1/8” – 1/4” Heat Shrink Tubing

Tools needed-

·        Fly Tying Vice or Work Bench Vice (It’s possible to tie without one, however it is very difficult)\

·        Fly Tying Bobbin

·        Screwdriver

·        Needle Nose Pliers

·        Channel Lock Pliers

·        Split Ring Pliers

·        Lighter

·        Sally Hansen’s Hard as Nails

·        Super Glue

·        Scissors

Tying the Bait

1)    First things first take one of your .051 gauge wire rods and feed one or more small brass beads onto the shank, your preference as to how many.

2)    This step is very critical. Feed both of your blades and clevises onto the lure shank. When you do so be sure that your clevises are interlocking (see photo) this allows your blades to spin in unison. If you do not do this correctly then your blades will lay on each other and prevent one another from catching water.

3)    Slide brass lure body onto the shank.

4)    (Optional) Slide lead lure body onto the shank.

5)    Slide a clevis holding a split ring attached to a 5/0 Mustad treble onto the shank.

6)    Place either the heat shrink tubing or the pop rivet in the fly vice and begin by laying down a layer of thread for your flashabou to grip onto. Once you have a good base layer begin evenly distributing the flashabou around the rivet or tube. Then begin to wrap over top of the flashabou on the shank until firmly secured then tie it off with a “whip finish” or another finishing knot. Once you have a knot proceed by cutting the thread just above the knot and generously coat the thread with the Hard as Nails. The more you use the better the thread will be protected from the Muskies sharp teeth, I generally use three coats. (If you are using the rivets, once the Hard as Nails has dried take two pairs of pliers and pull the center pin out of the rivet by gripping the rim of the rivet with one pair and the bulge of the center pin with the other then pull apart. *Repeat as Necessary.

7)    Slip your flashabou sections onto the wire shank in your preferred order. If you are using the rivets be sure that the rim is on the bottom as you feed it onto the shank, this allows the flashabou to flair out and look nice…. However it won’t make much difference once it gets wet, it will never return to its original form once dry anyways.

8)    Once you have all of your components in place you then proceed to create a loop at the bottom of your bait. You do this by bending the wire around the shank of the screwdriver using the pliers. Once you have a relatively round eyelet made you then wrap the wire back around itself up the shank about three to four times. The wire you are using is very strong, therefore, it isn’t necessary to have very many wrap or very tightly wound wraps, a few loose wraps will hold. Keep in mind, bending this wire is not easy, it may take a few tries to get it right and it definitely won’t look perfect. That being said, as long as you can get a loop made with a few wraps to secure it, it will work.

9)    Once you have a loop made slip a 1 ½- 2 inch length of shrink tubing over the loop and just beyond that way you can still access the loop.

10)       Once you have the shrink tubing in place proceed by attaching another 5/0 Mustad treble hook to the loop using a split ring.

11)       After you attach the hook, slide the heat shrink back down onto the shank of the hook and heat it up with a lighter. When the tubing constricts the wire shank, the split ring, and the hook equally it will prevent the hook from swinging freely and knotting up within the flashabou. This is very important and can prevent many headaches down the road.

This concludes the process of tying your Musky inline spinnerbait. As always, the more practice you have at tying these baits the easier they will be to tie. If you produce enough of them using the components that you have purchased, you will save close to half of the price of prepackaged bait. Make sure you enjoy the way these baits look after you have them completed, once they touch the water they will never look as neat and regal as they did before they got wet. Your baits will become knotted and nappy and will appear nowhere near as awesome as they once were. However, don’t let their image in the tackle box fool you, these baits will forever and always be just as effective as the first time you threw them, no matter how knotted they become. The flash puts off a free flowing motion that muskies simply cannot ignore. Nothing is quite as rewarding as catching one of these toothy beasts on a bait you have crafted yourself, it’s a feeling of supreme accomplishment that makes the entire process worthwhile. For additional into and questions on how to tie these baits or for anyone wanting to acquire one we produced ourselves feel free to contact us at peelindragextremefishing@gmail.com. Thanks!

Fish Hard or Stay Home,

Josh D.

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