Fishing ‘Incorrectly' Leads To Great Crankbait Pattern

Four years ago when I started musky fishing in Kentucky and West Virginia, I was overwhelmed with the giant selection and size of the musky lures.

- Suneey Stevens

In addition, I was rather intimidated by all I needed to learn. My fishing partner had plenty of suggestions for me as to what I needed to use and the reasons why, but I was unsure of how to use the lures. Quite frankly, I also didn’t want to try with him watching me learn. So, I picked up a small, shad-style crankbait and decided to go with it.

My partner commented he felt it was the “wrong time of the year for that” with regard to my bait selection, and maybe he was right. It was early February and we were fishing a small Kentucky creek. More than anything I was just looking for something I knew I could effectively cast, hit my target, and retrieve.

Next I was being “instructed” that I was fishing too fast and cranking too fast. Long story short, before long I had my first musky in the net and my partner professed that he was just going to shut up and let me fish however I wanted. The next thing you know I’m up three muskies to zero on my more experienced partner, and he said, “Let me see one of those crankbaits!”