How to Hold a Musky (and other info)

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Can you tune a Suick?

How do you tune a suick?

The Suick is one of the most productive lures on the market. We are not all blessed to purchase a "perfect working Suick" right out of the box every time. You can't blame Frank Suick for that. Heck, they're made of wood, so you have to expect each bait to perform differently due to the different densities of each piece of wood they are made from. Let's say you've just purchased a Suick that isn't working up to snuff. Do you throw it our, give it to the dog to chew on (minus the hooks of course), or let it sink to the bottom of your tackle box? Well, sometimes a few little adjustments can fix that old Suick right up. The type of action here are a couple to help out.
Fold the tail at a 45-degree angle to help give the bait action. If you have a Suick that just isn't doing it for you, try giving the metal tail a bend downward. This usually gives the bait good side to side (not necessarily a "walk the dog type action", the side to side distance is shorter), up and down (shallow dives) erratic action. You may lose some depth by doing this but sometimes it's worth the sacrifice. Once you get the tail where you want it, don't tamper with it too much, as this could weaken the metal.

Bend the tail right or left to ensure the lure runs straight. Sometimes the density of the wood used to form a Suick is such that the lure doesn't run true (no disrespect to Frank - these lures have caught a lot of big fish). This may cause your lure to run off to one side or the other. Is there a way to fix it? Not always, but here's something that might help. Curve the metal tail on one side so that it is bent down to catch water flow. This will help eliminate rolling to one side. Play with the tail until you feel the bait is not running off to one side more than the other. If that doesn't work, there is one more option to try.

Turning the screw eye could be your last resort. If your Suick still does not run true after bending the tail, don't give up! There is one more trick that may work. Let's just say for example that the bait is still running off to the right. Take the screw eye that you attach your leader to and turn it 1/8th of a turn to the left. This will draw the lure off to the left the same way a crankbait lip makes the crankbait dive down. Just be careful not to snap the screw eye off completely. * * * Some of these tips also work well on the other metal tailed wooden jerkbaits. Such as Bobbie Baits, Johnny Jerks, and Big Daddy's.

Article courtesy of Muskies101.com

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