Musky Fishing
Tallywackers (musky bait)
7/4/10 @ 9:41 PM
Ive had problems with tallywackers not running right! When im bringing them in they roll in the water and twist and turn, it gets me very mad but yet I still throw it because skis LOVE that bait. Does anybody have any ideas on how to tune them? And yes I have tried split rings.
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If your bait is made of plastic, that's what will happen. I buy all the wooden ones I can get my hands on, because they always track straight and true. I have slay'd the Muskies in Canada with my yellow Tiger Tallywhacker. To the tune of over 20 muskies in the last 3 trips to NW Ontario...all but 3 on the Tallywhacker (wood). My biggest being 51" and 49 lbs. And a 44 inch 28 lbs Northern.
I've had the pleasure of fishing with Wayne Gutch, the inventor of the Tallywacker. He tuned mine for me by bending the metal tail. I think it also makes a difference with the kind of leader that you use. Experiment with a straight single wire leader vs. a multi-strand wire leader and try different lengths. Note the difference on how much the nose gets into the water while retrieving.
Of course mess with the tail 1st before you start drilling into the bait.
I have modified several wackers by inserting a 3/8 OZ worm weight in the nose (drilling the nose of the bait to hide the weight) and placing a thru wire through the worm weight and body attaching a single hook hanger for the bigger single front hook. This allows the tail; to spin freer and you can slow the bait down more.
Stick with bending the tail before you start drilling holes in the bait. Be sure to only make small changes and tune the bait on water where you can test it one cast at a time. I have had my best action with a Tallywacker that is tuned to leave a trail of bubbles about ten foot long when retrieved. I have about six wackers and they run a little differently but I have two that the line tie one the nose of the bait is slightly off center causing the bait to have a slight shaking action as it is retrieved. This action along with the noise of the tail blade seem to attract more strikes than the bait that don't have this action. Experiment and let the fish tell you what they like. Good luck.
Most topwaters have to be tuned and the tallywacker is no exception. Tail rotating surface baits can be tuned by simply bending the metal tail either towards the front or towards the back of the bait. It sounds like your bait's tail is bent to far forward which will cause it to roll. Start out with slight bends because it doesn't take much to make a difference. I suggest tuning all topwaters to get the sound and action you are looking for. Sometimes tuning can create subtle changes in noise and action that can trigger strikes that otherwise would not happen. Hope this helps. I attached a picture of a night musky caught on a tallywacker.
Displaying 1 to 8 of 8 posts
