Even if I don't notice a Musky following my lure, should I still do a FIGURE-8 at the end of each cast? This is a question that I get asked by many of my guide clients. Well, without a doubt, a wellexecuted figure-8 at the end of each cast is bound to increase your boat side catch percentage. But realistically, it takes time to completely execute this maneuver after every single cast; time that will slightly impede the coverage of the area that you're fishing because of the resulting reduction in how many casts you will make into that area. So in order to have the best of both worlds, at the end of each cast when using a surface bait, I always do an angle change next to the boat and then pull my lure parallel to the boat as far as I can reach - while carefully looking for the slightest hint of a Musky behind my lure. If nothing is there, I'll quickly rifle out another cast in order to best cover the area. But if something doesn't look quite right or I even think I see any kind of a flash, I'll immediately break either into a figure-8 or will continue working the lure around the boat. Never snatch the lure out of the water without at least doing an angle change next to the boat because you will eventually get burned and muff a good fish. And quite often it's the big fish, which tend to be a little lazier, that commonly come up late for your lure at the very last minute. You don't want to pull the lure away from these Muskies…you want to catch them!
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