Weedless Lures to Attract Shallow Fall Muskies

Fall fishing is not so unlike our first casts of the spring season.  The muskies have made a return to the shallows and they’re looking for snacks.  The goal for fall muskies is a last push to put on a good deal of weight for an upcoming winter when game fish are less active, so it’s a great time to pull out your shallow water arsenal and get it wet again.  For early fall fishing, it is sometimes a headache to head back into the shallows because the weeds have yet to die off.  Fully grown weed beds can be a disaster for stopping blades, hanging up gliders, and halting a dancing topwater, so here are some options to keep you fishing for a weedless, stressless fall.

For starters, some tips to adjust all of your favorite lures. Sometimes, it’s not about finding the perfect weedless bait but adjusting the presentation you already have.

Weedless Working Tips:

• Add some shrink wrap to known hangup spots on your lure, such as split rings and line ties.
• Avoid using fast snaps on your leaders. Try leaders made with SS rings instead.  Snaps love to hook up with any weeds around them.
• Use small rubber bands to pull dangling treble hooks up under the body of your glide baits and topwaters. Swinging trebles in weeds can more trouble than they’re worth.
• On triple-hooked baits, removing the rear treble can help you get through the weeds without dragging a train behind.

If making lure adjustments is not what you’re into.  Then choosing a lure from the weedless category might be right up your alley.  For weedless presentations, there’s not an incredible amount to choose from but we have you covered with a few options that can work.

Violent Strike produces a few options of weedless spinner bait to keep you going this fall. Their single hook Extractor series of lures hooks up with muskies and helps you avoid heavy bogging down in the weeds. 

Acebaits Tandem Big Spinnerbait makes a great dual single-hooked safety pin style spinner bait that is great for helping you navigate weedy shorelines.  This lure is easy to use with just a crank of the handle and maybe a tap or two along the way back to the boat.

Northland has another safety pin-style spinner option with a series called the Reed Runners.  These lures are great for weeds that would be sure to tangle up other options.

Lastly, Figure 8 has produced the ultimate weedless performer with Steve’s Meat Grinder which has some of the already mentioned alterations already performed to make it run sleekly through the water.  Never fowling and always producing big muskies is the name of the game.

Between these spinners and the above-mentioned methods to adapt your other favorite shallow fishing lures, you should be able to avoid the clogs and keep your baits moving and enticing all the way to the boat.  If you’re out on the water this fall, give some of these lures and methods a look to keep you in the game and the muskies hitting the net.