Musky anglers are undoubtedly an obsessive bunch always looking for the next lure or piece of gear to give them an advantage against what is arguably the most difficult fish that swims. While many lures end up being nothing more than hype, occasionally a new lure will hit the market that has the action to change the musky game. While many companies have struggled to release new products in recent years due to supply chain issues 2022 is shaping up to be a blockbuster year for new and ground breaking musky lures. With so many exciting products on the horizon for 2022 lets look at the top ten new musky lures and products you need for musky fishing success.
1. Livingston Lures : Titan
The Titan from Livingston Lures hands down takes the top spot for the best new musky lure of 2022. Dive and rise lures have been a staple of musky fishing for decades but have changed very little to keep up with new rods, reels or modern musky angling tactics. The Titan was designed to work with modern gear while taking the painful learning curve out of fishing dive and rise jerk baits. The Titan has a unique line tie that self corrects preventing fouling and keeps the lure running perfectly in tune throughout the cast. The Titan also allows anglers to fish in a reel stop fashion by simply turning the reel handle, something traditional dive and rise baits simply can not do. Livingston Lures did every musky angler a favor by making the weight system for the Titan extremely versatile. Each Titan includes a shallow, mid and deep weight allowing musky anglers to change its dive and rise rate with no modifications or guess work.
The Titan has finally modernized musky dive and rise baits and taken them to a whole new level. No more tweaking, no more tuning just tie on the Titan and start catching trophy class musky.
2. Spit Fire Musky Baits : Kamakaze
While bass anglers have been in the know regarding chatter baits for years musky anglers are just now coming around. Bass sized chatter bait offering have been a spring time musky favorite for years but once things heated up their size and profile was just far too small. The folks at Spit Fire Musky baits have solved that issue with the Spit Fire Kamakaze. The Kamakaze is a monstrous musky sized chatter bait that thumps like your neighbors’ kids’ car stereo at 3 am.
The intense vibration of the Kamakaze pulls in actively feeding muskies but also seems to wake up negative and neutral fish making it a highly effective presentation regardless of conditions. New and novice musky anglers often struggle with know what lure they should thrown and when, the Kamakaze takes all the guess work out of the equation by making so much vibration that muskies can’t stop themselves from checking it out.
3. Spit Fire : Triple Barrel Buckshot
What’s better than one bucktail? Two bucktails…dare I say three bucktails.
The Triple Barrel Buckshot is three bucktails on a wire frame similar to an Alabama rig. While we have all seen the impact of these schooling rigs with small swim baits the unbridled thump of three number 8 Colorado blades is a sight to behold. Muskies often target smaller forage during the spring and especially during cold fronts making the Tripe Barrel Buckshot a premier presentation early season and in tough conditions. The Triple Barrel Buckshot is designed for easy casting and retrieves with ease making grinding out a musky bite during a cold front a much more pleasant angling experience.
4. Musky Innovations : Swimmin’ Invader
The Musky Innovations Shallow invader has been a musky catching staple for years. Musky Innovations simply took this battle tested design and made it a paddle tail musky catching machine. The Swimmin’ Invader’s paddle tail coupled with its crankbait lip gives it a lifelike swimming action and vibration that is going to convert more following muskies into catches.
5. Spanky Baits : Pugsly
Bucktails are a stapple of musky fishing but the second you stop turning the handle they sink like a stone. The folks over at Spanky Baits changed the game by adding a hard wood body with the bucktail built around it. This bucktail with a body design allows the lure to suspend when stopped opening the door to a limitless amount of possible retrieves and start stop options.
6. Reck n Rack : The Under Boss
Musky fishing is a tackle storage nightmare. Anyone that has spent a few days on the water chasing these toothy critters knows that lures are going to get stuck, tangle and dangle all over the boat. Reck n Rack as come up with a solution to clean up the decks of our boats and put the right lure just where we need it. The Under Boss is a elements proof tackle organizer that mounts under your front casting seat. The design of the Under Boss is what sets it apart from the rest of the pack as it has no fabric or any gaps to snag hook into. While tackle storage might not be the most exciting the right tackle storage can make a day on the water far more enjoyable.
7. Strike Pro : Guppy
Custom musky glide baits have taken off in recent years but so have their prices. With many musky anglers paying in excess of one hundred dollars for exclusive offering the Strike Pro Guppy seem to be the remedy for those seeking cool but cost effective. With the paint jobs on the Guppy rivaling boutique makers their price point of sub thirty dollars is truly a blessing.
The action of the Guppy is on par with the best in the business, couple this with the extra tail options in the box and it’s a home run for any one looking to break some records but not the bank.
8. Livingston Lures : Head Hunter
The Livingston Lures Headhunter is the Swiss Army knife of baits. This multi jointed crank / swim bait has cover all of the typical territory we expect out of a musky crank bait but this pony knows a few more tricks. Slight rod taps turn the Headhunter into a side to side gliding machine, while rips make it dive and rise kicking side to side all the way down.
It’s hard to find musky lures that are good at one thing much less several retrieve style the possibilities with the Head Hunter seem limitless.
9. Savage Gear : Sucker
Swim baits are a classic musky presentation but the Savage Gear Sucker kicks things up a few notches.
The attention to detail in the fit and finish of this bait immediately sets it apart from the competition but one look at it in the water and its dominance becomes clear. Savage gear has nailed lifelike action coupled with natural finishes that will outsmart even the most educated and pressured muskies that swim.
10. Musky Safari : Jack Hammer Bucktail
It’s hard to beat a bucktail for anywhere that muskies swim but the design team at Musky Safari have decided to re-imagine what a bucktail can do. This highly though out design includes an interlocking system that continually engages and breaks free during blade rotation causing a unique thump and vibration profile in the water. This new approach to changing the cadence of a bucktail is complimented by a rear blade that balances out the travel of the bucktail but also adds even more flash and vibration to the water column. If you are a bucktail addict but you want to show muskies soothing different in 2022 this is the bucktail for you.
Steven Paul is a professional musky guide and owner of the Musky 360 app.