10 must have lures/colors for all around muskies?

I’m looking to pick up a few new lures for the upcoming season, but with so many choices and color options I’m not sure where to really start. I’ll be spending time mostly on the st. croix, with trips to other lakes here in west wi and the metro mixed in. I have black and black/chart bucktails and a few bulldawgs already, just looking to expand my throwing options without going in the wrong directions. You guys have been two for two with great help so far

Blue/silver double cowgirl

thanks brad, I hear nothing but good things about those double cowgirls

Seems like you are new to the addiction…
Gotta have some topwaters,Pacemakers,Lee’s New Chopper HD or the original Chopper,a Weagle.
Jerk baits, 9 or 10 inch Suick a glider like a Hellhound or Cobb,
Cranks…Cranes in 7 or 8 inch,Jakes 8 and 10 inch,Deep divers like earnies,Depth Raiders and the Great one,BELIEVER,straight and Jointed!
Colors…get whatever you like,I like contrasting lures and lures that look like some kind of forage,perch,walleye,cisco etc… Like you said,lots to choose from…Go with a friend who has a bunch and try some of his,buy the ones you like…Good Luck Paul

Here’s my top baits
#1 dbl10 bucktails (I like purple)
#2 dbl13 bucktails (purple & gold)
#3 shack attack 11″ curly sues (you need a bunch of these some bright some natural)
#4 shack attack mamouth sues 25″ (walleye &cisco)
#5 2 pound bulldawgs (any colors)
#6 dunwright 12″ curly tail (perch&cisco)
#7 8″ phantoms (crappie,whitefish and sucker)
#8 10″ jakes (any colors just get a bunch)
#9 14″jakes (whitefish & crappie)

My advice to you go to thorne bros and go nutz buy any thing that looks cool. That’s what I did 2 1/2 years ago and now I’ve got a couple hundred lures laying around.

Hard to have just 10, here are some you will see in my box all the time although in general I love bucktails…

Llungen tails – # 8 (black/blue/purple w nickel blade)
Lee Lure Water Chopper – start with black
Jerry Tails – DBL 10’s (black/silver, black/chart)
Ghosttail – Pan Red/Yellow w copper blade
Big Game crankbait – Green Perch
Nimmer topwater – Propdog
Shark attack plastics – black

I am making my own bucktails this year, so we shall see how they do. I have many color combinations for the fore mentioned bucktails, but I would start slow. I would also suggest going to Thorne Bros, and just walk around for about an hour and drink in all the lures and colors before buying…

A few baits you want to look at getting are baits that you can handle throwing all day long without wearing you out. some baits I would suggest:
Bulldawg regular and mag.(both shallow and regular)
Cowgirl
Rabid Squirrel Spinnerbait
Slammer minnow bait 6″,8″,10″
A.P. Lure (glide bait)
Suick or bobbie bait
topwater like a Lee Lure Chopper
Stomper
Hawg Wobbler
weagle

with these baits I would say you would be good to go, for colors I like more natural colors for clear water and even dirty water I like perch and walleye patterns, these are good colors no matter where you fish, don’t be afraid to go a bit brighter in darker water too. Hope this helps you out!

Good Luck,
Tanner Wildes

yeah, going crazy was my first initial thought, but then i figured id might as well ask and splurge right the first time, which has left me with a nice list to look for

Color is a tricky question and you will find that sometimes color preferences vary from lake to lake. In general I like more natural colors. Blacks, reds, silvers and blues for bucktails of all sizes. Perch, Walleye, Cisco patterns for cranks and black for topwater. I would recommend checking out the MN Muskie Expo at the begining of April. You will see just about every style and color of lure you can imagine all in one spot. Just make sure you bring lots and lots of $$$

hopefully my pockets will be stocked then. I did notice on the croix shore fishing rocks in current there was alot of smallmouths in the 10-14″ range, so im gonna try that color along with the rest for sure. thorne bros didnt have the cowgirl in silver/blue, only in the smaller version. also where could i find the whitefish colored jakes?

Try Muskie tackle online Aaron is a great guy and shippping is super fast