Sooooo, when I watch these fishing shows that fish Musky with a live bait rig in the fall with large suckers it looks like they are almost vertical and when the musky hits they wait until the fish is swimming away from the boat before they set the hook.
My question is –
What is the set-up they are using?
Are they using a bobber and if so is it a baloon or cork? or deadsticking?
Well in Wisconsin where you can use 2 lines open water fishing 
…the practice is to drop the sucker vertical off the side of the boat (no bobber) maybe 3-6′ down while fan casting around the boat with lure of choice. Jerkbaits like Suicks were a traditional favorite and you’d either get a hit on the cast, or you’d get a follow up to the boat where they’d take the sucker waiting there under the boat.
Sometimes you catch them on your lure far from the boat, sometimes they’d just appear under the boat chasing the sucker while your casted lure is 30 yards away from the boat.
Fun fishing for sure, here in Minnesota with the one line rule… might as well just float the sucker out on a big bobber and use your free hand to hold that Corona. 
Like Andy said , that’s how I do it . If I have 2 people in the boat , we’ll hang one sucker below the boat , have another trailing behind the boat under a bobber while we both cast .
These guys do a pretty good job explaining how to run it.
Fishing with Suckers in the fall for muskies is a gas. My understanding is you can use 3 lines in WI.
‘Hooks, baits and lures all count toward the total of three (3). As a result, the maximum number of poles/rods/lines is three (3) as long as you have only one (1) bait on each pole/rod/line. More than one bait per line will require you use fewer than three (3) poles/rods/lines.Sep 1, 2012’
I used to make my own sucker harnesses. The last few years, I switched to these Fuzzy Clip and Go harnesses. They can be kind of a pain to secure, but once you get the hang of putting the clip through the nostril of the sucker, they work really well. They seem to come unattached at the hookset pretty well, allowing hooks to bury in the fish.
Depending on who is in the boat, we will hang a line over each side of the boat and drag another behind the boat on a big bobber. I try to follow weedlines. Just pay attention to your minnow. They normally let you know when a fish is around.
Thanks guys, that’s exactly the info I needed.
I like the Bobber/Corona trick also 
Fall sucker fishing is a great way to put a big musky into your boat without much work. You do want to wait to see the fish going away from you before you set the hook. I like to put my thumb on the spool and rip as hard as I can. I have not been able to do it yet this year but sometimes it is hard to find 16+” suckers.
I’ll tell you what the problem is with this: the cost of those big decoy suckers. They’re like 10 bucks each. And if they get hit by a muskie or pike and die, they’re completely useless. I know its effective because I’ve had it work for me in the past but at this point I’d rather just spend $20 on a new artificial lure I can use for years instead of a one time use decoy sucker. Not to mention it can get ungodly boring sitting there watching a big bobber for hours on end.
I’ll tell you what the problem is with this: the cost of those big decoy suckers. They’re like 10 bucks each. And if they get hit by a muskie or pike and die, they’re completely useless. I know its effective because I’ve had it work for me in the past but at this point I’d rather just spend $20 on a new artificial lure I can use for years instead of a one time use decoy sucker. Not to mention it can get ungodly boring sitting there watching a big bobber for hours on end.
. It does get boring just watching a bobber , or waiting for your bait clicker to go off . I fish Wisconsin waters , and am always casting while doing this .
I’ll tell you what the problem is with this: the cost of those big decoy suckers. They’re like 10 bucks each. And if they get hit by a muskie or pike and die, they’re completely useless. I know its effective because I’ve had it work for me in the past but at this point I’d rather just spend $20 on a new artificial lure I can use for years instead of a one time use decoy sucker. Not to mention it can get ungodly boring sitting there watching a big bobber for hours on end.
After you put a 50″ fish in the bag the last thing you’ll think about is the $10 sucker you lost. there are certain times when all they want is meat.
If you are in MN and have to pick. I troll suckers when the water temp hits 52 and lower. Higher I rather be chucking baits.
The Lindner’s do a great job of going in depth on how to effectively use live bait rigs for musky. The system they use to keep the sucker on the hook is very interesting and effective with hook sets.
When my hands can’t take getting wet and cold i start dragging meat. I can get my large suckers for $5 bucks a pop and have a tank at home to keep them alive for long periods of time. I like to drag mine without a bobber with 5-15′ of line out depending on the depth. The fun part about no bobber is you can watch the muskie stalk your sucker. I’ve watched a muskie for over 45 minuted before it decided to eat.
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