I live a mile from the Rush River which is a trout stream, but under the bridge (which is the only accessible spot I can bike to) it is lousy with suckers. I'm not quite sure what kind of suckers but they get pretty big. Only problem is, they don't like any kind of lure or bait I present to them. What do you guys use to catch suckers?

Worms.

Small piece of worm

4# mono, size 10 hook, small worm or piece of nightcrawler.

worm on the bottom. Gut em, cut into 1 inch steaks and layer them in a plastic bucket with salt. Good long lasting bait that wont freeze.

Small worms and doughbait with mulberries.

Quick wit and a little back door sarcasm is getting a lot of bites right now

Net them during their spring run if you can.

when my son was bringing home a cooler a day red worms , a small hook #4 or #6 circle or octopus , and a 1/2 oz sinker usually egg or no roll so that the line feeds through it I guess you might call a Carolina rig

that mouth isn't very big , it is on the bottom mostly and they work up the current.

so your pinning that worm to the bottom in the current on a gravel bottom is great

Yup, earthworms, angle worms as they are called around here. Suckers are bottom feeders, so let the worm lay on the bottom. They will pick it up.

also in WI Greater Redhorse and River redhorse are threatened species and they take knowing what you are looking for to tell them apart

https://moxostoma.com/redhorse-id-downloads/

here is a chart to help identify them

many people think they are garbage fish , they are actually a sign of good water quality , they don't last in bad water

they work well for pickled fish

I haven't made it in about 4 years because of the amount of sugar and I can't do sugar anymore but here is the pickled fish recipe I used and ADC's recipe as well

Pickled fish

Cut fish into pieces not thicker than about ⅜ to ½ inch

#1
Brine stage. Soak fish pieces covered in brine a minimum 1 cup canning salt to 1 quart water room temp or colder.
I have also flopped pieces in a bowl of salt and packed in a jar then added water you can get a few more in that way.
Refrigerat and allow to soak for 48 hours minimum. It takes time for the salt to get through the fish.

You can go longer I kept some fish in jars for 6 months like this in the refrigerator
When you are ready to make it ready to eat you follow #2


#2
Drain and rinse in cold water then pack in 5% white vinegar for 48 hours
When finished drain and suppose of liquid this cures the meat chemically cooking it.

#3
Pack fish with onions alternating layers in jars

#4
4 cups white vinegar 5%
2 t whole all spice
4 t mustard seed
2 t whole cloves
2 t whole black peppercorns
2 ¾ cup sugar

Bring this mixture to a boil for 5 minutes to dissolve all the sugar into syrup.
Let cool and pour over packed fish in jars.
Place a bay leaf on top and seal jars
Refrigerate 24 hours before eating , keeps about a month in the fridge.



Alternate sauce recipes





ADC recipe
I'm in the process of making a small batch of pickled fish right now. 5 days ago I thawed out almost a 1/2 gallon of small crappie fillets and put them in the fridge in a 1/2 gallon jar with about a cup of non-iodized salt and filled it with white vinegar and shook it really well once or twice a day for the 5 days. Today I drained and rinsed it well and it'll be soaking in an ice water bath for an hour or two, until my brine is cool, to get some more of the salt out. For the brine I used 2 1/2 C white sugar, 2 1/2 C white vinegar, 2 tablespoons of McCormick pickling spice and 3/4 C Gallo white zinfandel wine (the cheap stuff). Brought it to a simmer on the stove to get the sugar dissolved, then stuck it in the fridge to cool. Sliced up a bug sweet onion. Once the brine is cool I'll layer the fish and onion in the jar then pour the brine over it, and back in the fridge for 5 days, then it should be ready to eat. The brine really smells great, I hope it turns out wonderful.

1/2 gallon plus a bonus 3/4 pint…

Frog gigging spear!

Not on a trout stream in WI.

Thanks for the replies guys! Maybe my hook and worm is too big. Thanks GREENCOUNTYPETE, I'll have to study that chart. Those recipes looks tasty! WI Outdoors I don't think that's legal here unfortunately. Mainelogger & k snow, I think I read somewhere it is legal to bowfish for them but I'll have to check on that. Does anybody know about the bowfishing regulations here in WI? Thanks again folks!

Best to call your local warden for the bowfishing regs.

Good luck out there.

Maggots are good bait

Yep. What you do is get some road kill, or make your own, a dead possum, groundhog, coon etc. Anything you can stand to pick up with out gagging. Take road kill and some wire to your river. Wade out or boat out and tie the road kill up just out of the water on a limb. 6" above the water is about good enougjh. Make sure there is 1 to 2 foot of water to give the fish some cover.

Wait a few days and the dead critter will turn into a maggot factory. Maggots will fall off and fish will hang out underneath to pick them up when they fall off.
Catfish, bass, panfish carp, sucker................Anything that will eat larve will be under this mess.
For bait, toss little white soft rubber lures underneath it. Or about anything. Uncle Joshes maggots will work if you don't want to handle the real ones. Works!

Cowboy I live up the road a piece from you and fished the Rush for 40 years. Great little stream for trout. Suckers will eat a fat crawler on an #6 or #8 hook with a split shot about 12" up from the hook. Cast upstream and let the bait drift down. Once it has settled at the bottom of the drift reel in and do it again. You'll get those suckers and probably a few of those nice browns in there as well. Which bridge is closest to you? Maybe I can help set you in the right direction to some good holes to fish. You can walk up or down stream to fish as long as you keep a foot wet and most of those areas the farmers don't mind walking the bank to access holes. As always you should ask permission first but I don't think you will have any trouble getting access that way. Remember to leave the area better than you found and pick up trash the slobs leave behind. Any questions you can PM me if you want.

This post got some interesting replies, thanks for making it Cowboy. ToTheWoods, good on you offering to help the kid out!

This ^^^^^.
I hang mine off of the upstream side of a bridge
I use wax worms instead of the maggots