As a musky follows a lure to the boat, an experienced angler knows to sweep the lure into an L-turn, then transition into a figure-8. Long rods — 8 to 10 feet — enable anglers to successfully plunge the rod tip into the water while performing these maneuvers. Generally, the deeper you can keep the lure under the water’s surface, the better the chance the musky doesn’t immediately spook.

But what do you do when using a topwater lure in this scenario? As a musky follows your lure, do you plunge it beneath the surface and make the L-turn and figure-8 much like you would with a bucktail? Or do you make the L-turn and figure-8 while keeping a topwater lure on the surface?

There are veteran musky anglers who have a strong preference — based on their success — for each method. In other words, you just have to make the split-second decision based on your gut and then go with it.

In the 10-second Facebook video clip below, the angler keeps the topwater lure on the surface through the L-turn and into the beginning of a figure-8, and as you’ll see, the fish attacks it with the speed and ferocity that only a musky can deliver.

Note: Be sure to turn up the volume for best viewing.