Does sunscreen matter when muskie fishing — what sunscreen do muskie anglers actually need?

For the muskie, barely; for you, a lot. The documented fish-repelling sunscreen active is PABA — shown for bass in Keith Jones's Berkley research — and most modern sunscreens no longer contain it; nothing of the kind exists for muskie. They are close to pure sight and lateral-line hunters, and a bucktail at speed gives scent no time to work. So choose sunscreen for long days of casting: fragrance-free mineral lotion or stick (zinc oxide / titanium dioxide), applied at home 20–30 minutes before, with a UPF hoodie, buff and sun gloves doing most of the job. Wipe the palms anyway: lotion makes a slippery grip when you need control through a figure-8, and oily films are not kind to the finish of expensive painted baits. The one scent-sensitive exception is a live sucker rig — handle suckers with clean, wet hands.

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