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New Fly Fishing Book
I've been reading a new fly fishing book entitled Muskies on the Fly. It's been a very enjoyable read during these cold winter days. Fires my imagination with thoughts of a huge fish on the end of my line fooled by a fly a tied myself. It's especially exciting since I've actually been in a situation where I had a fly rod in my hand & saw muskies in the water but wasn't quite sure what to do. Now I'll have a much better idea.
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Muskies
I want to catch them also cycler, I have a 9ft. 9wt. and I'm wondering if that's adequate for the largest muskies...what are you going to try on them if I may? Guessing the book spells it all out too.
Cheers,
MontanaMoose
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Can you cast a monster sized 6 or 8 inch fly with that rod? :)
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6 or 8 inch flies
Hello JC, well maybe...I think it would depend on how much air they'd grab and/or how heavy they were....6/8 inch wouldn't limit me casting them so long as they weren't too heavy and if they were just feathers once they were wet...presuming unweighted in that case though. Knowing you've fished over muskies of course, any ideas on the flies in the above regards please?
Cheers,
MontanaMoose
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That book talks about using flies up to about 14 inches in length and puts heavy emphasis on using a 10 wt. rod. I do have a 10 wt Fenwick & a Sage Largemouth rod in my arsenal but unfortunatly my flies top out at about 5 inches long, far too small for most musky fishing situations. I intend to make some in the 8 - 10 inch class and then go out and see how I do with them.
That book also talks a lot about using water shedding synthetic hair to make the huge musky flies as easy to cast as possible.
The only time a musky actually showed interest in my fly I was casting a tiny clouser minnow for yellow bass. The fly landed a bit behind the fish, he turned, took a quick look at it and lost interest. Perhaps a 4 - 6 inch clouser might have got him to strike. I'll never know.
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Most anything I might understand about them I've seen on TV. Never have had the chance to cast over one. Was a childhood dream too,,, kept seeing those stories in Sports Afield and Field and stream. I think the 'cover art' is what got to me. Huge 'Muskies' shaking their gill plates, tossing water droplets all over. Wow; those were great days. :)
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10/14
Well, 9 is close to 10 but 8 isn't even close to 14...man cycler, you've got me wanting to come up with something in the synthetics for muskie...I will have to do some research then maybe take a drive where I know there are muskies...pike too...and supposedly tiger muskie.
JC, well you're way ahead of my learning curve but now that I reflect back to my days of reading Field & Stream, Sports Afield, I do remember talk about 'rattling gill plates'...or was that tarpon? At any rate, muskies and pike have been on my mind for a while now. I know this lake too...good for you in that you wouldn't have to buy an out of state license nor go far. Good for me in that I know right where it is having driven over it on a hiway 12 trip a few years back. Hey, I'll meet you there when the bite's on !
Cheers,
MontanaMoose
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In my early years of reading about fly fishing of course I read stuff by Charlie Fox. I always thought it was tyranny, or just plain wrong that he switched over to bait casting for pike and muskies. I just never forgave him for that. :)
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J Castwell I ran into the same skepticism when I first mentioned the possibility of fly fishing for musky to a conservation officer. He had never heard of it but allowed the possibility of catching one if you showed them a fly large enough.
If this thread goes on much longer I'll probably end up HAVING to go musky fishing as soon as the water turns soft again regardless of the probability of getting skunked.
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No bait...
JC, Charlie must be ahead of my time...I remember Tappley, Trueblood, Zern, Marinaro...those stand out from the rest off the top but geez, what blasphemy to bait fish for such a noble creature !
cycler, I bet you right now that you get a muskie on a fly ! And all this talk has me wanting to visit
the lake I spoke about sooner than later !
Cheers,
MontanaMoose