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.
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
Can you cast a monster sized 6 or 8 inch fly with that rod? 
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
Montana Moose,
The best place I know of to go and do some research to come up with some musky fly patterns is that book I have, Musky on the Fly. I got my copy from Amazon.com for about $38. Money well spent IMHO since I haven’t found any other book like it.
Sounds like a great resource cycler, thanks. I’ll check my tying books and old mags and try to find something and of course I’ll google a bit and no doubt there are muskie flies here in the archives. Wow, you’ve got me all worked up now…steelhead fishing is great but a 50 lb muskie on the fly ! Whoa !
Cheers,
MontanaMoose
I’ve got a few this Winter I can’t wait to read, no fishing for me so more time to read about it or watch some Youtube!
If a Muskie is a fish of 10,000 casts, how many false casts is that?
Around here spring is a time when Bass fishermen get into Muskies on their bass tackle. 5" Senkos account for more fish than the huge 12" baits that are the standards for Muskie hunters. Then there are the ones kids catch on night crawlers and minnows. I like to rub it in on my Muskie fishing friends when I see those reports. Since Muskies don’t read bulletin boards, they don’t know any better.
Translating that to fly fishing, 5" flies on a 9 wt might get you into a Ski. Give it a try. BTW, a short wire tippet might be a good idea if you want to land it.
Bob White’s article ‘The Perfect Leader’ in the latest issue, addresses the dilemma of fishing for smallies in musky water.
Is there a compromise leader? Some interesting formulas are listed.
I got that book as a chirstmas gift. Havent got around to reading it much yet, but I flipped through to see the pictures and it got me excited. I plan to tie up some huge decievers and deerhair bugs this winter to try out in one of our local lakes where Ive hooked a few musky bass fishing.
Bear,
If a muskie is the fish of 10,000 casts I probably don’t have enough time in a weeks vacation to finish all the back casts…
About muskies taking bass baits and such in the spring I’ve heard a lot about the same thing but still, apart from that time of the year, all I know about muskies says you need the bigger stuff to score consistently. And even for spring fishing I’m planning on carrying some of the bigger flies just in case I run into a fish who just doesn’t care about a snack and wants a meal.
I don’t plan on focusing my fly fishing on muskies but when I have the chance I want to begin capitalizing on it rather than just passing it by like I have been doing. And I think this about the right time to begin, I’ve got a few years of fly fishing under my belt and I think I have the casting skill to begin pursuing this fish. My success or failure on the water will tell the tale.
Got the book for Christmas also.
Looks like it will be a great resource. I’ve caught quite a few that have been less than 36" but would like to step up to the big boys. Looking forward to spending a few hours curled up with it over the next few weeks.
Kevin
I have taken a couple muskie by mistake while bass fishing with a spinning set-up. Muskie are more likely found in shallow water than deep, so are a great canidate for the fly rod. The trick to muskie is two fold; first speed. The faster the better for these fish. Second is size of the lure. Muskie respond to larger baits far more often than small ones. A foot long pattern is not too long at all!!!
The two fish I took one day while on a noted muskie holding body in Ohio both came when the bass bait was past where I thought bass were holding and sped up the retrival by double what I use for bass.
Keep your eyes open clear to until the lure is out of the water. Both pike and muskie will follow a lure far longer than a bass. I have several bass lures with pike teeth marks that occured as the lure was leaving the water. A great way to break your high dollar fly rods 
For that reason and the weight of the bait I would think that a 9-10 wt. would be minimum here.
If either a pike or muskie follows you very close; switch to a figure 8 pattern in the water without taking in any more line. don’t hesitate to roll the fly right back out if the fish turns away. Trust me your lure is very much still on its mind.
Spring through fall are fine times. Basically, use your trout sense of weather, clouds, etc
some call muskie the fish of a thousand casts, for me it was about ten casts. Neither was on purpose either Just dumb luck; not really. I had a big lure on and sped the lure up on water that hold a good number of these fish.
It’s easy for old fishermen to see their topwater fly. Hi-vis patterns not needed.
It’s easy to determine when your popper was hit. “Is that a torpedo or is a fish after my fly?”
Changing flies at dusk does not require a flashlight.
When sight fishing you may mistake a log for your intended quarry. Embarrassment may be compounded if you cast to it and wonder why it didn’t strike.