Muskie Flies Source?

greenghost

greenghost

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Jun 25, 2008
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I'm looking for a good source for buying muskie flies; patterns that are effective for western PA.

I'll be throwing both surface poppers/patterns and sub-surface, but not really deep diving. I will be fishing with floating and intermediate sinking lines, 9wt.

Many of the flies I see online are questionable as far as balance, action and, most of all, effectiveness for local waters.

Feel free to PM me if you want.

Thanks

 
:-D, I wanna hear it as well!


greenghost wrote:


Feel free to PM me if you want.

Thanks
Click to expand...

 
I'm not sure of a source.

Although muskie FFing has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years, I'm not sure if a reliable set of basic patterns are available yet. My sense is that this is still a form of niche fly tying. You might check Blane Chocklett's website (if he even sells flies) as he is an innovative tier and focuses a good bit on toothies. TheFly Fisher's Fly Shop paper catalog has a fairly good collection of musky flies ranging from about $13-$19 each.

Of course we have some very good tiers here on PAFF and perhaps one of them will PM with an offer to tie up some for you.
 
Subsurface... Any big baitfish pattern works (Lefty’s Deceiver, Half-n-Half, etc). A basic Buford will be effective as well, since it moves a lot of water. Nothing more than a spun deer hair head with schlappen, etc.

Here’s a link: Buford

As far as topwater goes, a big ol foam popper will work. Something like Bohen’s Spongebob Squarehead: Link here

You’ll likely pay through the nose for these flies, so learning to tie them will be much better on your wallet!
 
It's gotta be cheaper to tie your own. I just checked my Feather Craft catalog and they have flies that I would consider using for pike/muskie ranging from $4.99 to $19.99. One of the reasons all the lures in my dark side tackle box are 10 to 15 years old. The price for lures is just a bad these days as the price for flies.
 
Ouch! $$$$$
 
Send me 100 bucks and i'll send you 4...or

https://www.nightmaremuskyflies.com/
 
Baron wrote:
Ouch! $$$$$
Click to expand...


Fair price for muskie flies given the amount of materials used, the hooks and the time it takes making a high amount of labor cost to tie, especially the articulated ones.

Musky lures are even more expensive here.
 
When I was tying mine, I'd go to the local conventional tackle shop and buy the big hooks (1/0-4/0). I'd say the hooks were the most expensive part of the whole thing. You can buy schlappen in large quantities and the bucktail, well, it was just saltwater size. For Bufords the head was just spun deer belly hair. I suppose it's possible if you actually break down the cost per fly that there may be a few dollars of material in it, but that seems high to me. Perhaps as tyers we underestimate what it actually costs to produce a fly?
 
wgmiller wrote:
When I was tying mine, I'd go to the local conventional tackle shop and buy the big hooks (1/0-4/0). I'd say the hooks were the most expensive part of the whole thing. You can buy schlappen in large quantities and the bucktail, well, it was just saltwater size. For Bufords the head was just spun deer belly hair. I suppose it's possible if you actually break down the cost per fly that there may be a few dollars of material in it, but that seems high to me. Perhaps as tyers we underestimate what it actually costs to produce a fly?
Click to expand...

It takes close to an hour to tie some of those musky flies, add a couple of bucks for materials, add in the cost of the hook and also some profit for the shop, for a $10 or $12 fly retail price, a fly tyer would be working for close to minimum wage to tie those flies.

But if the flies were tied overseas in a low income country, the prices will be lower since labor cost is a big factor. The choice is yours, though.
 
Thanks, for the recommends guys.

Unfortunately, tying my own is not an option. By the time I buy everything to make them, including the vice and equipment, and learn how to do it, I'm into it for $500 and the many weeks learning curve... plus I just don't have the time.

As far as purchasing flies, I'm figuring anywhere from $12 to $18 per fly x 6 flies to start around $100. This is a new venture for me. I'm only trying it because I know streams and small rivers on the western side of the state that have muskies, and I know some of their haunts. Thought I'd try it out this fall. (Strictly wading.) Just a trial. Though, I suspect I'm going to really enjoy it.
 
Thanks, for the recommends guys.

Unfortunately, tying my own is not an option. By the time I buy everything to make them, including the vice and equipment, and learn how to do it, I'm into it for $500 and the many weeks learning curve... plus I just don't have the time.

As far as purchasing flies, I'm figuring anywhere from $12 to $18 per fly x 6 flies to start around $100. This is a new venture for me. I'm only trying it because I know streams and small rivers on the western side of the state that have muskies, and I know some of their haunts. Thought I'd try it out this fall. (Strictly wading.) Just a trial. Though, I suspect I'm going to really enjoy it.
Click to expand...


Like you tying my own is not an option for me either, but I’m thinking about getting some of Blane Chocklett Mini Finesse Changer & Micro Changer flies and giving them a try.

https://flymenfishingcompany.com/collections/the-blane-chocklett-signature-fly-collection
 
Check out urban fly company. Guy from western pa
 
https://rusuperfly.com/ Hands down some of the best deer hair work I’ve seen
 
Some aren’t that cheap to even make.
 

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Greenghost Will you be fishing NW. waters.
 
Yes. I might be fishing Allegheny River and French Creek, and further down Mahoning and Redbank... possibly
 
I know you said you wanted top water flies but I think you should add some divers n there. For Allegheny river I really think your just going to beat yourself up on throwing them. You should bring your flies to the surface when stripping the line then let sink in hole there are a lot of rocks in Allegheny River and that’s where the Muskie hide. They seem to love hitting it when it’s on its way down.
 
I second Urban Fly Company --> http://urbanflycompany.com
I bought a selection from Mark last year. Haven't fished them much yet, but top notch flies. And Mark is an awesome dude to deal with.
 
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