Musky on the fly. My first one.

[brookiesofpa]

Here is my first attempt to upload some picts of a musky I caught here in NW pa. My first one landed on a 5 wt switch rod with a angel hair streamer I tied. Not sure on length or weight so your guess is as good as mine. Most likely round 6 lbs? 20 something long. Was a few minutes getting the brute landed. Not legal in Pa so he was released back into the creek unharmed. Still a great catch for me as I have never tried to catch a musky only been frustrated when they take my smallie flies...Not this time I had a wire tippett.
Enjoy,
Greg

 

[streamerguy]

Thats awesome! I'm guessing a little more than 6, maybe 10? and on a 5wt!

I have yet to get my first musky, and I'm still lookin for my first pike on the fly also. Can't wait till the time comes!

 

[brookiesofpa]

It was a cool catch. The 5 wt switch has as much backbone as a 8 wt single handed rod so it's a bit more rod than ya think but none the less I couldn't horse the musky around he pulled out about 40 yards of line...three times. Now is the time for pike and musky if ya want some ideas pm me and I can tell ya what I know which isn't much but in the last three times fihing I have landed one pike, one musky and lost another musky that was at least 35 inches long.
Tight lines
Greg

 

[Fishidiot]

Well done sir!

 

[jay348]

Awesome!

 

[brookiesofpa]

Thanks fish,
Who could I get some info from on how many of these things a guy can catch on a given season and some more finer points. The only reason I have caught what I caught was I have seen them swimming away with my smallie fly in their mouths so I have an idea as to where these fish are located. When targeting pike/musky specifically how sucessful can you be? I am two for three out of fishing three times is this just right place at the right time? Or is it possible to catch them with some regularity?
Thanks,

Greg.

 

[Fishidiot]

brookiesofpa wrote:
Thanks fish,
Who could I get some info from on how many of these things a guy can catch on a given season and some more finer points. The only reason I have caught what I caught was I have seen them swimming away with my smallie fly in their mouths so I have an idea as to where these fish are located. When targeting pike/musky specifically how sucessful can you be? I am two for three out of fishing three times is this just right place at the right time? Or is it possible to catch them with some regularity?
Thanks,

Greg.

Most muskies caught in PA are incidental catches made by bass fishermen. If you're a hard core bass guy throwing streamer flies in our larger rivers you'll get a musky eventually. With respect to how successful you can be with pike and musky....they're very different fish. You can have a multi pike day easily (esp in springtime). Muskies are much tougher. I've been out, I think, three times this year for muskies and haven't had a strike. With that said, don't buy the nonsense that it takes "10,000 casts" to catch a muskie. If you talk to hard core conventional tackle musky guys, you'll find that over a season they often average about a fish per trip - roughly a good fish for every 3-8 hours of fishing. Some days they'll catch several fish. Keep in mind, we're talking boat guys throwing bucktails or trolling and specifically targeting these fish. If you're wade fishing with a fly rod you're at a real disadvantage chasing these fish because so much is based on covering water. If you're "two for three" on muskies you're doing very well in my estimation.
With respect to getting some finer tips on fishing muskies, you might consider a guide. There are some good ones in western PA. You might try:
http://www.alleghenyguideservice.com/

 

[brookiesofpa]

Thanks Afish,
Do pike and musky inhabit the same conditions? Cause where this one was caught seems to have an unusually high pop of muskies but not northerns. There are at least two other musky where this one was caught as I and my fishing buddy both saw the three of them. As you can see it's on a small stream. As far as the guide thing After I get my nursing degree I will do that for kinzua trout and musky just for the heck of it.
Thanks,
Greg

 

[Fishidiot]

brookiesofpa wrote:
Do pike and musky inhabit the same conditions?
Thanks,
Greg

Greg,
Yes (for the most part).
Pike and muskies have co-evolved in the same waterways since the ice age. In fact, there's currently a popular theory that holds that juvenile pike - because they're born earlier and are larger than muskie fry in the springtime - eat many young muskies and that this actually is good for the muskie population because muskies are low density top of the food chain fish and must by necessity be scarce.
Anyway, yes, you'll often find them in the same spots, esp in creeks and rivers - usually deeper, slower water with weedy or woody cover. In lakes, it's a bit more complicated. Large northerns (30"+) cannot tolerate warm water. Their comfort range is much colder than adult muskies, usually in the 55 degree F range. For this reason, in lakes the larger pike are often very deep in summer. Smaller pike like it warmer and will hang out in weedy shallows all summer. In your neck of the woods, muskies are a native fish and are found in many if not most of the medium sized and smaller warm water creeks. Most people don't think of muskies as creek fish but they thrive in creeks in western PA. I don't think that creek fish grow as large but they're there. My guess would be that in western PA pike are more spotty in creeks but if you can find them they should be more numerous and catchable on fly gear, esp before the water temps get too warm.

 

[gulfgreyhound]

Nice fish,congrats. GG

 

[BeastBrown]

Nice fish, I too think that's a bit bigger than you think. The Susky is loaded with musky. Think the Allegheny has a decent pop too. Fly rod gets pretty boring after awhile. Bucktails with a spinning rod is the best way to cover a lot of water that doesn't burn you out fast, in my opinion. Jitterbugs and those creek chubs are good cheaper baits that aren't that huge that will catch them. Definitely a fish a trip if you have a high enough density and know where they are-with spinning gear that is.

 

[TD55]

I would say if you dedicate yourself to the fly rod and you are fishing streams with decent population you should expect a fish every 2-3 trips maybe better. I do however at least get follows just about every trip. If I don't at least get a follow I consider that a bad day. Even a follow is a win in this game.

 

[brookiesofpa]

TD55 wrote:
I would say if you dedicate yourself to the fly rod and you are fishing streams with decent population you should expect a fish every 2-3 trips maybe better. I do however at least get follows just about every trip. If I don't at least get a follow I consider that a bad day. Even a follow is a win in this game.

Thanks TD. And thanks Afish. I just now checked the site will check PM. Caught a smaller 24 inch musky yesterday in the same creek in the same area and rolled a 40+musky and had a 35+ hooked but lost him when he went nuts ripping out drag. I didn't have him hooked too good. I rolled a couple of others as well but couldn't give estimation of size other than big compared to my smaller 24 inch catch of the day.

 

[Pittflyguy]

Well done!!!!!!!!

 

[brookiesofpa]

Pittflyguy wrote:
Well done!!!!!!!!

Thanks pittflyguy. Can't wait till tomorrow when I am off to give it a go again.