retrieve technique for river and lake musky

[Fly-Swatter]

So, toothy critter pursuers, with autumn fast approaching, please weigh in on preferred depth, speed, and technique of your retrieves for Musky. I have yet to hook up, but I saw two that were well over 40" in a local river and I'm hot to hook into one.

 

[fly_flinger]

Probably the best bet would be to invite me to the river to show you. :-D

Your questions are kinda hard to answer. These fish are very unpredictable and are as likely to grab a slowly retrieved fly in the upper 1-2' of the water column as they are a lightning fast retrieved fly 6-8' down. You have the hard part figured out and that is locating them. Generally, they don't move too far in a river if they have the cover, food and flow they like. So your best bet is to get out there and try everything. You can't go too slow or too fast so try a constant steady retrieve, a strip-pause retrieve and any other type you can think of. If you get a follow, speed up the retrieve, it'll sometime get them to bite. And don't forget to figure-8 when you get the fly back to you. If you are wading and cannot actually perform the figure-8, at least make a few direction changes to show them the side of the fly. Good luck and feel free to PM me with any additional questions.

 

[Dave_W]

Some good advice from Flyflinger. ^

I tend to prefer faster retrievs that result in erratic, side to side swimming action from flies. Even in the cooler and cold months of Sept thru December, I'm usually pulling muskie flies pretty fast.

In dead of winter, I like a slow, jig-like hop on the bottom, but with water temps over about 42 or so degrees, I like to fish 'em aggressively. River muskies (and pike and walleyes) are quite active in cold water. I recommend a long, hard strip/pull that really rips the fly forward and that allows it to stop suddently and turn or sweep to the side, and then drop slowly for a few moments. Then give it another long strip. This erratic, side to side swimming action, I'm convinced, looks like an injured sucker or prey species, and can really trigger fish.

 

[Fly-Swatter]

Thank you both you've reduced the trial and error significantly.

 

[Fly-Swatter]

"Probably the best bet would be to invite me to the river to show you."

I like how you think.

 

[PACOFRANSICO]

Fly swatter,

There are 3 major variables you can control to try to get a Muskies attention. Retrieve this goes and and hand with depth. Color and fly size of the fly. Look at the sz and color of the forage in the river start there. Depth and speed are crucial and having the proper lines to fish the depth and need at speed the fish prefers that day. This comes from having experience with reading Muskies behavior. If a musky comes in Hot up on it peck fins and fast twitchs every time you move the fly usually a color change if the fish isn't spooked, this will elicit a response.

But lasy sluggish follows is were it could be retrieve speed or fly sz could be the cause. Hell back off give the fish some time switch out and continue the process.

Don't be afraid to drop an streamer a couple ft past and in front of
Musky and burn it right past them. They do have a akillies heel and you can draw a reaction strike from them. There use to fast prey you can't out strip a musky.

These fish will tell you what ya need to to do it just takes experience and time on the water to piece the clues together.

 

[Fly-Swatter]

Thanks, Paco!

 

[Jessed]

I always mix it up! But I always start off at a super fast retrieve. But I usually catch fish striping line in every second. And sometimes making jigging motions or shaking your fly rod while bringing line in will get a fish to bite.

 

[Jessed]

^ I think fly size is much more important than color. I always do well with white and red.

 

[PACOFRANSICO]

I'm a firm believer there's a comfort zone length that adult Muskies are comfortable eating. For example A couple years back I went super big 14 plus triple articulated flys nothing smaller. . I got a **** ton of follows and some were from some enormous Muskies. But no eats. You can say did sz pull those big fish up more so that a 8 inch fly maybe? But you exclude a big chunk of a smaller population by going big. There is times that head hunting a particular fish I will go a foot plus but these are times that in going for a particular fish and not blind casting.

For me motion when pause and movement when stripped is more important than sz. But you still have to have that acoustical footprint underwater too. It's a fine line to ride. Muskies got two ways of finding your fly there eyes and by the lateral line. That vibration the fly gives out is critical because the biggest organ in that fishes has is its skin. It one big sensor that fish can feel a fly hit 20 ft away down stream upstream it don't matter. So the vibration a fly gives off pays real dividends in off color or down right soup when they hunt.

 

[Fly-Swatter]

That makes sense (pun definitely intended).

Seriously, though, a bigger head on a streamer with softer flowing materials behind to flutter in the turbulence may be the ticket.