Skunked on Muskies Again (Despite Good Conditions)

[Fishidiot]

Mooney,
Fishing for warm water game fish is a blast in general.....esocids in particular are overlooked. Your 8WT is perfect for pickerel and pike fishing in PA. For these guys, pretty much the same stuff used for largemouth bass will do the trick. Tie up some flashy streamer flies and use a short length (I use about 6") of wire leader or heavy flouro for a bite tippet. Personally, I'd recommend you have some flies with weed guards as these guys tend to be in the weedy stuff in ponds and lake bays. I'd also recommend that if you want a pike, hit the game in early spring from ice out until about early April; after that time frame many pike are in deep water.
Muskies, as you can see in this thread, are another game. You can use your 8WT, but I use a 10WT for muskies. Virtually all of my PA muskie fishing is in rivers and the nice thing is it's a year round fishery weather conditions permitting.

 

[Cornholio]

Fish idiot said pretty much all there is to say, as for the bite on td55's hand i can't speak for him but i would assume it was from a musky. I had a pike rip my hand up pretty good this fall. Be careful!

 

[PACOFRANSICO]

I love thew fact that there a hard learning curve in the musky game. Especially when you take it up with a flyrod. I believe people have to pay there dues and figure out "there" style they have confidence in. If ya wanna throw a a 8wt and the small stuff our gonna miss the "big" bit. And if ya throw the huge doubles and triples you could miss out on some smaller fish. Its all in what you put into and get outta this end of the fly game. There is no right or wrong way to fish for em. Just a lotta improv and determination.

A famous musky fly guide said "99 percent of the muskies are caught by one percent of the fisherman". And he hit it right on the head!

 

[Cornholio]

Thats a good quote brad bohen maybe ? but i may be wrong.

 

[TD55]

Yeah I'm not saying an 8 wt won't do it either you are just limiting yourself to a certain size fly. You will be able to throw 6-8" flies effectively but will probably fall apart on distance when you really wanna huck one. When you limit your casting distance you are limiting your fly time in the water and you aint gonna catch one if the fly aint in the water. The 10 just allows you to go BIG and bomb cast. You cant put a big enough fly in front of these things. A musky's preferred diet is 1/3 of their body length. So that means a 40" fish consistently eats prey over 13". And they are capable of eating over 50% their body length and I have read some studies that say even as high as 2/3rds length. But then again there are those days when some kid fishing with a Y stick on the bank of some lake catches a 50" on a nightcrawler. They are ornary to say the least.

 

[TD55]

Mooney,
As much as I would like to say a giant musky cracked me on the hand that would be a lie. But take this as a public service announcement. Do not ever let your guard down while casting massive flies. That is what happens when you get lazy on a windy day on the Allegheny River. I did a few double hauls and went to shoot the line and a cross wind blew the fly towards me and the fly came over my shoulder and popped me on the back of the hand. So there are actually 2 lessons here.

1) Always remove the barbs from your musky flies for your safety and the fish's. Thank god I took the barb off or I likely would have been going to the hospital. I also believe the barbs on big hooks are rather large and a musky's mouth is very hard. I think a big barb just cuts your chances down on getting good penetration. Just keep your line tight and you will keep the fish on.

2) Don't let your guard down. I am thankful it got me in the hand and not somewhere else like my ear, neck, or head. This stuff can get dangerous sometimes.

 

[PACOFRANSICO]

Hey Td, we should get together and do some toothy fishin'. I hear the pike will be gettin hot soon.

 

[bilg25]

Yeah I would love to go out with you guys sometime for that. Always looking for some musky people

 

[PACOFRANSICO]

You up for it TD55?
Yeah the pike will be on as soon as the temps warm up & start to stabilize. We might be able to hook up. I got some new water to scout. I guarantee the the fish havent bin fished or even seen a fly. It will be a 1 for the books!

 

[PACOFRANSICO]

Some single hook love for the muskys....

 

[Ramcatt]

The_Sasquatch wrote:
Okay....I have a waterway stocked w/ these dudes near me. How the crap do I get started!? I got an 8 weight. Is that big enough? Leaders, flies?

proper technique and line pairing.. and an 8wt is just fine for anything up to 12in flies

a 10wt would be ideal if you are throwing bulky flies or turning fish in current
but don't let people discourage you from fishing an 8wt

flies are pretty easy to tie
just fur flash and feathers (which are fairly cheap)
it gets $$ when you start using good hooks
trick is profile and water-pushing without the bulk and creating lots of movement

 

[FlySwatter]

Hey Musky Hunters,

I'm a newby to Musky fiels, but I've fish salt and for Pike.

Do you ever use or have success with EP-style flies? They have gret motion and flash and don't hold water.

I noticed most of your ties are really bright colors. Is there a place for more natureal color schemes (pearch, sucker, etc.)?

How about water column depth? I'm sure it sepends on water clarity and temp., but do you favor surface, mid-depth or bottom scraping?

I have an 8 WT & a 10WT so that should cover tackle.

I will most likely be trying my luck on the NB of the Susky near Tunckhannock.

Any tips or wisdom would be much appreciated.

thanks,
Mike

 

[Fishidiot]

Swatter,
I have mixed feelings about EP materials. I like them for some patterns but find that the longer the fly gets the more it tends to tangle and (at least for me) when EP fibers tangle, they're a real mess. Perhaps I'm doing it wrong(?). If it works for you by all means stick with it.

Anyway, with respect to colors and depth: I think colors have a lot to do with personal preference. I tie a lot of musky flies and bucktail spinners in natural colors and tend to favor them in clear water. Neverthelesss, a lot of musky guys like stuff that is big and bright. Much muskie fishing is a matter of covering a lot of water rapidly and fast fishing with big, bright flies (or lures) in hot pink or orange gets the fish's attention and will trigger strikes. During summer months, I usually fish high in the water column with a rapid retrieve. Burn that fly back as fast as you possibly can and don't worry if the fly is right at or just below the surface. Just keep casting and ripping that fly or lure.
During the cold months of the year, I do fish lower and slower and like a fly that rides hook up like a Clouser Minnow which I'll fish by hopping on the bottom. Muskie fishing is mostly about focusing on high percentage spots in rivers and persistence (and don't forget persistence). 🙂

The North Branch Susky is a first class musky river.

 

[PACOFRANSICO]

I've never used ep fiber flys but a couple of musky guys have siad the fine fiber caused false hook sets beacuse it got caught in there fine teethin the front of there mouth. They also dont have the foot print of the hallow tyed bucktails in the water, I think. They are easy to cast.

As far as colors go the gaudier the better for me. They just have to have motion contrast and flash. And I think most of the time the fly just **** them off! I like to fish for river muskys so water depth dont come inot play. If they want it they will chase it down and kill it! I've only ever caught 1 fish on a natural colored fly a olive yellow combo fly. I took it after it after chased a white purple combo.

 

[FlySwatter]

Thanks to both of you. Good stuff!

 

[PACOFRANSICO]

When I'm covering water I fish everything (I have a reason). Riffles, holes, structure, and frog water. I just spend more time in spots I think will hold fish. And have I have rasied fish after 20 min of casting in a good spot. The problem in a holding lye therory is these fish are apex predator. After they reach 3ft they have no natural predators except a giant musky. They can go anywere they want and they do. They also show no fear of anything including you. Thats the cool part the unperdicatible nature and behavior.

 

[StudentofTheStream]

Paco I thought I recalled you stating you were experimenting with lead core line to get the flies down in a hurry. On average what would you say the depth of your flies are during retrieval?

I just bought an Orvis depth charge 400 grain line to get the flies down without having to weight them at all.

Also what other materials do you guys use to give the fly great action. Materials like bunny strips IMO give the best action in comparison to others like bucktail and flash, but they hold a ton of water. Whipping 4/0 tandems over my head once they're wet makes me think I'll be wearing some gaudy jewelry at some point during an outing.

 

[PACOFRANSICO]

I gave it up. I use a sinktip or full sink line now. I strip my flys rather fast so id say maybe 4 or 5 ft. depending on how long I wait after my fly spashs down. I am expermenting with lead eyes with a spun deer hair head around them. In cases i have to fish really deep like on a lake. But i dont use rabbit or any type of fur way to heavy. I want maxium size with minium weight. Its all about efficiency.My flies arnt to complicated. Like Ramcatt said bucktail feathers and flash. And a lot of it

I never think about hitting myself with my musky stuff. My friends and me have fished 2 or 3 hrs after dark. If ya got a feeling for what your cast should be like you'll know when something wrong. This when you tuck your head into your shoulder and try to make yourself small. This happens when the wind blows into your casting shoulder or your wrung out. And look at TD55 hand thats what it looks like.

 

[Fishidiot]

Incidentally, I noticed in the Harrisburg newspaper Big Fish Contest yesterday that two muskies at 44" and 42" were caught from the Susquehanna River last month. Conditions are very good this winter: rivers around here are at a nice level and water temps are in the 40s. Muskies should be happy.

 

[TD55]

Had some time off in the afternoon and went out yesterday for some pike. Got this one and another little hammer handle.