After 8 months filled with follows, grabs, refusals, sore hands, adrenaline rushes, doubts, endless casting, fly tying, musky dreams, and time on the water, it finally all came together on Sunday. You can go through the motions one day and feel like a musky charmer. Go through the same motions then try everything else you know the next time, and you can feel like a musky jester (they relax and watch you for entertainment).
I have a couple great mentors in the musky game, and of course am soaking up information from anywhere I can, but I'm quite new to this faction of fly fishing. Until we start cracking some serious musky codes, I know I will be paying my dues for the next one. And that's ok, because plenty of other events happen on the river even when the muskies don't feel like playing. For example, there are other fish around that will also find 11" musky flies tasty :-D (by-catches below caught on a black 11" musky fly). Another benefit is the practice and resulting abilities you gain from the ridiculous amount of time casting a 10+wt rod with a large, air-resistant fly. Besides the concrete positives, every trip to the water is a new experience to learn from and enjoy. This is true for any kind of fly fishing though, as we all know.
