Muskie on the fly success!

[Pujic 0]

Hey guys...hope everyone is well, and is making the most of what's left of the season.

Just wanted to share some recent muskie success on the fly.

 

The flies we're running are tied by Graham Coombes (Swim True Flies). Back and chartreuse, about 12" long with a glass rattle and tandem hooks.

 

Has anyone else tried geting muskie on the fly? Fall definitely seems to be the best time to target the big ones.... We're running Airflo 40+ lines with the integrated intermediate sinktips. While we've had some luck, I still think there is a lot of room for improvement.

 

Any tips / tricks from other members for muskie on the fly?

 

Cheers,

 

Puj

[oatka 0]

HOLY FREAKING CRAP!!! :bugeyes:

 

That's an amazingly huge fish!

 

Nice work!

 

 

[Futzer 0]

Hello Pujic, Nice Muskie!!!!! My tip, do not stick your hand in its mouth. Water temp is key! We do not have Muskie down here in Utah, but we do have Tiger Muskies and Pike. We fish them in the spring from ice off to upper 60's water temp, Then in the fall as they ready for winter. My largest is 44 inches. I use realistically colored bait fish patterns and big crawdads made from rabbit strips, in olive, black and rust colors. Fish the crawdads right on the bottom. The baitfish, cast into the weeds near shore and strip out to deeper water. I have hooked up in about a foot of water. Unfortunately have never hooked a tiger or pike topwater, like more northern fisheries.

 

Thanks for sharing the pics.

 

Cheers, Futzer.

[Harold Ray 0]

Those are beautiful fish!! I wish I was with you!! I'd love to catch one of those on a flyrod!

 

Ray

[longears 0]

that's a beautiful fish Nick! Congratulations.

 

Randy

[Wellman 0]

Nice Fish!!!

 

Your so lucky you can still go fishing. Where I live the lakes are frozen. :crying: :crying:

[lewy271 0]

Extremely nice fish, I'd invest in a fish cradle.

[day5 0]

Sick fish! Id second the cradle but at least you did not put your hand in the fishes gill. You probably already know this but some one else may not. Pike and musky do not like to be out of the water long. They die easy My musky have come on dumb luck and they are few and far between. So I cant offer any advise. But I would like to see a pick of that fly and a good shot of the bill is it homemade? prefab? looks cool!!!

[Redwings1 0]

Jeez Nick...that is a hog of a muskie!

[willhunsaker 0]

NICE fish !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[letumgo 0]

Congratulations, Puj!!! That is an AMAZINGGGGGGGG fish! :bugeyes: :punk: :eek:

 

That must have been a tremendous fight. My hands would have been shaking after catching a fish like that.

[tyrite 0]

Great one looking Muskie!!! I would like to see more about that fly Nick. Where did you get that one??

 

tyrite (Glen Dayton)

[Pujic 0]

Hey guys! Thanks very much. Honestly I've never shook so bad after a fish as I did after that one. Surprisingly the fight wasn't as crazy as one might imagine. The fish hit close to the boat, not even all that hard, and stayed deep for a few minutes. I actually thought we had a smaller pike on or something at first. When it did come up we were able to net it first try (thank God) so the whole thing was over pretty quickly. I do have a cradle but lost a muskie trying to use it the week before so we went right for the oversized muskie net this time around.

 

The fish wasn't out of the water for more than a few seconds at a time. The water temp was around 45' so the fish was able to recover rather quickly and swim back off into the depths. It was surprisingly cooperative which being handled. I've had fish half that size throw a way bigger fit during the un-hooking process. Strange how that works sometimes eh!

 

As for the flies, the "lip" that you see at the front is actually made of foam. It provides enough resistance when retrieved to pull the fly down and give it a wiggle action - kind of like a floating jointed rapala really. Here is a link to the Graham Coombes site who make the flies for us. http://www.swimtrue.com/

 

I also have another buddy, Rob O'Reilly who ties similar patterns with hard CnC'ed plastic lips which he ties in at the front. Same concept, different lip material - just as effective.

 

I'm hoping to get back out there again tomorrow and see if we can't pull off a repeat!

Will keep you guys posted. Thanks for all of the input!

 

Cheers,

 

Puj

 

 

[lewy271 0]

I'm sure the fish was released fine, I'm a sucker for a nice musky and get sensitive about how I handle them. I personally have only removed two from the water, one because OMG big fish and the other because it inhaled the fly through the gillracker and was hooked outside on the gill plate. The fish was awesome, I'm jealous and hope you take many more; but just in your home waters so they don't become used to seeing a fly!

[kodiaksalmon 0]

Wow man, that fish is a slob!

 

I just moved to Lake St. Clair and bought a Ranger just for the muskies. They account for 95% of my fishing. I like those flies. I can imagine how well they'd work. I've taken a slightly different approach, and that is to mimic the trend in conventional muskie tackle, and that's large, Flashabou bucktails with blades. I use double sixes and sevens, and later in the fall, like now, I use single sevens and eights. This time of year, I'll also slow roll more lifelike baitfish patterns that will suspend better and can be jerked back to the boat.

 

 

And yeah, skip the cradle. They're a good idea, and do support the fish well, but the time and effort to use them properly outweighs their beneifits. I fish alone, so they're not an option for me. (I use the largest Beckman they make.) But I've seen guys trying to use them and miss a fish three or four times before they get it in the cradle, and each time in stresses the fish all the more. I'm not saying they're bad. I'm just saying that a huge net is faster and easier all else being equal. I also like a net, because fishing alone, I can hang the bag over the side and leave the fish in the water while I have two hands free to get the hook out, put the rod down, whatever. Nets just work better for me.