Fishing muskie poppers?

[Hatchet Jack 0]

To date, all my muskie fly fishing has been with sub-surface flies & a sinking line or sink tip.

 

This year I'm going to try some big poppers, maybe even a popper/dropper.

 

So here's the question to you chaps that fish top-water for 'skis -

 

What is your general retrieve technique, on lakes and on rivers?

 

(I gets the feeling that muskie probably like it different

than smallies & LMB but not even sure why)

[mikechell 0]

Jack ... I am not answering as a Muskie angler, but as an interested party.

Ever since seeing the two handed retrieve used by salt water guys (rod tucked under an arm, both hands pulling line) I've been trying it for bass. It's produced a couple of fish out of schoolers.

I did know some Muskie guys back in the day, and I know Muskies are chasers and will run down rapidly cranked lures. So learning the two handed fast retrieve might be one option for enticing large Muskellunge to attack.

[Philly 0]

Based my experience with chain pickerel and pike, I've had my best results with a fast strip, haven't used the two handed strip style but a steady fast retrieve seems to attract strikes. There are a couple of shows on the WFN that I like to watch, one is the Musky Hunter and the Hunt for Big Fish w/Larry Dahlberg. The steady fast retrieve is that they mostly use, unless they're trying to get the lure/fly to "walk the dog" trying to create as much commotion as possible. Now all I have to do is figure out how to do a "Figure 8" with a fly rod.

[Hatchet Jack 0]

Two-handed retrieve, yep I have done that at times subsurface.

And it quarantees one won't pull a troutset weenie ☻

 

A steady retrieve is what I'll try.

And maybe tie up a zig-zag rear weighted Spook type fly.

 

Philly, my version of a figure of eight is to bring the fly close in to rod tip,

sweep the rod tip deep with ~ 2 feet of tippet out the rod tip, making a huge "C" ,

then slowly lifting the rod tip up & out of the water.

Main thing is to get a certain change in direction.

 

[Philly 0]

Thanks for the tip, Hatchet Jack. I'll give it a try when I head up to Northern Ontario in July. The lake I fish is very clear. You can see bottom in 8-10 feet of water. Last time I thought about doing one. The pike was following, decent size for that time of year, I stopped the strip trying to figure how to do one, and the pike inhaled the sinking fly and took it home with him.

[mikechell 0]

I don't know if you are joking or not, so I have to relate what I know of as a "figure 8".

 

When conventional gear guys are pike and muskie fishing, following fish are a normal thing. When they get the lure about 3 or 4 feet from the rod tip, they swim it around ... on the surface ... in a figure eight pattern. Basically, you're just swinging it back and forth with a loop at each end so there's no "stop and reverse" and the end of the arc.

[Hatchet Jack 0]

No joke.....(???)

 

the rod tip goes deep and I make a C sweeping motion.

It's a tad less taxing than the figure of eight full monty.

Hurling dead chicken/wet sock flies all day puts a burn in the joints, it does.

[mikechell 0]

Okay, maybe we have different versions of a figure eight.