KEY TAKEAWAYS: MUSKY ON THE FLY AND A MUSKY MINDSET
BASICS OF A MUSKY MINDSET AND APPROACH
Knowing each individual fishery is hugely important. When you fish each body of water, hit key spots as outlined below, and let any musky you move or see guide you in how you focus your attention.Flexibility is critical to be consistently successful with musky.Patterning fish becomes difficult because of the inherently lower numbers of fish. Because of this, we can have a game plan, but we should always try extreme differences on any given day.At the same time, if we are seeing muskies in lakes or in rivers with electronics or otherwise in one particular piece of structure and/or cover like weedbeds or solid cover (rocks, wood, etc.), then start looking for this particular piece of cover.Let the conditions drive your initial game plan: if the water is high, check the banks; if the water is low, concentrate on the deeper stretches of the river, etc.Dams are very good spots to check for fish, and you can start here. Then, you can use the fish’s reactions and location to help you out further down the river.Muskies, particularly big ones, will be territorial, so you can often find the same fish holding his spot in the river many times throughout the year.Try to eliminate poor water (too shallow or with too high a gradient). However, look for that one spot within the poor water that might be just big enough to hold a musky.Once you have identified some of the best spots within a stretch of river, you may concentrate your efforts on these spots. The float should be an A-to-Z float, not an A-to-B float.Work the spot with multiple different casts and flies. Don’t be afraid to fish through the spot multiple times with multiple different presentations.Chris likes to target prime pieces of water during a “bite window.” This normally occurs during particular phases of the moon (majors, minors, etc.).Try to approach musky fishing from the mindset of “I learned something about this piece of water,” not “I didn’t catch a musky.”Dedication and fishing hard are keys to putting muskies in the boat consistently.Also, focusing, particularly when you are at key points, is huge, since you don’t want to blow the one shot you have.
SEASONAL MOVEMENTS FOR MUSKY ON THE FLY
Late winter/early spring, target staging areas where you will find muskies staging before the spawn (creek mouths, etc.).After the spawn, you can target fish in smaller creeks and near these areas.Summer, oxygen-producing areas hold more fish (below rapids/riffles).Fall, the fish are feeding heavily to build reserves for the winter, including to produce their eggs for the spring. Focus on prime eating zones: eddies, behind logs, behind rocks, in the deeper pools, and in the couch water.Fishing deeper can be very effective in the fall. The angler in the back of the boat often has a better chance of getting the musky at this time of year.
MUSKY ON THE FLY AND FLY SELECTION
Flies need to have “motion without movement.”For fly selection, start off with the basic forage fish within the river as a basis for proportion and size.Size and how much water the fly is pushing are hugely important for musky.Chris has a very flexible approach to fly selection and presentation. Don’t get stuck in one mindset on a given day. Since we’re fishing prime pieces of water, we should use multiple different flies and presentations.
SEVEN IMPORTANT FLIES
B1G FoosaOptimus SwineBig bucktail style pattern (Game changer,
T-Bone musky fly etc.)
Double NickelBrad Bowen’s
Buford Musky FlyBrad Bowen’s
Optic Minnow Style Fly with epoxyBrad Bowen’s River Pig (weighted)
FIGURE EIGHT AND READING FISH
Adjust your figure eight approach to the musky’s moods.If the fish comes in fast and aggressive, move the fly faster to keep that fish excited.If the fish comes in slow and methodical, try to tease the fish with the fly, etc.Get the fly deep by putting the rod tip into the water. Chris will actually put his rod and hand into the water at times.Make sure to do big turns on your figure eight since musky can’t turn their body sufficiently on narrow turns.Also, play with the plane of the figure eight. This means coming up high and then shooting the fly down, or vice versa, during the figure eight motion.Depth and speed are huge triggers on the figure eight. Normally, you need to change these on all of your turns.If you don’t see a fish, do at least two turns, but do three if you can.
