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3. BIG Fly

I tied up a musky fly for this weekend for northern WI. I've been told to go big in the fall. My musky hackle is a bit twisted, but it should straighten out the first time in the water.

I bet you could take a mako shark on that... might want a much stronger hook though! ;)

Now that's a big fly!

What size hook are you using? Too many questions here, sorry; are you using a wire, braided-steel, or hard-mono bite-tippet?

Anyway, catch one (or two) for the guys who aren't getting out this weekend- good luck!

Roguerat

Roguerat,

No problem. I like questions. The trailer hook is a 2/0 Gamakatsu B10S. The lead hook is a 4/0 VMC trailer hook. I connected them with AFW 46 lb wire. I would prefer heavier, but that's what I have. My friend who taught me to tie musky flies uses 75 lb titanium usually.

Thanks! I'll do my best...now if the fish will do their part...

Best of luck, Kyle!

Kyle,

Last year at our clubs fly fishing show, the Midwest Fly Fishing Expo,, I escorted Rick Kustich around as he spoke at seminars, the casting pool, etc.He tied a Musky fly on Sunday morning of the show similar to yours there. Reverse tied bucktail and he used those interlocking metal sections and tied part of the fly on one and then another and then another, and then they all connected together. It was huge!

You should of seen the fish he had caught with one like it...Incredible. Labor intensive. We tied one last year in my winter tying group. Only a baby duck eater could get its mouth around it. :)

Spence

No fish on this fly, or in general, but I do like the way it swims in the water!

Spence - Labor intensive is right, the fishing and tying. I'm slow at tying anyway, but the articulated musky flies take me an hour and a half I'd guess. IMO they are fun to tie and look cool though, so I'm alright with it. Luckily the fish I'm hoping for can eat baby ducks. If I'm real lucky, I might even find one that can eat adult ducks too! :)

On a side note, have you seen the new GEOBASS? They fish in Papua New Guinea for black bass. I thought musky were voracious predators. They use 14 and 16 wt rods, and a fish still breaks one in 4 pieces.

Wow Kyle, that fly really is a monster - but of course, what you are trying to catch on it looks like a monster too! If you do land anything on that fly, we'll sure want to see it on here. I've tied pike/musky flies on 6/0 Orvis musky hooks before, but nothing articulated. I bet it does look good in the water!

What fly rod/reel/line rig are you throwing this thing on?

Well, I know your philosophy is generally large streamers for large fish...except for that freakin' bull trout, of course...;oD

Good luck!!

Jonathon

P.S. I see you managed to squirrel away some good grizzly streamer hackle from the "hair extensions" fashion craze. So did I, though it mostly gets used for Woolly Buggers, makes it look like lots of legs in motion. Hmmm, how about a giant articulated Woolly Bugger?

I use an Echo Ion 10 wt with the 10 wt Rio Outbound Short in both the full sinking and intermediate. The 10 wt outbound short has a 425 gr head. Someone proficient with a double haul can dump the full line with 1-2 false casts in their sleep. That is a damn good thing if you want to fish all day long! My reel is a #4 Lamson Guru.

I also tie single hook musky flies on hooks ranging from #2/0 to #6/0. From what I hear, fall is the time for the big flies, so this was tied specifically for the fall.


True, I do like big flies. The bull trout was an anomaly. I've gotten a look from several people that I have told that says, "Yeah right! You lying little ahole". :)

The fly shop in my area started stocking musky hackle more consistently. That stuff is expensive though, so I bought one versatile color (grizzly) and will just accumulate more over time.

For buggers, have you ever used the whiting bugger pack? Not only is it great stuff for wrapping a standard bugger, but I use it all the time for tails and accents on streamers, see below tied for salmon/steelhead/lake run brown fishing. The tail consists of two feathers from a "Bugger Pack" tied in. I stole the idea from musky flies, although I'm sure the idea has been around considerably longer. The tails just float and flutter and wiggle and move in the water, whether the fly is moving or not.



I don't see why a giant articulated woolly bugger wouldn't work, it just might be hard to find hackle with long enough barbules. :)

"I don't see why a giant articulated woolly bugger wouldn't work, it just might be hard to find hackle with long enough barbules. :)"

You'd have to use the biggest most grizzly-looking schlappen you could find!

That's another very nice looking fly by the way.

Jonathon

Love this line when I'm fishing up at the tip of the thumb for small mouth in May...It makes me look like a master-caster! I almost can cast with it as far as Tony. :)

You can shoot out whatever you have stripped off the reel before your cast. We fish on a big hip deep bay, flats-like, on the edge of Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron...Can cast it a mile!

Spence