Musky on the Fly comin into its own...

[ttabaleulb]

I still find it kind of tough to find a ton of Musky on the fly out there, but its definitely there and growing. Check out the link below. Its cool to see sponsors gettin involved to help spread the word too. This should help tackle manufacturers focus a little more on the Flyrod side of things and also maybe get an article or two consistently in some fishing mags.

http://www.muskychampionship.com/

[HD Fatboy]

Jay, Are you going to enter the tounament?

[ttabaleulb]

To be honest, I just ran across this info on the web this morning while I was doing my "whats up in the world of Musky fishing today" search. Had i known about it a bit earlier I would have considered headin over there to at least meet up with some fellow Esox Addicts. I'll hope things go well and it will become an annual thing so I can consider it for next year. it sounds like a good time, even without the tournament part of it.

[HD Fatboy]

What ever path you take, good luck!

[toothyfishman]

What????????????? Your not going....................

Come on Jay your out PA rep. on the flies! Sounds like it would be fun. The very first tourney I ever entered I got 3rd in, I just went to see what it would be like to fish against other anglers, never dreamed I would place. The competition is fun and really drives you if your into that.

I'll bet this year it will be small but explode over the next few years. That is cool..................

[ttabaleulb]

LOL Unfortunately, I'd need more than a day or 2 before to get the time off work to make the trip. I believe a couple of guys that I've been chatting with from Vermont are gonna be there, so I should be able to get a good rundown of the event next week.

I'd probably have the same mindset as you did in that first tournament Frank. Just enter to go out and have a good time with a little competition involved, nothin serious. I think it'd be pretty cool just to fish some new waters too. Like I said, maybe next year. I'll be curious to see if they change waters each year too.

[toothyfishman]

I wonder if that river section can be traveled with a jet, float trips, or if those guys are just wading. Be tough to hit very many areas if on foot, plus the guys from that area will know the holes to camp out on.
You may need a partner that has a jet.............lol.................I'll keep my fingures crossed. I know you got extra rods, you just let the cat out the bag on that one..........he he.

[ttabaleulb]

LMAO Funny how that jet thing seems to keep coming up.

They have information about boat launches in the area, so I don't believe they'd be wading. But you're right, I have more than enough equipment for 2 or more people at this point. So, maybe next year you hook your jet to the truck and I'll provide all the tackle and gear and we'll go show em how us PA boys do Musky!!

[HD Fatboy]

we'll go show em how us PA boys do Musky!!

I Like that!

[toothyfishman]

Jay we'll have to get out sometime this year and do a flyrodding trip so I can get the hang of it without killing both of us.
Got pike on flies before but it's been years.

Either Lake X or the river somewhere?? Allegheny or the Susky would be cool maybe?

[Red Childress]

I just had my first fly lesson yesterday. Maybe I can go with you guys as an alternate?

[ttabaleulb]

LOL Now we're talkin. We'll get 3 of us goin and have that water whipped into a froth in not time!!

Frank,
That'd definitely be cool to get together at some point. Jeff is in the process of gettin a new boat and is dyin to take it out on Chautauqua. So, if we can't get together somewhere in PA, maybe we can catch you up there.

Red,
Awesome, how'd the lesson treat ya?

[Red Childress]

I just need to smooth-up my stroke a little and keep my wrist action to a minimum. Yes, I know how that sounds.

[ttabaleulb]

LOL I know what you mean. I'll tell you what, the wrist is already gonna take a beating from doing boatside maneuvers. So far, I have not found a good way to support the wrist while doing those, so all the pressure hits that part of the hand. I had one fish go around about 8 times with ovals and 8's and the wrist was big time tired after that. If I would have ended up hookin it, I would have struggled with the fight for sure.

[Red Childress]

After discussing things with Gary (fly instructor and a guy who had his 30# wire tippet broken on a musky with me a couple years ago), I think I am going to really shorten things up..........only 4-6 inches of 30# fluoro coming off the main line and then directly to 30#/6-inch titanium bite tippet when using sinking line. I am really worried about pulling all those loops/knots through my guides while stripping all the way down to the bite tippet and then going into the fig-8.

[ttabaleulb]

I can't blame ya one bit for that. Until I kind of "perfected" the nail-knot that I use between the flyline and tippet, it was definitely a concern of mine too. So far, my current setup seems to be workin out pretty well. Of course, you never know for sure until you have a monster on and something goes wrong. LOL Like I've mentioned before, I really dig hearing that slight "tick" of the nail-knot comin thru the first eye because it lets me know that its about time to go into the 8.

That short of a setup should really get the fly down too with a full sinking line.

[ppalko]

I wear a neoprene wrist wrap to add some support. Not the one that wraps around your thumb just a wrap around the wrist. I use the same one for playing tennis.

[toothyfishman]

Jay,

I want you to know if you pick Red over me as a partner I fully understand.

Boat envy happens to all of us at one point in our lifes.....I believe that jetboat envy is the worst case.
Flying along in Red's super fast sleek shallow slayer VS....puttin' along in a 20HP jet.

I would suppost your decision and understand and we can still be friends.......................LOL......I would pick him too....

[ttabaleulb]

LMAO You make a good point about the boat envy Frank. However, I think the last time I was in Red's boat flyin up the river in the rain, I swear the raindrops were actually doing physical damage when they hit us. LOL

[ttabaleulb]

ppalko,

Is that just a general sports wrist wrap, or did you find one specifically for fishing somewhere?

[ppalko]

Just a sports wrap I buy at Rite Aid or Walmart. I get one without the thumb wrap as I can't hold a tennis racket with that. I used it all summer when fishing as I had tendonitus and it worked great.

I never have to worry about injury from rain in my "speedy" 4 HP canoe "rig". If it gets to fast, I just use my electric motor....I think I top out at 2 MPH.

Red runs 5 miles in the time it takes me to go through one riffle.

[toothyfishman]

Couldn't reply to you again....

Jets are hard to find...............that 16 footer was a good deal. I guess around here you have to look at all the more a guy can use a boat. Pleasure boaters get them out for Memorial day and back in at Labor day, even if they got every other weekend that isn't alot of hours.

Do you live in the Warren area, I saw you mention you canoe it one riffle in the time Red can go 5 riffles.

[ttabaleulb]

Along these same lines, any of you who happened to get the Muskies Inc Calendar for this year will be staring at a dude Flyfishing for Musky all month long!! Gotta love it!! Hopefully it won't be long until there is a magazine that is mainly Flyfishing for some Toothy Critters.

[ttabaleulb]

Red,

Not to keep buggin ya about this, but have you been throwin any flies so far during the Summer fishing pattern? Just curious cause I'm dying to hear a story or 2 about the first couple you land on the flyrod.

[Red Childress]

About 2 weeks ago I had a hardcore Esox fly guy out and I finally had a chance to cast out of my boat for a serious hunt. My casting was much better than I had expected even though I did not have any action, my client did well. He hooked up with a mid-30 inch pike and had 3 other follows from muskies. The last musky he saw, he pulled the bait away just as the fish flared on it and he had ran out of line because of all the dang knots/loops he had in his rigging. (Yes, he was kicking his own arse all the way back to the launch.) After seeing how he was "handcuffed" at boatside, I will continue to to only tie a 4" 20# mono connector to my 8" bite tippet in order to have a smooth transition at boatside. I think he will do the same when he fishes out of a boat from now on.

That has been it for me regarding Esox on the fly this summer. I have had my hands full just trying to get action on traditional tactics. This had been a super tough summer so far after one of the best Spring's I have ever had......I guess I will just keep on grinding thru it like every other tough bite period. Our water temps range between 67-75 depending on which stretch of water we are fishing and this year's spawn is about 2-3 inches longer than they should be for mid-July. Maybe the early spawn has put a hurting on things because I am not hearing many good fishing reports from PA waters.

[ttabaleulb]

Thats cool that you at least had a little bit of a chance to whip the flies around. That sucks that your client had those issues with a hot fish right at their feet. Just crazy how you never really know what all can go wrong with your setup until a fish is there to teach you a lesson or 2. I've been fortunate enough to have them teach me lessons with both conventional AND fly gear. Guess I'm a glutton for punishment.

I can't blame ya for running a shortened leader. As I mentioned, with the nail knot that I use, I use some silicone to round it out to slide thru the guides easier. Been using that setup for about 2 seasons now and its been working out pretty well. However, I'm sure I'll have another lesson taught to me at some point while a toothy critter stares at me with that WTF look I'm so fond of.

Good luck and I hope we get a weather change in the near future that turns em on for all of us.

[Red Childress]

The reason I got away from all the knots is I have been told by some of my clients that when they are hooking big pike at boatside with knots already thru the guides, the rod will snap as the fish runs if any of those knots hang in the guides.....even for a split second. I assume the silicone trick you are doing will prevent that, right?

If so, I will give it a shot.

[ttabaleulb]

Well, I can't guarantee that it will not cause issues under those circumstances. In terms of the flyrod, I've only had a handful of fish that I've had shots at with boatside techniques. The one that I completely screwed up was a low to mid-40's fish that I got soo fired up about that I accidentally pulled the line so far through the eyes that the wire/bite tippet was through the eye also. Needless to say, the knot that I tie there is not made to slide through the guides. And let me tell you, it would not budge, even with the fish pulling me and the rod underneath the boat! LOL I did believe that the rod was gonna break while it was being pulled against the side of the boat, but the hook came loose before that happened.

For my knot( I only have the flyline/mono connection going through the guides), as long as I can get them through the guides just in the process of my casting, I feel secure that they should not give me an issue with a fish on. But you know as well as I that these fish will always find a way to expose whatever weakness may be available. I've just kind of copied some of the "big name" fly guys out there and tweaked a few things for my setup. I'll stick with it for now until I find a reason to make a change.