[mtskibum16]

I went fishing for tiger muskie for my first time this weekend with @dryflylarry as my guide. We got to our destination around 8:30am Saturday with a surprisingly empty parking lot. Good start. Launched the boat and headed to an area that Larry knew held some fish from previous trips. We spotted (and spooked) the first fish less than an hour in to fishing. Having zero experience and almost zero knowledge of these fish, I was surprised to see it so shallow even though I had heard they like the shallows. I had my first follow in this same area a bit later.

After a couple hours or so we found some great water, and really started finding some fish. I was standing there stripping in my fly when I look over and see this absolute monster of a fish suspended above some sunken debris sitting about 2' below the surface in about 10' of water. "Larry! Holy $hit that's a monster!" to which he replied something like "Nah, that's not even that big." haha I was pretty much hooked at that instant. We fished this same area for quite some time and had probably 10 follows. We tried the figure 8, big loops around the boat, etc. I was convinced a couple were really close to eating, but they never did.

In this same area I was blind casting to some structure and stripping fairly quickly when my fly got absolutely hammered by a tiger. I could tell pretty quickly it wasn't one of the giants we had been seeing, but after a surprisingly good fight we netted my first tiger! Such cool fish! As usual when I catch awesome fish, I forgot to measure it, but Larry got this nice photo just before I released it.

This is the fly the fish took, and I had just switched to it. It was a mother F'er to cast, but proved effective.

At this point the boats on the lake were multiplying and our spot was getting pretty churned up, so we decided to go exploring. We found another good flat where I got a strike on a rainbow trout type fly but didn't connect and got a couple more follows. Found another spot where Larry was king and got a hit and a ton of follows.

The lake continued to get busier and busier with recreational boaters, the water was getting really muddy in the prime locations, we were getting roasted by the 88 degree weather and intense sun, and our fish sightings had really started to slow down. We called it quits and pulled the boat out around 5:30pm.

Overall we had a great day, and I felt fortunate to catch one on my first trip out. It was hot and sunny all day, and I can't help but think the bright skies played a part in limiting our success. We saw way more fish than I expected, and we got follows on a number of different flies. I learned a lot and will feel much more confident finding fish on my next outing.

Now to just figure out how to get the big boys to eat!

 

[dust in the wind]

very cool! thanks for sharing. great report!

 

[junkie]

Careful, man. Those things can addict a fellow. I went and bought a boat just for them. But I'm finding pike are fun, too.

 

[jersey]

Nice report

 

[mtskibum16]

Careful, man. Those things can addict a fellow. I went and bought a boat just for them. But I'm finding pike are fun, too.

I can tell. If pike were close by they'd be on the list too. Ha

 

[dryflylarry]

"Now to just figure out how to get the big boys to eat!"

Ain't that the truth! Hopefully we might get this figured out! It was a great day out on the water with Matt. He ties a hell of a nice muskie fly. I can't get over the BIG muskie's we had follow our flies to the boat. It does make your eyes "bug-out" a bit. At least we had a good feeling by the end of the day of how our location beacons were working! I'm heading back to the drawing board and contemplate a new strategy!

 

[Deceased]

I'm stoked for you getting some success out there! Secondly I love that fly. Care to give a little more detail on it. Looks fantastic. I'd fish that day in day out with total confidence.

 

[mtskibum16]

I'm stoked for you getting some success out there! Secondly I love that fly. Care to give a little more detail on it. Looks fantastic. I'd fish that day in day out with total confidence.

Thanks man, it was really fun! Already looking forward to the next time.

The fly is kind of a mix of a couple of Gunnar Brammer's flies (check out his YouTube channel). It's kind of an Imposter/Big Booty Deceiver hybrid. It actually has an articulated tail (on a shank, no hook), but the material was long enough I don't think I needed that. Basic construction is like this: Straight tied and spun/flared bucktail, Fish Scale evenly spread around that (that's the length), bunch of flash on top of that, move forward (maybe 1/2") and repeat. That's the tail. On to the hook, same bucktail spin, SF Bend (or flash n slinky) stacks and spun around top and bottom, predator wrap on sides for barring, move forward repeat but bucktail is reverse tied, move forward repeat with reverse tie, bucktail stacks and dubbing on side, Face Mask. I think I'd make it a bit more sparse and change the head a bit. It's sucks to cast especially the first couple false casts before the water sheds. The one below is build similar but not articulated and more sparse and casts better.

 

[dust in the wind]

Thanks man, it was really fun! Already looking forward to the next time.

The fly is kind of a mix of a couple of Gunnar Brammer's flies (check out his YouTube channel). It's kind of an Imposter/Big Booty Deceiver hybrid. It actually has an articulated tail (on a shank, no hook), but the material was long enough I don't think I needed that. Basic construction is like this: Straight tied and spun/flared bucktail, Fish Scale evenly spread around that (that's the length), bunch of flash on top of that, move forward (maybe 1/2") and repeat. That's the tail. On to the hook, same bucktail spin, SF Bend (or flash n slinky) stacks and spun around top and bottom, predator wrap on sides for barring, move forward repeat but bucktail is reverse tied, move forward repeat with reverse tie, bucktail stacks and dubbing on side, Face Mask. I think I'd make it a bit more sparse and change the head a bit. It's sucks to cast especially the first couple false casts before the water sheds. The one below is build similar but not articulated and more sparse and casts better.

please please please do a sbs so I can tie one up in bluegill colors for bass

 

[mtskibum16]

please please please do a sbs so I can tie one up in bluegill colors for bass

I'll see what I can do. I need to tie a couple more and get some things dialed in.

As for bluegill, you might like this.

 

[Gone away]

Well done. Glad to hear you guys had some success. Be careful though, the addiction bug will bite you.

I really like the white fly. Looks like it has a great profile. You might want to tie the white one in all black. Sometimes black is the right color and sometimes white is. I have no idea why it is. In my limited experience it just works that way.

 

[mtskibum16]

Well done. Glad to hear you guys had some success. Be careful though, the addiction bug will bite you.

I really like the white fly. Looks like it has a great profile. You might want to tie the white one in all black. Sometimes black is the right color and sometimes white is. I have no idea why it is. In my limited experience it just works that way.

Yeah, I hope to dial in a good all-around pattern then just tie it in different colors. I was just throwing shit on a hook for most of these! haha I might make some big tapered dubbing brushes to make quick work of these suckers.

 

[Gone away]

Yeah, I hope to dial in a good all-around pattern then just tie it in different colors.

I am still using basically the same pattern I used last year. The only difference is I made the fly into an articulated fly and added the fish mask with eyes. The fly now has a lot more movement depending on the way I strip it in. The articulated fly is a little tougher to cast because of the plastic fish mask. I tied a double articulated fly and it was way to much work to cast. The single articulation seems to work well.

For some reason, black and white are the only two colors that seem to work for me. I tried a chartreuse fly last year and they all swam away very quickly from it. I took that as a sign and removed them from the box.

 

[junkie]

I am still using basically the same pattern I used last year. The only difference is I made the fly into an articulated fly and added the fish mask with eyes. The fly now has a lot more movement depending on the way I strip it in. The articulated fly is a little tougher to cast because of the plastic fish mask. I tied a double articulated fly and it was way to much work to cast. The single articulation seems to work well.

For some reason, black and white are the only two colors that seem to work for me. I tried a chartreuse fly last year and they all swam away very quickly from it. I took that as a sign and removed them from the box.

Same here. Black seems best, followed by red/white. Where I've found chartreuse is KILLER for pike. Flies with alot of copper or gold flash drive pike crazy, while get ignored by musky.

 

[NDflyfisher]

Same here. Black seems best, followed by red/white. Where I've found chartreuse is KILLER for pike. Flies with alot of copper or gold flash drive pike crazy, while get ignored by musky.

If pike see it they kill it. Chartreuse with a lot of flash seems to stand out and pike hammer that. Muskie are smarter. They want it to look and feel natural. White has been my best pattern. We are in peak topwater pike season. Cast a 3/0 popper to the weedy bank, strip, pause, strip and the water blows up. The 2011 flood year pike are all running 15-20lbs now and the lake is full of them. I love trout but big pike on top is way better than trout and a salmon fly hatch.

 

[clarkman]

I've only got them to even follow on all black (in addition to the fish I've landed). Then again, I fish black 95% of the time.

 

[shotgunner]

The 2011 flood year pike are all running 15-20lbs now and the lake is full of them.

Colour me envious..

 

[Deceased]

Nearly any color will work. A fly that swims, pauses, and changes directions get eaten. I've literally caught them on every color I've tried. I have confidence in some More than others but they all work if the action is right. Truthfully all the classic stuff you see old wood lures painted with works best for me. All the red white combos and Mickey finn colors along with the innumerable bait fish patterns do good.

 

[mtskibum16]

I am still using basically the same pattern I used last year. The only difference is I made the fly into an articulated fly and added the fish mask with eyes. The fly now has a lot more movement depending on the way I strip it in. The articulated fly is a little tougher to cast because of the plastic fish mask. I tied a double articulated fly and it was way to much work to cast. The single articulation seems to work well.

For some reason, black and white are the only two colors that seem to work for me. I tried a chartreuse fly last year and they all swam away very quickly from it. I took that as a sign and removed them from the box.

The fish mask patterns I had were definitely the toughest to cast. They're pretty heavy when you get to the 8.5/10 mm size. I really liked the action and casting ability of the stacked dubbing heads. The head ends up very vertically displaced so they dart really well. The fish mask is just easier to no screw up the fly with. haha

Nearly any color will work. A fly that swims, pauses, and changes directions get eaten. I've literally caught them on every color I've tried. I have confidence in some More than others but they all work if the action is right. Truthfully all the classic stuff you see old wood lures painted with works best for me. All the red white combos and Mickey finn colors along with the innumerable bait fish patterns do good.

I found the same thing in my whole one day of experience. I got follows from every fly I tried expect the perch pattern because I took it off after trying to cast it a few times. I tied it way too dense of material. My next goal is to dial in the right about of material to get a good profile, but still keep it manageable to cast.

 

[mtskibum16]

If pike see it they kill it. Chartreuse with a lot of flash seems to stand out and pike hammer that. Muskie are smarter. They want it to look and feel natural. White has been my best pattern. We are in peak topwater pike season. Cast a 3/0 popper to the weedy bank, strip, pause, strip and the water blows up. The 2011 flood year pike are all running 15-20lbs now and the lake is full of them. I love trout but big pike on top is way better than trout and a salmon fly hatch.

This sounds awesome, and I'm also jealous! I would be all over a somewhat nearby pike fishery.