Fly Fishing for Musky?

[Jfad77]

I have been fly fishing for a few years but consider myself a begginer. I have fished for trout, bass and steelhead with varying success. I was fishing a western PA stream and had a few musky swim right past me. After talking to locals I was told that they musky are very aggressive and will grab your trout as you bring it in. My question is if I was to target them what is the setup I should use? I have an 8 wt rod and bought some "toothy critter" leaders and some Pike flies. I have not found a decent rainbow pattern though. Can anyone suggest some of the tactics that I should try, fly ideas and general knowledge that may help me get my first hookup with a musky? Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

-Jon

 

[Fishidiot]

Jon,
Welcome to the PAFF Beginner's Forum.

In short, yes, you can use your 8WT rod for muskies. Don't worry about finding flies that look like trout - just use the biggest streamer you can get your hands on - we're really talking flies at least about 6" long. Muskies aren't picky (usually) but they tend to prefer big stuff. However, you should be aware, going forward, that catching muskies on any equipment is difficult and getting one on a fly is a particular challenge. I've been musky fly fishing several times this year and have not had a single strike. Nevertheless, if you know where there are some muskies, by all means go get 'em with your fly rod.

Check our Warm Water Forum as there has been a lot of discussion of muskie fishing there recently.

 

[Jfad77]

Thank you for the help and pointing me in the right direction! Searching through posts on here I found a TON of valuable information. I will use the search feature before asking questions. i am sure a lot of information has already been discussed many times over on here.

 

[shirk81]

A guy at TCO in west lawn actually caught a pretty big one on his fly in the Schuylkill River. It can be done. What kind of leader and line would you need for this? I never went for Musk. and I hear they got some teeth 🙂