Musky on the fly? Suggestions?

[MOFishwater]

Heading up to Northern Wisconsin, Hayward to be exact, in just over one month. We'll be fishing Lost Land Lake and Teal Lake, "The Quiet Lakes" for a week. Hoping to catch my first real large musky this year, ended up getting skunked on them last year, our first trip up there. Caught some large pike and a zillion fat largemouth once we had em patterned, but we didnt go up there to catch bass;) They had record temperatures, combine that with crystal clear shallow water and you've got some tough fishing. Landed my first 2 tiger musky a couple weeks ago at my wife's grandmother's lake after 3 unsuccessful years of chasing them. One Fri night and one Sat afternoon! Nothing too fancy, first one was probably 7lbs and the 2nd closer to 5, both on 6" swimbaits in about 4ft of water...

My real goal for this trip to Wisconsin is a flyrod musky, which is going to be a challenge seeing that I cant even land one or raise one on my regular rods. I'll also settle for a pike, just want to catch something large and toothy that I havent landed on a fly yet. I've got some large streamers and rabbit strip divers, mostly black, one chart. and one white as well. I have a ton of big bass poppers and frogs also. Can anyone suggest anything I should pick up before heading back up North? Just picked up some nice wire leaders and pretty much just want to top off the big fly box w/ something they big guys may be interested in. I'd appreciate any suggestions you guys may have! Thanks in advance

[MOFishwater]

oh well, a month and not one bite on the topic. I guess I'll let you know if anything I have in my possession works out when I get back in town.

[Steve Smith]

oh well, a month and not one bite on the topic. I guess I'll let you know if anything I have in my possession works out when I get back in town.

MO; I doubt there are many muskie fishers here, but my guess is what you described would be a good start. I would probably add some bucktail clousers to the list. I've only caught one muskie in my life, and that was just pure luck. I'd say something big and flashy would be the ticket. Do let us know how you do.

[MOFishwater]

ended up leaving the fly rod in the truck all weekend, too windy for my mediocre skills. We caught a ton of pike, landed a 3lb smallie (nothing to write home about, but so far my biggest). Only known musky to hit was fielded by my sis-in-law, a completely green fisherman, on a zebco rhino of all things Hit a small bronze silver minnow, she had it on for a good 4-5 mins just playing it. Finally got it to raise near the boat (we were viewing from about 20 ft away in another boat) and it made a huge jump. Father-in-law nets the SOB and lifts- SNAP- net breaks>fish falls out>Line snaps like a firecracker The ultimate "one that got away". best part is that the other person in the boat was filming the whole thing, so I'll be sure to try and put it online ASAP if I can get a copy. Probably a good 20lb fish, biggest musky I've ever seen. Quite a memorable event! What a shame, would have hated to get shown up by the greenhorn;) LOL.

[Zach Bearden]

Dang... I would love to do that sometime. I know that they use alot of divers and such but thats about it... oh! and 10 wt rods lol! Where do you go around there in Missouri to get some lil ol pike on the fly? I havent caught one in years! I was fishing with my dad on a lake with a leech and landed a pike that we guessed 9lbs and it made some epic jumps! Havent heard on any pike fishing in lower Mo but I guess its mainly in upper Mo. We would have to make a long trip up there as I live in Oklahoma. Im gonna check out muskie and pike fishing in Montana! I just thought about that lol! Hopefully theres a lake up there with some big boys in there!

[brownieman]

least you caught something toothy, lol.

there are common known facts about muskie and whey they are few and far between...it's said you will spend 30 to 40 hrs. fishing for them for one good hook up.

I'll be glad to explain what I have learned about muskie if anyone wants to hear it ??

sorry I didn't pull up your post till now mofish...haven't been on here long...would have been glad to throw my worthless 2 cents worth in, lol.

[MOFishwater]

Zach~ We caught those pike in N. Wisconsin, Hayward to be specific. We fished Lost Land Lake and Teal Lake (they connect via a small channel). Its in the Chequemegon (sp?) National Forest, not really that far from Lake Superior.

I know at least one lake at Busch Wildlife Area has stocked musky, and there are a few of the "bigger" lakes in MO that have them, I wanna say Pomme de Terre, but I could be wrong. Not sure about pike though.

They had some of those sticker rulers in the boats at our lodge that listed some facts about the fish, how long it takes each species to reach a specific length. It was kind of amazing, they do grow quite slow up north. Makes you appreciate the decent fish even more.