Musky Love

Dave Jolie Aug 15th 2016

Catching a Musky on the fly is on the bucket list of many a fly fisherman. These top predators are a tremendous challenge not only to hook, but to land. It takes serious drive and determination to catch these fish, they are named the fish of 10,000 casts for a very good reason.

A common misconception is that you have to fish the behemoths on lakes. Not so fast my fishy friends! You can put the odds in your favor on a river. Muskies are ambush predators. On a lake, they can be hard to spot……on a river however…….

Back Eddies

Muskies don’t like to hang out in the current. They prefer slack water. See a back eddy with some structure around it……that’s worth a cast or two or ten. The back eddy acts as a food conveyor swinging forage right to the hungry toothy critter!

Pocket Water

Just as the back eddies above, anything in the river that breaks the flow and creates slack water behind it is a good spot. This could be big boulders, log jams, or fallen trees. The key here is slack water, a quick access ambush spot, and some cover.

Inside Bends

Sharp bends in a river push the current to the outside turn, creating a soft spot on the inside. Muskies will hold right after the bend looking upstream. They’ll eye the current for baitfish caught up in the swifter current headed downstream.

Feeder Streamers and Creeks

If there is a feeder stream entering the main river, there is sometimes slack water either right above or right below the entrance to the stream. If you find yourself in such a situation, fish it and fish it hard - especially in the spring and fall. Rainbows spawn in the spring, Browns in the fall. Think Mr. Musky knows this? You betcha.

The Right Fly Fishing Fly

One thing for sure with fishing for Muskies, you need the right fly. A good musky fly will push a lot of water. These aren’t your daddy’s wooly buggers! RiverBum has sourced some of the best Musky flies we can find. Check out below for a nice sampling of what we’ve got. Just click on the picture and it will give you more info.