Wade fishing for Musky can be frustrating at times. Musky don't usually live in pristine waterways with nice easy to wade gravel bottoms. They live in hard to wade places with lots of mud, boulders, and woody debris. With that in mind what better way to defeat the fish of 100,000 (10,000 is for gear heads) casts than catching them mano a mano on their own turf. Here are just a couple of my go to tactics that have helped me catch some bruiser Musky while wade fishing.
I should preface this by telling you all that I discovered many of my tactics by learning on the go. When I first started fly fishing for Musky I just dove in and flew by the seat of my pants. I didn't watch any videos, or read a books about it, I just went out and fished. Coming from a Trout and Steelhead background I literally fished for Musky in pretty much the same manner that I threw streamers for Trout and Steelhead. But instead of 3" streamers I was now throwing 12"-16" Musky meat. But I essentially fish the same exact way. Musky in moving water situations relate exactly like other fish species by utilizing current breaks. I have caught many fish in fast moving water that most would never equate to Musky water. But I knew where those current breaks were and I fished them like I was fishing for any other fish species and I caught Musky.
The fish in the picture above was caught in a slow pocket of water on the opposite side of some really fast moving water. It was a Spring day and flows were up from recent rain storms and I wasn't able to fish the usual spots or fish in a traditional cast and strip manner because of how fast the water was moving. If I were to cast to the opposite bank and strip back in, the moving water in the center of the stream would drag my fly line and fly so fast it would of been futile trying to get a fish to eat. So with my Trout fishing mind set I waded as far out into the fast water that I safely could, and then cast my 12" Changer into the slack water. I then used the current to my advantage and I high sticked my fly down through the pocket. It worked like a charm and this fish was the result of that effort.
An absolute favorite tactic of mine that also involves moving water is swinging a big Changer or T bone fly. Depending on the speed of the water I like to quarter my cast downstream and across the current and then let the current carry my fly in a swinging fashion to a likely holding spot. I will also give the fly a twitch occasionally to make it appear like a wounded and/or dying fish. The Musky that are hanging in the slower moving section of the tail out or pool can't resist a slow swinging fly in their wheelhouse. This tactic has fooled the majority of my big fish when wade fishing. Again it's important to have the water scenario in your favor for this type of tactic.
The last tactic that I will discuss is one that I just started implementing recently and has been the demise of a handful of 40+ fish. It involves using a Changer style fly preferably with a Pacchiarini dragon tail or T bone with same style tail. It also helps to be using a slow sinking fly line like the Full Intermediate from Scientific Angler. The fish have to be holding in semi shallow water of 4' or less deep and ideally have some bottom structure with it. It's a really simple technique of fan casting an area and swimming the fly back slowly and methodically with a two hand retrieve. The motion of the Pacchiarini tail mimics the spinning of a bucktail blade that the gear guys use and the fish can't stop from eating it. I've caught most of those fish on a slow steady retrieve but I also caught one on a super fast so don't be afraid to change it up.
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