Two hand retrieve for Musky success

                                                A two handed retrieved beauty 
 

In the past I haven't really utilized the two hand retrieve much. Honestly, I felt like I was catching enough fish that I didn't really need to. But a year or so ago I was fishing a favorite boulder strewn flat of mine with a reel holding 550 grain Depth Charge line. Although I was stripping pretty fast I kept getting hung up in the boulders. I usually would just switch out to another reel loaded with Scientific Angler Full Intermediate line when this happens. But the water was warm enough and the fish should of been aggressive enough to eat a pretty fast moving fly. So I chose to two hand my fly with the heavier full sink line instead. 

I worked my way up to the edge of the flat and launched a cast to slack water edge on the far side of the river. I quickly tucked the rod butt under my arm pit and buried the rod tip in the water and started stripping as fast as I could across the current. Seconds in I saw the big wake chasing my fly and I knew it was game on! I kept my fly rippin until I saw the big Musky inches from my T Bone Sucker pattern and suddenly stopped it in its face. The big girl with gills flared and mouth agape inhaled my fly five feet from me. I started my two hand stripping cadence again this time to ensure the hook was properly planted but it was unneeded because the fish totally inhaled my fly. What an experience and my first two hander fish in the net. 

                                                            First two hander fish 

Needless to say the experience above got me hooked to this retrieve style and I started utilizing it A LOT more. One thing I've learned is you don't always need to be two handing your flies a hundred miles per hour. I like to change my retrieval speeds up throughout the day. It's good to change things up on the Musky water. You never know what retrieve is going to be the one that triggers that predatory response. 

A waterway that is fast becoming my favorite is littered with wood. The wood makes for perfect Musky habitat but it's a magnet for snagging your flies if you fish too slow. I've been throwing in and around the wood and two handing my flies back to the boat with little fear of getting hung up. A favorite fly option of mine is any fly with a Paccahiarini dragon tail on it. The tail movement pulls those cover hugging fish up and can make for some unbelievable takes. 

                                                         Two hander out the wood 

I have been having some really good success fishing moving water flats in 2-5 foot of water with this retrieve as well. I like to retrieve my fly with the Paccahiarini dragon tail at a pace that I know that the tail is wiggling enough to get their attention. If the fly zips across the water above them they just shoot straight up and crush it. I've caught a bunch of fish like this all Summer and honestly should have a lot more if I was just a little better. 

                                                          Two hander caught on a flat

I had a rough day a few months ago and I couldn't keep a fish pinned. I lost a decent fish at the boat and my frustration level was at 150%. After a few days to calm down I decided to try for that fish at night. I put on a black fly with a silver and black Paccahiarini dragon tail and I crept to the tree where the fish hung out. In the pitch black I peppered casts and two hand ripped that fly around the area when suddenly my fly stopped and I knew it was the big girl. I kept my rod tip low and kept stripping until the fish was close to the bloat. I raised my rod up and she instantly breached the surface splashing me with water. The sight of her glistening in the moon light was unreal. What and experience and I would of never pulled it off with a more traditional stripping cadence. 

                                                        Night time two hander fish 

Moral of this post is don't be one dimensional like I used to be. Who knows how many more fish I could of caught if I would of tried two handing my flies a little earlier in my Musky career. Don't forget to vary your retrieve speeds up and don't be afraid to give two handing at night a try as well. 

Tight lines,

Scott

Wade fishing tactics for Musky

                                                            Pocket water fish
 

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.

                                                       Brute Musky caught on the swing

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.

 

                                   Kraken with Pacchiarini dragon tail used in above tactic

Musky fly fishing is way more than casting and stripping your fly back. Try something different and remember to think outside the box. The one thing I learned about Musky is just when you think they are predictable you have a fish prove that's not entirely the true. Tight lines...

Musky On The Fly 101-Musky Flies

                                     BIG MEATY KRAKEN FROM NIGHTMARE MUSKY FLIES

Musky flies are like fine works of art. They come in lots of pretty colors and styles. But did you know they are designed to displace water? In simpler terms they push/move water as you strip the fly back. The fish can actually feel the fly swimming in addition to seeing it. Musky are very sensitive to movement,vibration, and electrical impulses so this water displacement is an effective way to get their attention. I'm going to list a few of the different Musky fly styles and a few of the top tiers where you can get them from.  

CHANGERS

I was introduced to changer style flies by Tony Sandrone of Nightmare Musky Flies when I first started Musky fishing. I owe A LOT of my Musky fishing success to Tony and his awesome changer style flies. The changer is an articulated streamer that has a really awesome wiggle motion that Musky love! Changers are my "go to" flies when I want to dead drift or swing my flies into spots (I will be writing more about these techniques in a later post). These flies will get down with the intermediate or the full sink line. They come in 8" (double hooks) and 12" (double hooks) with feather style tails or a multitude of Pacchiarini  tails (see picture below). I've caught many of my largest Musky on the changer style. I have since moved to its cousin fly The Kraken" with the dragon tail from Pacchiarini because it's a tad bit lighter and a little easier for my bum shoulder to cast. I also LOVE the action of a Pacchiarini dragon tails. I honesty believe those tails get fish to strike even when don't want to. Contact Tony for more details or to order your flies at   https://www.nightmaremuskyflies.com/

                                       CHANGER STYLE FROM NIGHTMARE MUSKY FLIES

                                                       PACCHIARINI TAIL OPTIONS

BUFORDS

My buddy Mark Burns who owns Urban Fly Company has a lot of success fishing Bufords, and his flies are some of the best around. He ties a wide variety of awesome color combos and they put a bunch of fish in the net for many anglers  Bufords come in "singles" (one hook) around 6"-8" long and doubles (two hooks) around 12" long. The head of a Buford is made from stacked deer hair and can be made more or less buoyant depending on the size of the head. The bigger the head the more buoyant the fly is and the smaller the head the less buoyant. This is important to remember because you'll be faced with different fishing situations where you may not want your fly to sink overly fast or vice versa. You'll have to take into account the fly line you're using as well because an intermediate fly line might not sink a double Buford too well,  especially one with a bigger head. But a single Buford with a smaller head should get down with that same intermediate line. Bufords have an awesome suspending nature to them and that comes in handy when the fish are sluggish and not overly aggressive. They also have really nice natural motion in the water. Contact Mark Burns at Urban Fly Company  for more detailed information about Buford style Musky flies. 

                                SOME COLORFUL BUFORD STYLE FLIES FROM URBAN FLY CO

                                                                                                 

T-BONES

This next fly I want to talk about is called a T-Bone. A LOT of Musky have fallen for the T-bone and they are the original "OG" of Musky flies.I love the action of these flies especially with the natural feather tail. Dom Petruzzi owner of Streamerking Flies is the man when it comes to T-bones and many other fishy Musky flies. I have caught many Musky on Doms' T-bones. They get down on either the intermediate or the full sink line. The T-Bone comes to life when it hit the water. It has awesome natural motion with very little work from the angler. This is one of the reasons I love using them in tight waterways where you don't have a lot of time to work a fly. It's important to have a fly with excellent  action to attract a bite in a short amount of time and the T-bone gives you that. I was grinding on some water that I knew a huge Musky was hanging out in. After exhausting almost every other fly in my box I saw an all white T-Bone and tied it on.  I cast that fly up current and it literally didn't sink 6" under the surface before the big girl exploded on it like a Great White Shark attacking a helpless Seal. Long story short I lost that fish but the moral of the story is T-Bones catch fish so use them! Dom is an awesome dude and his flies rock so contact him at  https://streamerkingflies.ecwid.com/

                                                 T-BONES FROM STREAMERKING FLIES

DECEIVERS

One last Musky fly I'd like to touch on is the deceiver style. I use deceivers in small waterways where you only have a short distance to get a fish to commit to a strike.They have really nice natural motion in the water and you can get them to walk side to side like a glide bait. Musky are really attracted to this type of action and it can sometimes trigger bites when all else fails. Deceivers work well with full sink and intermediate lines.  It's a smart move to have a few of these in your fly box. https://urbanflycompany.com/

                                        ALL BLACK DECEIVER FROM URBAN FLY COMPANY 

FLY COLORS

I get asked a lot about color selection. My best advice would be to get a Perch, Sucker, all white, all black, Shad, and lastly Firetiger. Those of you that know me know Firetiger is my favorite color and I catch a lot of fish on it. If you're just starting out I would suggest getting a few flies from each of the above mentioned tiers in the colors that I recommended and you'll be good to go!