Daily Reel...'Capturing a Dragon - Muskie on the Fly'

Capturing a Dragon- Musky on the Fly from ReviveFFP on Vimeo.

Boom...Morgan

Dawn Patrol and Muskie Fishing

Via Dawn Patrol Fly Fishing:

the lawn needed to be cut badly. it was slow going and every few feet i had to lift the shoot on the side of the mower with the toe of my sneaker so it could belch out a clump of long neglected clippings.

i wish the heat that is making the streams so warm would burn my grass so i didn’t even have to pull the mower from the dank shed.

the humidity weighs heavy on everyhting. my new issue of the the fly fish journal wrinkled as soon as i pulled it from it’s protective, plastic sleeve. my beer can seems to have pores and sweats more then i do, leaving dark ringed foot prints everywhere i put it down. you’d have no trouble tracking me through the house.

i use the magazines as coasters and and they quickly resemble the first porn mag i ever saw, a wrinkled mess i pulled from a roadside ditch. it had endured rainstorms and the baking sun while the magazines in my house are aged by the quality of the air alone.

for the last few weeks i’ve abandoned the tricos and 7x for wire tippets and flies with eyes as big as the coins in my pockets. i know muskie are in vogue. that after a movie has been made about a fish that you are just another guy riding on the band wagon as you chase whatever the camera has turned into a star. i don’t care though. just like i refuse to let hipsters and popular culture ruin carp or PBR for me. i won’t let it stop me from peeling back the layers.

muskie are not new and i’ve half heartedly pursued them over the years, but this new water has numbers that make them less of a unicorn that they have been.

it’s been a shot in the arm, straight to the vein. one i truly did not need. i don’t need anything else to make me love this sport more.

yet somehow i feel reinvigorated by a fish that only seems mildly interested in my presentations of spun hair and too much flash. it’s funny how we adjust our standards of success. a follow is something to talk about. in the last couple years I’ve consumed every piece of information i can find about them but i know the only education that really matters happens on the water. i’ve had fish eat but still haven’t held one in my hands.

so the other day when one was hooked up long enough for me to pull the fish to the surface before it shed my offering with a shake of it’s head, i wasn’t surprised by the emotions i felt. not anger, not disappointment, not real regret… just amusement. i realize i’m not in a rush for this one. that there aren’t many new fish within driving distance of my house and that i’ll only get one chance to catch my first muskie. 

it’ll happen soon. i can feel it deep in my bones. i’ll keep casting and won’t loose heart. these log shaped, pretentious fish can sense it and we’ve got a mutual respect for each other now. almost like the girl that played hard to get but then ended up chasing you after you knew her game. i’ve turned a corner with them and we both know it. so we’ll flirt with each other a little longer but soon we’ll be taking photos together smiling because we both it’s inevitable.

Boom...Morgan

Daily Reels...Belize and Musky

This one hits home for Z I'm sure, he's a good ol' Tennessee boy...

Boom...Morgan

Afton Angler Fly Tying and Interview

Via TFM:

Take notice that if you end up crashing for a few days at theClear Cure Goo/Clear Cure Eyes headquarters then you should expect to jump in front of the video camera in your best pressed overalls and tie a fly or two. 

A couple weeks ago Brad Bohen, a.k.a. "Afton Angler", ofMusky Country Outfitters, parked the rig and spent a couple days mixing it up with Brian Carson.  Enjoy all three videos.

I've got to put "Musky Country" on the travel list soon.  I'd be just as happy chasing smallmouth as musky but it would be stellar to connect with both on a trip with Brad and the Musky Tribe.

I totally agree...Musky just moved up on my list, so did meeting Brad. What an awesome guy, really helping move the sport of fly fishing forward and progressing everything thats being done in the freshwater aspect of the sport as well. Gnarly flies, awesome guy, and although I haven't tried Clear Cure Goo, it sounds like a good company.

Boom...Morgan

"The Muskytoe" Tutorial

Check out this sick tying tutorial from Fin Pusher... If you ask me, the Muskytoe could work for bass too.

Materials:

Hook: Owner, 5103-151 Straight Worm Wide Gap, size 5/0

Thread: Uni, Big Fly (Olive)

Tail: Bestway, Super Hair (Smoke, Lavender, and Golden Rod)

Tail: Steve Farrer’s, Flash Blend (Rainbow)

Body: Hareline, UV Polar Chenille (Dark Olive, and Silver)

Skirt: Do-it, Silicone Tabs (Carolina Blue & Green Pumpkin)

Skirt: Strikezone Lure Co. EZ-Skirt (Smokin Shad)

Gills: Whitting, Schlappen (Red Grizzly)

Head: Hareline, Extra Select Craft Fur (White)

Eyes: Montana Fly, Fishlze 8mm (Dark Iridescent)

Markers: Sharpie, Permanent Markers (Yellow, Orange, Spruce Green, Purple)

Musky share the water with a myriad of bait and that was the driving force behind the creation of the Muskytoe. On the menu locally we have blue gill, perch, crappie, trout, and bass to name a few and this pattern can mimic all of them. For musky I needed to create a fly that would move naturally through the water when retrieved fast and pulsate with movement when twitched slowly. Skirts offer both these attributes and come in any color combo you can think of.

Using a Craft Fur head gives the tyer endless color and pattern options where you can really let creativity run amuck. At first I started off using several different colors of Craft Fur dubbing brushes, but I quickly realized the vast majority of the time regardless of what fish I am trying to imitate that white works the best. From behind the white Craft Fur head looks like the inside of a fishes gill plates when it flares during pause. In the water with the red Schlappen tied in behind it simply produces. Because of this I now use white or chartreuse 100% of the time. Standard length for this critter is 5 to 6 inches but it can be tied down to as short as 3 inches on smaller hooks. The standard color Muskytoe fishes well as a perch, blue gill or crappie. In the standard color I leave the markings light so it may be darkened with markers if needed. Other very successful color variations are chartreuse/white, red/white, and pink/purple.

Step 1: Clip off about 40 strands of (golden rod) Super Hair and fold it in half to find the midpoint. Place it at the back of the hook shank and wrap in one side and then fold the other over and secure it creating a cone shape with the thread. Pinch about a half inch width of Flash blend out of the pack and follow the same process as above securing the material slightly forward of the Super Hair on the hook shank. Clip off about 40 strands of (Lavender) Super Hair repeating the process above, again with the Flash Blend and finally with the (Smoke) Super Hair. Each application of material should be slightly forward of the material tied on before it.

Step 2: Tie in the (Dark Olive) UV Chenille and palmer forward tightly about 3/8 of an inch and then tie it off. Wrap back over the Chenille about a sixteenth of an inch securing it tightly.

Step 3: The Silicone Skirt Tabs come in sheets and should be separated in half from end to end. Tie in one end of the skirt with the long end to the eye of the hook and then tie in the other end on the opposing side of the shank forming a loop with the skirt. Pull the looped skirt toward the back of the fly and wrap back over it forming another cone of thread locking the skirt down. You can cut the loop in half evenly now if you like but the fly is much easier to tie if you wait to cut it until the fly is completed.

Step 4: Tie in the (Silver) UV Chenille and palmer forward tightly about 3/8 of an inch and then tie it off. Wrap back over the Chenille about a sixteenth of an inch securing it tightly.

Step 5: Find a nice wide magnum Schlappen and (making sure the “cupping” of the barbs is toward the eye of the hook) tie it in about mid way up the feather where the barbs measure at least 1/2 per side. Working from the narrower end of the Schlappen tightly palmer it forward a ¼ inch creating a nice gill pack. Tie it off leaving a large cone of thread, whip finish and cut off thread.

Step 6: Strikzone EZ-Skirts have glitter and coloring applied to one side of them. This is the side you want toward the rear of the fly leaving the rubber flange at the center of the skirt, facing the eye of the hook. This putts the business side of the skirt toward any investigating fish and the flange will be tied over with the dubbing brush eliminating the gap it would leave otherwise. Slip the skirt over the eye and push it up onto the thread cone. If the skirt is not snug take it off and add to the thread cone until it fits tightly. Apply a small drop of Zap-A-Gap to the thread cone and push the skirt onto it making sure the red gill strands of the skirt are down and aligned with the hook point. Build a ridge of thread on the shank in front of the skirt flange and work back toward the skirt flange. As the thread builds up the skirt flange will start to bulge as it tightens in place. Begin to warp thread over the flange securing it in place. (Be careful not to twist the skirt during this process miss aligning it).

Step 7: If you do not know how to make dubbing brushes it is very easy. You can look it up on line and even watch videos of the process on YouTube. Your finished dubbing brush should be six inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. Tie in the Craft Fur dubbing brush over the skirt flange and palmer it forward toward the eye of the hook creating a nice full head. Clip off any excess, brush out any loose Craft Fur and finish the head.

Step 8: Attach the eyes with a drop of Zap-A-Gap and press them tightly so they adhere to the core of the fly and not just the outer layer of Craft Fur. If you need too you can lift up the Craft Fur under the eye and apply a small drop to accomplish this. Using your markers start with yellow and color the entire area of the head you intend on having color. Now apply orange in the desired areas. Use the spruce green marker to make the bars on the crown of the head and then apply some purple over the top of them. This gives an iridescent look and ads dimension to the markings. Now using your fingers blend the colors on the top of the head between the bars. Lightly feather over the top of the head with the spruce green marker blending the green and purple between the bars and down onto the cheeks. Finally apply epoxy or high quality head cement and crimp the barb.

Boom...Morgan

First Annual Musky Fly Fishing World Championships

Via Moldy Chum:

The First Annual Musky Fly Fishing World Championships will take place Saturday, March 24th 2012.

Rock Island, TN will be ground zero for the inaugural event.

LINK (Via: Zero 2 Hero)

Boom...Morgan

Photography of the Week: Maashkinoozhe by Tosh Brown

Via Moldy Chum and ToshBrown.com: Just another example of me living vicariously through other peoples gnarly trips...this one was for the infamous River Wolf...The Musky.

Maashkinoozhe

Check out the rest after the break...