Northwest Fishing Reports

Now tell me if these fly's won't work. They have rattles tied into them and also lips to increase the vibration in the water...

Nice looking flies! My money would be on the perch looking one....

Doug I like the top left one myself, it's 8" long and moves fantastic in my test aquarium.

I'd buy !

With the lip on them, they will be a real bear to cast. Still, if you can get them where you need them, I say they WILL catch fish.

Made my own flies to try this year. So far they seem to work good. Yesterday I caught a 36 and had a 40+ on but that one got off.

The flies I tie all cast quite well at 60-80 feet easily, with a RIO outbound short fly line if your casting mechanics are sound.

EDW good looking flies,, to me the hooks look to small with not enough gape to support a large fish. I have already caught three tigers this year up to 41" on Lake Newman and Silver Lake in Washington.

I have been fishing with a guy throwing hardware and have caught more then him this year.

Fly fishermen rule.. I need to bring a camera with me..

The hooks I am using are 3/0 Umqua streamer hooks. The fly line you said your using is exactly what I am using in a 8 wt. I can get an easy 60 feet with no wind but then I have been fly fishing for 55 years.

I have fished Muskies and Pike for a very long time and I think these Muskies are going to be easier to catch on a fly than traditional tackle. My only concern is that the quality will suffer a little due to size of lures. I have always been a believer in "big bait...big fish". 15" lures are the norm with me. We will see. Hope to talk to you one of these days.

By the way, where do you find barred grissley hackle anymore?
Ed

Now that the year is closing I want to report how my Muskie fly fishing ended. There was some concern that the hooks I am using on my flys were too small (3/0 Tiemco streamer hooks) I landed 28 fish on flies (in 22 trips) and lost 9 that were hooked for more than a second or two. That's around 75% hook up which I think is very good even with bait casting hardware style of fishing. I will have to say that there were several fish that were totally missed after attacking my fly that are not part of these figures. It's kind of hard to understand why they missed the hook. It could have been hook size or just a bad aim by the fish. I was concerned back last spring that I would end up catching mostly small fish but my overall average was 38" with the biggest being 47". Any way there it is for information. I am more convinced now than ever that catching Tigers with a fly rod in the NW is at least as good as throwing hardware if not more productive.
Ed

You've had a heck of a year young man! way to go! What launches are still open? Thinking about hitting it "trolling" might buy a 2nd rod endorsement and troll the heck out of it. See ya ol' buddy!

edw wrote:Now that the year is closing I want to report how my Muskie fly fishing ended. There was some concern that the hooks I am using on my flys were too small (3/0 Tiemco streamer hooks) I landed 28 fish on flies (in 22 trips) and lost 9 that were hooked for more than a second or two. That's around 75% hook up which I think is very good even with bait casting hardware style of fishing. I will have to say that there were several fish that were totally missed after attacking my fly that are not part of these figures. It's kind of hard to understand why they missed the hook. It could have been hook size or just a bad aim by the fish. I was concerned back last spring that I would end up catching mostly small fish but my overall average was 38" with the biggest being 47". Any way there it is for information. I am more convinced now than ever that catching Tigers with a fly rod in the NW is at least as good as throwing hardware if not more productive.
Ed

Dang that's a good season! Nice job Ed!

muskyhunter wrote:Thinking about hitting it "trolling" might buy a 2nd rod endorsement and troll the heck out of it.

I knew you were a troll!