October 25, 2024 - Muskies!

At the beginning of the year, I made a list of 7 species I had not caught on flies yet that I wanted to catch this year.  They were:

1. Striped Bass

2. Blue Catfish

3. Alligator Gar

4. Muskellunge

5. Northern Snakehead

6. Rio Grande Cichlid

7. Northern Sunfish

A rather bold list, is it not?  Well.... I did it!  I caught them all!  My buddy helped me with many of them.  About a year ago, I made arrangements for a guided musky trip for the two of us this October 25.  Pressure was on, because it was the final species I needed for this year's list to be complete.

Musky fishing being what it is (extremely difficult, few fish and far between bites) in the best of circumstances... we set our expectations that if EITHER of us caught a single musky on fly, we would be really happy!

It worked out better than that.  I caught 3! And my buddy caught 4, including a giant 45-incher!  Plus we each lost some, and had a fair number of follows that never committed to striking the flies.

What an epic day!  We REALLY enjoyed it!  The guide had all the right gear and flies, and knew where fish were likely to be.

Musky on fly! We measured this one at 34.5" long.

It was a beautiful Fall day!  We had some overcast, and some sunny moments.

My buddy's biggest of the day, a 45" BEAUTY!! It was the biggest the guide had ever seen here... by like 4"! :