I’m often given flies when at fly fishing shows and speaking gigs by generous fly tyers. I do my best to fish each and every one of them. At the January Edison Fly Fishing Show, the “Girl with the Musky Tattoo” gave me one of the most amazing flies ever. It’s a muskellunge fly exactly … Read more
Bob and I each whacked one of those 27” northern pike the other day. Most foraging anglers avoid pike because of the Y bones but if you no how to fillet around them, pike are delicious. Last nights meal reminded me and Granny that we need to collect one a week rather than one a … Read more
One could not create a finer day for the end of October in the north of Wisconsin. Today’s high temperature was a balmy 74° and for the first time in weeks, the wind hardly blew. The day was so spectacular it appeared too nice for musky fishing but one would be crazy not to try. … Read more
We celebrated Howie’s epic musky last night. And rightfully so. A 46” fish of any kind from a river is a creature that is rare in this day and age. Today however was a different day and in order to complete my goal of getting both Mike Neuman and Howie into their first ever muskies … Read more
I made a goal last night as I bedded down, guide my two buddies (regulars on the blog), Mike Neuman and Matt “Howie” Norton, to their first muskellunge on the fly. Not an easy task being Neuman is new to chucking the big fly rods and Howie is jinxed with the elusive freshwater giants. To … Read more
Granny joined Bob and I on a long float today. In October Granny choses her fishing days based on air temperature rather than the likely fishing results. While not quite the record-breaking warm we had yesterday, the thermometers did push up into the 70°s and the muskies did not cooperate. There’s something special however … Read more
I always try to go big on my birthday so Granny and I started the celebration a day early and made it a two day one night camping trip. Today is the day before and we fished with Bob and took on a long float. We were hesitant and nearly cancelled last night due to … Read more
I’ve spent too much time at the computer screen since getting off the flats of Australia ten days ago and I want to spend most of the last two weeks of October musky fishing. This will lead to a few shorty blogs. Today I fished with friends Josh Hulbert and Brandon Judy. It was … Read more
My lady and I hit the road at a reasonable time this morning. It was just after 6. It was about an hour drive then we dropped our blue boat down a muddy slot on absolutely gorgeous Wisconsin river. Today’s target, muskellunge. My shoulder doesn’t need any extra big stick chucking so … Read more
Granny and I had river plans today but with all the rain we’ve had this month, the river was far too high. We bagged it and went to a musky lake we fished a couple times last year. I should mention we were skunked both of those trips. Today, we didn’t get … Read more
It’s happened before – going fishing when I probably shouldn’t be going fishing. But while I was galivanting in Mexico earlier this month and while down on Georgia last week, buddy Mr. Bob Butler has been back home in WI catching muskies. When he invited me along for an afternoon on the water today I … Read more
I was literally cleaning the boat and adjusting my Simms tackle bag from our Wisconsin season to get it ready for a trip to Baja this week. When I reeled in yesterday I was 99% sure I was done with local fishing. I had a few big musky flies laying out and Granny walks over … Read more