A Southern boy here will be in Canada at the end of August. I will be on a lake that holds Pike and Musky. I talked with the "local" friend that is
supplying our chateau and he says the fish will be too deep for a fly rod. (20-60 ft. depths) I have heard of guys catching them when they come up to the
shoreline in Spring on the fly rod, but what about this time of year? I will be throwing meaty streamers with a sinking line trying to hook one. Will I be
wasting my time? I have never seen a Pike or Musky except on TV, so I can't wait to jump on it!
photo by Cameron |
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Calling all Yankees!
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 SilaflexJunkie |
Calling all Yankees! |
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Sport
Posts: 34 (07/15/08 07:52:44) |
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brookie10 |
pike & muskie | ||
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Registered Member
Posts: 5 (07/15/08 12:31:03) |
Hi, depending in what area you're heading, pike should be starting to feed near the surface by that time. In my area (southern Quebec), the cooler nights
tend to start cooling the water a bit. With a full sinking or sinktip, you should have decent fishing. Never tried for muskie myself, so I can't say much.
I've had success with rabbit strip streamers in orange, black and dark purple. The best time here seems to be in the fall, sept.-oct.
Good luck! |
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SilaflexJunkie |
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Sport
Posts: 35 (07/15/08 12:54:30) |
This place is two hours north of Toronto. I believe it will still be "summer" weather there. Hopefully a cold front will come in! Thanks for the
tips. Now I need to figure out how to get my 2 pc. glass rod on the plane with me. TW
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JimatFFO |
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Sport
Posts: 47 (07/15/08 13:17:00) |
Sometimes you're better off shipping your rods via FedEx or UPS. I've done it going to Florida a few times. They don't get danced on by the baggage
handling gorillas and it's usually faster. The pain is you have to send them home the same way.
-Jim |
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SilaflexJunkie |
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Sport
Posts: 36 (07/15/08 14:28:52) |
Has anyone on this board landed a sizable Musky on the fly? I found some information on the subject but Musky seems more eccentric than carp on the fly.
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wacokid54 |
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Master Guide
Posts: 225 (07/15/08 14:37:42) Sport |
Although I have not fished that deep for pike, I have gone 20 ft deep for trout with a sinking line. What works for me has been a type 4 (or faster) sinking
line, and a wristwatch. Know the sink rate of your sinking line, and calculate the rate per foot. If you have a fish finder or at least electronics with
depth, you can count the line down to the bottom. Use a fly with weight; bead or cone head or weighted body, so that the fly is not higher than the line. Or,
a short leader and not so heavy fly might do it. Put the tip of the rod right in the water, so that you eliminate slack and can feel the fly if it is pulling
thru weeds. I would use Hard Mason tippet or wire, and the biggest flies you can find!! If you troll slow enough the line and fly will stay at the depth you
get down to. Good luck. Be aware that sometimes in the summer, in the evening if the water cools a little, pike will cruise the tops of weedbeds that
don't grow all the way to the surface, looking for prey. Perfect chance for a floating line and a big fly. And, it is often the really big fish that go
deep. Often the smaller ones will stay shallow, orient around cover, and still give you fun on a flyrod. What weight rod are you using?
Enjoy the shore lunches!!! Taking any pimento cheese? wacokid54 |
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majicwrench |
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Master Guide
Posts: 803 (07/15/08 21:54:06) |
Here in NW Montana, the big pike will be off the edge of the first good weed beds, say in 10 to 15ft of water. An intermediate or slow sink line works great.
LOTS of fish will hit as the fly sinks, or when you stop stripping. Watch line close, and be prepared to strike every time you start stripping in line if you
feel more weight on line then normal. Smaller fish will stay in the shallows, 5ft, all summer long. Pictures, report of course is expected.
Keith |
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waynebh |
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Guide
Posts: 94 (07/16/08 05:51:57) |
I used to vacation on a lake northeast of Toronto and it had Muskie at least I think that's what was chewing my line up! We would be bass fishing with
spinning rods and senkos and every once in a while we'd hook something that would bend the rod over and head for deep water. Then the line would go limp
and you'd reel in a really frayed line. We were fishing shallow water near deep drop offs every time this happened. It was also early in the am when bass
were active. Of course I'd switch to a steel leader and proceed to catch nothing but bass! I was told the only way people caught Muskies in the summer
was at night or by trolling deep water but I think the chance is still there to catch one early in the morning.
Waynebh |
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bulldog1935 |
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Master Guide
Posts: 3323 (07/16/08 06:39:09) Moderator |
Trent, I've caught kings off the jetties at 20' deep with a TS250 sinking line.
With the big rod you'd want, anyway, throwing a T400 or T500 shouldn't be a problem to get you down quicker. |
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SilaflexJunkie |
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Sport
Posts: 37 (07/16/08 09:26:44) |
The largest rod I own is an 8wt. (Fiberglass and Graphite) {z-axis blank 8 wt. and Silaflex 9' 8wt.} I don't think I can afford another rod at this
point..... Boy, it is tempting to build a 10 wt. for the trip!!!
Hey Ron, I already own the T-200 line. It will get me down near the rate the TS250 will. (Well, that is my estimate) Maybe the TS-350 will cover the deepest water with my 8wt. The line will be a little heavy for the rod, but it may be the ticket with the big flies I will be throwing. Let me know if you think this will be a good investment before I order it! I hope you have the time of your life in Alaska! Hey WacoKid, no pimento cheese permitted here. I never have liked the stuff. I will probably reserve meal times with the family. My parents and siblings will be there. If they want to talk to me much more than that then they know where to find me! Kidding of course, they are actually outdoor nuts like me. I was bummed when I heard there was not a significant trout population in the lake, but the tides are changing. I am getting stoked for the trip after reading past post of pike found on this site and others. The big musky that also reside in the lake are an added bonus. There are also plenty of bass in the lake. That will be my fallback if I can't hook into nothing else. |
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flyfishing4goldentrout |
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Master Guide
Posts: 1616 (07/25/08 14:01:37) Master Guide |
Kind of unique "fly fishing". my father took me up into Canada back about 1960 with a couple of Sharpes Bamboo heavy fly rods. (10ft 8-10wt with huge
Young reels) we used sinking lines of course, but the key was we were using stainless steel backing. It wasn't hard to get the flys down to 50 or 60 ft and
prettty much we ended up trolling for lake trout, Pike and Musky, some pretty big fish in the 20-30# range. We flew in on some old float planes and went out in
old outboard powered canoes, fun stuff believe me, memories that are as clear today as they were 50 odd years ago. The trick is knowing the currents, and how
long it takes your fly to reach the layer your fishing then keep it there. If you were to know exactly the depth you wanted, I guess you could make up a
special setup with sinking leader, line and a section of weighted or stainless backing, then attach some form of indicator or float at the exact level you want
to fish, then go to perhaps standard backing or even a Level Line floating to maintain that level. At 50 or 60 ft your hard pressed to feel the take if there
is any current. If you have a float set you can often see it if you cant feel it. Also add lots of problems if your in alot of current, then its strickly the
weighted backing or the stainless steel and you just have to wait and feel the take. big fish seem to let you know pretty well though. Our old bamboo rods were
rated 8-10wt but I would like a nice solid 10wt glass rod if I were to do it again. Sounds like some real fun though, your not gonna be doing real conventional
fly fishing so just accept the heavy feel of the line and perhaps bring along some floats and cheap LL for backing if you find the currents aren't strong.
If you can find the right level your first day out then you can make up your line to fit your needs that first night and be ready to knock em dead the rest of
the trip.
TAKE PICTURES, WE LOVE EM HERE 
Richard |
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graewolf |
Muskie | ||
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Guide
Posts: 26 (07/25/08 14:47:44) |
Thanks for all this great information. I've never fished for muskie or pike either but I'm going to give it a try the first week in September on Lake Vermillion, Minnesota (near the Boundary Waters). My wife and I will be staying with friends at their lakeside cottage, celebrating our 30th wedding anniversaries together. We've all known each other since college days and it'll be a fun time but I hope to celebrate with what they call "The Vermillion Grand Slam" which is catching a muskie, a pike, a walleye and a smallmouth on the fly. I'll need to go deep with sinking lines and big streamers for the muskie, pike and especially walleye but I think I can catch a smally with a semi-surface fly maybe. Anyway, I'll hope to have some pictures of me TRYING! -Mike |
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