Muskie

This is in essence a portrait of two anglers telling about their relation to the toothy musky. Pike bums if I ever saw a couple. Listening to them tell about their passion is a different angle to pike or musky fishing than most videos take. Oftentimes the pike appeals to film action, takes splashing, big teeth and anglers presenting large fish to the camera. This video take the person-centric approach, and that's a good thing.

We're in Wisconsin and we follow anglers Brad Bohen and Brian Porter chatting and fishing. Robert Thompson, the man behind the camera, thanks them in the end with the words "Thanks for letting me into your world", and we as spectators can do the same, because through some great interviews and some very nice fishing action, we get an insight into the lives of two musky bums, people whose fishing life (or maybe their whole life?) seems to evolve around fishing for musky.
We follow them lazily preparing for fishing, sitting in the local diner talking about their life and of course on the water, drifting lakes and quiet parts of the river casting enormous flies for these greedy fish. There's lots of action, but it's still the people that leave the deepest marks when you've seen the video.
And there's a lot of great lumps of gold and one-liners coming from the two guys. My absolute favorite comes from Brad Bohen as he's asked: "What do you do when the water comes down?". He pauses and laughs for a second and replies "Porn!". How's that for an answer?!
I love seeing people like this portrayed. They are real people. Guys you wanna go fishing with and a lot like the ones I hang around when I fish.

If you're into pike or musky fishing you'll enjoy the ride with these two guys, "the musky tribe" as they were dubbed by Tom Bie and Drake Magazine. In their own words they are almost religious about it, and we follow them fishing.
Brad Bohen says during his fighting the world record musky (any tippet, so it's large!): "A different class of fish here!", and indeed it is. 46 inches or 117 centimeters. But it's obviously also a different class of fishermen, and they get portrayed as good as it can be done here.
You will not hear a word about gear, tippets or even flies during the main video. These guys fish, and don't spend time teaching us how.
There's a lot of extra material, and a whole little DVD in itself in the "Twin Fork float", which is a 20 minute long video showing a single trip. And here you actually do get some fishing tips. You will also find a small sequence about bass and panfish, as well as two long fly philosophy and fly tying sequences adding up to an hour of extra material to the 49 minute long main feature, so you certainly do get some hands on information too.

The whole video has a lot of attitude as you would put if if you were trying to say in a nice way that some person is actually a slightly annoying, while still sounding positive. There's attitude in the people, their approach to fishing and not least the way the video is produced.
It's grungy and has all the effects you can dig out of a video editing program: scratches, camera shake, color deterioration, desaturation, fuzziness, stop motion, slow and whatnot.
Most sequences are really nice and uses the full quality of the modern media, and are a joy to watch. The production and cinematography is really excellent in long periods.
Why we have to see all these quality shifts underway, I don't know. I know I'm a grumpy old curmudgeon fighting the MTV-trend here, but I still insist. Especially in a video like this where the whole content is grungy from the outset: the locations, the people and the fishing. No need to make it more edgy. Let the people in the video speak and act as they do, and they leave a very nice impression of the anarchistic kind of life they are leading. One odd thing is that their swearing is beeped out! If I heard them swear it would leave a far deeper impression than some strange light shift or out of focus effect.

But nevertheless we're talking an excellent video here about a kind of fishing we don't see that often, and not least letting us get very close to the people doing it.

"Muskie are a lot like northern pike except - you can actually catch northern pike!"
- Anonymous Canadian fishing guide

Wild River Press has set a standard with their Masters on the Fly series of books. Dec Hogan's A Passion for Steelhead and Rich Murphy's Fly Fishing for Striped Bass are the two species-specific books in the series. The latest addition to the group is a stalwart volume that is the first complete work ever composed and dedicated to the dogged pursuit of catching muskellunge on the fly.

Robert Tomes' Muskie on the Fly is more than worthy of belonging in the Masters series of books. Tomes is a man who has spent decades chasing these elusive fish with a fly rod, and the experience that he has gained in that time makes him uniquely qualified to write this book. Muskie on the Fly covers the sport from top to bottom, and in many cases it does so with stunning visual support. There are no stones left unturned here.

The book starts by giving us some autobiographical information about the author. In many cases this might seem to be a bit self-serving, but for the subject of muskie fishing it's good text because it paints a picture of Tomes' background and how he came to pursue such a difficult fish on the fly. He is an accomplished angler in many rights and has successfully pursued gamefish around the world. When it comes right down to it though, he'd rather be chasing the toothy giant, the fish of 10,000 casts. It takes a certain type of person to relish in this kind of quest, and suffice it to say that the author is not only the type, but may very well be the benchmark.

After an obligatory chapter on the biology and life history of the species, the author presents what is arguably the most important chapter in the entire book, aptly titled "The Mind Game". Muskie are large apex predators, and because of their ecological niche are rarer than other gamefish. Long days on the water without any action can lead to apathy and mental fatigue. Tomes harps on determination, confidence, opportunity, and visualization as elements of the sport that are as important as any piece of gear that may be used. In fact, an angler can have the best fly gear available and still not maximize the potential of a fishing situation if he or she doesn't have the right mindset.

The gear chapter is as thorough as they come. Tomes does not fall into the trap of brand loyalty here - he recommends rods and reels that fall into premium, mid-range, and value-range costs, and provides the rationale for choosing the setup that works best for this type of flyfishing. Lines and terminal connections are discussed, as are essential muskie flyfishing knots. Additionally, this part of the book includes accessories that are unique necessities for dealing with large toothy fish: jaw spreaders, long-handled hook removers, boga grips, cradle nets, etc.

Need to set yourself up with some muskie flies? The fly chapter not only tells the reader what attributes make a muskie fly appealing, but what materials can be used to create successful patterns. Tomes shares his "Deadly Dozen", the twelve patterns that he wouldn't be without on the water. He shares background information, recipes, and color variations for each pattern. It's also worth noting that in the initial description of each of the twelve flies, the pattern images accompanying a few are sized to the actual flies. With names like Tiktaalik, Muskie Marauder, and Muskie Cowgirl (to name just a few), these are not your customary fly dressings; rather, they represent a portion of a family of large flies meant to fool large apex fish.

Chapters on fly rod skills, presentation techniques, converting follows into strikes, and fighting these leviathans once hooked make up the meat of this volume. These sections in particular present the photographic and illustrative support upon which the Masters on the Fly series of books have built their reputation. Chris Armstrong's illustrations in the presentation chapter deserve special mention for their clarity and conveyance of information. The learnings contained in these excellent and enticing chapters are too comprehensive to adequately review here, but suffice it to say that they will most definitely get your angling juices going. You might also be convinced that in many ways muskie are meant to be caught on a fly. This is wonderful stuff!

No work this comprehensive would be complete without a chapter discussing seasonal strategies, and Tomes does not disappoint. He dissects all open-water seasons for both lakes and rivers, large and small. Every season has its appeal, but each also has its own set of unique issues that must be solved in order to ensure consistent action. These details are identified quite thoroughly, as are reliable tactics for dealing with each.

Muskie on the Fly concludes with chapters on regional muskie guides and fishing hot spots. Also, Tomes shares some Q and A with a handful of highly experienced guides who are willing to share some insights into their resolute pursuit of these fish. For what it's worth, these folks repeat much of the information that is presented in earlier sections of the book, thus reinforcing the fact that the author truly is the authority on the subject.

Possibly the biggest compliment that I can give to Tomes is that he hasn't watered down this work with rudimentary flyfishing information. For example, he doesn't offer up a myriad of knots, just those that you would need to be familiar with in order to handle heavy gear, heavy flies, and heavy toothy fish. Furthermore, he addresses fly casting not from a basic level, but from the perspective of specialty casts that can be necessary when dealing with large flies being thrown for distance or into tight spaces. There are too many books today that spend pages of text conveying basic information to readers who already know it - this book is not one of them. It targets established flyfishers who are looking for the next challenge.

It's been a long time since I have been so invigorated after reading a flyfishing book. Kudos to Robert Tomes for this superb work. A first-time muskie angler, armed with knowledge gleaned from these pages, would be well on his or her way to a winning fishing campaign for these difficult fish.

We did a review of this book once before, but since two opinions might be better than one, we have chosen to bring this second one.Muskie - the Muskellunge - Esox masquinongy - is a fish of dreams, fantasies, and tall tales. They are bigger, stronger, and meaner than a northern pike, and the fact that they are far less common makes them the holy grail of warmwater fishermen. Anyone who has fished warm water would love to hook a muskie at some point, and those lucky anglers who have done so are eager to share their stories. A friend of mine at work would delight in bringing in photos of her husband holding a gigantic muskellunge taken from the Susquehanna River in some secret location, fish that were almost as big as he was. My Dad told me stories of muskellunge he caught up north when he was a boy. Everyone has a story - or knows of a story. It's a fish that generates as much myth and lore as experiences.

I read Musky on the Fly more from a voyeuristic perspective than from a shared understanding of the topic. People come to understand their limits in life and I knew it would be highly unlikely to ever have the opportunity or means to fish for trophy muskies like these. What's the old saying? I was allowed to live vicariously through the eyes of someone else, and for that I am ever indebted to Robert Tomes. I've caught just about every game fish available to anglers in New York State, and even a few in far off locales, but I've never gone muskie fishing. I'd like that to change someday.

So the book. It's massive, as are all the books in the "Masters on the Fly" series (see others here and here.). I would like to commend the publisher, Thomas Pero, for allowing these authors to present their stories and knowledge in the most spectacular way possible in printed media, with text accompanied by countless color photographs, helpful graphics and drawings, and eye catching artwork. It seems as no expense was spared. So Mr Pero - thank you. You give these authors a chance to share their life's work in what can only be a dream come true for each of them.

The book follows the same basic premise as the other books in the series, with an in depth biology lesson on the muskellunge and the environments where they thrive, plenty of how-to's and where-to's, but underneath it all is the common understanding that fly fishing for these fish is not a casual affair. It takes special gear, special flies, and certainly special techniques to give an angler a chance at hooking one of these fish. One simply doesn't approach muskie fishing in a casual manner. At least those who hope for success.

It is impossible for me to pick nits with this book. First of all, I'm not a muskie angler, and for me to comment on Mr Tomes choice of flies or angling techniques would be silly. I take his word as fact, simple as that. The man speaks with authority and has the trophy photographs to back it up. I have fished for Northern Pike plenty, but that is like saying I've played softball in my backyard so I'm qualified to comment on Mariano Rivera's deadly cutter. Let's just say that Mr Tomes knows what he's doing.

As I've mentioned already, the presentation of the information is outstanding. Topics that are difficult to express in words are supported by excellent line drawings or graphics. Where there is description of habitat, there are photographs. The presentation of the flies themselves is stunning. The flies are huge - measured in inches. The size of the hooks used isn't as critical as much as the fact that they are big, strong, and sharp. Think tarpon hooks dressed with most of a saddle and half a hank of flashabou, designed both to attract the attention of a big fish and also have a modicum of castability. It would have been an injustice for those big flies to be presented in the common "three flies per page" format we see in so many fly fishing texts. That is fine with trout flies, where a 2x2 box is plenty big enough to show off a #16 dry fly, but a fly that is 8 inches long deserves a photograph that is - well - 8 inches long. And so it is here. Again - no expense was spared. Every topic in the book has a format that is designed to maximize information exchange.

Like I said, I'm not going to try to find things to criticize in the book. I'm simply not qualified, but at the same time the presentation and information simply feels complete. It's all here, from teaching you how to deal with the inevitable heart stopping follows, to offering some advice on where to go and who to go with (and why anyone would ever want to be a muskie guide to begin with). It's an outstanding book in every way, and I humbly offer it my highest recommendation.