Mighty Muskie on a Fly Rod
from The Fishing Wire

Dan Small, well-known host of “Outdoors Radio” sent along this tale of his adventures on the way to the recent Outdoor Writers Association of American conference at Lake Placid, N.Y., proving he not only talks a good game, he knows how to play.

Dan Small shows the beautiful striped pattern of the 39-inch tiger muskie he landed on a fly rod from New York’s St. Regis River.

On my way to Lake Placid for the Outdoor Writers Association of America conference last week, I met my brother Mike and son Jon at Jellybean’s Riverside Campground on the St. Regis River in St. Lawrence County, in northern New York State. Our plan was to spend several days fly fishing for muskies, then head to the conference.

Last year on that same river, Mike caught and released a 51-inch muskie (photo attached) that was later certified as a 30-lb. tippet class world record by the Freshwater Fishing HOF in Hayward, WI. He also caught a 49.5-incher on that same river. His fly of choice: a Hawg Frawg, which he designed.

When I arrived a week ago Wednesday afternoon, Mike and Jon had fished hard with no luck for two hours from a canoe, fighting the gusting winds that preceded a strong cold front on its way across the state. The temperature had been 95 degrees in Syracuse and was still in the mid-80s in St. Lawrence County when I arrived at our campsite. Eager to get in some fishing before the storm, I didn’t bother to suit up, but just grabbed one of Mike’s 10-weight St. Croix rods rigged with a Hawg Frawg in what he calls a “Sting Bee” yellow/black pattern.

Dan’s brother, Mike, caught this monster 51 inch pure muskie a year earlier from the same location, also on a fly rod. It’s been designated the 30-pound tippet record for the species by the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame.
Wearing shorts and Crocs, I walked the shoreline of the campground where they had been fishing and made a few casts in a big backwater. Mike had tied a two-foot section of sink-tip line into the leader to make the floating fly dive a foot or so. I was casting, then stripping the fly back toward me. I had only been fishing about 10 minutes when a fish hit my fly. The fight lasted just a few minutes, but the fish that had taken hold turned out to be huge.

Mike netted the fish, then ran to get his measuring stick. When we had unhooked and measured it, we realized it was a hybrid or “tiger” muskie, a cross between a northern pike and a muskellunge. It measured 39 inches nose to tail. I did not get a circumference or weight estimate. After photos, we released the fish and it swam off strongly.

Later at the OWAA conference, I asked NY Department of Environmental Conservation fisheries biologists Doug Stang and Ed Woltmann what they knew about tigers in the St. Regis. They told me the DEC does not stock tigers or any muskies in the St. Regis, as that river is in the St. Lawrence River watershed. All muskies there are naturally spawned.

Here’s the hand-tied jumbo fly, the Hawg Frog, that Mike Small designed to fool the giant predators.

They said my fish was most likely a natural hybrid produced when a male northern and female muskie happened to spawn in the same area. Woltmann also told me that the St. Lawrence was losing some shallow pike spawning habitat, which was causing some northerns to spawn later in spring and in deeper water, which may have facilitated some natural hybridization.

Wednesday night, heavy rains caused the river to rise about two feet. We fished from shore on Thursday with no luck. Jon had one strike but missed the fish.

Early Friday morning, Mike had two fish boil on flies before I hooked about a 40-incher on a big streamer pattern. I captured the strike, fight and landing of that fish on a GoPro mounted on my head, but we never got to measure it because it spit the barbless hook, bit right through the brand-new (brand name withheld to protect the manufacturer) landing net and swam off. Mike’s X-rated reaction (also captured on the GoPro) was hilarious. That was the end of our muskie fishing, but I had had enough action to keep me fired up for the entire conference.

Northern Pike Offer Extra Fun in Smallmouth Lakes
from The Fishing Wire

Pro angler Jeff Kriet earns his living catching largemouths and smallmouths, but can’t resist playing with northern pike when he’s on their turf up north.

When veteran bass angler Jeff Kriet has a tournament on lakes where smallmouth bass dominate, the Yamaha Pro always gears up for another species, as well. That fish is the northern pike, and Kriet looks forward to catching them, even though he can’t take them to the weigh-in scales.

“They’re really fun to catch because they produce such violent strikes, fight hard, and grow to huge sizes,” explains Kriet, whose largest northern pike to date weighed just under 20 pounds. “I often catch northerns when I’m looking for smallmouths, and it’s hard not to just spend the rest of the practice day going after them.”

Found primarily across much of the northern United States and Canada, northern pike are one of the most popular sportfish in freshwater because of their aggressive nature. Although fish in the five to 10 pound range are the most common, fish topping 20 pounds certainly are not uncommon. Interestingly, many anglers consider the fish’s length more important than its weight, with 40 inches or longer being the trophy standard.

Though pike of 5 to 10 pounds are most common, much larger fish are caught each year, with some topping 20 pounds.

Northern pike are probably even more popular in European waters where they tend to grow larger; the present world record, just over 55 pounds, was caught in Germany in 1986, but heavier fish have been reported. Outside of North America, their range includes not only Europe but also Russia and even North Africa, and historically, pike have been popular as far back as Roman times.

“When I’m looking for smallmouth and find weedbeds in fairly shallow water, I know I’m probably going to get hit by a northern,” laughs Kriet, “so I brace myself for the strike. Just running a big spinnerbait, or sometimes a buzz bait, along the edge of a weedbed or over the top of it will get their attention.

“They seem to be very visually oriented fish, and they usually feed by hovering motionless and ambushing their prey as it comes by. I’ve also caught them around rocks, stumps, windy points, and even boat docks, but vegetation was never far away.”

The Yamaha Pro’s favorite pike lure is a 3/4- or 1-ounce spinnerbait, usually with a chartreuse/white skirt and matched with 20-pound fluorocarbon line, a stout baitcasting rod, and a high-speed reel. This combination lets him cast further and then burn the spinnerbait back just under the surface as fast as he can reel it. He’s also caught pike on a variety of other lures, including spoons, crankbaits, and even topwater plugs, and frequently, he sees the pike following the lure and actually striking.

Kriet says a jumbo spinnerbait “burned” fast is one of the best offerings to attract a toothy pike, but they hit an assortment of lures.

“The strike is certainly one of the most exciting parts of northern pike fishing,” Kriet continues, “because it’s really hard and usually close to the surface. Sometimes when I see them following, I’ll stop reeling for a second, or just twitch my rod to change the lure’s vibration, but most of the time, I just keep reeling and the fish smash it. For me, one of the keys to catching them has always been reeling as fast as I could. I think they’re some of the most aggressive fish I’ve ever caught in freshwater.

“Sometimes, hooking and playing a struggling smallmouth or even a smaller northern will attract a larger pike to strike that fish. I know that when I’m in a really good area, I usually see a lot of fish and it’s actually hard to keep them from biting. A friend of mine told me about catching more than 20 pike one morning, including one 41-incher that weighed over 20 pounds.”

The only real problem Kriet has with catching northern pike is that their violent strikes frequently destroy his lures, even the heavy wire spinnerbaits. “Actually, that’s not such a bad problem to have,” smiles the Yamaha Pro. “Each year when the different tournament schedules are published, I immediately look to see if any of the premier northern smallmouth lakes are included and if they are, I just start packing extra spinnerbaits for the pike.

“That’s how much I enjoy fishing for them.”