Further North

I Must have missed the latter. 😉

This one is just shy of a foot long,I have some that get to around 15". ...obviously not small stream flies. The bottom one here is about 5 1/2". ...and they'd be almost impossible to cast more than a rod length on BFS gear (I've tried) because there's almost nothing to them. Here's one with the light behind it... We start running into issues with being able to handle any fish big enough to eat them, even if we. Ours cast them with conventional tackle. ...but I'm off on a tangent...ignore me...😉

It's off topic...but the best way to cast truly light/small things is with a fly rod. It's one of the reasons I learned to do it years ago.

We shift a lot of our esox chasing to shallow rivers (a deep hole is six feet) after the water warms up. This means mostly muskies where I live, but muskies don't suck... Lots of smallies in the rivers doesn't hurt either.

Esox chasers are well of that... Those of us who don't like to fish deep find something else to do until the big girls come back into shallow water int he fall.

We're a heck of a lot closer to Canada than we are to Idaho.

Any mention of length?

Amazing fish...and it illustrated the problem well: If a 51" pike is 29 lbs., how much bigger does a 32# fish have to be?

Or creek/stream trout...

I have two UL/l spinning rods made on long, slim St. Croix blanks...one is 7' 6", the other is longer. I bought them when I thought I wanted to fish for crappies. Neither has been out of the garage I years. They'd be perfect for trout spinning rigs.

We catch pike...just not many bigger ones. A lot of the lakes I fish have both pike and musky...which put the musky on the prime spots. The rivers - which I've spent a lot of time on in the last few years have a definite bias towards muskies...muskies being more of a fish for places with current. When we go to Canada, we catch buckets-o-pike, and I'm sure if I spent more time on lakes looking for them, I'd find them...but rivers call stronger than lakes these days. If you leave 'em in the water, or in the net, you don't have to deal with that. Barbless hooks...reach over the side, grab the hook with the needle-nose, rotate, and pike-be-gone.

I'd rather catch pike than muskies, given a choice. A couple of reasons: They're just more fun, and Truly big pike are rarer than big muskies. I see bunches of big muskies every year, but few big pike.

I'll probably get out a few times with the warmer weather. We were talking last night about what impact the weather will have on spawning dates...

There's several species in my "don't miss fishing for them" list... Trout, walleye, and panfish top the list. Not because I think it's dumb, or silly to fish for them, but just because fishing for them doesn't suit me. There's nothing in my "What do I miss catching?" list because I'm still fishing for all of those...

I know a guy who can help you with that. 😉

Same here. ...it didn't used to be the case...but then it got changed...

I fish for musky a lot...but only own one "musky rod". I had that rod built to my specs by a local custom rod builder, for less than I would pay for a "name brand" rod. I told him what weights and sizes of lures I'd be casting...dropped the reel off so he could balance the rod... I got exactly what I wanted (it's about the length you're looking for) for less money, with top line components...I can't recommend going to local custom builders enough. The guy I used is Tom Schenk at Chippewa River Custom Rods, and he's forgotten more about what should go into a musky rod than a lot of people will ever know. ...I do all my other musky fishing with heavy bass rods, and heavy fly rods. I don't feel undergunned with any of my gear.

I agree with all of that. ...I seldom use big baits, and catch a bunch of muskies...

I don't know enough about ocean surf fishing to help you out there.

I use bass sized gear for almost all my conventional musky fishing. It works fine. I have one "musky rod"; it seldom goes in the boat.

A good story! Muskies in shallow water rocks. There's not much more exciting than watching a shallow water eat. ...I know trolling for them works well, but I don't have any interest in it.

Yep. If there was a way to attach it to the boat it might work...but getting a net was the easier solution.

I tried a cradle and didn't care for it - I found it nearly impossible to use by myself. I've been using the Stowmaster 94" nets since then, they collapse down to a very unobtrusive size ans leave my decks clear to strip fly line onto. With a little practice, they can be used solo. The thing with muskies is that "They all count". I'd much rather catch fish in mid 30" the low 40" range in shallow waters than the bigger fish...they fight harder, IMO. Keep plugging away, and you'll get to where you want to be!

Another follow up: We were met at the put in at another river by some young men - roughly the age of the river-owners in the original post. They arrived a few minutes after us, and they parked, walked over as we were launching, introduced themselves, and asked what our plan was for the day. When we told them we'd be floating down-river several miles, they told us they were planning to work the area around the dam, then head for another river for a short float. It's things like this that inspire me to think we're not doomed.

Such a contrast between different parts of the country. We were really dry - all the rivers except one were unfloatable - until about a month ago, and we've had decent, steady rain since. As I was mowing my lawn for what hoped would be the last time this afternoon, I realized I'd have to do it again...so I didn't bother mowing the paths out back.