Cassadaga - The Saga Still Continues

[John Jarosz]

Wed, Dan S & I decided to mix 'em up.  Instead of musky fishing the Cass starting in the morning, we decided on fishing 2nd shift.  Might as well.  Nothing else was working.

Out on the water at 12:30 pm Wed, & 15 minutes later I had a follow!  Man-oh-man-oh-man, it's going to be a good day!!  Eight hrs, seven different locations and a hundred million, billion, gazillion casts later (false & otherwise), we ended the day with that one follow, 0 for 7 takes(!!!) and saw a hook on the chart that would make a grown man cry.  By 8:30 pm, we were beat.

I got to try some tube flies that I had tied over the winter.  The one below got the follow & in the water it looks like a big bluegill.  Plenty of those in Cassadaga.  The lake is loaded with perch and bluegills.  "Match the hatch" for muskies??  It's tied on a plastic tube with a wire bite guard running thru the center which makes it almost feel non-existent when casting.  No wet socks with that fly.  It almost feels like you're casting only your fly line.In the evening we found a good opening in the weeds in the lower lake.  Had three takes there.  When we left, down near the bottom of about a 25' hole, a vertical pod of bait fish about 2' high was holding.  Weeds had stopped about 12' down & they were in the open.  Right next to the pod was a hook that, if I was in Ontario, I would call a salmon.  It was that big.

Enough thrills for one day.  Seven takes and we're getting closer.  No musky fishing next week but the week after we're at it again.

[Scott McKee]

If I had to bet on one spot to catch a musky with a fly rod in the river (it most likely will be really small), I'd throw a few bucks on the Launch Club eddy.

[John Jarosz]

THANKS, Scott.  I'll be on it soon!  Small is OK with me and I'm going to be real gentle with them, too (notice the plural?).  Probably won't even come out of the net for a pic. 

THANKS MUCH, again!!

[Stephen Glassic]

I can only imagine what it would be like to hook and land a mid 40s to 50" fish on a fly rod. it would be very exciting to see it on video.