Fishermen /Women fancy Catching A Big One !!

I've never heard of Muskie. I eat mainly seafood and not a lot of fresh water fish; usually Bass, Catfish or Brook Trout, but it's been many years. Not that crazy about freshwater fish.

This Muskie is a huge fish.
@RadishRose …we don’t eat any of the fish we catch over here…….roach, perch, tench, carp, etc …..we put them all back carefully
 
Charry, not sure but if the muskie spawn in shallow water or travel through shallow water then fly fishing would work. But generally fly fishing is light weight tackle, not heavy duty tackle. I know with pike you have to have a steel leader, likely the same for muskie..
 
The Sacramento River is home to large game fish called sturgeon. Besides being as much as 500 pounds (over 35 stone), they look kind of prehistoric.

I've fished the Sac River over a dozen times and snagged only 2 of these puppies, but both of them managed to get off my line and both times they left the lure. I think they can swallow lures hooks and all, and then spit them out, because this happens to lots of Sac River fishermen.
 

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The Sacramento River is home to large game fish called sturgeon. Besides being as much as 500 pounds (over 35 stone), they look kind of prehistoric.

I've fished the Sac River over a dozen times and snagged only 2 of these puppies, but both of them managed to get off my line and both times they left the lure. I think they can swallow lures hooks and all, and then spit them out, because this happens to lots of Sac River fishermen.
Also, they're delicious.
 
I wouldn’t fancy eating a muskie
Are they Earthy ?
So I have heard.

I think @Murrmurr was talking about sturgeon, and they are good to eat.
I can’t see how one can fly fish, for a Muskie tho !
Have to admit the one I caught wasn't very sporting. After a flood in river in Ohio I found on trapped in a puddle, caught it with my dipnet. Didn't try to eat it, just carried it over to the river and released.
 
The Sacramento River is home to large game fish called sturgeon. Besides being as much as 500 pounds (over 35 stone), they look kind of prehistoric.

I've fished the Sac River over a dozen times and snagged only 2 of these puppies, but both of them managed to get off my line and both times they left the lure. I think they can swallow lures hooks and all, and then spit them out, because this happens to lots of Sac River fishermen.
Always wanted to fish for them. We had Gulf Sturgeon in north Florida to the Louisiana line, but they were endangered and illegal to fish for. Saw a big one once a guy had caught in the Pearl River, La/Miss boarder. He was real excited, had no idea what it was. Since it was already dead I suggested he quickly cover it up and get it home to eat.

Its a little known fact that sturgeon can be dangerous, they have killed people. By jumping on them... One example:

Sturgeon in the Suwannee River
https://www.aci-net.org/sturgeon-in-the-suwannee-river/
 
My father was a fisherman, and we used to travel from Chicago to Wisconsin where he had been chasing after muskie his whole life, but without success. He had caught a couple of muskies, but not legal keepers, although he had a tackle box armed for muskie. We caught Northern Pike, bass, panfish, walleye, and some of the Pike were huge, like 40 inches, and I don't know how much weight that would be. But when I was about 10, he latched onto a fair sized muskie. My mother, sister, and I were crowded into the boat with my dad. The fish got away.

Next morning, by dad woke me out of bed before sunrise and said, "We were going back to catch that muskie." We returned to that same spot along the shore, and low and behold, the muskie was still there, but didn't get away this time. Muskies are known fighters and I remember water churning and splashing into the boat, while the fight was going on. Finally the fish was in the boat and still fighting, thrashing, and banging on the bottom and sides of the boat. My father clubbed it unconscious just so he could get the hook out of it's mouth. Although it was a keeper, it was just big enough to legally keep, but my father finally caught his muskie.

However, he (and I) caught Northern Pike that were considerably larger. My father said that Northerns grew faster and ate a lot of young muskies, taking a huge toll on the population, while Northern Wisconsin lakes were over flowing with Northern Pike, but when a few muskies survived to maturity, they feasted on the Northern Pike, which didn't have a chance, or so my father said.

After that my father lost interest in pike and muskie, and started chasing tiny trout around in the Wisconsin creeks. He would spend all day wading around in shallow creeks, and come home with 3 or 4 small trout about the size of medium perch. He was enthralled by this. I never understood what the fuss about trout was. OK they taste better, or so they say, because I thought pike were just as good. Although, I have been told I'm wrong about that.
 
Always wanted to fish for them. We had Gulf Sturgeon in north Florida to the Louisiana line, but they were endangered and illegal to fish for. Saw a big one once a guy had caught in the Pearl River, La/Miss boarder. He was real excited, had no idea what it was. Since it was already dead I suggested he quickly cover it up and get it home to eat.

Its a little known fact that sturgeon can be dangerous, they have killed people. By jumping on them... One example:

Sturgeon in the Suwannee River
https://www.aci-net.org/sturgeon-in-the-suwannee-river/
Locally, Green Sturgeon is listed as a threatened species, so you're supposed to release and report if you inadvertently catch one. Fish & Game uses this card program to keep count of local sturgeon in both the American and Sacramento Rivers locally, and farther north in parts of the Feather River. You have to card-report White Sturgeon catches but you can take them home, they just have to be over so-many pounds and inches, and you're limited to one per fisherman.

It's been decades since I've been to The Virgin Sturgeon, the restaurant I mentioned. I'm gonna check online to find out if they still serve local sturgeon, but I'll bet they don't. Man, that was a rockin' place in the 80s and 90s. Very kid-friendly, too. My kids loved it. Their favorite meal was the deep fried clams....local clams.

Those are probably all gone. I don't recall any clam farming on our rivers.
 
Always wanted to fish for them. We had Gulf Sturgeon in north Florida to the Louisiana line, but they were endangered and illegal to fish for. Saw a big one once a guy had caught in the Pearl River, La/Miss boarder. He was real excited, had no idea what it was. Since it was already dead I suggested he quickly cover it up and get it home to eat.

Its a little known fact that sturgeon can be dangerous, they have killed people. By jumping on them... One example:

Sturgeon in the Suwannee River
https://www.aci-net.org/sturgeon-in-the-suwannee-river/
Also, yes! Sturgeon put up a great sporting fight. They seem pretty intelligent, too. The on-the-water Fish&Game guys swear those fish recognize their boats. They said the juveniles and adults will swim right up to them, curious but totally relaxed.
 


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