From the uninitiated perspective, there’s a lot of gonzo in fly fishing for musky. From the size of the fish, the teeth, the romanticized struggle, the beefy tackle and oversized flies, few occasions in freshwater fly fishing compare in perceived absurdity–a fact that can be distracting at times.

Trends occur with fly fishing just as with fashion, home décor and music. What’s popular one year becomes unpopular the next, then makes a comeback years later. And this cycle continues again and again. I remember in the 1990’s when indicator fishing was all the rage and I was told by countless western fly fishing guides the tightline tactics taught to me by Joe Humphreys won’t work out west. The opposite is true today as Euro-nymphing (aka tightline nymphing) is the hot tactic throughout the U.S. and indicator fishing is thought of as lower-level “bobber fishing.”