Anthony and I used some of Brad’s 11 weight saltwater rods teamed up with 450 grain streamer express shooting heads and monstrously large flies. The Flambeau is a large river with clear water stained brown with tannins. Brad uses the jet to quickly access musky rich waters. After running our own shuttles and dropping Westin and the boys upriver we launched Brad’s jet boat and proceeded to spray the water with casts. Doug and Miles were guided by Westin and Anthony and I hooked up with Brad. On day one we fueled up on some a hearty breakfast prepared by Brad and then headed to the river. Brad’s operation is based out of the Flambeau Lodge which is equipped with basic cabins, a full bar, pool table, dart board and several dogs roaming the grounds - our kind of place! Upon renting a car we drove about 3 hours to remote area of Northern Wisconsin on the edge of the Flambeau State Forest north of the small town of Ladysmith. On Thursday October 20th we left Bozeman on a direct flight to Minneapolis mid day.

This is a sport where success is defined as a single fish and failure is the norm vs. There is something special about the grueling nature of the pursuit and when all of the hard work final results in a tug the adrenaline rush that accompanies is unmatched. After a few days of musky fishing we return both physically and mentally exhausted. This is truly some of the toughest fishing I have ever done in my life. The fishing is not for the faint of heart and at times we often wonder why we are actually spending hard earned funds to torture both mind and body. As died in the wool trout anglers there is just something special about float fishing large rivers and pulling streamers the size of small ducks through the water.

Northern Wisconsin is home to some of the world’s most productive musky lakes but it is the large river systems that we enjoy fishing.

Unique clear muskie fishing planet