1st fish of the trip courtsey of Brad Bohen @ Musky Country Outfitters

Decade [dek-eyd]
noun
1.) a period of ten years

The old cliche of "time flies" is an understatement, it is hard to believe that I have been taking beatings from Musky for that long but I have to say every time I hit the water I am still as enthusiastic as day one. With my tenth season of pursuing the gnarly Esox known as Musky upon me I began to think of ways that I could commemorate this important event in my life. After having a long wet winter and spring to dream and fuel the ambitions for the upcoming season I have set 3 goals to accomplish. One of those goals is to land all three subspecies of Musky (the Ohio, my home subsp., the Northern, and the Great Lakes). After that the mission was to convince my amazing wife, Lia, that we needed to take a trip to northern Wisconsin (for the northern sub.) which turned out surprisingly easy (thanks in part to the Wild on the Fly episode featuring the area, she is a sucker for biscuits & gravy). Next thing I know we were Wisco bound.

To say the trip was amazing would be an understatement. The Musky Country Group: Brad, Brian, Willhelm (I probably did not spell it right), and Eric were all extremely helpful, whether it was some where to eat or turning us on to some marvelous Brookie fishing in the area.

A solid 40" fish, icing on the cake

Billy's 1st fish of the trip and his 3rd musky ever

Lia's 1st musky ever! This was the highlight of the trip for me, she has had some bitter experiences with musky in the past and for it to finally all come together and have this happen, well it was epic. Although she likely would not tell you she missed 7 the day before in an hour and a half period (and one was a solid mid 40's). I used to tell her that we could not get married until she caught a muskie, well as of June 15th we are officially married (even if it is a year and a half after the ceremony).

The fly that closed the deal for Lia's fish.

So where do you go after such an amazing trip? Well 35 fish to boat (9 down currently), a Great Lakes fish, and a Fifty. It is going to be a hell of a season.

The accomadations at the lodge were great, you can not go wrong with a place that has a giant musky statue.

Lia was excited about eating at Spider Lake Cafe, the owner Sam and his son were very welcoming and the food was great.

The homestead for the week.

Zane and I trying our hand at some lake fish on Ghost Lake, fish just were not willing though.

An evening view of ghost lake.

Brad and Brian turned us on to some impressive trout fishing in the area as well, some impressive results with Brookies.

The Voyage to the Promise Land

This is definitely one of the most solid fly shops that I have had the pleasure to visit, the Old Ausable flyshop located in Grayling, Michigan. Welcoming and knowledgeable staff as well as a really nice selection of all items flyfishing.
Family pic on the shores of Lake Michigan along the U.P. coastline.
Zane and I chillin on a rock
Some meat courtesy of Pat Kelly, intended for trout but the rusty one and white one did work on muskies for Lia. The white one had a solid mid forties fish eat it.
One last glance of Lake Michigan before pushing through to the Holy Land of Musky.

Nestle Quick

That is about the color of every river around at this point. Pics from last season just keep fueling the fire, can't wait for some clear fishable conditions.

Muskie Pumpkin

When my wife decided that we needed to carve pumpkins last Halloween, I do not think that she thought that I could incorporate muskies into. She thought wrong.

Apex Fly Company Now Open For Business!

Apex Fly Company was an idea I came up with this year simply for the reason the that I have a deep passion for taking big predatory fish with the musky being at the top of that list on a fly, and that the flies available commercially are pathetic at best. At the end of our 2009 season my patience was growing thin being stuck with these weak, undersized, sorry excuses that the commercial tying industry were calling musky flies. Its just common sense that an elusive, bad ass, unforgiving fish like the musky needs more than a 6 inch rabbit strip to be coaxed into eating. While taking about it with fellow angler and commercial tyer, Mike Schmidt, I found he held many of the same views and also felt there was a niche to be filled. After a few evenings of flies going back and forth with ideas buzzing about, Apex Fly Co was born. Our goal with Apex Fly Co is to offer a wide range of patterns that will help anyone who chases predatory fish with a fly whether it's browns, musky, pike, peacocks, cobia, shark, or whatever your preferred predator may be by offering a selection of flies that not only look great but are tied with the best hooks and materials available. It is our belief that the best flies are engineered based on function first and looks second. All of the patterns offered from Apex have spent time in the water in pursuit of predator fish prior to being offered to ensure they perform as expected and most importantly...catch fish! The pictures below are just a sample of the pike/musky flies offered by Apex Fly Co. Every day we are creating and innovating new patterns for the apex predator of your choice. I am currently working on putting a website together until then if you are interested in purchasing any of the patterns you see here on the blog you can contact me via email at apexflycompany@gmail.com

Pat Kelly
Apex Fly Company