If you have ever been into fishing for pike or musky, you’ve probably already heard this term. For some, it is the best way to catch a fish! But how far should we go? And how to gather the necessary experience when musky are not caught that often? Here's a couple of tips that should help you to react well when the moment will come!
The first thing to know is that the figure 8 is first and foremost a technique that is used to keep the attention of a fish that is already looking at the fly, and to prevent the fishermen from pulling the line out of the water too fast. Musky are often following flies from a long distance, and aren’t necessarily close to it. Never look at your fly during the retrieve, you should always look behind it and deep, this is where you should see fish if they are following.
When you finally reach the boat, start to describe a large 8 in the water, about 12 inches under the water in the middle of the 8, and raising it near the surface on the end of it. If you are better at only doing large circles, do it that way, it could work too. The transition between the end of the retrieve and the beginning of the figure 8 is really the key here. It should be as fluid as possible. You can practice this transition until it becomes natural for you to operate it. The transition should start when your fly is about 14 inches away from the tip of your rod. If possible, you should adapt the speed of the figure to the behaviour of the fish, and how they react on this particular day. Keep in mind that a slow fish will probably react badly to a fly that is going too fast, and a fast fish will probably turn away on a fly that is going too slow. Pay attention to what you see and trust it if you see any suspect swirl in the water. Always take your time. It is usually when we are in a rush that we see the fish too late after we took the fly out of the water. If a fish misses his attack, keep going on the figure 8 as he’s probably hiding just deeper or under the boat waiting to give it a try again.
If your fly finally disappears into the mouth of those monsters, what should you do? Set the hook? Well, think about it. You’re basically 9 feet away only from this trophy, with only a rod and a leader between you and him. If you set the hook, there are good chances that it won’t end well. You should wait a bit before setting the hook. If you set it too fast, the rod will probably absorb the hit and the hook won’t penetrate its mouth properly. It will then be too late, and the fish will probably let the fly go and swim away. On the other end, if you set it too late, the fish will probably feel that the fly isn’t a fish and will once again swim away after letting the fly go. So, what is the perfect moment to set the hook? When the fish takes the fly and starts to swim away from you. The line will start to tighten, then it’s the perfect moment to make a strip set with your fly rod pointing directly at the fish. Don’t hesitate to hook set 2, 3 or even 4 times during the fight to make sure that the hook is buried down deep into its mouth. Some fish are tougher than others and can shut their mouth so hard that when you set the hook, the fly won’t move at all, meaning it won’t hook the fish.
A fly that moves usually means a happy fish.
Text adapted and translated by Benoit Farcy.
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