Wisco Musky 101

You can usually tell a great fishing guide by how well they captivate an audience. Dan Boggs of Flying Musky Guide Company is for sure one of those guides. I had the good fortune of meeting Dan while scouting stories for the Driftless region a little over a year ago. It’s not often he makes it this far south (he’s located about four hours north in Stevens Point) so when I got a call he was coming down to the Chicago area I made a point to catch up with him at DuPage Fly Shop in Naperville.

We met up at the shop around noon and spent some time chatting with owner Jeremy Spaccapaniccia, a Musky fin-atic in his own right (seriously, you should see this guy’s Musky patterns). Slowly regular customers and interested clients rolled in to create a tight gathering at the back of the shop. Dan, ever the entertainer, dove right in weaving tales, sharing tips, and answering questions. If there was ever a crash course on chasing Musky on the fly (off the water of course), this was it. Discussions ranged from habitat, spawning rituals, and behavioral queues, to line weights, rod preferences, and specific tactics.

I’m the first to admit I know just to the right of nothing about Musky—I’ve only targeted them while taking a break from shadowing Dan with my camera—but after walking out, I felt a lot more comfortable to take on the piscatorial beasts.