Jon Hardman is a geologist and fishing content creator based in West Virginia. He’s the host of the Hardman Fishing Adventures, a YouTube channel that highlights fly fishing for a variety of species, with a focus on trout.
In the 9.5-minute video below, Jon is with his buddy Nate, and they’re joined in a drift boat by Beau from Natives Fly Shop in West Virginia. They’re targeting muskies on a medium-sized West Virginia river.
As Jon explains, trying to catch a musky — known as the “fish of 10,000 casts” — with fly gear is a supreme challenge, physically and mentally. As you’ll see in the video, the guys are casting to downed trees along the shoreline; muskies hang out in these spots to ambush prey. But making a cast with a fly rod takes much more effort than with baitcasting gear. A fly angler must make a few “false casts” before shooting out the fly line as far as necessary; during each false cast, the angler lets out a little more line. With fly gear, when you add in the false casts, an angler must make three or four casts for every one they’d make with baitcasting gear. So a musky becomes the “fish of 30,000 or 40,000” casts!
I won’t spoil the video by getting into the details of what they see or catch. Simply watch and enjoy. (Be sure to listen closely at the 3-minute mark for the true story of “Leroy the Shad.” Good stuff!)
