Picture of the Day: Virginia is for Musky Lovers

McKinney Musky

Mark MicKinney hoists a monster musky, caught on an unnamed Virginia River.

photo courtesy Mark McKinney

One of guide Mark McKinney’s clients took this monster musky on January 15, while fishing a river within an hour or Roanoke, Virginia (although Mark doesn’t want to say which river). They had floated 12 miles in wind, rain, sun, and even a little bit of snow. Casting flies tied by musky guru Brah Bohen, they landed three muskies that day, had a couple get off, and enjoyed a couple more follows. Strangely, all the fish were landed in the last mile of the float. Mark says he didn’t weigh the fish in the picture because a fish that large can be injured if you hold it up with scales. You need to hold such a beast horizontally, he says, because holding it vertically puts too much strain on the fish’s neck and jaw. McKinney guides anglers for muskies, smallmouths, and wild trout on the New, James, and Jackson Rivers.

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