Esox Masquinongy lurkes deep in river holes and lakes of my Virginia home water. This apex freshwater hunter eludes anglers so much that many call it the fish of a thousand casts. The few encounter I’ve had have left me a little shaken up. I don’t know if it’s their size, needle-like toothy grin, dead eye stare or the nonchalant way they come right up to the boat.

A musky’s elongated ambush predator body must require a lot of nourishment (they can take prey up to 30% of their body length) because it often takes a fly of significant size/profile to get their attention. Couple that with casting full sinking fly lines and you can understand why hooking, netting and boating one is consider quite the accomplishment. Not to mention a musky can reach 6ft long and up to 70lbs.

Medium –
Graphite and paper

Dimensions –
24″ x 36″

Progress shots:

Eric Gibson getting it done with a nice Shenandoah musky.

Getting to sketching. Gotta thicken up the body.