Fly Fishing

jeremy · Location: Portland, Maine

Pike, is another species that everyone tells me I gotta try pursuing on the fly ... So, this is the year I'm gonna do it. I have a pretty good general idea of Pike in the sense that I know they are an Apex predator and bassically the barracuda of fresh water. They get big and they have big teeth and they basically like to kill almost anything that swims by them - including small ducks etc.. However, it is the fine details that I need some help with.

1. What time of year is best?
2. Any specific flies that work best - or just something big and white? Do popper type patterns work?
3. Steel leader or bite/shock tippet? If mono/fluro - what pound?
4. Floating line? Intermediate? Sink?
5. Fast retrieves?

Ok Thanks in advance! Any help with flies, etc.. in regards to fly fishing for Pike would be a great help! Hope to catch my first Pike on the fly in 2009!

kopalks · Posted: Mon 03/09/09 11:58 am Post subject:

I normally do best for pike in the spring and fall. I don't usually target them, but they are in many of the small mouth rivers, and small lakes I fish. During the spring you can find them in the slack water spawning or preparing to spawn. Shallow bays are another good spot to start looking.

All of the pike I have caught have been on minnow patterns. I know larry Dahlburg likes to throw his mega diver for them. I have not caught one on top water yet, but I hear it is incredibly memorable.

In terms of leaders I have landed many fish on 10lb floro and mono. Of course if you hook into a larger on you may get cut off. If i were targeting them I would go with 10 or 12 floro unless you were fishing for very large fish, than you may want to jump up to wire or something like that.

In the colder months the fish can be found in the shallow water. This is when i catch most of my pike. I use a floating or intermediate line depending on what kind of fly I am throwing. when river fishing for them I will use a sink tip line.

Good luck

AKGrayling · Location: Anchorage AK

For the deeper water use a jerky retrieve on a big leech/bunny fly weighted in the head to give it more action in the water. The pike will tear it up. If you are looking to get into top water fishing my favorite pattern is a deer hair mouse. Up here in Alaska they are most active in the summer because that is when the water temp is where they like it.
Good luck!
Riley

bfly · Location: Spencerport, NY

Great topic!!!! I love it, Pike on the fly!! Anyway...a couple of things. Spring and Fall are probably the best times to go in terms of trying to get into numbers of fish, just as kopalks mentioned. Here in New York, the Pike spawn in March and April. The season opens in May, and the fishing can be fantastic because they have just come off the spawn and are looking to eat anything. So, if you can find out when they finish spawning where you are....Try to go then. They also get super aggressive in the fall before things cool down.

As for flies....the bigger the better!! Rabbit strip streamers, clousers, woolly buggers, dahlburg divers, hair bugs and poppers in sizes #4 through 2/0. I have a good variety of bright and dark flies to cover any situation. White, chartruese, yellow, red, brown & black.

And look into getting some "Toothy Critter" wire leader material from Cortland. It is absolutely fantastic! You can tie it just like mono!!! I usually make short leaders(8" to 12") that i tie straight to the fly and then tie a loop in the other end that attaches to the loop in my mono leader. That way I have a bunch of pre-tied leaders attached to flies all ready to go, and it makes switching out flies really easy. And I don't have to worry about losing flies!!!

I use a standard WFF fly line. It's more versatile, especially if you want to do both top water and streamer fishing. You can buy a specialty fly line for pike that has an exaggerated tapper for chucking big flies. But it may be easier just to go a fly line size bigger than the rod, especially if you have an extra "larger" line laying around.

As for retrieves....I try just about everything until I find what the fish want. Sometimes a slow and steady pace is perfect, other times a quick erratic strip while jerking the fly rod at the same time is what they want. And if you get into some great top water action....well, lets just say it's pretty awesome to see the wake of a Northern Pike as it moves from 12 feet away to crush your top water fly. "Big Fun!!!"

You better bring your video camera!! I hope I get to see some photos of your Pike. Have fun!

Zeebaars · Posted: Fri 03/13/09 10:29 am Post subject: Pike on the fly...

come to the netherlands in Autumn.....

big EP pikeflies are great. ( easy to cast and nice under water action.)

dutch pike :

Cornelis
"Seabass"

mmh46and2 · Location: Phippsburg, ME

As far as Pike go in Maine I would head up to Sabattus Lake/Pond (whatever you'd like to call it) just outside of Lewiston. The place is literally infested with them. I don't waste my time fishing here in the spring when it is prime season for other fish, but I'm sure you would do well. I like to fish it in July and August. These fish are active all summer long especially when the weather cools off in the evening that's when they really come alive. There is an abundance of baitfish and frogs which keep the pike busy, aggressive and large.

I started fishing there 5 years ago with a buddy of mine looking for bass but ended up catching more pike than anything else. I go there at least 5 or 6 times a year to catch these monsters. Last year I pulled in a 30 and a 32 incher both between 6 and 7 pounds in the same day as well as a bunch of smaller ones in the middle of July.

Any topwater fly that resembles a frog is pretty much perfect. The water is murky and dark patterns work best. When I go there I use the same flies I use for stripers. I like a black Clouser Minnow with a fast retrieve or a big popper. The topwater bit is tremendous I have never seen a more aggressive freshwater fish. They will absolutely destroy a popper both literally and figuratively. A wire leader is a must as well as plenty of flies because these guys will mangle them in a hurry. The water isn't that deep so a floating line is all that is really necessary.

P.S. where the Dead River flows into the lake is dynamite.
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BigBrowns25 · Posted: Sun 04/19/09 3:36 pm Post subject:

Fly fishing for Pike is awesome. I took my best Pike ever on a Fly- 48inches.
Try going in all the summer months. Using Huge Dalbergh Divers and Huge Streamers with a steel leader. 9 wght rod or bigger. Strip as fast as you can.
Good Luck

Kennebecster · Posted: Thu 04/23/09 10:24 pm Post subject:

I fish the Belgrades for Pike in the spring . I like may after the spawn. The fish start putting the feed bag on. I use a 9 foot 9weight outfit and it handles the fish pretty well. with some of the Pike I have seen swimming around a 10 weight wouldn't hurt though.
I have tried all kind of wire leader setups and any tieable braided steel ( tyger line for example ) works well. Large streamers , dahlbergs, frog flies, etc. Anything that creates a commotion in the water with a little flash seems to work. I also think that the color orange, or a pumpkin and red works well and often tomes will trigger strikes. Last year while flyfishin in Norht pond the entire lake was iced in except the tributary in the north end and the pike were on the beds. we did not catch any fish that day but twice we had a chase from smaller males and it was with an orange streamer fly. Also deer hair mice work might be worth a try.