Pike Flies

[Wildfisher]

I intend to have a go at pike fly fishing soon. I have a 9 foot  8 /9 weight rod. Reel and line (floater with detachable sink tip and a slow sinker). No  flies yet.

What would you recommend? I?d prefer to buy a  selection to start with rather than tie at this stage.

I?ll also need some wire traces. Again what?s best?

[Malcolm]

You can get a decent selection of flies from fliesonline  - enough to get started. I'd buy Proleader (from Sportfish amongst others) rather than wire trace - it is expensive but you can knot it.

Malcolm

[Inchlaggan]

I'd buy Proleader (from Sportfish amongst others) rather than wire trace

Agree with Malcolm- do not use wire leaders. I do not think that there is any difference to the pike, but if you have perfected presentation with a dry fly, a wire leader messes with your mind. Proleader will be closer to what you are used to.
Files are BIG, with a lot of tail action- zonkers are a good start- a heavy head gives both the sink and (coupled with the tail) the required action.
Tight lines.

[Wildfisher]

This proleader stuff is expensive - ?7.50- for 3 M  :shock:

Presumably you use short pieces? How long and  how do you attach it to the  main leader and to the fly?

[Malcolm]

Fred,

What I do is tie up the traces beforehand:

swivel -> tucked blood knot -> 12 ins proleader -> tucked blood knot -> swivel -> snap link ->fly

and I just clip the flies onto the snap link - you can tie the pro leader directly onto the fly but the monstrosities I use - up to 9 inches long - are very good at imparting leader twist.

I am absolutely not an expert on this as I only go about 10 times a year pike fishing on the fly usually September - November and I am totally self taught.

[paulr]

I use a 7-8ft leader of 15lb mono, then a swivel attached to about a foot of standard trace wire.I add a clip to the other end of the wire so it's easy to change flies.
Honestly just tie up some really simple flies yourself. Just a hank of sparkly stuff bound on a hook will catch pike.They don't need to be huge flies either,plenty of big pike are taken on smaller flies.
Like Col, pm me your address if you like and I'll send you a few flies.
The other essential is a pair of forceps for removing hooks.
Also, don't worry about presentation when casting-pike will be attracted by disturbance in the water rather than spooked by it.
cheers
Paul

[Wildfisher]

Some great info. guys. Thanks for that. As soon as I get all the gear together I'm going to head up to Loch Callater, a wild place,  but only a 3/4 hour or so walk in and about 40 miles from home. Anyone fished it? It's stuffed with pike they say.

http://www.multimap.com/maps/?qs=loch+callater&countryCode=GB#map=56.93333,-3.33333|11|4&bd=useful_information&loc=GB:56.93333:-3.33333:17|loch%20callater|Loch%20Callater

[Wildfisher]

fuckng hell John, the RSPB will be on your case if they see that photee.   

how big are they?

[Fishtales]

Here are a few sites with recipes.

http://members.shaw.ca/mrpike/patterns.htm

http://www.flyfishing-and-flytying.co.uk/flytying/pike_fly.html

http://www.flyfishing-and-flytying.co.uk/patterns/flyvbait.html

http://members.shaw.ca/clives/pike_flies_gear2.html

http://members.shaw.ca/clives/pikeflies2.html

[ALAN-D]

Fred,


Re Loch Callater.


I had a bash at this in early May  this year. I never touched anything but reckon that was due to the air temp and height of the loch rather than absence of our old friend the pike.



Nice place to fish mind , with a good access track.


alan