On my last count there have been 4075 articles written on catching Pike on the fly. So why not make it 4076? Often when you hear people talking about Pike there is a misconception that they don’t fight, are like pulling in a wet log in and are a nuisance to catch if that were all true than there would only be 2021 articles written about fly fishing for Pike. Hopefully I can dispel a few myths and get you going in the right direction. All knowledge I share in this article has been taken from experience gained in Alberta and Manitoba
Location, Location, Location!
Go north…Go as far north as you can then go a little bit further. From my experience of living in Edmonton for seven years there are some good pike lakes fairly close to the city that push that coveted 40“ range and have fairly strong fighting fish. Now you press North up into the Fort McMurray area that’s where the fun begins. Strong fighting Northern’s that take multiple runs and when you get them to the cradle, their shoulders are two to three times as wide, big, strong, healthy Pike. On the flip side you get down to the Calgary/Drumheller region three hours south and the pike are skinny snakes with not a lot of spirit. Granted in Manitoba the range isn’t as extreme but I’m sure you catch my drift. Go north.
Casting and the Hunt (the double haul)
Generally speaking the double haul (a fly casting technique) isn’t mandatory in qualifying you as better, more accomplished fly fisherman, as distance isn’t everything. That is until you are throwing big nasty flies for Pike, on tropical flats chasing bonefish or fishing on a beach for migrating Pacific Salmon. OK, you should probably take the time to learn the double haul. I never had to double haul before I started chasing Pike but when the guy on the back of the boat is casting 70-90 feet and you are casting 40-60 feet you’re new nick name becomes “net man” pretty fast. Unless you are good with your new nickname it’s time to step up. They are a ton of “How To” videos all over the web that will help you perfect the down up, down up coordination. Mel Krieger should be able to get you on the right path to casting for distance. Why is distance so important? Pike are notorious followers, I’m sure everyone has had an experience seeing a Pike or Musky follow your fly right up to the boat and once that fly stops the Pike stops, turns and is gone. What if you had cast that fly another 10-15 feet? You are probably yelling to the back of the boat “Grab the Net”. Take the time to learn and perfect the Double Haul just like a good roll cast, it’s another tool in the repertoire and you’ll catch more fish.
Your fly is wet….now what? Obviously there are tons of different ways to retrieve a fly. I’m going to touch on a couple that have risen above the rest for me. When conditions are right and the water is clear (at least 4-6 feet of visibility) I use a standard strip, strip, pause with varied speed of the strips and pauses till the right combination is found. As you gain some experience you will find that Pike will hammer the fly on the pause or just as you start the strip after the pause. The next retrieve is for cloudy water, where visibility is less than four feet. I use a fairly slow retrieve with slower and smaller strips consistently without a pause and if you feel the line stop or pull, wait…. you will feel the pike start to mouth the fly, almost like a trout hitting a worm on the end of a hook. The mouthing will get progressively stronger until it’s time to SET THAT HOOK.
The Set Up
Most of the time I will run a two rod boat. On the first set up I run a fast action 8 weight rod lined with Airflo’s Bass/Musky (floating line). I single out Airflo’s Bass/Musky line because it has a taper that suits my casting, it’s built for turning over big flies and is a low stretch fly line. The second rod is a fast action 8 weight as well, lined with Rio’s Outbound short(fly line) which is a short 30 foot head including the 15 foot intermediate sink tip. The leader, as far as overall length, anywhere from 6-8 feet is fine, the longer you go the harder it will be to turn over the bigger fly patterns. I have yet to meet a leader shy Pike. Whether you are going with Mono-filament or fluorocarbon don’t be afraid to go up to 60lb, a stiff leader will turn those big flies over with ease. Attached to the Mono is 8-10 inches of 15-20 lb. bite wire. I also throw in a swivel where the mono or fluoro and bite wire meet, it helps keep the line from twisting and when the bite wire gets kinked up its easy to tie in a new piece of wire. Whether you want to use a loop knot or a clip to tie your flies on, it’s your call. I’ve seen both work and both fail.
Fluorocarbon – It will probably sink a little faster, be a little more abrasion resistant and isn’t as visible under the water.
Mono-filament – If you find some cheaper stuff you will notice it is stiffer which helps turn the bigger flies over better than the fluoro.
Bite wire – You can go ahead a buy Rio’s Powerflex wire bite tippet, you get 15’ for about 18 dollars or you can walk over to the spin gear section and grab Danielson Nylon coated wire leader you will get 30’ for about 4 bucks. Your call…
I only mentioned floating line and intermediate tip line in the set up because when I am targeting Pike it’s in two to twelve feet of water. Whether it’s spring, summer or fall, at some point of the day the Pike will be sunning themselves in the weeds, cruising for bait fish or hanging off a shelf…I promise you. Working points, weed beds or river mouths is always a good place to start. Every Pike lake I’ve fished I’ve driven to. Don’t get me wrong I’d love the opportunity to go chase some Pike at a fly in lake lodge up North it just hasn’t happened yet. So don’t feel you won’t be able to track down monster Pike because you aren’t shelling out big bucks for a fly in lodge. Grab a Backroad Map book, a good wing man and Go.