Pike Flies that ACTUALLY WORK!
- This topic has 9 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated May 23, 2007 at 3:58 pm by
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I have briefly experimented with pike on my fly rod but really have never put a good amount of time in during the right times of the year.
Hey Tim,
I have had very good success with this bug on Northerns. That little spinner drives the pike wild!
The only down side in the spinner takes a beating if you get hooked up a lot.Joel
Try and tie something about 6 inches long in all black/brown…in other words, anything that will resemble a leech.
www.mattjonesphotography.com
Tim,
I had the opportunity to fish for Northerns for about ten years straight in the in 1990’s in Northern Minnesota on Lake Kabatogama, Lake Namakan and many of the smaller inland lakes in Voyguer’s National Park as well as the Rainy River in International Falls. The big lakes were deep, rocky, cold, oligotrophic lakes with lots of weedy bays where the big Pike would hang out in 5-25ft of water off the rocky points adjacent to the weedy bays. Fly fishing for them was pretty good and after a couple of seasons, I settled on basically one fly with only color variations. The fly was a modified Deciever which could be made weedless with a mono weed guard if desired. I built this fly for durability, but more so because is always worked and was easy to cast. I wish I had a photo handy but don’t. It is constructed like this:
Hook: 5/0 Gamagatsu Straight Shank Worm Hook (The kind bass fisherman use for plastic worms). This hook is light, strong and has a large gap and big hook eye.
Body:
Step 1: Build this first. I used a section of EZ Tube Woven body material large enough to contain a mini-rattle. I tried different colors, but settled on clear. With the rattle inside the tube and on the hook shank, lash both ends of the tube with kevlar thread to create about a 1/8″ long thread base at both ends. The tube fillaments can extend a bit from the rear, but should be flush at the front to allow a clean head wrap.
Step 2: Soak the body with any type of clear epoxy. I used rod building epoxy, but any epoxy will work. Ensure you maintain smooth thread bases front and back. A rotating dryer works well here.
Hackles: Standard Deciever here. I used two white and two red saddles (3-4″) long on both the front and back. The saddle hackles should flare out. The overall fly length comes out to about 4-5″. I’ve tied them with Yellow/White, Black/White and Chartruese/White combos.
Finish the head with kevlar thread and epoxy the head and hackle wraps. All pike flys that work wear out. It must be those teeth. But this fly, if not lost, can be rebuilt because the body is essentially indestructable. I have a few that have gone through at least 3 sets of hackle.
I used this fly in both deep and shallow situations.
Find yourself some good flexible wire leader material such as Tiger Wire or Fenwick Iron thread and these things cast just like an Adams on a Spring Creek (well maybe not that delicate).
This guy fell to one of these on the Rainy River.
Slapout Mike
I can’t remember where I read about this method of attaching spinners (may have been fish alaska).
Simplest explanation:
1. Take a hole punch and drive it through the plastic retainer around soda cans. Hang onto the plastic discs.
2. Take your spinner blade and swivel assembly and thread it onto the bend of an assembled fly.
3. Pierce the plastic disc with the hook point and slide it up the bend of the hook (two may be necessary to hold the blade).
4. You’re done.Easy to do on the water and retro onto existing flies.
I’d also tie up some spoon flies. Put some dumbbell eyes on the bend of the hook and leave eight to ten rubber legs hanging off the back. You should be able to throw pretty large spoon flies on the larger rods you’ll be using for pike.
Ian
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