Pike on the Fly

[johnk]

Definitely not the right time of the season to start flyfishing for pike but I've been talking about it for some time and decided to give it a go. There are definitely some addictive qualities to speed stripping and having that fly stop dead! Can only imagine at this point what a 25 lb. pike would do to my adrenaline level. Nothing special but a successful day nonetheless with six landed with the largest going 6-7 lbs. Enjoy.

[ded heron]

Sweet! Noth'n wrong with the "tundra sharks". What they lack in stamina, they more than make up in terms of ferocity and willingness to kill. I've done a little pike'n out east and had a blast! No fun throwing a ti leader though. Never done any better in size, but have been tempted to go to Saskatchewan in the spring to try to break the four foot mark. Maybe next year. Did ya eat one? They can be quite tasty.

[johnk]

Sweet! Noth'n wrong with the "tundra sharks". What they lack in stamina, they more than make up in terms of ferocity and willingness to kill. I've done a little pike'n out east and had a blast! No fun throwing a ti leader though. Never done any better in size, but have been tempted to go to Saskatchewan in the spring to try to break the four foot mark. Maybe next year. Did ya eat one? They can be quite tasty.

Wasn't really prepared to kill one on this hot and stinky day but in the fall.....

[Steve Zissou]

Beautiful fish, John.

And here I thought the prairies were dead to me...

[nthrngrayling]

They're a great fish in the spring just after ice-out. If your heading up to the Yukon or Alaska, check out Charlie Lake on the Alaska Hwy. It's about 8-10klm past Fort St John. Ice out is generally by May 15th. Head up to the north end of the lake and fish the shallows along the weed beds. The lake holds some absolute hogs. Plus as a bonus there is lots of walleye up to 3-4 lbs. Most large top water flys ie streamers/mice for the northern pike and leach patterns for the walleye.

There's a couple good camp sites on the lake. If your coming through, get hold of me and I'll do my best to get you pointed in the right direction. Might even load up a rod and go along. ng

[chauchey]

Beautiful fish, John.

And here I thought the prairies were dead to me...

Anything good in them is considered to have migrated over millions of years, from B.C.

Nice post John! Good to see the snow isn't keeping you off the water!

[gadus]

Lots of fun isn't it. I tend to fish with a 6 weight when i'm piking and that's taking a chance. biggest i've gotten on the fly is about 8 pounds. I think if I had a 25 pound pike on the fly, i'd be buying a new rod cause i'd be throwing mine at the pike LOL

Nothing like seeing that swirl before the hit, and you know the hit is coming. When they grab and go, the adrenaline sure kicks in. Only thing I don't like is the destroyed flies.

[Markk]

Went out to Manitoba this fall for some family stuff. We left early to try some fishing. Ended up at Duck Mountain park. We went to chain lakes and threw spoons for some pike. We probably caught 30 or 40 of them not much size probably biggest about 8 pounds. We decided to go back and I took my 8 weight fly rod and used a 4 inch white and red rabit strip fly. The casting was more like huck and duck than normal fly casting. I didn't get as many fish as the spoon but I did get a 37 inch ninteen pounder. What a scrap it screemed off about 50 feet of line and then just sat there. If it didn't run at first I thought I would have been snagged solid. Luckily I was using like a 20 pound leader with a wire leader tied on before the fly so I culd really pull on it. Great fun and my biggest fish on the fly rod so far! Not sure how to post a pic on here otherwise I would post it.