Fly Fishing for Northern Pike

[fisherguy]

SOme guys i guide every year do it. They go for smallmouth and pike. As far as rods i don't know what they use, but big streamers work for bass and pike, and poppers did well for bass. As far as colours just go with the same ones that have worked well in that lake for you in the past. Oh, and make sure to pick up some steel leaders, and get someone to show you how to attach the flies to it.

[carbonhunter]

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I'm buying a new flyrod for my birthday, and I decided I'd get one that could double for largemouth and pike. I go to Ontario every year with my dad, and I love to fish for pike. I am going to try my hand at flyfishing for these toothy critters. I'm looking at a 9wt rod and reel combo and I think it would just be a blast to catch a big pike on a fly flicker. Has anybody else in here done this, or have info on it. It looks like a heck of a lot of fun.

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Your right Pike on the fly are awsome. The 9 weight is a good starter, I think a stiff fast action 8 weight do the trick even better though. I over weight the rod by using a line weight larger. The 8weight is a better bass rod as well. It mostly comes down to what time of year your fishing for them. When i did it in MN I would carry two rods a 8 weight and a 10 weight. The 8 would be the rod of choice when working shallow flats and points and when tossing smaller bait fish patterns. The main reason for the 8 weight was the smaller size of pike we caught using this method. The 10 weight was for throwing BIG flies, like 12 inch decievers and magnum bunny strips, the big rod also shined when fishing real heavy weeds, and later in the year when you had to fish water that was 15-20' deep and heavy sinking lines are the normal, its tough to pull those big lines out for the next cast.

I like stiff fast action rods for all pike fishing though. The fast action makes casting easier in the wind which is always around northern lakes. The tough stiff butt makes setting the hook and lifting big fish out of weeds much easier. As for a fly reel, that all depends on where your fishing, a pike run isnt really all that long..maybe 100-175 yards so just about any reel design will work. I like large arbors for any big fast fish though especially if there prone to mulitple quick runs, drag start up enertia is less and the larger reel picks up line quick helps when ya know the fish is just saving energy for another run.

Flies are like lures, i like the bigger the better. Lots of flash and bright gaudy colors like chart/yellow, red/yellow, chart/white or red/black, plus all those colors on there own. it helps if flies are weed proof, you can go pretty stiff as the strike is hard with pike.

if ya need anything else just as....i can look around the net to see if there are any combos

[coles]

i brought my youth pastor with me and he tried out his fly rod but didnt catch anything. i have never tried. i was going to but i just kept catching them on my baitcaster and red and white spoon and i couldnt make my self stop and switch. i cant wait till the ice melts. me and my bud will be out there. good luck.

[Shaun_300]

i never had, my dad used to though, he said it was a blast! it would be fun to get a 10 pounder on a fly rod!!

[carbonhunter]

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I bought a 9wt rod/reel with floating 9wt line on it. I was wondering if a 10wt sinking line would also work on the outfit. I'm looking at a sinking line to target some deeper fish. Would the 10wt with a heavy fly overload the 9wt rod, or would it work for deep pike? I'm not an expert on the finer points of fly fishing, but I bought a 5wt some years back and can cast and play fish very well on it, I hope the big flies don't hurt my cast/accuracy too much.

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What Action rod do you have, alot of guys will overrate all there rods buy buying a line weight higher, will increase cast lenght as well, Id use a 9-weight sinking line and a 10 weight floating line. Trying to pull a 10weight sinking line out ot the water with that 9 weight will be a real pain in the butt.