‘With heart beating a little faster my brain went into overdrive. I computed the angle of the cast, then distance to target. As I was about to cast, I pulled a few more feet of line from the reel. All the time I was keeping my eyes on the fish’
I moved slowly upstream, peering intently into the gin clear water. The bright sunshine allowed me to see every pebble, stick and even the minnows in the bottom of the pool. No breeze ruffled the surface. A shoal of bait-fish hung close to a weed bed. Nothing moved as I peered intently into the water. The combination of my long-peaked cap and polarised glasses helped me search deep into the slow flowing water.
I blinked and then squinted. Did I see a pike? “Yes! There it is.” I spotted a fin movement, then a tail moved, enough for me to realise I was looking at a pike; the perfect predator. My eyes move slowly up the length of a fish, it must be thirty inches or more.
With heart beating a little faster my brain went into overdrive. I computed the angle of the cast, then distance to target. As I was about to cast, I pulled a few more feet of line from the reel. All the time I was keeping my eyes on the fish; I was the hunter, the hunted a fish that goes back a few million years. It probably weighs 14lbs and it’s there for catching if I don’t make a mistake.
The fish is moving slowly upstream and I have just one chance. I shot the line, the fly landed with a slight plop, hardly breaking the water surface. The fish moves its head slightly then slowly turns. This is the moment I have been waiting for all morning. I twitched the line, imparting life into the fly – a fly that was created in Northern Canada. It’s tied on a 3/0 hook using synthetic polar-bear hair and a few strands of crystal flash. It is some six inches long and comes alive in the water.
I made a six-inch strip and the pike was off the starting-block, moving fast towards my fly, creating a bow wave. I gave another quick strip of some three inches. The big one couldn’t resist it; there was a big swirl, a boil, then the fly disappeared as the fish turned for the deep water. The strip strike set the hook, his speed and momentum carrying the fish skywards, head shaking, gills flared. For a second, perhaps two, I stand spellbound, watching this fighting fury crash back into the water. It’s like an explosion as the water erupts with the ever-increasing circles going across the river. After many minutes the fish is bought to hand. I bend down, then take the barbless hook from the scissors of the pike’s mouth, watching it swim off slowly.
Catching a pike on a fly is not new
In The Diary of A. J. Lane (1843) page 52 he writes: “Pike, and heavy ones too, rise tolerably freely to flies dressed very largely & of gaudy peacock feathers, tied up on large double or even sets of hooks.” At the bottom of the page it states:”One of the best flies is an imitation of the Sand Martin.”
I think we can forget that last sentence!
In the Badminton Library Fishing by H. Cholmondeley-Pennell, Pike and Other Coarse Fish (1885) page 62 there is mention of fly fishing for pike. On page 95 in The Book of the All-round Angler by Bickerdyke there is a short article on fly fishing for pike. Then do we know the truth behind the Kenmure Monster taken, it is said, from Loch Ken by the gamekeeper on a peacock herl tied on a hook? Isn’t that a fly?
It all shows that fly fishing for pike isn’t new, although listening to some present day anglers who have started to fly fish for pike, it is something they have only just discovered! I caught my first pike on a fly made from a bird’s feather whipped on a size 4 carp hook with some fine nylon line. Ithen added some silver paper from a Player’s cigarette packet along the shank of the hook. It is very difficult to find anything that’s really new in angling. The hair-rig, for example, was used by tunny anglers, the boilie by American carp anglers. Who is to say the various Indian tribes in Canada didn’t use a fly to catch pike?
When writing of flies, we are not talking of small flies, such as are used for salmon and sea trout; pike flies are sometimes seven or eight inches in length, often tied on a size 6/0 irons.
Some Successful Pike Flies
If you were to take a look in the fly boxes of a few anglers who target the pike, you will discover hundreds of different fly patterns. Just as today’s anglers, fishing for rainbow trout, carry several boxes of fly patterns but only use a dozen flies, it is the same with us anglers who target the pike. I have several boxes of flies for pike but for most of my fishing I probably only use a dozen patterns – but with various colour combinations that dozen probably grows to a hundred or more. Most of my pike flies are tied up on 2/0 to 4/0. A few flies have been tied up on Ade Swier-designed hooks, size 5/0.
One of my most successful pike fly patterns is without doubt the Polar Fly. It’s tied as follows:
Tail: white synthetic polar bear hair and pearl crystal.
Body: pearl fritz or silver tinsel strip.
Wings: white polar bear hair, again synthetic with pearl crystal hair.
Remarks: two types of bodies should be tied up, as one will often work when the other doesn’t. I don’t know why this is so but that is just the nature of the beast. This pattern is also excellent for many saltwater species including the bass.
Other patterns are the Polar Perch with a tail of synthetic polar hair and a body of gold tinsel with 12lb mono rib. The wings are yellow buck with green buck over tying with black silk. You can add purple crystal hair strands to the wings, creating a barring effect using a black permanent pen. A fly pattern I really like is the Red Tailed Rat. There are many occasions when pike ignore a submerged fly but will savagely hit a surface fished one. The Red Tailed Rat is quite simple to tie, with a tail of red buck and red crystal hair. The body is black deer hair, wedge shaped, and the tying silk is black. Takes are usually very savage.
A pattern I used in Canada with great success is the Sally Rand, named after the famous American fan dancer of the 1930s. The first time I used this pattern, the lake water was a very strange colour caused by ash from some huge forest fires that had been burning for several weeks. In fact so bad were the fires that my bush pilot had difficulty finding the scrub airfield. On a couple of occasions we had to turn back and try the next day. I gave this pattern a simple name of Orange Marabou. It was on a Canadian trip when the name was changed. An American from Chicago noticed I was using this pattern with some success when others were struggling and after giving him a couple of these flies, he said, “You know, Martin, those flies look like a fan the dancers use.” He then told me of how his father had a fan dancer by the name of Sally Rand to entertain the punters at his booth during the big Chicago show in the 1930s; hence the name change.
The tail of this fly comprises two orange marabou left on the quill, with a body of orange marabou and some silver oval, tinsel rib or orange cock hackle, palmered down the body. Wings are four orange cock hackle. Purple crystal hair may be added to the tail and wing. This is a good pattern for coloured water.
Three patterns I wouldn’t be without are the Lefty Kreh Deceiver, Larry Dahlberg Rabbit Strip Diver and Bob Clouser Deep Minnow, all in various colour combinations. The latter two patterns are from the book Fly Patterns of the Umpqua Feather Merchants by Randall Kaufmann. Clouser Deep Minnow tying instructions are on page 147. Thread is 6/0 chartreuse and white, eyes lead-painted dark red with black pupils, and wings are white buck-tail on top with chartreuse buck-tail underside and pearlescent Krystal Flash over the top. Tie this pattern in various colour combinations.
On page 185 you will find the tying for the Dahlberg Rabbit Strip diver; thread is 3/0 white and the tail is white rabbit strip, red flashabou. The collar is red and white deer hair, the head is red and white deer hair and the eyes are yellow 4fi mm solid plastic. As with Clouser Deep Minnows, I suggest you tie up a few in various colour combinations.
Lefty’s Deceiver has been around since the early 1950s. It’s a pattern I always have with me in various colour combinations at all times, both for fresh and saltwater fishing. I well remember sitting with Lefty in his home as he tied up some flies for a Bahamas bonefish trip; watching his hands workingwas pure magic. The man is certainly a genius. The tying for this pattern comes from page 134 of Pike On The Fly by Barry Reynolds and John Berryman.
Instructions are as follows:
Thread: white and chartreuse
Tail: white buck-tail, shank length, inside white neck hackles (2 each side), extending one and a half times shank length.
Body: silver tinsel with a collar of white buck tail, extending nearly to tip of tail.
Topping: chartreuse buck-tail, as long as collar.
Throat: several strands of red Krystal Flash.
Head: chartreuse thread, lacquered, with eyes applied with Faber-Castell uni-point marker.
I also have two frog patterns which have proved excellent fish catchers. We all know how pike love weeds and my frog patterns can be fished in the thickest of weeds without getting caught up. When fishing reed beds I have had pike come a foot out of the water to grab a frog pattern as I pulled the frog up the reed stems.
The first frog pattern I used was made by Kent Sherrington of Lancashire. It was made from balsa wood, painted yellow then given a couple of coats of epoxy. The other is made from an Edgewater Popper, colour yellow on a size 4/0 hook. I tie in some near hair to represent the back legs of frog. At the front I use two or three strands of three inches of round rubber hackle. At the front edge of the foam head, I fix two eyes but, as previously stated, I don’t think the pike see these eyes. Finally I always take a few popping bugs, the same as used by saltwater anglers for snook, cobia, kingfish etc. A popping plug or bug creates a lot of noise, gives the impression of something big and injured, certainly something a pike can’t resist.
Rods Reels and Lines
One thing is certain, the rod, reel and line outfit you use for river or stillwater trout fishing won’t be suitable for chucking flies, popping plugs or bugs and frogs for pike. The lightest rod you can use will be a nine-weight, and then only for the smaller patterns when fishing rivers and canals. My advice is to go for a nine-foot nine or ten weight. The best advice I can give is purchase a saltwater model. I have tried many rods over the years and some have been useless, especially in the early days of the 1960s. Some have done a better job than others.
These days I am using the T&T Helix or SC series in four pieces, with a short fighting butt which I have found most useful, especially when playing a big fish or lifting a fish from deep water. The SC rods combine graphite technology with tapers that can lift a long line from the water. They work well at casting both short and long distances and they load very quickly, which is most important when you suddenly see a fish moving away. I have used my SC series of rods in fresh and saltwater with lots of confidence. They are my number one rods in the Persian and Arabian Gulf when I tackle the big cobia and kingfish, also the little tunny when off Connecticut in late October. Any rod that can handle the little tunny will be OK for the pike.In your tackle shop you will find several brands of line which will be suitable for chucking big flies for pike but a single line will not cover all aspects of pike fly fishing.
To get the best out of the sport, you need at least three lines. I am at present using the Wulff triangle taper fly lines for much of my fly fishing, both fresh and saltwater.
My first choice is a slow-sink line. I can fish flies from the surface, down to four or five feet, depending on the speed of retrieve. Two other Wulff lines I use are both sinkers, the medium and fast-sink. It’s surprising how often you will use a fast-sink line when fishing the big reservoirs and gravel pits. When fishing with a fast-sink line I often use a leader of three feet, perhaps even just eighteen inches in length.
Rio supply a line that’s ideal if you’re a travelling angler and you can only purchase one rod and reel; it is the Versitip. This comes with four interchangeable fifteen foot tips; floating, clear intermediate, and two sink tips. All the lines I have mentioned can be used in saltwater but not in the tropics. After every trip make sure your fly line is given a good clean, you will then find that you can cast a lot better on your next visit to the waterside, which means more chances of catching pike.
Reels for fly fishing are usually simple affairs and for pike fishing all you need is a simple reel. These fish don’t make long fast runs, except on very rare occasions. A Young’s 1500 series fly reel from Masterline International stockist in salmon size will prove quite adequate, either the Y1535 or Y1540 model. If you’re planning to fish the ocean then you need a better quality reel. I have various models of reels from Gilmore, Loop, Abel, Tibor, Aaron, Richard Carter and JW Young’s Sea Venture. They are all excellent reels, some costing several hundred pounds, designed for saltwater use and well-engineered. The British-made JW Young Sea venture reel from Masterline is a good reel that you can use with confidence.
Pike fly leaders can be from two up to nine feet. When fishing a floating line I use a leader between seven and nine feet which includes a foot of twenty pound wire. Some pike fly fishers have written in the press that you don’t need tapered leaders, others state you don’t need wire; I disagree on both counts.
You want a leader with a big diameter butt section to turn over the large flies, so I suggest around forty pound breaking strain with twenty pound strain where it joins the wire tippet; the wire is to stop a pike biting through the line. There is only one knot to use when joining mono to wire, that’s the Albright knot. Some anglers simply buy a wire trace which comes fitted with a swivel and a snap. These are sold for spinning, not fly fishing. In fact from most of what I have seen, I wouldn’t use for any type of fishing.
The best commercial leaders I have used are the Cortland Climax made for pike and muskie. It’s an excellent leader, eight foot in length with fifteen inches of wire, tied in with an Albright knot. These leaders have never let me down but they are not cheap. I cut the leader back from the butt end by two feet then attach a two foot butt section of forty pound mono, which is then attached to the fly line. If you’re making your own tapered leaders, it’s most important that you use the same brand of mono; do not mix the makes.
Today it’s possible to buy wire which can be knotted or crimped and I have used both but prefer using crimps. Make sure you buy a good wire-crimping tool with good quality crimps. Fishing a venue where I expect big pike of twenty pound plus I have more confidence when using wire and crimps. In Wisconsin some of my muskie fisherman friends I know use a snap-swivel which they attach to the wire with a crimp. The idea is certainly a good one from the viewpoint of quickly changing flies but after losing the odd fly in casting, I have my doubts about this method. However, those muskieanglers assure me it’s OK to use snap-swivels. I feel the jury is still out on the subject of knots, snaps and crimps.
Sinking Lines
The one area where you don’t need tapered leaders is when you’re fishing sinking lines. I use leaders between two and seven feet in length, made up of fifteen pound to twenty pound breaking strain mono and a foot of twenty pound wire, i.e. to fish a big buoyant type of fly close to the bottom, I use just two feet of leader and this includes a foot of wire. If I were to use a six foot leader, then the fly would be way off the bottom, so defeating the object of dragging the fly close to the bottom. The line I use is a Teeny 350-400 grain shooting head. This type of set-up can often bring a big fish to the net when all else fails. For all other sinking lines I will usually use a six or seven foot length of fifteen pound mono and twelve inches of twenty pound wire with an Albright knot to join wire to mono. The length of leader depends on what depth I want to fish the flies, also on the sinking rate of the line being used. As in all forms of angling things can change from day to day; it all depends on the water and weather conditions and you must be prepared for these changes if you want results.
Accessories
Look in any tackle catalogue or visit a big tackle-store and you will see many accessories available to the pike angler/fly fisher, but many of these items you don’t need. Therefore, I am going to list what I consider are essential. What you do need is a good pair of pliers and make sure they will cut wire cleanly; the last thing you want is the wire frayed, especially when you are using crimps. The pliers will also be needed to break down the barbs on your hooks. Having mentioned pliers, you can of course purchase a good pair of scissors for cutting twenty or forty strand wire. Buy a good pair; I get two or three years of excellent use from my scissors. Don’t try cutting wire with your best fly dressing scissors.
Protect your eyes and see the fish
Fly fishing for pike is often a very visual operation; we are certainly the hunter after the hunted. I just love to fish clear-water rivers, streams, lakes and canals where I can visually seek the quarry. When fishing most canals you will have to be on the bank just after dawn, as once the boats start moving the water it will soon colour up. Hunting pike visually requires good quality polarised glasses. You should never go fly fishing without wearing some eye protection. You never know when a fly will strike your eye.
I buy my glasses from Optilabs with my prescription lenses included. These glasses come with removable safety shields, adjustable sides and the lenses offer protection against UV light. I find the glasses ideal for use in low light conditions, even up to an hour before dusk and they offer me some help in fish spotting. I have two pairs of glasses with different coloured lenses for different light conditions. Wearing a long peaked cap is a big advantage when used in conjunction with polarised glasses.
Some other items of tackle
After many years of fly fishing for pike I would say the biggest percentage of fish have been hooked in the scissors or just inside the mouth, where the fly can be quickly removed. Occasionally the fly will be deep in the mouth and that is when you need a good pair of long-handled forceps or needle-nosed pliers. The heavy duty hook outs from Masterline dealers are excellent; they come in two sizes, eight and ten inches.
Where I do have a problem is with the storage of my pike flies. I have tried plastic lure boxes, wallets, fly boxes, plastic bags and a smaller version of the tarpon anglers’ stretcher-frame and the latter has at times proved most useful. I purchased my small size stretcher-bar in the United States. It can hold about twenty-two flies and will fit in the large back pocket of a fly-fishing vest. To carry all my gear, I use a waterproof rucksack big enough to carry everything I need, including my cameras. Most important of all, it doesn’t cause me any problems with my casting.
Choose the best waders and jacket
Without doubt, I feel a good pair of stocking-foot, chest-high waders are an asset. I choose stocking-foot waders as they are the best and then buy a comfortable pair of wading boots. Chest-waders will certainly help you catch a few more fish, often a big one, especially on rivers where it’s possible to wade much of the area. My first pair of chest-highs were neoprene but they were cumbersome, bulky and walking was often difficult – they were also useless in warm weather, it was like being in a Turkish bath. Then along came Simms who gave us Gortex waders and without doubt these breathable waders are excellent and the best, being light, comfortable, cool in summer yet warm in winter. In 2001 Patagonia gave us breathable chest-waders with built in gravel-guards and these are also excellent. A pair of these chest-waders, topped off with a Patagonia SST jacket will certainly keep you dry and warm on the wettest of days.
Location of pike in rivers
It doesn’t matter how many hundreds of pounds you spend on tackle, if you don’t have a knowledge of watercraft then youare not going to catch many fish without a lot of luck or the services of a friend to act as a guide. We all get some luck, it’s that type of pastime, but I try to make luck just a small percentage of my angling skills. I spend many hours at the waterside in summer when the rivers are low and gin clear making notes of the bottom formation, weed beds, snags, current speed and direction. I also make a special note of an area where fish are seen.
Always remember, pike love weeds and snags. Some river stretches these days have huge rocks dumped in the water to protect the river bank from erosion caused by floods and these are often good spots to find fish. The mouths of side-streams also attract fish – more so if there is some overhead cover from willows, alders or some other trees. Areas of dead tree and other snags also prove attractive to the pike.
Some rivers in the north of England will have shallow areas of bedrock followed by a deep drop-off. On sunny days you will often find the pike on the bedrock sunning themselves or they can be found patrolling the deeper water at the drop-off where the bedrock ends. When you see flowing streamer weeds pay careful attention to these areas; pike can often be seen close to the weed or just under the weed. Don’t pass up these areas, often a pike will be under the weed out of sight. I always fish hard in these areas and many a time a pike has dived out from the weeds and grabbed my fly.
In areas of slow moving water, the inside of bends or bays with semi-still water and lots of surface weed, I will spend quite a lot of time fishing these areas and my first choice pattern would be a frog pattern or a red tailed rat. It’s surprising how much thick weed the pike will push through to grab your offering; sometimes the fish will throw itself skywards, its head shaking and gills flared as it grabs the fly. Why it does this I do not know but it’s a very exciting form of fishing. You will also sometimes come across an area of deep, dark looking water below a high bank, or with lots of trees, and these are also good spots to try, often throwing up a big fish.
Never neglect the shallow water, often overhung by grass or reeds tight to the bank. Stephen Ainscow was on a guided trip with me, walking three or four yards downstream to a point I had suggested he should fish and suddenly his reel screamed. The next minute a good double-figure pike shot skywards, then crashed back in a shower of spray as it fought for its freedom. Another thirty seconds later it had gone, throwing the fly back at Stephen with contempt. That pike had been lying up in about a foot of water, had spotted Stephen’s fly being dragged along the surface and grabbed it.
Pike will eat static flies
There are many times when a pike will follow the fly for some way but then leave it alone. If after three or four casts the pike continues this behaviour, I simply let the fly settle on the bottom. The pike will often then come to within an inch of the fly, laying there and watching it, just as a cat does with a mouse. By gently moving the rod-tip, a slight movement can be imparted into the fly and this often gets the pike a bit more interested. Then, after a minute, or perhaps five minutes, the fish will move slowly forward and eat your fly. It’s a most exciting form of fishing; as you stand there willing the fish to eat, your blood pressure quickly rises and the adrenaline pumps through the body. I can guarantee your mouth will go dry, perspiration will run off your brow, perhaps stinging your eyes – especially if the fish is a big one!
Other fish
It’s not only the pike that eat big flies; trout, chub, grayling and perch will also take them. Last week when I was guiding, I spotted half a dozen chub and suggested it was possible to catch them on a fly. Taking the client’s rod, I flicked the Clouser Deep minnow towards midstream. Three chub investigated, one sucked the fly in but then immediately rejected it. As the fly swung in close to the bank, a big fish appeared and engulfed the fly and the strike connected with a powerful chub that moved off to midstream. I handed the rod to Stephen, who enjoyed a few minutes having his string pulled. With no landing net, I waded out into the stream where I gently lifted the chub in my arms then laid it on the soft grassy bank; it weighed in at 5-10-0.
A big brown trout will also hit a big fly at dawn and dusk. Dusk is also a good time for big chub which will hit a red tailed rat savagely. Perch like a Clouser Deep minnow which they will strike during the brightest part of the day.
Some Information regarding the pictures.
The main picture – a pike, over thirty pounds, caught on a size 7/0 Ballydoolagh bomber, designed to be fished with a heavy fast sinking fly line. This pattern is very buoyant and should be fished on a short two-foot leader; as you retrieve, it will be pulled down and when you stop, it rises. You then repeat the process. I managed two fish to over thirty pounds on this day. We were anchored in some sixty feet of water among many big rocks, the pike had gathered in this area feeding on the lake trout as they moved up a stream to spawn. My friend John Bodsworth and myself had around forty very good size pike that day, from this thousand odd acre lake in Alberta close to the North East corner of Saskatchewan Canada, the only way in was by a small float plane, we had to take in all our provision, as we were going to live in an old trappers cabin from the 1800’s for three weeks. The only life on the island were bears and deer, apart from some smaller wildlife.
First picture – A pike caught around midnight in Sweden on a frog pattern.
Second picture – A gravel-pit fish caught on a Sally Rand pattern.
Final Picture – 3lb -plus perch caught on a Black Magic pattern representing an eel.
Writing & Images, Martin Jams MBE – Late Summer 2024
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