Fly Choices for Northern Pike

There is no doubt that the fly rod has become synonymous with trout fishing but living where we do it is impractical or, at the very least, limiting to only think of fly rodding as a trout tactic. With so many pike in this province it only makes sense your first fish on the fly rod, or even that next fish, might be a Northern Pike.

Whether buying or tying your flies here are some thoughts on fly choice. Pike flies come in two basic concepts; floating and sinking. This is not too far removed from flies in general but it is more pointed with pike flies.

The go to standard in top water fly bodies has always been spun or stacked deer hair. The myriad of designs and beautiful work some tyers can do with deer hair is astounding. But I have found myself steering away from this in recent seasons. One, it is not a very durable material for pike. Two, it is not the easiest or quickest of tying techniques. Thirdly, tied on standard salt water hooks they really do not float high and, after a few dunkings and combined with a wire leader, they can sometimes sit with up to two thirds of the fly submerged. This works fine for diving patterns or flies you want to have minimal surface action but not for intense top water pops and splashes. At this point if I want a high floating heavy popping pattern I either tie my deer hair patterns on wide gaped bass hooks or I use foam bodies.

Foam bodies can take 2 forms. One, shapes you make yourself either by carving or Dremel tooling (basically turning your dremel tool into a foam lathe using emery boards as shaping tools). The second alternative is pre-made foam bodies. These come in so many sizes, shapes and colours that you will have very little trouble finding ones to suit your needs. It could be said that tying on a few feathers and gluing a foam body onto the shank is hardly tying, maybe more like assembling. But these foam bodied poppers do exactly that! They pop, splash and make a serious commotion on the surface. Just the thing to pull a big pike out of the weeds!

I think pike streamers need three basic design features, eyes, a profile and contrast in colours. The eyes are an obvious attractant to all predator fish but pike really seem to key in on them. If doing your own tying you can paint them on or use stick-on, doll or ‘google’ eyes. Stick-on eyes are nice and easy to obtain but I find them a bit small (not much bigger than painted eyes on a thread head). Doll eyes look the best, come in many colours and are a more realistic size but are a little more expensive and a lot harder to find. Google eyes don’t look very real but they are cheap, plentiful (any craft store/dept) and come in quite a few sizes. A little tying tip if you use google eyes; put a little slit along the seam with a razor or exacto knife. This will prevent them from floating because of the air trapped inside the eyes.

The fly’s profile (as well as the use of contrasting colours) is important for fly visibility. It is no secret that fishing for pike is better in the morning and the evening. I think the most important reason is that sunlight at an angle exposes the profile of the prey. So flies with a good side profile resemble prey species much better and are seen more readily by the pike.

A very popular material in pike flies is rabbit strips. It is great on so many levels. Because pike tend to inhabit lakes or slow parts of rivers tying materials that undulate on their own are perfect and rabbit fits this bill very well. Unfortunately once soaked the skin gets water logged and becomes very heavy. They are not a lot of fun to cast. And so, like deer hair, I am moving to other materials. The best one I have found in a long time are Enrico Puglisi flies and EP fibers. This synthetic material moves very naturally in still or slow water, is very durable under pike teeth and sheds water for easier casting. Like many of our best pike flies it was originally designed for salt water. On pike trips last year my EP flies out performed my other flies and the flies of my co-fishers. I caught more pike, bigger pike and the strikes from the fish were more powerful and with fewer missed fish. It was responsible for my personal best fish as well as many large walleye. Suffice it to say I’m convinced.

So get out there in May and June and listen to your reel sing as a water wolf peels off line.