Fly Fishing Setup For Pike

[fishingnut]

I have fly fished for years for trout and grayling. Now I am thinking of going after pike. Question I have is how important is it to be getting good quality rods & reels? Pike are way more aggressive than trout. Trout are more finicky and presentation is key to success. I have watched guys on tv fly fish for pike and it does not look like there is a whole lot of finesse invovled. Just looking at getting some feed back from guys who have persued pike before with the fly. Should mention that I am looking to go after pike on a fly in fishing type trip in the north.

Thanks!

[fishpro]

Originally Posted by fishingnut

I have fly fished for years for trout and grayling. Now I am thinking of going after pike. Question I have is how important is it to be getting good quality rods & reels? Pike are way more aggressive than trout. Trout are more finicky and presentation is key to success. I have watched guys on tv fly fish for pike and it does not look like there is a whole lot of finesse invovled. Just looking at getting some feed back from guys who have persued pike before with the fly. Should mention that I am looking to go after pike on a fly in fishing type trip in the north.

Thanks!

You don't need anything that's super high quality, the main things are a reel with a tough drag system and a specialized pike line for casting the large flies. I'd recommend getting a 9 weight combo with a floating line, then pick up some Rio wire tippet to add onto the end of 20lb mono for your leader (use an Albright knot to connect the two).

[Dust1n]

Originally Posted by fishingnut

I have fly fished for years for trout and grayling. Now I am thinking of going after pike. Question I have is how important is it to be getting good quality rods & reels? Pike are way more aggressive than trout. Trout are more finicky and presentation is key to success. I have watched guys on tv fly fish for pike and it does not look like there is a whole lot of finesse invovled. Just looking at getting some feed back from guys who have persued pike before with the fly. Should mention that I am looking to go after pike on a fly in fishing type trip in the north.

Thanks!

Your reel is going to be more important if your specificly targetting larger pike. An 8wt is probably the perfect combo because the flies your chucking at them are not the smallest and it will let you chuck them the distance you want to without over working the rod. Id invest your money into a Large Arbor reel for fast pick up. You can reel in alot faster. Make sure you got a good leader though! Seagar flouro is your best bet for that and its what I use at the river. I havnt bought any special line for it but i could see how it could be beificial.

[Albertafisher]

But FH7, you usually use a 6wt....

If you're going up north you'll want nothing less than a 9wt because pike up there really reach big sizes and something like an 8wt wont have the right amount of backbone.
Now I do have experience with big pike on light and heavy fly rods and heavier rods are completely superior for control. Also the shorter rods are good for punching through wind, where as the longer ones can help with distance, 9' is the compromise. But really you don't need casts anymore than 60' to reach pike.
Now for a reel a recommend something with really smooth drag, like the Loop opti or classic series or Allen Alpha III is a great choice too, when pike go for long runs you don't want your gear melting down.

Good luck and have fun chucking 15inch flies, I sure do

[Dust1n]

Originally Posted by Albertafisher

But FH7, you usually use a 6wt....

If you're going up north you'll want nothing less than a 9wt because pike up there really reach big sizes and something like an 8wt wont have the right amount of backbone.
Now I do have experience with big pike on light and heavy fly rods and heavier rods are completely superior for control. Also the shorter rods are good for punching through wind, where as the longer ones can help with distance, 9' is the compromise. But really you don't need casts anymore than 60' to reach pike.
Now for a reel a recommend something with really smooth drag, like the Loop opti or classic series or Allen Alpha III is a great choice too, when pike go for long runs you don't want your gear melting down.

Good luck and have fun chucking 15inch flies, I sure do

I use a 6wt because my the main place I fish is only around 15-20 feet wide and a few feet deep and a 6wt Will Handle anything that comes out of there. If your fishing lakes like the OP then id reccomend an 8wt. As for LONG runs? I dont know about that but I do know they go for short sprints...

[FishingFrenzy]

Up north means big pike. Go 9wt, maybe even 10 if you fish up there alot. 9wt is still decent for smaller pike closer to home.

Finesse isn't of great importance so I wouldn't spend too much on a rod. Echo makes great rods for the price, plus they are durable and have a life time warrenty.

For a reel, like Albertfisher said, Loop makes some BALLER stuff but on the same note you pay big for them. I got myself a Allen Alpha III and it is a sweet reel. I haven't fished it yet but its smooth and is great quality. I took it in to Wholesale Sports to get her spooled up with line and backing, the boys in there couldn't stop raving about how cool it was/how nice it was for 150 bucks.

Line, I got a Rio WF floating line, can't recall the exact model. I haven't fished it yet, just practice casting and it works great. I can just about get into my backing just normal overhead cast. I got the floating so I can throw big hairy dries for pike as well as hoppers for goldeye. I'll be using a sinking leader something or other that Albertafisher is whippin up for us to throw streamers.

Not sure if that helps..

[Albertafisher]

Iv only used my pike setup twice this season but i usually just the 4wt or the 6wt for the pike with heavy leaders.

Dude, you brag about using your 6wt for pike for other places other than just the Blindman... If you play the fish too much it'll kill it, and with a 4wt there's no way you have enough backbone to bring the fish in fast, that's why the pike in your avatar looks almost dead. Just sayin'.

Anyway, this is a sick video on fly fishing for pike, it IS in Scandinavia though. Still cool https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgXtye13xj8

[ÜberFly]

A decent 4 wt should be no problem for a hammer handle I would think...

[gilbertslake]

Originally Posted by fishingnut

I have fly fished for years for trout and grayling. Now I am thinking of going after pike. Question I have is how important is it to be getting good quality rods & reels? Pike are way more aggressive than trout. Trout are more finicky and presentation is key to success. I have watched guys on tv fly fish for pike and it does not look like there is a whole lot of finesse invovled. Just looking at getting some feed back from guys who have persued pike before with the fly. Should mention that I am looking to go after pike on a fly in fishing type trip in the north.

Thanks!

I only recently got into fly fishing for pike. I built a 9ft 10/11wt rod and have a large arbor Okuma 10/11 reel with 150yds 30lb backing. The line is a SA Mastery pike/muskie. I have been using Rio Toothy Crittur leaders, but have made up some 20lb coated wire leaders with a 1ft shock loop at the butt end, to try this year. The outfit set me back less than $300.00, but you can go cheaper.
BP have a 4pc 10wt for about $100 and a reel and fly line/backing for another $150

[Dust1n]

Originally Posted by Albertafisher

Dude, you brag about using your 6wt for pike for other places other than just the Blindman... If you play the fish too much it'll kill it, and with a 4wt there's no way you have enough backbone to bring the fish in fast, that's why the pike in your avatar looks almost dead. Just sayin'.

Anyway, this is a sick video on fly fishing for pike, it IS in Scandinavia though. Still cool https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgXtye13xj8

I understand that part but you have clearly not fished blindman and if you ever decide to youll know when summer hits the pike get super lazy in there and they will come right into shore. Besides I wasnt fishing a streamer on the 4wt when I caught him I was targeting other species. The water is a couple feet deep in most places and only 15-20 feet wide, It doesnt take much to drag a lazy pike in when the water gets extremly warm in the summer.And for Sylvan you do get the odd pike on the leechs patterns while fishing for walleye, not as many as one would think but they are there.

Besides Id Love to see your pike that you caught on you 15" streamers you claim to throw at them.

[Dust1n]

the average pike caught there ranges from:





Smaller side



My Largest from Blindman is displayed as my avatar picture but that is very unusual for a river that small.

[EP2]

Originally Posted by Albertafisher

Dude, you brag about using your 6wt for pike for other places other than just the Blindman... If you play the fish too much it'll kill it, and with a 4wt there's no way you have enough backbone to bring the fish in fast, that's why the pike in your avatar looks almost dead. Just sayin'.

Anyway, this is a sick video on fly fishing for pike, it IS in Scandinavia though. Still cool https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgXtye13xj8

It is not necessarily about the rod weight, but leader/tippet strength.

Rods can bend a lot and take loads of stress.

[35 whelen]

Caught lots big pike 20plus I would use at least a 9wt with a good reel I.M.O.

[AdamJ]

Well, sift through the feces throwing fest the monkeys are having, and there is some good info.

I would have to agree with a 9wt setup. Good backbone, fast action. Good large arbor reel with excellent stopping power. When you decide to target other species with your single hand ie. char, lakers, coho's, steelhead, beach fish in Mexico etc, etc. - you'll already be set-up for that too...

[Lefty-Canuck]

I personally use a 7-9wt, I prefer the 8 or 9 though for chucking steamers as it seems everytime I want to go fly fishing the wind picks up.... I have caught pike from 10 inches right up to 44 inches with that setup and all were successfully released with lots of life left.

I agree a large arbour is a good thing with a reliable drag system....or you can palm the reel for drag. Personally I view a reel as a place to store line, I would rather spend $$$ on a decent rod than a decent reel......but that is just me.









LC

[rycoma]

I don't think it really matters what weight your rod is. It has more to do with what your trying to cast. I'm sure I could land a ten pound pike on my 4w but would I try and chuck a 6" long double bunny with it. I think not. I watched a video about a carbon echo 3 wt the guy needed a fork lift to snap it.

[Muskeg]

Originally Posted by rycoma

I don't think it really matters what weight your rod is. It has more to do with what your trying to cast. I'm sure I could land a ten pound pike on my 4w but would I try and chuck a 6" long double bunny with it. I think not. I watched a video about a carbon echo 3 wt the guy needed a fork lift to snap it.

You could.. but Lefty Canuck could land three in the same time it would take you to land one and his fish would live to see another day, yours would be belly up minutes after release.
Buy a 9wt cheapy and a cheap large arbor. Put a 10wt line on. buy a spool of Rio or Danielson wire bite tippet, tie on 3-6 ft.. add fly! (you could use mono to find out why you shouldn't) Have fun!
Pike are a blast but its not important to go expensive. My Pike rods have been through the ringer!

[rycoma]

I'm not saying that I would. I have a 8wt 9 foot for pike I also use it for nymph fishing on the bow. I had some browns on there that would rival some of the bigger pike I've caught.

[MK2750]

I just picked up a Sage Xi2 8wt salt water rod off Kijiji. This thing is a cannon. The young fellow can cast every inch of line to the backing with three false casts.

He has been catching pike for years on an 8wt and I am looking forward to trying it this year. This rod is light in hand so I think it will be great for throwing indicators for browns and streamers for Bulls as well.

It has been a long winter and it will be sure nice to get out there.

[EP2]

Again, not saying I do it, but physics begs the differ that a light rod kills fish.

http://www.byrdultrafly.com/rodtip.htm

[airborne fisherman]

Originally Posted by EP2

Again, not saying I do it, but physics begs the differ that a light rod kills fish.

http://www.byrdultrafly.com/rodtip.htm

great article ! thx

[Doc]

Here's a very informative video about Pike on the fly by stillwater expert Phil Rowley.

Pike On The Fly

Cheers,
Doc

[lannie]

I don't find that Pike fight that hard really and there runs are short. The biggest reason to use a heavier weight rod is due to the size of some of the flies you huck. That said I like using a 8 wt. but larger would work well too. If rod choice was based solely on the fish and not the fly a six wt. would be fine.

[huntsfurfish]

8 WT is fine for big pike(20+ years ago I used a 7wt for everything including large pike). Just one other thing, large pike down south too.

[Flight01]

Just got back from Winifred Lake Lodge (6th time). Lots of fish this year and more biggens than usual. Last year we went and only managed to catch 2 over 100cm while still catching lots of 8-12lb fish. This year the numbers were awesome. on the last day one boat with 2 guys had landed 110 fish by our 6pm supper. That included them coming in for lunch at noon and heading back out at 1pm! More to the point I used my fly rod a fair amount so my numbers were less. But I tell ya! Catching two 12lb and one 15 lb 40" on the fly was awesome! My 9wt was just the ticket. Using a sink tip line and a big red/white streamer with the "toothy critter" 15lb leader with stainless steel tip.

The pic is of the 15 lb 40" . Don't worry about my handling skills. I was under strict orders from my mother in law to bring home a big jack and this is the one

[Calgaryguy1977]

Originally Posted by AdamJ

Well, sift through the feces throwing fest the monkeys are having, and there is some good info..

Wow really dude? You may not agree with other posters opinions but is that needed?