bigredgolf Posted May 20, 2019 Report Share Posted May 20, 2019 After having landed my first pike yesterday, I am interested in delving into flies a bit. What are your favorite pike flies? And what are, in your opinion, the best flies for a beginner fly tyer for pike? Every day above ground and on the water is a great one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kml Posted May 20, 2019 Report Share Posted May 20, 2019 Flies like a dahlberg diver are effective and fun. The trouble with a lot of flies that are good for this kind of fishing is that they are not generally easy to cast for a beginning fly fisherman. Bunny flies look great in the water but they will carry water weight making them a little harder to cast. Pike are a large freshwater predator the will eat anything around them. Little fish, frogs, mice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qecfly Posted May 20, 2019 Report Share Posted May 20, 2019 Agreed on the big flies. You did not mention if you are fishing in a river or still water. If in a river then long cast probably are not required and the fly size becomes less of an issue. I don't have a favorite but I went out with a guide last year and we threw flies that were about 7" long and articulated. Seemed like the size and placement was more important than the actual pattern. Accuracy was necessary but I never had to cast more than 30' or so. I used a 8' 10wt. Perfect tool for the job. Had a blast landing about 6 and loosing a few others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloosfisher Posted May 21, 2019 Report Share Posted May 21, 2019 Not the simplest, but not the hardest to tie , either. I love big Deceivers for pike. I tie them in 4/0 and 5/0 about 7-9inches. They see double duty for stripers. I generally get them in relatively shallow water, can fish them anywhere in the column using sink tips. snapper1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Bull S Posted May 21, 2019 Report Share Posted May 21, 2019 My favorite pike fly by far is the Flashiceiver. Easy to tie too! Instead of the feathers (in a Deceiver) you tie in REGULAR (NOT the wide "saltwater" stuff) pearl flashabou. Tie in a very modest clump of bucktail down in the back before you lay the flash onto it. If you want to put a little flash on the flanks do so. Clump of bucktail on top and bottom in front and that's it! Tie in a weighted eye or use the fly without. Tie eye in on BEND and hook point side! NOT like a Clouser! Better action! I like the fly 9 or 10 inches long. It casts incredibly! This is AN EXCEPTIONAL fly for many species of fish. Awesome for pike. It's also perhaps my favorite "search fly" for Northeast saltwater. The fly IS THAT GOOD! Casts so well its stupid! If you don't put too much material in, the fly collapses when wet to an extremely thin shape. All you need is a 3/0 or 2/0 saltwater hook in there. I used to call it the "easy casting big fly" and would do casting demonstrations with a 10 inch Flashiceiver. I'd first dunk the fly in a glass of water, then take an outfit with a 4 weight floating line, and cast that fly the entire length of the fly line! I'd hear gasps from the audience! It was the FLY and how EASY it was to throw! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigredgolf Posted May 21, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2019 Awesome info, thanks guys. I will be primarily targeting them in still water it seems. Every day above ground and on the water is a great one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCH Posted May 23, 2019 Report Share Posted May 23, 2019 On 5/20/2019 at 9:28 PM, No Bull S said: My favorite pike fly by far is the Flashiceiver. Easy to tie too! Instead of the feathers (in a Deceiver) you tie in REGULAR (NOT the wide "saltwater" stuff) pearl flashabou. Tie in a very modest clump of bucktail down in the back before you lay the flash onto it. If you want to put a little flash on the flanks do so. Clump of bucktail on top and bottom in front and that's it! Tie in a weighted eye or use the fly without. Tie eye in on BEND and hook point side! NOT like a Clouser! Better action! I like the fly 9 or 10 inches long. It casts incredibly! This is AN EXCEPTIONAL fly for many species of fish. Awesome for pike. It's also perhaps my favorite "search fly" for Northeast saltwater. The fly IS THAT GOOD! Casts so well its stupid! If you don't put too much material in, the fly collapses when wet to an extremely thin shape. All you need is a 3/0 or 2/0 saltwater hook in there. I used to call it the "easy casting big fly" and would do casting demonstrations with a 10 inch Flashiceiver. I'd first dunk the fly in a glass of water, then take an outfit with a 4 weight floating line, and cast that fly the entire length of the fly line! I'd hear gasps from the audience! It was the FLY and how EASY it was to throw! Mark - do you taper the flashabou on the tail? Maybe it doesn't matter, but curious how you do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Bull S Posted May 24, 2019 Report Share Posted May 24, 2019 Yes I taper it. Pull it into a taper with my fingers. Learned about tapering flash from Bill and Kate Howe. JCH 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jabster Posted May 24, 2019 Report Share Posted May 24, 2019 Hollow Deceivers, bulkheads, flash flies and different synthetics are my go to pike flies. Add a few Beast flies and you are set. snapper1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCH Posted May 24, 2019 Report Share Posted May 24, 2019 Beautiful flies. Almost too pretty for pike. jalthoff 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
titleguy Posted May 24, 2019 Report Share Posted May 24, 2019 Yellow & Red Deceiver. I would ******* LOVE a grave blanket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philly Posted May 25, 2019 Report Share Posted May 25, 2019 This was my most productive pike fly. I landed quite a few pike on it over the years I went to a lodge on Lady Evelyn Lake in Northern Ontario. Nothing large mostly fish between 20 and 28 inches. It's a variation on Bob Pop's Semper Fleye. It's about 7 inches long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Bull S Posted May 28, 2019 Report Share Posted May 28, 2019 Jabster, those are REALLY beautiful flies! Man, will they take pike! The bottom fly of those three is essentially an elaborate Flashiceiver (or looks very much like it, but more aesthetic) and the orange one above is even more elaborate. Those flies will take many species of fish in salt and freshwater! Those bottom two will also be incredible squid flies for stripers as is the Flashiceiver! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigredgolf Posted May 28, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2019 Yes absolutely beautiful stuff Every day above ground and on the water is a great one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jabster Posted May 28, 2019 Report Share Posted May 28, 2019 1 hour ago, No Bull S said: Jabster, those are REALLY beautiful flies! Man, will they take pike! The bottom fly of those three is essentially an elaborate Flashiceiver (or looks very much like it, but more aesthetic) and the orange one above is even more elaborate. Those flies will take many species of fish in salt and freshwater! Those bottom two will also be incredible squid flies for stripers as is the Flashiceiver! Thank you Mark. Flash flies are stable patterns over here in scandinavia for pike. The ones I make have a hollow fly/deceiver base with generous amounts of flash mixed in. The bottom one uses a hollow tied Bob Pop bulkhead head that's especially effective if you need to move the fly super slow in cold water. Works on a fast strip to, but is spot on if you just have to hang the fly in front of the fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to register here in order to participate.
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now