Pike are becoming an increasingly becoming a popular fish to catch on the fly. Quite rightly too, in my opinion, pike are a great fish to catch on the fly as they ferociously strike flies at the surface off the surface as well as from further down in the water column.
Pike have a wide distribution and can be found in North America, Europe as well as in Russia.
Pike, like bass, is a great species of fish for fly fishermen to target if they do not have access to fly fish for trout.
In this article, I will give a detailed outline of what you need to start fly fishing for pike.
Choosing a Pike Rod
If you want to target pike on the fly, you will need a heavier rod than the rods typically used for trout fishing. Suitable rods for pike fishing range between #7-10 in weight. If you want a versatile pike fishing rod, I recommend a 8 or 9 weight fly fishing.
This will allow you to cast most pike flies except for the largest flies. An 8-weight fly rod will be ideal for bass fishing too. In addition, an 8-weight would also be suitable for catching stocked trout which are typically larger than their wild counterparts.
Fly fishing for pike not only requires a heavier fly-fishing rod because of the size of the fish but also because of the size of the fly as well as environmental factors such as wind and weed conditions in the river or lake.
The size of pike fly plays a very important role in what rod you should use. Pike flies due to their size are bulky and wind resistant. As a result, the fly will be harder to cast and will demand more from your rod.
In general, pike flies average around 4-9 inches in length. This size of fly is well suited to an 8-weight rod. However, if you are planning to use even larger flies, I would recommend a 9- or a 10-weight fly rod for pike.
Fishing with larger flies is bound to attract large fish. Therefore, a heavier short is important for dealing with pike reaching weights in excess of 20 lb. A heavier rod will enable you to fight the fish more easily and control them to avoid snags.
Pike like to hide amongst weeds; therefore, you will need a heavier fly-fishing rod for properly fighting the fish and getting them out of the weed cover. This will result in fewer fish being lost. For areas of heavy weed cover, I would recommend a 9-weight fly fishing rod for pike in order to better control the fish and bring it away from the weeds.
Another environmental factor to consider when choosing a pike fly fishing rod is wind. In heavier winds, you will demand more from your rod to generate the necessary line speed to cast the fly to the designated target area.
If you know the area you are fishing is prone to high winds or suspect you may fish for pike in windy conditions, I highly recommend you purchase a 9-weight rod.
Choosing a Pike Reel
When choosing a fly reel for pike fishing, you should opt for one with a large arbor. Although in most cases you will not be fighting pike on the reel, having a fly reel with a large arbor will come handy in many situations.
A large arbor fly reel will allow you to reel line in faster and better control the fish when required.
Choose a fly reel for pike with a good drag system for fighting large fish that might pull line from your reel.
One final point of consideration is a purchasing a reel with a cassette system. This will allow you to have spare spools filled with different fly fishing lines. This will allow you to quickly change between a floating line, intermediate or a full sinking line.
Using interchangeable cassettes or spools of line will be cheaper than buying a different reel for each fishing line you want to use. Also, if you like to fish light, you will not have to march around with several reels in your fly-fishing bag pack.
Fly Fishing Lines for Pike
Choosing a fly line for pike is different from choosing a fly line for trout fishing. Compared to trout fishing, a floating line is used the least in fly fishing for pike.
Generally, pike fly fishers use floating lines for fishing topwater lies such as poppers or a slightly weight fly just below the surface of the water.
Pike fly fishers find a type 3 sinking line to be the most versatile fly-fishing line. A type 3 sinking line sinks at a rate of 3”-5” inches per second. This allows the line to be fished efficiently at both shallow depths of 1-5 feet as well as intermediate depths of water between 5-10 feet.
Pike have eyes on the top of their head. This means they tend to feed upwards in the water column. They lie in ambush below their prey. As a result, there is no need to use fast sinking lines to get your fly down to the bottom.
Slow intermediate sinking lines with a sinking rate of 1-3” per second work well for both shallow depths between 1-5’ as well as when fishing the fly just above the top of the weeds.
During the months of late spring and summer, when the temperatures are high, pike tend to strike flies that are fished quickly. Stripping flies using fast retrieves such as the “Rolly Polly” encourages pike to strike but forces them higher in the water column to do so. As it brings the pike up and out of the striking area it is necessary to get the pike to strike lower in the water column. This can be achieved using a heavier sinking line such as a 6-7 sinking line which has a sinking rate of 6”-8” per second. Another situation in which a 6-7 sinking line is useful pike fly fishing is for targeting pike in deep water.
Targeting pike at depths of 15 feet or more is difficult while fishing. In order to get your fly down to pike in deep water, I recommend fishing a quick sinking line such as one with a sink rate of 6”-7” combined with a heavily weight fly to bring your fly down further still.
The only time you are likely to need a quick sinking line is in the height of the summer as pike spend their time in cooler waters. Smaller pike, on the other hand, tend to stay in shallow waters even during the warm weather of the summer.
However, this does not mean large pike will not venture into shallower waters. When the conditions are right: cooler temperatures at dawn or dusk. Large pike can be found feeding in shallow waters.
Leaders & Tippets
You will need large leaders and tippets to fly fish for pike.
As fly fishing for pike uses large flies typically ranging between 4”-9” inches in length, you will need a big leader in order to properly cast the flies.
You will need to attach a wire tippet to the leader as pike have very sharp teeth which can easily slice through mono tippets.
Pike Flies
Most pike flies range from 4”-9” inches in length although larger flies are available for targeting the largest of pike. Pike flies imitate various types of baitfish however, some pike flies also imitate other pike prey such as mice and frogs.
Pike flies are typically tied with a combination of synthetic fly-tying materials such as flashabou as well as natural materials such as bucktail, strips of rabbit fur and deer hair.
These materials help to give pike flies great motion in the water and have another benefit of not absorbing water, which would result in the fly becoming heavier and harder to cast.