Flyfishing for Pike - The Basics

When it comes to flyfishing, everybody thinks of trout fishing. However, when it comes to flyfishing, we do live in a target-rich environment of species for which to fish - one of our favorites here in New York is Northern Pike. I like to tell everybody there’s nothing like a good eat from a Pike. If you like violent grabs, Northern Pike are you fish. They are far more plentiful than their big brother the Muskie. Plus, you can find these fish almost anywhere. At this point, we have started our summer pike fishing program for the summer.  

Unlike trout fishing, targeting Pike on the fly is not all that technically complicated. The equipment we use is fairly straight forward – a nine-foot rod will do just fine in the 9 to 10 wt. class paired with an aggressive weight-forward fly line that will help turnover the big wind resistant flies without blowing our shoulders out.  On occasion, we will use specialty lines such as a sink tip for streamer fishing. As for leaders, we keep this very simple – about 3 feet of 40-pound test attached to another 3 feet of 30-pound test to make about the 6-foot leader. Then, we add about 2 feet of wire for a bite tippet. 

In term of tactics, when it comes to Pike fishing you want to get their attention which means big flies - large streamers and surface flies. The objective here is to put a big meaty fly out and try to make it look irresistible. Both the streamer bite and the surface bite are going to be solid, even if they don’t stay hooked up.  The surface bite is going to move a lot of water (personally, I love fishing for Pike on the surface).  If you typically target trout, the biggest challenge in Pike fishing will be to not trout set. We need to remember to fish through the eat just like when you fish streamers or for saltwater species - this can be a bigger challenge than you think due to muscle memory.  Lastly, what is important to remember is if the pike does not stay hooked up, it’ll continue the attack as long as the fly is in front of their face so keep working the fly. 

There’s nothing like fishing to an aggressive feeding fish. Hope the above tips help you whether you are new to targeting Pike on the fly or looking for a refresher. 

Jay