esox minnow

thornes manufacturing hands down.

Has anyone tried matzuo's "sickle" hook for crease flies? Walmart had them on for $1 so I bought a bunch of 2/0 and 4/0. Just wondering if anyone has tried these before. They have a "s" bend at the eye but i'm thinking for crease flies it wont matter anyway . They seem like they will keep a large gape open even with bulky materials. When I get around to tying a few I'll post my results.

All good suggestions. Bass flies will work but make sure to have plenty of larger baitfish patterns. Simple is better, pike tend to mess up your flies quick. I still tie up some fancy flies just to pass time over the winter. One often overlooked fly for pike is the whistler. Standard red or yellow are good. And simple white bunny flies often save the day for me. Dont know what wt rod you plan on using so a few tips. size can help and hinder your efforts, just go as big as you can comfortably handle with whatever outfit your using. Tie a couple different patterns up and try them before you waste time (money) making too many that cant be cast effectively. Also try using the belgium cast. Keeps from getting hit in the back of the head. Like dafack01 said bite guards. To me this means wire, I wouldn't even bother with heavy mono or flouro. If you are not familiar with pike setups I can post more on simple leader/bite guard setups. I use the twist melt leader method. Level leaders work but a simple taper will help esp with lighter rods. I wouldn't go lower than 8wt fo that lake. My 6wt exploded on me trying for pike. Been using 8wt but spend all summer targeting pike so i just bought a 10wt. This time of year I'd use a floating line and look for shallow bays with dark bottoms that will warm up quicker. Sorry for being long winded, I just love fishing pike and I'm just getting all excited to get out, all the lakes around me are still frozen (except superior of course), with only the rivers flowing. Good luck!

Try switching to 50 denier gsp for the wing, you can pull tighter without breaking thread and keep the hair where you want it. Another trick is to hold wing in place and cut hair butss flush with front of eye/hook, then tie on wing, works good. I've been told elk hock hair works the best as well. Never tried it yet but thought i'd pass it along.

Nice looking fly. Without putting down you work, my only problem is the treble hook. If a pike takes that deep, it's done for. Have you tried it with a single hook? Sorry just my opinion, to each their own.

Great fly! I just wish I was able to use flies like this. The lake I fish the most is "single barbless hook" only.

I dont know why it keeps adding my post before im done. sorry for the doubles. I would have just edited had i realised.

Again nice flies Philly. Are those sliders spun wool/silicone? I use an 8 wt for all my pike fishing but am looking into a 10wt now. For anyone reading this I found a great cheap flybox for pike or large flies. or even lots of little ones. Its a Plano single pistol case model 1403. Perfect size, nice latches and light. Its too big for a vest, but in a boat it will be great. I just removed the soft spongy foam it came with a cut a piece of dense packing foam to fit. Depending on your flies you can put the foam on one or both sides. Heres a few pics. the gum is just for size reference. Let me know what you think or if you have any other ideas for this. panflyfisher1, i dont mean to hijack your thread. Any more questions?

Again nice flies Philly. Are those sliders spun wool/silicone? I use an 8 wt for all my pike fishing but am looking into a 10wt now. For anyone reading this I found a great cheap flybox for pike or large flies. or even lots of little ones. Its a Plano single pistol case model 1403. Perfect size, nice latches and light. Its too big for a vest, but in a boat it will be great. I just removed the soft spongy foam it came with a cut a piece of dense packing foam to fit. Depending on your flies you can put the foam on one or both sides. Here is a pic. Let me know what you think or if you have any other ideas for this.

Like Buzby said film canisters. My local Walmart photo lab will give em to you free if you ask. The clear/translucent ones dont look all that bad.

Wow, the wife left the camera out where i could find it. Here are the pics of some flies

Wow, the wife left the camera out where i could find it. Here are the pics of some flies

Those patterns will all work. Nice flies Philly. The first question I would ask you is what gear are you planning to use? Just remember that you have to cast what you tie. If you have any bass flies alot of them should do double duty for you. I will try and post some pics of the flies I've been using. Rabbit srip leechs, clousers, deer hair divers, if it makes noise and pushes water it should work. For colours it can depend of water clarity. Not enough to worry about until you get the pike bug. Once you get one you'll be hooked. Or it will or i'm all confused. lol. As for tips/tricks, start shallow in spring after the ice goes out and work deeper as water temps rise. This is a general rule, fish where they are biting. (see easy eh?) I fish a huge body of water that never really warms up much (lake nipigon in northern ontario), I can find them pretty shallow all summer long. My biggest yet was 48.5". Now that was fun. I would recomend a steel leader of some sort. My fav is the twist/melt method with plastic coated leader material. Especially with smaller fish in that size range, they seem to bite off more than the big guys. Smaller teeth, closer together? Casting can be tricky with big water logged flies (read rabbit strips). A belguim cast can sure help. Side arm backcast normal forward cast is the best i can explain that one in words. If you have any more qustions be glad to awnser as best i can. Heres a link that i think will help you. Or at least pass some time. http://www.askaboutflyfishing.com/speakers/barry/barry.cfm

JSzymczyk, I think the fireline might be your problem with cutting the hair. It does happen with purpose bought GSP but not very often. Fireline is more "bonded", thats the best word i can think of, than tying GSP. The UTC stuff i got anyway is sorta like silk floss, loose strands, and it lays out flatter not wanting to cut through as much. Besides from my experience, fireline costs way more. (at least in my neck of the woods). flytyingscotsman is right on about using GSp for the hair portion of the fly only, I also find it helps to lock my starting wraps with CA. As for cutting it buy a pair of "superline" scissors. Berkley makes some for pretty cheap. Made for it. Just dont EVER try and bite that stuff like the old timers and mono. very happy dentist, lousy smile.

I've too have been using those white "marshmallow" shaped foam "blanks" I found at Michael's craft store. In the foam section they have bags of shapes, look for a bag with white "marshmallow" shaped foam, about 15 of them i think. They were around $3 cdn and on sale for less. Nice dense foam, easily shaped in my drill press with pin/crazy glue method. Then if i want colours i use markers or paint with acrylics. Cost is comparable by the time you add up foam sheets, glue etc. And you get to start off with a nice round cylinder to boot! I wouldn't worry too much about the diameter. They sand down real quick to whatever size you need. also i find that if you use light pressure just barely touching it with the fine side of emery stick you get rid of the "fuzzy" finish and get a way nicer looking popper.