floating pike flys

[Fish For Life 0]

I have been tying a lot of sinking pike flys and know its time to make some floaters. Any thought on pike flys that float.

 

Thanks

[Crotalus 0]

Look up Brad Bohens Spongebob Squarehead.

[Fish For Life 0]

Look up Brad Bohens Spongebob Squarehead.

thanks Crotalus. That is one nice fly and it dosnt look to hard to tye. Ill need to get some of that foam though.

[Piker20 0]

Anything that makes a good wake will work for pike. My favourite spinning lures for pike on the top were Lucky 13s. A scooped popper face will work well. The fly posted by Kirk over on the salt section with the zara spook action will be a killer. So long as the suns not too high the pike will come from a few feet down to nail (or at least launch) at a top water fly. Remember you want a bit extra buoyancy for the wire trace. Always use a trace for pike.

[KHoss 0]

Basically the big "musky fly" trend is interchangeable for pike

you can downsize what you see as musky, and have super effective pike patterns

in my experience, pike aren't that picky... esp when you are throwing topwater

 

Also the poledancer style patterns... here are 2 we just featured

http://hatchesmagazine.com/blogs/Hatches/2013/01/30/zaggin-zook-by-curtis-fry/

http://hatchesmagazine.com/blogs/Hatches/2013/01/24/the-ratsquirrel-pole-dancer-by-scott-lewis/

 

 

 

Look up Brad Bohens Spongebob Squarehead.

thanks Crotalus. That is one nice fly and it dosnt look to hard to tye. Ill need to get some of that foam though.

go to the kids section of your favorite big box store

they make interlocking foam squares for floors

easy to glue togeather for multicolor and then dremel for shape

you will have a lifetime supply for a few$

 

I also like the foam cylinders that are sold at any fly shop... large size

cut in half on an angle and you can make divers or poppers

few tips

- make sure you coat your foam- its all fairly soft and will easily catch teeth and prevent clean hook ups

i like to coat with Clear cure goo

- fish your top water with an INT line- your get much better action an "chug"

 

foam cylinder painted and covered with CCG

[ditz2 0]

I don't have a lot of pike experiance but in low fishing pressure areas they like big, flashy, and noisy baits. On annual boundry waters trips I used baits that I would not even put in my tackle box in Indiana. I always had good luck on long, skinny and flash baits that were floater/divers that would go maybe 3 or 4 feet down. We mostly went for the SMB and walleye. SMB for fun and walleye for eating.

[nwt fly fisherman 0]

i love pike top water fly fishing and they dont really care what it looks like as long as it is big and makes noise.

[Piker20 0]

How well do those floor tiles shape with the dremel KHoss? I have some of those but didn't think of trying them for flies.

[riffleriversteelheadslayer 0]

here is my favorite top water pike or musky fly http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?showtopic=57150 tied in brown black wit a hint of orange it works as a baby duck pattern also

[Sjbellrichard 0]

Recommend the Dahlberg (spelling???) Diver. Good tying video on you-tube.

 

My biggest recommendation is don't get too attached to Pike or Musky flys because of their short life span.

 

Best Wishes

[nwt fly fisherman 0]

yes dahlberg divers work well

[SILKHDH 0]

I watched Larry Dahlberg catch the biggest pike he ever caught on a (I believe it was white) Dahlberg Mega Diver while watching The In Fisherman TV show. Then it clamped down on his hand when he was opening up its mouth to show you how far the pike had swallowed it..LOL..They showed again in slow motion..LOL.. He said a bad word. Deer hair and pike? I cant believe they last long though. Rainy's tsunami is a good one. But rabbit tail is heavy. It soaks up water.

Tie a tsunami only sub. the rabbit zonker tail with Icelandic sheep or synthetic. It won't soak up as much water. Fewer false casts to wring it out. Tie any thing with a Foam head, synthetic tail, epoxy or resin on the foam, will catch the pike and will be durable, plus won't soak up water. The fly that KHoss posted is perfect. Looks like a good castable fly.

When you go big, don't forget about castability. (IS THAT A REAL WORD.. CASTABILITY???) Light, aero-dynamic, and materials that don't soak up water. If it drops like a rock ten feet away from you, what good is it. I've seen many GREAT looking flies that weren't worth a *#$*#@ on the end of a fly rod.

[Piker20 0]

Its a good point to make, if you've never caught a pike before its good to be with someone who knows how to unhook them safely. They look tough but don't take poor handling well at all. When you have the hang of holding a pike under its jaw you can unhook fish in the water without even needing a net. Wouldn't recommend that for newbies though.

[Si_ 0]

Try tying a really big trout "Gurgler" on a 5/0 hook. It's a bit of a bugger to cast but causes quite a disturbance in the water!

 

[Piker20 0]

that will work, you'll find you can trim the tail down a fair bit too. Its the body doing all the attraction.

Lovely vice too;)