Fly-Pike, in lakes or streams.
Posted on June 23rd, 2017Late spring and early summer is a great time to have fun with smaller pike using a fly rod. While most anglers use live minnows or lures to catch them, fly fishermen can have a blast targeting pike in shallow bays and even smaller streams and rivers.
In a lake, look for protected bays that have a mix of weeds and open-water pockets. Smaller pike love to feed in these areas and usually you don’t have to make long casts, just short accurate ones to find a feeding fish. Connor Grdosic above and in our featured image loves to fish flies for pike!
In a smaller river or larger stream look for deeper pools and slower current. Pike in moving water love to hold right in the middle of deeper pools and especially around slow-moving water where there is aquatic vegetation or even trees that have fallen into the water. Matt Cory of TopSet Sportfishing loves to fish tributaries during cold water for steelhead and warm water periods for pike.
Streamers in the 2-4″ size work well. Colors are simple; either use a bright white or yellow streamer with black or red accent, or a solid black color streamer like a purple or black “bunny leech”. When you make your cast, let the fly sink just below the surface and than use slow, deliberate, continuous twitches of the line to make the streamer dart from side to side and forward. Pike prefers a “go” presentation than a “stop-n-go”. Oh yes, you may want to use a light wire leader if you want to use your streamer a second time!
