Pike on the fly for beginners.

snowman87

hi all,
i've heard so many good reports aboutfly fishing for pike that i have decided to take it up myself

could someone please give me some advice on what equipment to buy for atarting out , what type of rod, length, weight, make, also reels lines and flies, what sort of money should i be paying and where to get the gear.

i intend to fish some of the lakes in westmeath and also some rivers and the canal.
any help would be greatly appreciated.

coolwings

I don't want to put you off but since this is your first post ...
are you a learner fly fisherman?
are you already good at catching pike with other methods?

You see, pike fly fishing is an extreme sport in the sense that it's technicaly difficult to cast a bulky fly long distance, and due to the spinning speed retrieve, there is a lot of casting involved. It's physically demanding, even for people who have been casting flies for several years already. The background is often full of fly tangling bushes and shrubs which can add immense frustration to the process.

So learning to fly fish with smaller flies that have a slower retrieve, and thousands of casts less per day, is a more friendly way to get into fly fishing. I'm suggesting trout with a fly is a far far better way to get going, then try piking with a fly when you've got the hang of it.

To answer your question:
A 9 1/2 to 10 1/2 foot fly rod rates #8-10 is appropriate.
A ST line rated 1 number higher than the middle rod rating # is best. eg for an 8-9 rod get a 9 or 10 ST line
A reel with a braking edge on the spool.
Despite the advice given so often, there is really no need for spare spools for the reel, but spare ST lines are required. Start with an intermediate slow sink for surface work and a fast sink like Wet CEL 2 for cooler seasons. Here is how to change ST lines fast without having spare spools and the rethreading the rod rings every time necessary with the flawed spare spool system.

If not on the canal, you probably need a boat too, to get close enough to cast to them until you can cast distance without line leader tangle. I'd suggest a float tube, there is nothing else afloat which is so suitable for fly fishing for pike.

snowman87

thanks for the advice coolwings.
to answer your questions, no i don't have any fly fishing experience at all but i have been pike fishing for a number of years now, deadbaiting and mainly lure fishing.
i understand what you are saying about learning to fish for trout on the fly first and i think i mite just do that, however with expences in mind is it at all possible to get a fly rod and reel that would do both trout and pike??!!

coolwings

snowman87 wrote: »

thanks for the advice coolwings.
to answer your questions, no i don't have any fly fishing experience at all but i have been pike fishing for a number of years now, deadbaiting and mainly lure fishing.
i understand what you are saying about learning to fish for trout on the fly first and i think i mite just do that, however with expences in mind is it at all possible to get a fly rod and reel that would do both trout and pike??!!

Well you know the most of it then.
As far as dual use gear .....
Rod AFTM numbers:
#3-4 a "wand" for feather fishing in tiny brooks with midgesize 16 - 30, nice for canal with rudd, tiny water trouting
#5 the most useful general purpose trout size for river for educated trout, a bit light for distance and big river and stillwater casting
#6 is medium trout, lightish seatrout, the best overall trout size for both river and stillwater work. A bit light for distance casting unless using ST line (which I advise)
#7 is heavy trout with lures, handling wind, long casts from bank, not very delicate, medium heavy seatrout, nice grilse rod for small rivers
#8 very heavy for trout, distance reservoir casting, seatrout and grilse in big rivers, a bit light for piking
#9 spring salmon small rivers, summer salmon big rivers, very very heavy trout lure like with super fast sink lines, medium piking
#10 spring salmon in big rivers, saltwater shooting head for game fish, standard piking

The compromises are for you to make, obviously that depends on what other fish you will use it for.
Snowman78 here is a suggestion based on what you said:
Possibly a 7 - 9 rod, length 10 1/2 feet, with 10 metre 9 ST lines for pike, and 30 metre 7 DT lines for stillwater trout/seatrout/summer grilse might be a nice way to go.

Best of luck.

Lickarse1

fantastic chalange using very heavy lure tho

firephish

snowman87 wrote: »

hi all,
i've heard so many good reports aboutfly fishing for pike that i have decided to take it up myself

could someone please give me some advice on what equipment to buy for atarting out

I manged to try fly fishing for pike for the first time last week. Was fantastic, just about the most fun you can have with your clothes on! The flies are large though so you want a decent rod, i had a 9wt, in retrospect a 10wt might be more appropriate.
The flies:



the take, and a line burn i will not forget in a hurry:


fish on the surface:


mike the pike:


all in all, great fun! The pwoer of these fish has to be experienced to be believed!

Doc Farrell

thanks for taking the time to post the pics. glad you were successful.