Pike on The Fly
June 6, 2018
June 5th 2018
James and his son Jay were with me today, looking to get into some pike on the fly! They wanted a slightly later start and we met up before 10:00, hoping to hook into a few toothy critters.
Conditions had changed considerably since the weekend and a cold front had arrived yesterday with lots of rain. Today didn’t look any better either! Light rain and temps that wouldn’t even reach 60 degrees were forecasted. I just hoped they would bite!
We made a long run to start, with the winds finally in our favor. They had turned into a SW and were blowing 10 to 20 knots. At least they were out of the right direction, for a change! With fly rods in hand, I showed them what we were going to do and they were happy to try something new. High density sinking lines would be used to troll the flies I had just tied. I also made up a bunch of single strand titanium leaders to ensure no fly loss. In the past I had donated many a fly to the pike and hoped, not to do that again!
I was shocked but not really surprised to see that the water was down to 58.5 degrees at the start. It had climbed all the way up to 64 on Sunday when I was out last and dropped again. Back to a slower troll and short strikes!
It took a little longer than I had expected for the first fish to get hooked but not before a few strikes were missed. They definitely were short striking the flies! James eventually landed his first ever pike and although not the size I had hoped for, it took the skunk out of the boat. His second fish wasn’t long after and this one was actually hooked in the back. I guess the fish missed the fly completely and got pinned anyway. Several other short strikes occurred before they managed another pike as the action wasn’t fast & furious. I wanted to see if it was just the flies and dropped one of the lures down on a rod to find out. I don’t think it was in the water for 2 minutes before the reel fired. Jay was happy to take the rod as this was his first pike as well. We decided to reset the rod after the release and ran 3 lines to try for more hookups.
Between the conventional tackle and the fly rods we managed to get into several other northerns and Jay even landed his first walleye too. It was a mix of lines getting the bites but we were still having plenty of misses on all of them. The pike really didn’t seem to be eating very well with the this cold front. In fact a few other fish were also landed, foul hooked! This was the most I had ever seen in one day!
After a quick break for a late lunch, I decided to make a short move to another area nearby. I wanted to see if anything was active in shallower water. It was here that they managed to get into more pike on the fly as well as the lure. I now knew there were active fish willing to bite so I pulled the hard bait for a while, increasing their chances with the fly rods. Both James & Jay began hooking up regularly now and the numbers started to climb. The last couple of hours saw more action and they were both having a great time landing fish. Jay even managed to beat his father with the numbers and apparently that doesn’t usually happen!
They were scheduled for a 4:00 pick up at the dock, so we called it a day about 15 minutes before to ensure they were there on time. Although the day may not have met up to my standards, they thought it was great. In their words, it was the best trip they had ever had! I can only imagine what they would have thought, if it were sunny and warmer! Regardless, there were still plenty of fish landed and an equal amount either lost or just missed. They even learned a new technique with fly rods that might just come in handy back in Alabama where they live. They worked hard for each and every fish today, but they were definitely rewarded for their efforts. Tough conditions but good day in the end!
