PIKE FISHING
by Hans van Klinken
Catching pike on a fly is something very special. In some
countries, it's extremely popular, while in others, there is
hardly any interest. I am sure that it is also a matter of the
availability of local fish species in certain countries. Fly
fishing in Holland is a bit different then in most of the
surrounding countries. We frequently fish for bream, perch,
pike, roach and rudd by fly when we want to practice our great
sport. We do have some excellent fishing for stocked trout in
small private ponds, or in the famous large salt water
reservoirs, but with no spectacular wild trout or grayling in
our rivers, we have to travel abroad to fish for these more
desirable species.
I like fly fishing for pike in the Dutch "polders," but if you
really want superb pike fishing, you have to go to Denmark,
Sweden, Finland, Ireland or Canada. There are many other
countries that can offer you some good pike fishing, but
usually fly fishers don't travel abroad solely for pike
fishing.
In Holland many people start their fishing for pike in late
autumn, or even in the winter. Every year, from the beginning
of November until late winter, I would receive several letters
from friends who described their forays for pike as soon as
the trout season was finished. Several of these individuals
are fly fishing fanatics, but I was dumbfounded to find that
they instead used bait fish, spoons and plugs to catch their
pike! Personally, I think that catching pike on a fly is a
much more spectacular and beautiful method than using a
spinning rod, and not really any more difficult.
Pike fishing can be a fantastic sport, and fly fishing for
pike is a great alternative when the trout fishing has been
closed. Pike are very strong fish, sometimes making
spectacular jumps out of the water when hooked. They often
take the fly with unbelievable speed and violence.
During autumn when the weather starts to change, the water
clears up when the weeds have died back and the algae has
disappeared. This makes the fall and winter the most popular
seasons for pike fishing in Central Europe. With the weed beds
gone and fewer places for the pike to hide, the master of
camouflage is much easier to see. In the arctic regions, the
situation is much different. There the water is crystal clear
all year round, and summertime is usually the prime time to
find large pike in the warmer shallow waters. While lying in
wait in their secret lairs, they can be easily reached with a
fly line. Early springtime can offer some awesome pike fishing
as well, but unfortunately too few people take advantage of
the pike's early spawning season.
Fly fishing for pike is a rather new sport, even here in
Holland. It started in the early sixties, and in the beginning
we used small trout streamers like the Mickey Finn, Grey
Ghost, Missionary and Chief Needabey. Since then, however, our
techniques and methods have changed dramatically. With this
change, there has also been a considerable alteration in the
fly patterns we use. I strongly believe that the experiences
of several Dutch anglers while fishing for pike abroad have
had a huge influence on the development of these patterns. Ad
Swier, who does a lot of pike fishing all over Europe, has
enormously increased the popularity of pike fishing with
flies.
Colors, sizes and hooks
 Red,
yellow, orange, pink and white are still the most popular
colors in our pike flies. Colorwise, there is not much
difference in today's patterns and those that we formerly
used. What has changed radically is the size of flies or lures
we use for pike fishing today. Many of the patterns used
nowadays are 15-20cm (7.8" ) in length or even larger. Large
single hook tube flies have been used with considerable
success as well. In recent years, very large tandem streamers
have also become more and more popular. You may be amused to
learn that because of all the feathers, hairs and synthetics
used in these huge pike flies, we often refer our Dutch pike
streamers as "half chickens." We never use treble or double
hooks, since nearly every fish we catch is released. We also
use either barbless hooks, or hooks that have their barbs
flattened. The new barbless pike hook, specially designed by
Ad Swier, and manufactured by Partridge, is surely one of the
best hooks available on the market today.
Unbelievable power
Since we started using much bigger flies, the most notable
result has been the very large size of the pike we are
catching. The record pike caught by fly in Holland is almost
10 kg (22 lbs.), and my own best ever, caught in the River
Guden A in Denmark, weighed over 10 kg. In the last few years,
I have fished for the Great Northern Pike in the Yukon. They
are the biggest and most powerful pike for which I have ever
fished. In 30 years of fly-fishing, I broke my first rod while
fishing for pike in Canada. This happened when I was playing a
large Northern, which was then attacked by one that was even
larger! My rod wasn't able to handle the force of that
enormous attacking power.
Casting "Half Chickens"
 Casting
these enormous streamers is not at all easy, and to do so, you
have to use heavy rods, rated for 7, 8, 9 or even 10 weight
lines. It is a pity that some of the sport in playing the fish
is lost with these stiff one rods, but with such large flies,
there is really no alternative. Casting speed must also be
slowed down to allow the fly and leader to extend properly. A
word of WARNING: casting these "half chickens" can be rather
dangerous, especially for beginners. Eye protection and a good
thick hat must be considered essential safety equipment. I
also would suggest never fishing alone when you begin this
kind of fishing, and always use barbless hooks!
Rods for pike
For the last 10 years, I have always used 9 or 9-1/2 ft. rods
for 7 or 8 weight geared up with sink tip lines. Many people,
however, also use floating or full sinking lines. I don't like
to use a 10 weight rod for pike fishing, but when I use a
floating line, I find it necessary. The reason that I started
to use sinking tip lines in the first place is because I could
use a much lighter rod. It's not easy to find the perfect rod
for pike fishing, but by using a powerful 7 weight rod, the
fishing is much more exciting and enjoyable. Today, I use the
new Helix (HE 967S-4) from Thomas and Thomas because it's
extremely light, and powerful enough to perfectly handle my
big flies. It is one of the nicest rods I know of for sinking
tip lines, and when you use Cortland QD 225 grain line, you
can cast these much larger flies with little effort.
Sinking tip lines
Because I use mostly sinking tip lines for pike fishing, I
designed the big flies so they sink very slowly. I personally
prefer a pike fly that floats, and this is the second
important reason for me to use sinking lines. A "floating" fly
in combination with a sinking or sinking tip line will give
you an incredible action. With strong pulls, it is possible to
induce a very effective diving action in the fly. In still
water, the best method is to strip the line back rather
quickly, but allow a pause between your pulls to achieve those
diving actions. In shallow water, I always retrieve the line
much more quickly. This does not create a problem since, in
warmer water, the fish are more eager to strike the bait.
Mobile materials
 Today
our pike patterns are constructed mostly out of very mobile
materials, such as marabou, spectraflash, crystal hair, long
soft hairs, soft synthetic fibers and very long saddle
feathers.
With these materials, the action of the fly seems to be much
more attractive to the fish than with the less mobile
materials which were formerly used. The best material I have
found to date are synthetics mixed with long fibers of polar
bear hair, which, unfortunately, is illegal in most countries.
Wire and barbless hooks
For pike fishing, a monofilament leader is not a very good
choice, as the teeth of the pike will easily cut it. I would
advise everyone to use a wire between the fly and leader.
Personally I use a very clever wire leader system that was
developed by another Dutchman, and distributed by Tackle
Trends. I also prefer to use barbless hooks. If the wire or
leader breaks, the fish can still get rid of the barbless hook
fairly quickly. I know of one situation were the fish shed the
hook in just 5 minutes. It also makes releasing the fish much
easier.
River experience.
During the early eighties, I lived and worked in Northern
Germany, and visited Denmark very often to fish. Most of the
time I fished for trout and grayling, but sometimes, when the
weather turned for the worse, I fished for pike as well. I
also used floating lines at that time, but I found it very
difficult to present my fly at the proper depth in the fast
flowing rivers of Denmark. This became my third reason to
change to a sink tip line. It was the only way to get the
proper action in the fly at the desired depth. After much
trial and error, I found a very effective river technique that
works perfectly for most Danish rivers. I usually drop the fly
in the middle of the river, and then let it drift very close
to the bank before fishing it back upstream in short pulls. I
play my fly close to deep holes and between weeds and weedbeds.
It is very important to fish the fly all the way back towards
you, for pike will often seize the fly at the last moment,
right under the rod tip.
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