Thanks for visiting
my site!

Clive Schaupmeyermy my friend and fellow Fly Pike from Alberta is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to Pike fishing. Clive does talks and workshops on Fly fishing for Pike.The following will be Fly fishing tips from both Clive and myself. I have experienced some different behavior patterns than has Clive so will share both our experiences with
you.

Will use a CS for Clives comments and a DR for mine.

CS Not a lot to say about technique. Try various retrieval depths, strip speeds and actions until something works. Here's a good way to start. After casting your fly, let it sink for a few seconds, depending on water depth, then retrieve the line in short, snappy four-inch strips every second or two.

DR In many cases the depth of the water I fish in up in the North is only 3' deep. But have found even in that depth the retrieve can vary, depending on the type of fly I'm using and the depth I want it at. One would think that in 3'of water this would not make a difference but I have found that not to be the case. Pike depending upon the time of year and day feed differently. I use several styles of stripping usually.

If fishing a slow sinking fly I will let it sink a foot and then I will strip in about 6" fast and then pause, repeating the action. This gives the fly a chance to quiver in the water or slightly dip, this action can trigger a strike. In many cases, where I fish I can see the pike so have an advantage as I can judge their responses and I can see how they react to my fly. From there it becomes a tad bit easier as I can then speed up or slow down my retrieve until I get a response. Now at this time if I get a looky lou but no bite I do one of several things.

I will change sizes bigger or smaller, if this works I'm ok if not.
If using my tube kit I will change the tail to create a different action. If this doesn't work I will change the colour eg a red head/white tail to a white head/red tail, it can make that much of a difference. The other option I have is to either go, to a surface popper and tempt them or go to a heavier fly and drag it near or on the bottom. I have found that sometimes they will come right up to a fly look at it and swim away but let it sink to the bottom and stir up the bottom with it and they just pounce on it.

CS Strip speeds don't have to be fast, but they usually need to be lively. In spring, sluggish retrieves just don't get pike excited. Or, I should say that lively strips work well in the spring and I am not about to change a technique that works.

DR In many cases the fast strip will trigger an anger response to strike. Incases like this the bigger and uglier the fly the better. I was at Moberley lake one July and we found a nice bunch of Pike. We couldn't get them to take anything, my partner put on the biggest and ugliest Orange mariboo bug and he just couldn't keep them off the hook and the next day they wouldn't touch it.

CS In midsummer, when water temperatures increase, a more sluggish fly retrieve may be required. We normally quit fly- fishing for pike in June when the water gets warmer, but in the summer of 1998, some friends continued fishing and caught lots of pike in July-and the action carried on well into August.

DR In the Yukon the water doesn't get that warming trend that happens down south so the pike stay more active for a longer period. They do slack off to a degree but can be had with a bit of work esp when the weed beds form. I worked up a lodge one summer as a fly tier and helped to guide a bit and found they could be caught most of the time.

CS Local fly-fishing club member, Alan Kloepper, told me that he had noticed a slower recovery seemed to produce more pike.

DR I use a large black leach on my trips and fish it just off the bottom with a very slow retrieve and have had excellent success. During one trip, it was our best producing fly. Pike up to 50" were taken on it

CS On my first late July outing, I let the fly sink down several feet and used the faster strips-not as Alan had suggested. It worked, but not like in spring. I then tried keeping my line barely tight and pulled on it very slowly. There was little forward movement or action to the fly, but it worked well. One evening using this retrieve, I landed five pike that had merely mouthed my gaudy streamer-not one of them hit it. I could feel there was a fish at the fly because of a slight tension, and sometimes the line vibrated-the hook was set.

DR Where I have experienced something similar is during the time they are going through a period of what I call teething. It has been my observations over many years that pike loose their canine teeth. I have seen their jaws raw and red and the canine teeth missing. When this is happening I have observed a different pattern to their strikes.

I have seen rush up to a large fly and just stop look at it and turn up their noses at it and swim away or do what I call gumming it.(this is where they just open their mouths and suck it in very gently). One day while this was happening I remembered back many years a similar thing had happened but that day I was using lures (I know I committed a no no ) but by accident I put on a black rubber bass worm and Wow every cast a pike. So the next day I put on a 4" black leach and I was getting a strikes continuously. So over the years I have experimented with this technique. When I have noted that they are having tooth problems I start off with a 4" black bunny leach. If there is interest but no serious hits just looky lous. I put on a 6"Black leach, if still no major hits I then go to the big one a 8-10" black bunny leach this method has produced many huge pike for me. I believe when they are experiencing the sore gums they will not feed on larger prey as without the large canines they are not able to hold on to their prey.

I use both a floating and a 10'sinking tip line even when fishing in 3' of water. If you can this is wise idea as it will cover you for up to 10' of depth, and it will get a leach down to the bottom in 3' of water very quickly.