pike fly rods & reel

[mtsman]

My brother has become very good at catching big musky out in Minnesota. I am finally going out to visit without the family to fish and fish some more. He wants me to bring out a fly rod to catch a few pike. He says I would love it.

I have an old #8 weight but it is heavy and does not load well. I also have a Battenkill 8/9 reel with some floating wf8.

I have done just a small amount of research but it seems any 9 foot about 8wt. will do. I want to get a good one that is rather light so I don't wear out my arm casting into that damn MN wind all day.

I had a nice Lamson 3.5 in my hand the other day. I understand their drag setup is very good. I would probably go with a sinking line and I guess I need some wire or shock tippet.

Anyone ever go out there for Pike? Rod or reel recommendations? Tippet recommendations?

 

[2bonthewater]

I own a G-Loomis GL3 9 foot--8wt--2 pc that is a rocket launcher.......I use it for salmon and steelhead and fish with Teeny Mini-Tip line.....IT WAS A CANNON

I also at one time owned a St. Croix 10.5 foot 3 pc 9wt that I used strictly for salmon....I could land a shark with that rod.....It was fun to cast but felt heavy after a full day of catching salmon.....I used a Fly Logic FLA 10 -- very heavy reel -- which is what made the outfit feel heavy at times.....but a very versatile rod---proably overkill for Pike--but then again, maybe not in Minnesota

Reels: Fly Logic FLA 8 or FLA 10, FLO 789

ps--I have had my right shoulder reconstructed in 1995, casting arm...and the loomis is very light in the hand......and to keep the entire outfit light......use a FLY LOGIC FLP 567 reel....it will hold about 150 yards of backing with an 8 wt line...the reel weighs
5.6 oz.........

 

[MKern]

i have too fished for pike with a fly rod, but I use my 6 wt. I would like something in a 8-10 wt., but have yet to build one.

I will say that the only downfall with my six wt. was casting those 6" flies more than 50'. However, I had no problem landing large pike.

For leader, I bought a woven nylon leader with steel bite tippet attachments. The tippet section swore up and down that you could tie any knot with it, but this was not true. I had to resort to tying loop connections to the leader and an overhand loop to connect the fly -- very durable though. I think the next time I will buy a tapered leader with a lead core, and better bite tippet material.

 

[David]

I fished for pike quite a bit when I lived in MA. I used a 9' 7wt Orvis Western Deschutes. I now have a Sage XP 9' 7wt as well that has a bit more backbone that works a little better at turning big fish. I have a Bauer JM3 reel which I've been very happy with so far.
I primarily fished in the spring when they were in the shallow, so I never needed anything but floating line. I simply used a straght 20# leader with 12" of wire. Never saw the need to over-compliate...if they were gonna take, they were gonna take...not real sensitive to leaders. As long as you protect against their teeth, and your leader is strong enough to handle the initial hook set and some weeds, you should be good to go!

 

[StudentofTheStream]

As far as the rod goes as always I'd go out and try a few to see which you like the best, in your price range. 7-8-9 wts should all suffice though I think many of the 'serious' pike chasers swear by a 9. Concerning the reel, I would highly recommend lamson as I own several different model and love them all. The drag is phenomenal though you may or may not need it for pike. They might take a little but pike don't fight as hard as you would think for their size (at least thats been my experience). I've read that this is a good tiable product (from other people not just the company) for tippet material. Depending on the depth of the water you might want to have both floating and sinking line, though an intermediate might suite you pretty well for all situations.

6-9" flies tied with rabbit strips have always worked the best for me and seem to hold up fairly well to the teeth. A few false casts to dry the fly some and UV knot sense (assuming there is sun) will help patch most flies pretty quickly for more usage. Good luck.Toothy