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Miles of column inches have been devoted to
summer pike fly fishing, but Sam's focus here is aimed primarily to
those beginner
predator fly anglers wanting to start fishing for ole Mr. toothy.
What a shame it is to see these budding pike fly fishers casting like
deranged bell ringers while swinging what looks like an oversized
canary back and forth. It doesn't have to be like this. Sam's advice
is to start out with standard trout tackle and flies.
Before heading off to St Michel reservoir,
put together a good fly fishing outfit then start building up your
casting proficiency. Yes that old chestnut again. Many reservoir
anglers use 7 or 8 weight trout fly rods. Load them with a
floating or intermediate fly line, e.g. clear slime line. Attach to
the fly line to a tapered leader, but if you don't have one you can
splice different sections of monofilament, or if you lack patience,
simply attach a 6 or 7 foot section of 20lb test monofilament like
Berkeley Big Game. Your tippet section should be composed of
something which can resist being cut by ole Mr. toothy's choppers.
Sam recommends something like Powerpro
metallic tie-on tippet. This way the angler can decide how much
tippet can be used. You can use a full blood knot, although an
Albright knot works well too. If you are not expert at the knot-tying
game, then you can purchase 2mm tippet rings to which you can easily
tie on both leader and metallic tippet.
Now armed with a suitable fly fishing
ensemble, it's time to choose some flies. Don't get all upset about
choosing the perfect fly for pike as this would use up too much
glucose in the brain. Choose submersible prey imitations like large
damsels, baitfish patterns, crustaceans, and yes
the faithful dog nobbler.
If you are wading then choose places with good vegetation and good
angular drop offs near shore. Places on the eastern shore of St
Michel like 'Camping' are a good place to start your wading
excursion. There is adequate parking there for your vehicles. If you
are in a boat you can locate good pike-holding spots with more ease.
One good place to find pike is in the small south-westerly cove known
as the 'Forch'an'.
Again, the point of all this is to let you
know that you can start pike fly fishing fish with a trout outfit,
with trout flies and trout-enticing retrieves to catch ole Mr.
toothy. Only start tossing the canary when you feel proficient at
casting them. Remember, big flies don't necessarily equate to big
pike. Cast the small flies proficiently and you will be far ahead of
those who want to imitate the masses.
Sam landed his first fly-caught pike from
St Michel (top left-hand pic) while trout fishing (wading) away from
the main parking lot of Camping on a simple No. 10 damsel from
Fulling Mill. Sometimes a good fish would rather take a morsel than a
monster portion of a fly. Good fishing!
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