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 Introduction to Pike Fly Fishing in St Michel Reservoir
(aka: Lac du Brennilis) by Sam Davis

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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!   © 2011 Fishinista.com (all rights reserved)