Piking Old School

Before i started fly fishing for pike most pike flies i saw  were tied with buck tail, then the synthetics such as supreme hair , ep fibres etc kind of seen buck tail as old hat . I recently received a few buck tails variety of colours so thought I'd give them a bash . This is what i came up with tied on a 4/0 hook.

This weeks been really mild, for the time of year, so mild that yesterday afternoon whilst having a stroll by the river i saw a few trout rising to a smattering of olives, the trout season though is still to get underway! Back to chilly weather tomorrow   even possibly with snow, with this in mind i was keen to get a cast in today so this morning a 9am i slung a few flies , including the buck tail in a pack, along with all the other gear and by 9:30 i was casting out a flash fly on the canal. What a pleasant day overcast, but nice !

The pike were very much in the mood, a wee count down on the intermediate line to 15 then a slow jerky retrieve saw 4 jacks succumb to the charms of the flash fly a few more close calls.

flashed

After flogging the water i decided to move to another spot, which has recently been good . But despite my best efforts with the flash fly followed by a Fire Tiger Bait fish, i couldn't get a take. So i returned to the basin . Cast a bigger flash fly but that didn't work, i then remembered how much success Brian has been having with his Clousers recently, so decided to look one out , that's when the buck tail caught  my eye. 3 casts and a jack and then a few more casts and another. I think I'll tie a few more up ,especially in roach colourations,  it seems these pike become wary of a pattern after a while but a complete pattern change seems to generate fresh interest.

Happy with my morning fishing it was home for some beans , bacon and eggs on toast.

Bass-tastic dude!

A flock of Dunlins

We Arrived at low tide revealing a almost lunar landscape, the flies tied during the week were tied on and we fished, remarkably after half an hour Brian hooked up and  landed the first bass  of the day! He was over the moon understandably because prior to the trip we wereboth bass virgins.

Just then Colin joined us , and he was quickly into fish after fish . His experience on fishing the salt clearly shone through.

Ripping them out

Brian was getting in on the action too!

Meanwhile i struggled on , i'd had the odd take , lost a  fish  , but i finally did get a fish.halleluja!

soaked we retreated for a coffee,  soaked  by the odd rogue wave,  before colin headed home and we had a few more casts. And no more luck. A big thankyou to Colin for showing us the ropes, without his guidance  i'm pretty sure i would still be waiting for my first bass!

the one eyed flash fly

I took Clyde for a walk along the canal this morning, on a section i haven't fished for many years now. I noted a few spots that looked really pikey along the way and also had a look at a near by pit which is reputed to hold some big pike. Back home for a couple of bacon rolls and a coffee,  and also a quick session on the vice to tie up a flash fly before heading out with the rod this time.

Fished the choice bits of the canal from the walk earlier and also had a few casts in the pit but disappointingly no takes so back in the car to a more familiar stretch.
Where a couple of wee jacks quickly fell to the charms of a green, white and red clouser
and then the best of the day took the now one eyed flash fly, need to glue them eyes in properly next time!

Don't leave home without them.

It's been mild all week, today was 11degrees , but it was drizzly and windy. decided to have a go up the canal , packed  a few biggish clousers tied  that got a fair bit of interest  on Sunday, and also remembered to grab a flash fly, a fly i wish i had on Sunday  .

The water had fairly good clarity , the barges haven't been able to get along the canal due to trees being down from the storms last month. So perfect for piking. First i tried a  kanekallon bait fish in fire tiger  colours and finally a small pike took it, which i landed then released. It wasn't exactly setting the water on fire though , so i changed to a red and white  clouser, but nothing , time to play the ace card , and put on a flash fly. Unlike most flash flies this one had a red litebrite head which is tied in on a wire a bit like a dubbing loop whether it was anymore deadly , i don't know.  Anyway , it worked with 5 jacks following for it's charms over the next hour or so and a few lost.

Best of the session

So flash flies , don't leave home without them.

Oh i do like to be beside the seaside!

The plans were in place to do a bit bass fishing, flys tied, last minute of getting  line trays assembled etc. We also had the benefit of getting some info, by an experienced saltwater fly angler, who put us right on flies materials hook sizes and gave us the general feel for the area, thankyou Colin! We also met a angler tackling up to do a bit lure fishing, and we had a good blether, it was nice to meet Martin , an obvious fishaholic , who spends a lot of his time fishing allround  the country ,  in the sea.

Unfortunately the sea was too wild to fish and it was a bit dirty, but i cannot wait to get back , when the going is good! More flies to tie , ordered up some more hooks, and converted another  basin into a line tray at work today , ...obsessed!

basin bashing!

So me and Brian on the way home decided to pop up the canal to see if we could get a pike or two. grabbed a few essentials at my house , and before long we were setting up, half the basin was covered with ice , but we had a shot in the clear half. i put  on a fire tiger jumbo braid baitfish and on my first cast fish took got off, next same result and on the third cast he was hooked , but shortly threw the hook. We did both get a few more jabs here and there. Brian decided to try one of his red and white clousers, and it proved a real hit with the jacks he landed a brace before the end of the day. If it's windy next week, and it's looking that way , might do a bit of piking on the canal , ive also a wee pond or two  in mind.

clousered!

an afternoon tying up clousers

Ive been tying up some clousers today for our saltwater trip tomorrow, used some of the hair exstension stuff and also some slinky fibre. Not sure what colours are best so tied up a variety of different colour combinations, hopefully one of them will work!

looking forward to my diamond hard kit arriving through the post so i can tie up a few surf candys too.

Hair extension Baitfish

Back on the kanekallon (Jumbo Braid ) hair extensions for some baitfish patterns. First up a couple of pike flies. Got my hands on some Deer Creek Diamond hard and i find it's much quicker setter and true to it's endorsement is "virtually" tack free. Both have gills the pink one oval the other a shell sequin.

FireTiger

Next up a couple of Saltwater  flies.

Clouser (bucktail)

surf candy

surf candy (leaded underbody)

 Had a spare hour so gave the pike flies a test on my favourite canal basin. A few takes, dropped a few but a couple of wee jacks obliged, cant wait to give these a go on the lochs this year, i'll be tying a few with rattles to help stir up dour pike as for the saltwater flies, i hope to give them a trial shortly.