FIN-ITE 34
Well-known member
Finally got around to taking the kayak down from the rafters for my first trip for pikes last evening. Temperature was pleasant with little wind and the sky was still a bit overcast. Water levels are a bit low and the turbidity was rather high with a subsurface visibility of probably less than two feet.
In the Big Fat Gnarly Swap I received an extra ditty pike streamer tied by Mooseladdy. My goal last evening was to test out that fly and see if I could take a toothy critter on that creation.
Fishing was a little slow but I did manage to roll two fish and land one on this offering. The fish was not a giant, but a respectable 33-34" that gave a nice jump and a couple of drag taking runs.
Some observations I can make on this fly are as follows.
The fly lost material after the first fish, which would indicate to me that the materials were not secured as well as they should have been. On pike flies the materials need to be tightly wrapped along with the use of plenty of Zap-a-gap on each wrapped section.
This particular fly was not neutrally buoyant, but rather nose heavy. It did not lend itself to a strip and pause retrieve, as it would not side kick at the pause but would sink nose first more like a jig.
It did however work very nicely with a tip down, double hand retrieve. The trailing flashabou had some good movement when retrieved in this method. By the way, this is the retrieve that brought on the three strikes.
One last point I would like to make for Moose when tying these. When tying in that tailing flash, do not have the tail cut square. Before tying in the material, tease out some of the fibers to make the tail uneven, this will create a better profile and will keep the material from matting together. I took a scissor to this fly to taper the tail as can be seen in the following photo.
It's a good looking and working fly if used properly and could be better with a few tweaks.
Thanks for the fly Moose, the pikes seem to like it too.
In the Big Fat Gnarly Swap I received an extra ditty pike streamer tied by Mooseladdy. My goal last evening was to test out that fly and see if I could take a toothy critter on that creation.
Fishing was a little slow but I did manage to roll two fish and land one on this offering. The fish was not a giant, but a respectable 33-34" that gave a nice jump and a couple of drag taking runs.
Some observations I can make on this fly are as follows.
The fly lost material after the first fish, which would indicate to me that the materials were not secured as well as they should have been. On pike flies the materials need to be tightly wrapped along with the use of plenty of Zap-a-gap on each wrapped section.
This particular fly was not neutrally buoyant, but rather nose heavy. It did not lend itself to a strip and pause retrieve, as it would not side kick at the pause but would sink nose first more like a jig.
It did however work very nicely with a tip down, double hand retrieve. The trailing flashabou had some good movement when retrieved in this method. By the way, this is the retrieve that brought on the three strikes.
One last point I would like to make for Moose when tying these. When tying in that tailing flash, do not have the tail cut square. Before tying in the material, tease out some of the fibers to make the tail uneven, this will create a better profile and will keep the material from matting together. I took a scissor to this fly to taper the tail as can be seen in the following photo.
It's a good looking and working fly if used properly and could be better with a few tweaks.
Thanks for the fly Moose, the pikes seem to like it too.
