IMPORTANT
SITE UPDATE:

Visit the relaunched
Fish & Fly at fishandfly.com

Fly fishing for lake pike

Our March 2002 contribution from Terry Lawton

For anyone fishing in Sweden, a visit would not be complete without fly fishing for pike. Although I have had pike rise a like a trout to fly when trout and grayling fishing in rivers, the best pike fishing is in the many lakes and even along the Baltic coast.

Although pike can be caught from the bank, a lot of the lakes are not easy to get too as the banks can be swampy or covered in trees. This means that wading the margins can be problematical too. The best way to fish is from a boat, or a float tube. You will need a nine foot rod for at least a 6# line or an 8# or 9# if available, particularly if you start catching big fish. Your leader must finish with a length of wire because a pike's mouth is full of the sharpest of teeth and can fray mono in an instant (although I have caught and released a pike on normal trout tackle). If you don't use wire, you risk leaving lots of hooks in pike. Big streamers and even salmon flies can be used if pike flies are not available. Single hooks are to be preferred as they make unhooking and releasing fish that much easier. So far, I have not had a problem with a single hook pulling out. Pike take plugs and flies side-on and so your hook should hook the fish in the scissors or corner of its mouth.

In the summer in Sweden the pike can be found lying in the shallow reedy margins of the lakes. Sometimes you can see a fish basking or even attacking a small fish. The best technique is to cast your fly into the edge of the reeds - or if it is easier parallel to the edge - and strip it back to you. A floating line will mean that your fly does not sink too deep and risk getting caught in the reeds. Sometimes you will see a pike chasing your fly and grabbing it just before you lift it out of the water. Other times a fish will hit it as soon as it touches the water.

You must keep your eyes open for fish that are feeding: you may see a boil in the water. Cast straight to where you see such a boil and hang on. Pike may not be the best of fighters but a big one will give a good account of itself with a number of hard runs. Even when you think one is played out, it can rush off again when you get it close to the boat to unhook it. I have mentioned already that pike have vicious teeth. Do be very careful when unhooking a pike. You should always use forceps or pliers to take hold of the fly and keep your fingers clear of the teeth. Believe me, if you have never felt a pike's tooth, they are sharper than scalpel blades! Unhooking pike caught in the scissors is not too difficult as long as you are careful and can be done with the fish still in the water.

As with all fishing in Sweden, you can fish for pike around the clock as there is 24 hours of daylight in summer in the north. Here the summers are short and pike, like all fish, need to feed as much as they can when food is prolific.

Terry Lawton is a passionate nymph fisherman who caught his biggest wild brown trout (in the UK) - 4lb 2oz - on a home-tied variant of a goldhead, Sawyer-style pheasant tail nymph.