Terry Lawton takes a practical - if un-scientific - approach to catching pike on a fly. It is an approach that, for him at least, does work. Fly fishing for pike can be an exciting way to fill summer days unsuitable for trout fishing and something to do during the winter trout close season.

My best-ever day's pike fishing happened during the winter a season or two ago. I was plug fishing in my local river when there was a noticeable change in the weather. The pressure rose and the pike came on to feed. I cast downstream and started to retrieve my plug when a pike came swirling out from the depths of the pool and missed! I cast again and the pike attacked. This time he connected. My next two casts caught two more fish from the same pool. I then moved upstream to another proven pike spot. Here my first cast was blank. But my next cast produced a fish and two more casts produced another. Five pike in eight casts. I don't suppose I will ever get near repeating such a performance.

While I still enjoy piking with a plug or wobbler, I had also caught pike on a fly, but nothing of any real size. My biggest fish have been caught on plugs and this has lead me to believe that this is the best way to catch big fish. However, a day's pike fishing on a lake in northern Sweden showed that fish of up to about 10 pounds can be caught on a fly. One day during the summer when the weather was too miserable for trout fishing, I took a friend down to the river to have a go at pike. I had a spinning rod and also a fly rod. My first pikes, about 10 pounds, was caught on a little plug. I then changed to the fly rod to fish a stretch which I felt would be easier to fish with a fly as it was narrow and fairly weedy. As I retrieved my fly, a wave surged across the river after it. Bang. There was a small pike fighting hard for its freedom. I managed to loose it as I turned to pick-up my landing next. I moved further downstream and cast again. Again a great wave came surging after the fly. This time it was a much bigger fish. After several minutes of struggle I eventually got the fish in the net. It was within an inch or two of the same size as the first one that I had caught. This demonstrated to me that you can catch equally large pike on a fly as on a plug.

I would like to reserve judgement as to whether or not fly fishing for pike is as effective at getting fish out of deep pools as a diving plug or wobbler but in a river, particularly when it is weedy, a fly is very much easier to fish. The benefits of fly fishing are you can cast more accurately, mend your line to get your fly to fish where you want and control the depth of fly better.

What tackle do you need?

Casting big bulky flies is not always that pleasant and I would recommend very strongly that you wear glasses and a hat. At the moment I am fishing with an old carbon nine foot seven weight rod with a Cortland Rocket taper floating line. Most stillwater rods will be quite suitable for first forays after pike. When you have had some experience, you may want to by a rod specifically for pike. As my rod is rather old, I am going to put bigger rings on it which will help the line to shoot better.

I have a length of braided leader nail knotted to the end of my line, then a length of heavy mono with tiny ring on end (off a Roman Moser leader) to which I tie a length of soft multi-strand wire, about 12 inches. The overall length of my leader is about nine feet which may be on the long side. I then tie-on the fly using a blood knot which needs pulling tight from both directions ie the tag end as well as the working length. I have not had it slip yet. I think that wire is essential as pike have such vicious teeth and mono will be cut through too easily. I might fix a tiny snap link to the end of the wire which will make changing flies quicker and easier.

So far I have used only flies with a single hook. I have had no real problems hooking fish - apart from the small one that I lost as mentioned already - so have had no inclination so far to try tandem hook lures. (Interestingly, a plug or wobbler must have at least two treble hooks because a pike will take one sideways on - most of my fly-caught pike have attacked from the rear.) Although most pike flies are designed to float, you can add some turns of lead wire if you want to make them fish deeper as well as making the fly rise and fall in the water when fishing with a floating line. Tandem lures would have the benefit of being that much bigger and so a better meal for a big fish. So far I have used commercially-tied flies but am now starting to tie my own. Pike flies need to be big and bushy as well as fairly long, so representing a decent mouthful to a hungry fish.

You will find that you need to adjust your casting rhythm to the large bulky fly. Don't be in a hurry to begin with. A big fly is very wind resistant and needs handling with care. When fishing a river, cast down and across, retrieve in stops and starts to imitate a sick or injured fish struggling to swim against the current. Watch out for a pike following your fly. Pike like to lie under over-hanging vegetation and will often rush out to grab your fly as it swims by. This can be a heart-stopping moment. Spend your time searching likely spots and work your fly close-in to the bank. When trout fishing, make a note of where you see pike so that you can return after them another day. On lakes fish round the weedy margins and other weedy areas. You may even be able to see fish and cast to them. This was very much the case in Sweden. Look for shoals of small fish and fry: there may well be a pike lurking nearby waiting for an easy meal.

Handling fish

If you have never caught a pike, handle with great care the first time. The roof of a pike's mouth is covered with rearward-pointing teeth and the teeth round the jaws are sharper than razors. Although I have seen fellow anglers take hold of pike from behind their head (see photo above) I must admit that I have not tried it myself. When unhooking a fish, do use long forceps or pliers, and a pair of leather gloves would not go amiss to help hold the fish and protect your fingers.