My mate fishes for pike on dead baits in the winter...Ive read you can do it on lures with sinking line. I dont wanna buy a bait fishing rig...I wanna fish fly throughout the year. Im loving fishing. all CnR but only wanna do it on the Fly, any tips on winter pike on flies please!

When the water is cold they are less willing to move , you need to take the fly to them and fish it very slow . Hi D line , short leader ( 2 feet or so ) and a floating fly . If the bottom of the place you are fishing will not allow that ( rocky and will wreck your line )then use a line and a fly that will let your fly bounce the bottom or fish just above it .

Find the bait fish you find the Pike , simple as that . Deep water is warmer then the upper layers in the winter time ( colder in the summer ) This is where your bait fish will be , be it coarse fish or Trout .

If you don't know the lay out of the lake then if poss get in a boat with a fish finder and map it , find drop offs , holes and under water structure in deeper water like reefs and sunken islands .

All that said don't rule out the shallower water on the nice sunny winters days we do sometimes get , most of all mid afternoon

Hope that is of some use to you ........

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Your fish ----> ><((((º> My fish ----> ><(((((((((º>
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Cheers Danny

Co-Founder of S.S.F.D 2010

Try this site for some information might be usefull..

A GHILLIE'S TALE

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just fish shallow waters and fish just as you would at any other time of the year, I fly fish all winter for pike and catch enough to make it worth my while, just because it's cold you don't allways get them on slow retrieves either, try the odd fast retrieves too you may be supprised, good luck, Steve

Shallow water on most of the places I fish will throw up a bigger % of Jacks , ok if you want sport but if you consistently want bigger fish find the deeper water and the bait fish . I fish to catch big fish not numbers , just my way , each to their own and all that

Feb , March , April ( exactly when depending on your water and the water temps ) will throw up big fish from shallow water as they are in to spawn ....

... but then wtf do I know

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Your fish ----> ><((((º> My fish ----> ><(((((((((º>
__________________

Cheers Danny

Co-Founder of S.S.F.D 2010

The big pike (20-30lb) on one of the lakes I fish will come out of water as shallow as 3ft all winter long, just because it's cold the fish don't necessarily go deep, last January I was catching big fish out of 10ft of water with ice on the lake, all though lots of pike have different habits at different waters, another lake I fish the pike go so deep it's not feasable to fish for them on the fly so it's deadbaits if you want to catch, sweenytodd is getting fish deep at his lake, I'm getting mine shallow it's as simple as that, just find out where they are at the water you fish, good luck mate.

Superb article John, thanks for the link!

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"Angling may be said to be so like mathematics in that it can never be fully understood" - Izaak Walton

Your'e welcome I keep it updated when I have time to write ...

John

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Thanks for the Info....Ill be throwing a line out when my M8s have dead fish on the hooks,,,Prolly wont catch anything but its better than keeping long dead fish in my fridge!