dont know if this helps anybody but i had my first attempt at pike fly fishing yesterday for a short 2 hour session & i actually caught one so didnt do to bad actually as it was a succusful outing after setting up i had around half a dozen or so casts & had one small pike that looked around the 1-2lb mark follow my red & white deciever to the bank & then turn as i lifted the fly from the water after an hour or so of experimenting with some of my saltwater fly collection (mainly trying some of my various deceiver's) i decided to try a slightly larger white & chartreuse option & had a further half a dozen or so casts with the chosen fly & it seemed quiet & i was just about ready to move spot's & so in my head i told myself one more cast in this spot as you do & went ahead with my final cast, About half way through the final cast & my steady constant retrieve i was using BANG! i had hooked my first pike on the fly. now it is something i will definately be doing again as i enjoyed it just as much as i do when lure fishing for pike, also i just wanted to see peoples thoughts on the rig that i came up with which was as follows 9' of 20lb pure fluorocarbon leader which i then joined to a 6" section of 20lb coated pike wire i used the same type of crimps shown below to crimp one end of the 6" wire with a tiny loop (i made the loop probably about a 2mm in length) i then tied the fluoro to the said wire loop using a blood knot then i crimped another very tiny loop at the other end of the fine wire trace using one of the tiny shown crimps & once the loop was finished again i added one of the shown snaplink clips & this seemed to do the trick & seemed to work fine. let me know any thoughts you have on this trace method & components used etc.. please the ones shown are not the same brands but just used to show exactly what bits i have used

I don't fly fish for pike ( Yet ) so I can't comment on much of your set up , but one thing I do know is that 5" is no where near long enough for the wire trace even a mid sized pike will be able to engulf the fly and that wire with no problem . Don't expect them to just grab the fly and be nicely lip hooked .

Well done on catching the first one though

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

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

i meant to put 6" & i have also caught many pike when lure fishing & have used short 6" traces a lot too & have never had a problem with losing fish due to short traces although they could probably engulf an arm too lol.. i always seem to hook them in the mouth area & have never hooked any deep in the gullet when fishing with lures & so thought the length of 6" would be fine i was actually aiming to make a bit of a stealthy leader option hence the smallest possible copper crimps, pure fluoro & fine trace wire

We will have to agree to disagree on this one then

You have been lucky not to get problems thus far . I have pike fish for 30 years now . I have had many fish manage to take a lure deep enough that 5-6" trace would not be enough and also when trolling 12" Balldawgs I have had big fish totally hammer and engulf them and a good length of trace

I should have just kept my gob shut !! As I said I don't fly fish for them so maybe best I step out now and let someone who does know what they are on about take over

Maybe it is different in fly fishing for them ??

Will watch the thread with interest .................

Cheers

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

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

Good for you HGN,well done on your 1st lash at FF for the pike .I would tend to agree with Danny on the bite tippet length.I tend to use an 18'' wire tippet and discard this when it shortens to 12-14'' .
Corky

i would never use anything under 18" just in case better to be safe than damage a big fish.

wilkie

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" TRUE CHAMPION'S DO NOT GET JUDGED ON HOW THEY FALL......... BUT HOW THEY RISE".

hi, on a negative point, i would also use at least 12-18" as ive had a few on plug take up to 10" and that only needs to be jacks let alone a double, you dont want to lose the chance of a monster dream fish along with other reasons. on a positive , well done with the 1st pike , but i want to say ,this bloke should have a well done for bothering to use a trace (i catch many people that dont) and most of all well done for asking if its up to scratch !! its the only way to learn,i wish others would ask , well done mate ,good luck in the future and tight lines

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when selecting a fly, i use to be decisive; now i'm not sure..

Fantastic catch - 1st pike and caught the bug... brilliant...


For what its worth I prescribe to the Barry Reynolds school of thought... 5 or 6ft of Seaguar Fluoro 24lb and albright that to 2ft of knotable wire AFW or similar 20lb... you attach the fly by putting an overhand knot in the end of the wire and cinch down... now do a second o/hand knot an inch up... don't cinch this one... get the fly and pass the cinched knot thru the eye of the hook... and then pass the cinched knot thru the o/hand loop - now cinch... your fly is on a loop and free swimming... Barry uses it in his filming of "In Search of the water wolf" cracking DVD! He catches a 52" pike with a 28" girth on that set up...

Changing fly is snip and re-tie and discard at 12 inches...

Having said that Dougie... has a pretty neat set up using a titanium trace and a fastach clip... I had one until I snagged a tree

thanks for all the postive replies. i will try a lengthier trace next time probably go with a 12" or so & see how i get on for now then. i was also trying to keep the steel trace down short as i wssnt keen on it lashing one of the large streamers past the rod & cracking the trace against my blank as i had imagined it could perhaps be tricky false casting with the trace join being further up the leader when using a longer trace, but it sound like you guys have no problem so i will try some with a trace length of 12"-18" next time, which will probably be soon as i have purchased somes of chris's dna bush pigs to try which he is currently selling on ebay as they look good if you look at the following ebay item numbers you will see what i have bought to try & you may also see some you like for yourselves as he has others a
available too:

290423981504

290423977185

290427618908

What I do with the larger flies and wire tippet etc is keep my loops more open than usual,seems to keep everything moving without hinging and away from the rod and neck (been there etc),seems to work ok most of the time.
Corky