I hope to go Pike fishing with a friend, this saturday, subject to the weather. This will be my first time.Any advise would be helpful. Location the Tone in Somerset.

Be prepared to blank! Seriously, I've never fished there but experience of pike on the fly is that it can be very hard to locate the fish, particularly on reservoirs, and even when you do find them, they might not be in the mood. Apparently they don't like unsettled weather so you should stand a better chance if its been hard cold for a couple of days. Vary everything, depth, retrieve etc. until you find them! And try and match the 'bait-fish' if you can.

All the best!
Ant

__________________

If you haven't done so already, buy the David Wolsoncroft-Dodds book on the subject. A really good how-to book, with intelligent observations on pike behaviour. Just finished reading it.

__________________
cumbriafishingfestival.co.uk

Probably an obvious tip but have a walk down a day or two before, or even on the day, and talk to any dead-baiters or match anglers - they'll likely point you in the right direction. Pike like 'structure' - old walls, old tree stumps, etc etc from where they can ambush their prey so try and cast as tight into such features as you can. Also, keep your eye on the water for any signs of disturbance such as a shoal of fry suddenly scattering the surface - getting your fly to the same spot and fishing it slowly or with a couple of jerks usually results in a take.

Haven't read DWD's book yet but 'Mastering Pike on the Fly' by Barry Reynolds/Lefty Kreh features all the set-ups you're likely to need and goes into some of the technical details about pike behaviour. I'm not saying I've mastered it though!

Let us know how you get on!

__________________

Don't bother at the moment.
The Tone is in flood.
A lot of the Tone does not have any Pike at all.
If you need any more info give me a shout via pm.
The Tone is my local river

__________________
For interesting and unique fly tying materials & tackle please take a look at www.funkyflytying.co.uk

Bugbond Stockist.
Tubeworx Stockist.
Foxy-Tails Stockist.
Top Quality Bronze Mallard http://www.flyforums.co.uk/fly-tying...e-mallard.html

wrong time of year i think.the pike very reluctant to chase a fly mostly bait this time of year although still warm so you might get lucky.

terry

__________________
"It is only the inexperienced and thoughtless who find pleasure in killing fish for the mere sake of killing them. No sportsman does this." - W.C. Prime, 1888

Fish slowly. Use big white flies with red at the head end, a big eye is quite effective, take a choice of lines, include fast sinking... Bouyant flies are very effective over weed beds.

DON'T expect to blank! Do the opposite. The fly, particularly in rivers, is deadly for pike.

richard

__________________
Who resides on the right bank of the Derbyshire Wye and is lulled to sleep each night by the mutterings of a weir, dreaming that "When the rivers and their inhabitants come first, we ALL win..."

Wont they be spawning at the moment(or very soon)?I believe that Pike spawn earlier than other coarse fish so that they can take advantage of their pray fish when those species are preoccupied with spawning.Not exactly sure of the dates though.
Steve.

Wholly agree with the first choice of fly, tied bunny, deceiver, or clouser style, depending on how you're fishing, and sorry for having a half-empty outlook Richard but whewf I've had some bitter days out after Esox.

Theory is they spawn in early Spring and that's why now is the time to go after them - they're eating heartily to store energy for spawning season.

Now go forth and catch a 30!

__________________

The Tone at the moment is a few ft up and the colour of hot chocolate.

No good for Pike or any other fish at the moment.

Where on the River Tone were you thinking of fishing?

__________________
For interesting and unique fly tying materials & tackle please take a look at www.funkyflytying.co.uk

Bugbond Stockist.
Tubeworx Stockist.
Foxy-Tails Stockist.
Top Quality Bronze Mallard http://www.flyforums.co.uk/fly-tying...e-mallard.html