Tubes for thought!

Every pike fly fisherman in the northern hemisphere should have this Red/Back colour combo'd synthetic baitfish pattern in his box. Probably one of the most effective colour schemes in low light conditions, and I'll be fishing a lot during dusk & dawn,so I'd be stupid not to include it in my choice of 12. I'd also class this as an all season fly so you can count on it not getting substituted either.....the down side to choosing this fly is "will it last the distance?" Again another baitfish pattern that will be fished on a tube.

Blue/white or Turquoise/white is probably one of the most effective Spring colours here around the island. Also decided to have this Raccoon bunny colour combination tied onto a tube, as I can have extended hook retaining tubes for the post spawn period when pike generally will lunge at your fly directly from the rear. Then shortening the hook retaining tube after spawning. Not a good summer colour but has been a consistant autumn colour for pike.

Up too my waist!

As I'm going to be spending a large portion of this season wading its only logical I'll need a couple of flies that will perform in shallow waters. The first is my Rattle n hum. Virtually snag free from rocks and weeds,I'll be able to fish this fly confidently when its on the business end of my line. I've gone for Orange as it will be a top spring & Autumn colour here. To extend the longevity of the Mirror Image synthetic tail, I'm going to extend the bucktail collar an extra inch along the tail and add a thicker raccoon head as well.

My Olive lazyboy will serve two purposes, fished with a floating line it will double up as a diver/popper around reed beds & shallow wadable bays, and secondly fished with a fast sinking intermediate in 2m - 5m of water. This fly will catch fish through all the seasons...how long the deerhair heads will last is another question.I will bugbond them to strengthen them though.

decissions decissions!!

So I think its important that I explain to those wanting to play this season the flies I'll be fishing with this season so as to be able to give you a better understanding behind my choices and how it will affect your over all choice as well. Spending some time going through my last three seasons stats might help you, but dont count on it!

Red/White has always been a farely productive Spring & Autumn colour combination here and I thought that I'll be needing flies that will be constructed with tough enough materials to hopefully get me through the season with and my raccoon bunnies are just one of those fies. I would class this as an attractor pattern so take into consideration when choosing your flies that attractor patterns work well here during spring and Autumn time but aren''t very effective during the summer months when water temps are high. Another reason why I picked this fly on a hook is I can also attach a fish skull head to give some extra weight to the fly so I can fish it at slightly deeper depths when the situation lends itself.

I picked these Perch tube flies cause they are a great all season fly, but will be more effective during the summer months here and also through Autumn when pike are far more selective with their food prey. These synthetic slinky fiber baitfish patterns also wouldn't last as long if tied onto a hook as they would onto a tube hense the choice. They wouldn't be my first choice generally to fish with, but they have accounted for most of the bigger fish I've caught here over the last 6 yrs around the island and are worth a punt....whether you have faith in them lasting the season is also something you are going to have to take in to consideration when choosing your starting four, but I will be using very soft hook retainer tubes so they slide off from the hook once the pike is caught which wil keep them away from the majority of pikes teeth.

The Challenge

I'm one of the fortunate few to be able to fish everyday.....and yes, I'm a pike fly bum! so I'm not presurised like most of you are when you get some time off to chuck some fluff at Snotrockets.

So this year I've decided to change the way I approach the sport by turning my season into a fantasy pike fly challenge. There's going to be some fantastic prizes on offer for those looking too take part in what is probably the first ever fly fishing challenge of its kind on the net. I'll be uploading daily catch reports,how the flies are fairing, Images & video footage whenever possible as well as up dating the leagues table once a week with the latest scores.

Once all the flies have been tied, choose your starting four send me an email with your name you want to enter under + the 4 flies and we'll set you up in the league.....nuff said really!!

Until the next post