By Andrew Marr
Don’t over look small flies in your quest for a BIG pike!
During the filming for the Award winning short film, “Common Thread”, my long-time guest and star of the film, Mary, fished for 12 days straight. A 70 plus year old great grandmother churning out cast after cast after cast, day after day after day, pike after pike! What kept her going strong and helped her catch giant pike? A tiny little chartreuse and white baitfish fly!
There were a few things that helped Mary keep casting and not get totally fatigued to a point she could no longer fish. Firstly, Mary uses an Orvis H3 8wt, an extremely light rod which causes her less fatigue, but is still strong enough to muscle in those big pike. Secondly but probably most importantly, the fly she threw 90% of the time, was a 3.5″ white and chartreuse baitfish pattern I had tied up specifically for her. Even though the fly could be considered small, the big pike didn’t seem to mind as Mary caught pike up to 45″, many over 40″ and piles of 30″ plus on that small fly!
There were certainly times Mary would rest for 10 minutes after a lengthy battle, sit back and enjoy the beautiful scenery, and talk about the fish she had caught. The breaks never lasted long though as she was always eager to keep fishing! She would always put her drink down, look me in the eye and say “Ok Andrew, I’m ready to catch another big one now”, then stand up, grab her fly rod, and yup, catch another big pike, for 12 straight days! Part of what allowed her to do that was certainly the lighter rod and fly. As her guide I would put on a bigger fly here and there when the situation called for it, but it never stayed on longer than a small spot or just a few casts at a particular fish. It wouldn’t be long till Mary was again chucking the little baitfish fly and catching pike. Day in and day out though the little baitfish fly was the workhorse in the boat, it just kept catching pike of all sizes.
Most streamer fisherman at one time or another have been too stubborn to try a small offering when hunting big fish. The big bait equals big fish theory does hold true much of the time and can limit the number of smaller fish that eat your bait. However anglers often discount a smaller offerings ability to get the job done on trophy fish, of any species. Often smaller predator flies produce more numbers of fish, which in turn can up the odds of one or more of them being on the bigger end of the scale. Other times big pike and other species are in a digestion phase, going through post-frontal condition’s and only looking for a snack size meal, if at all, and will turn their nose up at oversized flies. There are times when you need to simply match the hatch to get a bite, if pike are feeding on smaller minnows up shallow, the small baitfish patterns can really fit the bill. Every season I guide, many of the biggest pike I handle will come on a fly less than 4″ and under such condition’s!
Some of the best fishing Mary and I experienced during filming was in a bay with wind and waves rolling into it. Pike of all sizes were stacked up eating small minnows. I kept the guide boat out a little ways and let Mary cast her baitfish fly into the bay, wind at her back, targeting scattered rock piles and weed growth before slowly moving towards the back shallows. Mary would catch a pike or have a follow on almost every cast for over an hour. The pike were anywhere from 20″ to well over 40″! Pike of all sizes were just stacked into this little bay but, regardless of how big they were they all wanted to chew the little baitfish fly. The fly resembled the minnows that had attracted the pike there in the first place. There was never a thought to try a larger fly to target the bigger pike in the bay because big or small the little fly was catching them all! If we had switched to a great big fly we may have caught less on the small side but, may not have caught more of the big ones anyway. After several 40″+, not to mention the sheer numbers of pike 20-39″ along with them on the baitfish out of the bay, I’m not sure there was room for improvement any way…
As a professional fishing guide I’ve learned that squeezing every bit of efficiency in casting and trying to maintain my guests energy levels through the day and trip goes a long way towards being successful. Watching a 70 something great grandmother being able to kick pike butt for 12 straight days, only reinforces that message in my mind. A little baitfish will catch pike of all sizes, efficiently cover water and kept things easy on your arms. If I had Mary throw a giant water absorbing fly all day, every day, she would probably not have still been casting by day 12, and she may have gotten herself a new guide, with smaller flies!
For your next pike on the fly outing be sure to have an assortment of small flies like baitfish, bunny leeches, seaducers and whistlers. You may not only catch more fish but you might catch a giant too. Don’t underestimate a fly just because its “snack size”, sometimes the biggest pike are only in the mood for a snack…
If you need further convincing of BIG pike on small flies read the story of a 52″ monster caught on a small bunny leech here: The pike of a lifetime: An Epic Journey of Friends, Flies, and a Fish – www.pikeonthefly.com
52″ of pike caught on about 3.5″ of fur, click the link for further proof of small flies catching big pike!
