A curl for the pike 

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Fly Fishing for Pike is a unique passion. If you’ve ever caught a big pike with the fly, you know what it means. The power flights that let the reel scream. Its fierce and the threatening look. It’s just another dimension compared to fishing other fresh water species.


The fact that we can build our own special flies makes every catch an uncomparable sense of achievement and fulfillment. Pike fishing calls often for big and bulky flies (not a rule though). It is not always easy to tie a well balanced fly. The result must be something the 1) can be cast with a fly rod 2) it does move very softly and lively 3) in the water it has a bulky look.


Bunny flies are very popular, there are some downsides though. Zonker fur tends to soak lots of water, making the fly at times heavy to cast. Moreove the fur gets torn after a few bites. I already happened that one pike bite was enough to destroy my bunny fly.


After experimenting different materials, a friend introduced me to an interesting solution: the use of curly hair.


At first we have been very successful with it in the salty water of the Baltic sea. Here, the blue and white version resembles the herring, that in some months swarm close to the coast and into the inner lagoons, becoming beloved pray of the pike.


After the success in the Baltic, I have been employing the fly in my local fresh waters. And the fly proved to be catchy here too. In the blue and white as well as in the yellow / brown version.


The hair are sold in bunch of several colors and tones. So far I have been using more 'natural' colors, but the material comes in orange, red and other fany colors too.


Beginning of June, another nice pike could not resist the curly fly. Mind to fish with a thick leader (of course always use the steel wire), in case of snag it is better to retrieve the fly with a broken hook than to pollute our waters with plastic :(


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