Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Kayaking for Pike

Had a friend invite me out to float the DPR (Des Plaines River) for some northern pike action. I was excited! I usually fish from the banks of the river with my bait caster, because, wading is prohibited in Cook County, and it would be near impossible to cast a decent sized fly with it being so wooded.

Got my chance to fly fish the DPR! For the past few weeks I have been tying some big flies for musky. The night before my float I thought about the lures I fish with success on the DPR....a fire tiger Rapala husky jerk. So, naturally I had to tie something that resembled that color scheme and lure. Here's what I came up with. I only tied one, and that proved to be enough.

4/0 TMC 600S hook, buck tail, flash, flashabou, grizzly hackle, clear cure goo eyes, and head. Very proud of this one. Came out exactly how I pictured it in my head.

Long float story short. The pike loved the fly! The first one was a little hammer handle. It was just a little bit bigger than the fly, and I hooked up with it on an errant cast while I was untangling line from my rod. The second pike I caught was 24/25 inches, and healthy! Missed the fly 2 times, and hooked up with him on the 3rd. I was pumped! Unfortunately, I was unable to get a picture of that one, because, it flopped out of my grip and back into the water. Ended the day with 3 pike, sore knees, and back. lol I need my own kayak. One with some leg room!
Wet
I could get used to this....but with a much roomier 'yak.
FishDank and his brother in-law
The first pike.
The 3rd pike.

Hopefully, I'll be posting about a successful trip for musky next week!

3 comments:

  1. Great looking fly brother! Pike are always fun to target. Can't wait to hear about the Muskie next week.

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  2. Dude that is awesome! Especially to catch them on a fly you tied. Nice post!

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  3. Nice fly! Having fly fished from both a sit in and a sit on, I highly recommend a sit on. The extra deck space is nice for all that loose line

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