Back when I lived in Colorado, I started flyfishing for pike.  I got bored throwing specs of dust at discerning trout that nosed up and ignored what I offered because it had 8 legs instead of 6.  I started playing with the lunatic fringes who were flyfishing for pike on Spinney and Elevenmile reservoirs.

If flyfishing for trout is like formula-1 racing, and flyfishing for smallmouth is like NASCAR, then flyfishing for pike is like funny-car drag racing.  The rods are heavy, the fly is a combination of bunny fur that soaks up water like a sponge and casts like heaving a 6-inch chunk of rainbow as bait.  This is definitely not your grandfathers small and dry flyfishing.

Usually you’re sight-fishing, wading, and the pike are huge and close.  When they nail the fly, you see a huge boil and your line shoots out of the guides.  The fish are only good for a couple of runs, though, and wear out fairly easily for their size.  That’s OK, though, they can really pull hard during those first runs.

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