Rich Strolis Mop head streamer

Rich's Mop-Head Streamer from Richard Strolis on Vimeo.

I've featured Rich Strolis a few times over the last year here on PikeFFArticles. Many of his ties are primerily for trout and salmon but with a few tweaks here and there one could use them for pike. This Mop head streamer is no different and would make a fantastic pike fly. I particularly like the technique for producing a vailed head with this fly and might look at incorporating it into some new flies I have in mind over the next few months.

Tubefly tube to hook construction

I have had several people get hold of me over the last couple of weeks with regards to the construction of my tube fles and how do I attach the hook on to the tube. Well I use Eumer tubes but any tubes will suffice if they slot into each other.Here Ihave the large tube at the bottom,the XL Tube in the middle & the XXL tube at the top.

I start by placing the large tube onto my tube tying needle and start wrapping my thread directly at the back of the tube. Most times one would start wrapping his cotton further along the tube purely because this is where you would be sliding in your hook from but as pike hooks have much larger eyes and wouldn't fit inside this tube,one needs to construct it and having a base of cotton at the back one can super glue the next section of tube on which will stay tight.

Imagine now I have finished the fly itself and I'm now going to make the hook system for the back.I cut a small piece of the XL Tube 6mm long.Superglue the cotton and then slide the XL Tube over the large tube

Like so
I then place a blob of superglue over the XL tube & slide the XXL Tube over that.

Like so. Then cut to the desired length. The XXL tube is a soft tube which I like to have around 10mm long

Slide your wire leader (I use LOOP Pike wire) through the front of the tube out the back.Tie onto your hook and slide the hook into the tube. Although the XXL Tube is soft it just holds the hook in place but is soft enough to allow the hook to be pulled out of the tube, thus allowing the fly to move freely away from the pikes mouth up your leader. Once you start using pike flies this way you'll truly see the benefit of how practical it is.Not only will your flies last a hell of a lot longer but one only needs to replace the hook once its either damaged,blunt or rusty.

Pike fly kit

International pike fly-fishing expert, Brian Lile demonstrates a simple kit for pike fly fishing.

The Silverfish fly by Steve Silverio

I've seen this floating around the internet the last few weeks and although not primerily a pike fly tutorial its another one of thos cross over flies that would suffice. Here is Steve Silverio with a top tutorial called the Silverfishfly.

Baltic pike flies/fishskull issue 5 out !

Open publication - Free publishing - More pike flies

Baltic pike flies/Fish-skull issue 5 is out. Here are a set of pike flies I've tied up with the new fish-skulls from flymen fishing company. Best viewed in full screen mode

Pike on the fly in Germany

Here's some nice float tube action to ease you into this saturday morning.

Fly porn from across the pond

The great thing about being able to dedicate my life to pike on the fly, is being around people who approach the sport differently to the way I do. Seeing how the English teams differed from the Dutch teams approach during the tournament not only with the different flies they were using but by the way they retrieved their flies was particularly interesting. Rowland who I class as a really good friend now also had his own take on proceedings which was refreshing to witness. Most of Rowlands flies were weighted in some way by means of dumbell eyes or heavily epoxied heads. These maybe okay for slightly deeper conditions for lakes in Canada but here around Replot where water depths very rarely exceed 4 meters aren't as effective as say flies that can be fished just below the surface. Replot is littered with thick weed beds.....you just have to locate them. Fishing with heavily weighted flies becomes frustrating especially when fishing over weed beds as your constantly getting snagged up in them and you usually end up having to clean your fly after every cast. This is why I like to a floating fly with an intermediate line here. Floating line with a slightly weighted fly just doesn't have the same effect purely because the floating line generally gets dragged under with the size flies we use in the sport anyway.

Another aspect I've noticed since moving here to Finland is the use of extra long flies and how un effective they are here during Spring & Summer. Most of the fish I catch are caught on small flies around 100mm long,so when Rowland gave me a couple of these flies 300 mm beasts to be precise (This one) & the bottom one before he left I knew I'd have to wait till September before I could use them. Most of the weed beds will have died off and I can fish with them then in slightly deeper water, coupled with that but the fish are probably at their most aggressive in the Autumn so larger flies are at their most effective here on the Baltic.


I cant remember what the wing material was but the main tail is a combination of long tinsel flash blended with Big fly fiber. They weigh practically bugger all and will be a blast to cast in September & October. Thanks for these Rowland,I'll be putting them to good use mate!

Balticpikeflies.com has been open for exactly a month now if you didn't already know. There are some great deals to be had with regards to furs and synthetics as well as a great selection of Pike & saltwater flies to add to your fly box. For those in Sweden, Finland, Denmark & Norway....spread the love. I've managed to clear the backlog of fly orders now.....so sorry for those that had to wait a few extra days for their booty!

Click the image or link to visit the site!

Pike on the fly in France

My good mate Tom Menard over in france made this video a while back and has just placed it on youtube.Nice one Tom and a nice fish to boot!

Fly Candy

I used this last week and caught a couple of small jacks wiith it. Its a combination of white & black microbarb saddles with chartreuse and black bucktail tied along the hook shaft. the bucktail gives a great profile under the water while all the microbarb saddles simply wave around with each pause in the retrieve.

Alternative pike flies

"The tour de force" Lanc Armstong eat yer heart out sunshine.

These three blue arse flies were seen circling around a large cow pat at last years British fly-fishing international.

Fly Candy

Some Zebra minnows hot of the vise. These are a great all round baitfish pattern for salt and fresh water purposes from my Balticpikeflies store. I combine white bucktail with a splash of flash and some plain white & grizzly microbarb saddles. The eyes are bugbonded on.

The Carpet muncher

Fly Candy

The severe winter we experienced here this year in Finland has definitely affected the fishing around the island. How I'm not sure yet, but one thing is for sure I'm not the only one who is noticing it. Many of the proffesional fishermen have noted that catch numbers are down especially with regard to Perch n Whitefish.

Last week was spent with some french fishing journalists and although it started well with over 65 pike caught in the 1st two days, the number of fish brought to the boat dropped considerably towards the end of the week. Sure the weather plays a big part in the feeding habits of pike especially if water temps drop quickly or change from a high pressure to a low pressure and if your one that follows moon phases then last week definitly wasn't a good moon phase cycle. Areas that held good numbers of pike the previous day just didn't fish well the following day. Had the pike moved or were they well fed, or was it the weather & water conditions affecting them?

Frustrating fishing to say the least....But hey thats why we go fishing and if everyday was a good days fishing then not only would that become boring but we wouldn't learn anything about our intended quarry,would we! Anyway I was out a couple of hours each day over the weekend trying out some of these pink and grey baitfish patterns and although I managed serveral jacks with them casting in near blustery conditions dampened my spirits some what. I've been very impressed with this mirror image though even though I'm not a big synthetics fan.

It swims really well and is surprisingly tough for a fine material. These are a blend of Steelhead silver,salmon pink & Misty black with a small sprig of Cherry arctic fox for the chin.

Pike on the fly in the Netherlands

Fly Candy

A couple more red white bangers.The top one has been finished off with red bucktail while the bottom one with red marabou. We've had a couple of storming days out around the north of the island with Jean-sebatian & Stefan from France.Yesterday started slow but they ended the day with 46 pike between them and lost over 20.Nothing massive but some decent 80 - 85 cm pike were caught.Today saw the wind drop but also the tempretures....especially the waters, which probably accounts for the 12 fish they caught in total. I'll try and upload some images tommorrow once I have time.

Flies by Fabrizio Gajardoni

Here's a chap that takes fly tying to a whole new level entirely. Fabrizio Gajardoni website Gajaflies.it is just crammed with some truly amazing pieces of work from his vise. From Pike streamers to nymphs to the damn outragious,this guy does it all. Click any Image to visit his site. This guy rocks!

The Stansberry pike fly

Heres a great pike fly tutorial called the Big eye baitfish from the Caddis fly shop.

Bloodknot magazine issue 1

More fly fishing porn in the way of a new vol 1 ezine Bloodknot magazine . 100 pages of lunch time reading for you. Click the image to visit the site.

Fly Candy

Bunker baitfish,A saltwater pattern that doubles up as what I would call a cross over fly for pike fly fishing. I had 3 in fast succesion on Saturday evening with this same fly before I changed to a tube fly or the same design.

This fly has a lot of volume and literally pulses through the water. here is a decent tutorial for this fly which I have featured on here before tied on to tubes.

Micro fiber flies

Ever heard of 'Micro fiber', I hadn't until a few weeks ago when Rowland was over from the States. Its a fabric that has the look and feel of a thin leather yet retains half the amount of water,weighs a meer fraction of what normal leather does & comes in a variety of colours . Man you should see this stuff in the water especially when cut to shape and slapped on the back of a hook. I particularly like the beige with the silver sequins moulded into it. They glint much like scales do along a fishes flank.

To be honest when I 1st saw these flies of Rowlands I had my doubts but once you see them being retrieved you'll be amazed at the realistic swimming action this micro fiber gives off. The flies literally came alive. I have a some off cuts he gave me and will definitely be tying me up some of these for this season. Maybe with a trailing hook half way down the tail. They looked a bugger to cast but have since been out this week and had no problem chucking them 15m,which in hindsite is all that is needed. I'm going to down size on the length of the tails by a few inches though to improve on the flies airodynamics, and combine some different materials with it but on a whole I just love these flies and material.

Fly Candy

Another couple of mirror image baitfish patterns I tied the other week. Jeff over at *flyfishjeff blog was asking the other daywhat colours have been working best for me so far this season. Well If you've been out fishing with me you'll know I only take 5 flies with me in the morning and the same 5 flies in the evening. At this time of the year I generally close my eyes and grab the 1st fly that touches my fingers, and will fish with that fly until I catch a fish. With the amount of pike we have here around the island on average I catch between 2 & 3 pike per 2 hrs session.

The other evening in blustery conditions myself & Jani produced a blank but I'd fished with a red n white bunny the whole session. Missed a nice 80cm pike towards the end of the evening. If I go out tonight I will start with that fly until I catch something on it then will change to one of the other 4 flies in my box. Orange and pink have been working quite well so maybe thats because of the confdence I'm getting from them you'll find one or 2 colours going out with me in the morning or afternoon.

This isnt the raccoonbunny I'm using but it did very well for me down in Merikarvia. Once I do catch on the bunnybug Rowland gave me I will change rigs and fish with a tube fly........colour to be decided when the time arises. Sure, some colours obviously work better than others but overall every colour I use bags me a fish.I'll only know what all the stats will be when I tally up everything at the end of the season.

How not to do a video pike fly tutorial

I'm sorry but this has to be one of the shittest pike fly tutorials I have ever seen. I'm all for using all manner of materials on my tubes n hooks but this bloke literally takes the piss with regards to material waistage. I wouldn't mind but the whole construction of the fly is totally out of proportion. If your going to do something then do it properly,especially if people are going to use the tutorial to improve their own tying skills. This tutorial is putting out all the wrong messages...not only that but this bloke must be minted if he can waste materials like he has. Saying all that though the bugger probably catches pike with the flyso we shouldn't knock him...or should I?



And here's another from his collection 'The Bunny bug'.