Catch & release

For me fly fishing for pike is not about having to catch big fish all the time. In fact its the last thing on my mind. Pike on the fly is about being outdoors,one with nature. The fishing is a secondary factor. Sure its great when you do catch a nice sized snotrocket but I'm just as happy with a small 68cm jack that I've fooled into taking one of my flies than anything else. I feel very fortunate to have been able to fish every day since April 26th 2hrs in the morning and 2hrs in the evening for Mike the pike.

I've had a lot more blanks this season than last year which I put down to the adverse weather conditions weve had through the winter and now with an extremely hot summer. Saying that, the fishing has started to pick up again and will do now until the middle of October. Except for the five fish I have taken home for the table, every one has gone back to live another day.