The Heugel rabbit fly

Although not a traditional pike fly,with a few alterations here & there one could develop this for snotrockets. I've used a lot more dubbin loops this year on my flies especially when tying with Raccoon fur,and this tutorial shows not only how effective this method is but also the reasoning behind the technique.

Trout popper

A few weeks ago after a long discussion about poppers,I was asked by one of the guides down in Merikarvia to tie up a set of trout poppers for him as he'd never caught one on a popper before. Here's a tutorial for my own interpretation of one.

Step 1:
Take a very small bottling cork and cut a wedge out of the front of it

Step 2:
Drill a hole through the center of it,from back to front. I also took a small slice away from each side above the mouth so the eyes will have a flatter surface to stick onto.

Step 3:
I used markers pens for these heads but one can use paints. Lips/Black, Mouth/Red, Head/Olive green,Brown dots only on the top of the head

Step 4:
Stick the eyes on.I used these bubble eyes just to give it a little more buoyancy. Then coat with clear varnish to finish it off.

Step 5:
As Popper hooks are hard to find in small sizes,I like to build three small balls up along the front end of the hook. This gives the cork something to bind to when super gluing it on.

Step 6:
Drill a hole directly behind the eyes and slide four pieces of rubber strip 50 mm long through the hole. Tie a knot towards the end and snip off excess to give you the front legs and toes. Then super glue the head on

Step 7:
Take a small clump of brown Raccoon fur and tie on at the back of the hook

Step 7:
Directly after the brown raccoon fur tie on four strips rubber legs 80mm long. knot the end and trim the ties. Then wrap green flash chenille down the length of the hook to the cork head

Step 8:
Start from in front of the back legs & palmer on 1 grizzly variant neck hackle then a chartreuse grizzly neck hackle.Whip finish

Yesterdays Fishing report

Yesterday was surprisingly good considering it was -2'c. We caught a total of 17 pike between the 2 boats which was even more of a surprise to me. No lunkers but two pike over 110cm and the rest Jacks of around 60-80 cm. Still, the pike are feeding up before the ice over which was encouraging. Shit 5 months of no fishing. I can see a trip to Ulf's place in a few months will be on the cards.

Fly Candy

Stayin afloat

Those of you who are new to PikeFFArticles Might not have read about my quest for the ultimate float tube .Well Here's Jack Gartside with his inflatable giraffe Gerald, that would make a fine addition to the ever growing collection.

Fly Candy

I've been asked why do I leave the bucktail collar so long when I trim the head,well its purely to give more volume to the overall fly. The longer strands once wet give the fly more shape and they keep the rubber strips more compact allowing the tips of the rubber to wobble around more. Once the fly slows down the bucktail then flares out again.....Not a lot I might add, but enough to give the impression the fly is bigger than what it actually is. This train of though is not everyone's cup of tea but it works for me!

Readers fish porn

Here's some more images from Robban & friends season. Pike porn at its best. Thanks again for these Robert.