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I usually tie on a Mustad 79580 number 1 or Mustad 3191 numbers 1, 2 or 3. Using an ordinary thread or the new Kevlar thread, tie in a bundle of Fishair at the hook's bend. Next tie some tinsel, Flashabou, Crystal Hair or Krystal Flash. I often tie in two different colors to add extra flash and sparkle. Leave the tinsel ends uneven and longer than the first bundle of Fishair.
Next, tie in the second bit of Fishair. It can be the same color or a different color. When using a darker and lighter color combination, always tie the darker color on top, since minnows and bait fish are always darker on top, since minnows and bait fish are always darker on top.
Next tie in about an inch long section of sparkle chenille or other bright silver material. This will add flash close to the head of the fly. Lastly, tie in a bright red hackle or red chenille to represent a head. I have tied them without this head, but these flies do not seem to work as well.
In place of Fishair, you can use dyed feathers, but the Fishair flies seem to catch more fish. Fishair is available in 4 inch, 6 inch and now 10 inch lengths. To date, I have only tied with the 6 inch, but the 10 inch should attract even larger fish.
In the illustrations of the flies, you will notice that they appear to be rather scruffy. This look is intentional. After catching a few fish on a fly, it always seems to draw more strikes. I have stopped trimming pike flies and seem to catch more fish.
There are places where flies will outperform lures on every occasion. Any time you are on one of our northern river and lake systems, like the Churchill system, stop below a set of rapids and start fly casting. The lure fishermen will get snagged in the rocks, while the fly fishermen can easily control the depth of the fly by using either a floating or sink tip fly line.
On lakes be sure to carefully fish channels or areas where the lake pinches together. The water around islands should also be fished. In these situations, a 10 foot sink tip will put your fly down deeper. Cast right in next to shore and strip the fly back in, using 8-10 inch strips.
Most often when a pike sees your fly move toward the surface, it cannot resist striking. On Jan Lake this is what happened repeatedly. I cast and let the fly sink to the bottom. I would strip two or three times, let the fly sink and then strip it in once again. If I had no strikes, I would re-cast but usually I had a fish on.
In late summer, pike go down into the deeper holes in central Saskatchewan lakes to find cooler water temperatures. (Years ago when this happened there used to be stories that they were losing their teeth and would not bite because their mouths were sore.) After spending time in the cool water, pike will sun and gorge themselves in weed beds where there are plenty of baitfish. As summer progresses, these weed beds grow until they reach the surface. When this happens, these areas become almost impossible to fish.
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