"PIKE!"

(click on photos to enlarge)

Memories of Brainerd Minnesota still haunt me. Ten hours of Hockey each day and my fishing breaks to the pond out back of the A-Frame cabin seem like a lifetime ago. I will never forget my first Pike that I caught and the fight it gave me on my Southbend using a large Blue Fox Spinner. Looking back on that day I remember the excitement and rush that I felt. It truly was a fish of a lifetime for me. When I first heard mention of catching Pike in Utah I thought "P-L-E-A-S-E"! While guys are out dredging the Middle-P there are a few that have been quietly fly fishing outside the "norm". Stout (Brent) has been hunting Tiger Muskie, Pike, Wiper, Carp, Lake Trout, Bass before it became cool and turning guys on to a different style of fly fishing. His personal goals to catch some of these species all on the fly has inspired a challenge. For a few of us the chase began a couple years back. Some of these species have short windows for catching them, and timing is everything. Timing, weather, and then locating the fish... it's work; but the rewards are great. Pattern after pattern have been narrowed down to a select few, size, color. And different techniques with line weight and presentation dialed in. Stout's payed his dues! For some the thought of pounding the water all day with the hopes of only getting a shot at one fish is not worth their time. For others it is about the challenge, and a shot at playing a fish of a lifetime. In the end it is about doing something different and learning something new and the returns are great for those that pay their dues! Stout couldn't make the trip this time but both Jason and I were eager to scratch PIKE off our list of species still left to be had on the fly. It was slow but the anticipation of a ferocious take keeps us both on guard and working the banks. Off the point Jason hooked up on a baby Pike and it put a bend in the 8-weight. Although a baby it fights hard. Hooking into a small Pike vs. a Forty+ inch fish puts things in perspective. The day was mostly met with long casts to the bank and the occasional take from a "Smallie". The Perch were absent and so were the Walleye. The day ended with a nice hook-set on a meandering Carp. The day was beautiful and one of us was able to now claim "Pike On The Fly"!










~JayMorr