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I am going for pike this year in jasper, and i am thinking about buying an 8 weight, but i am not rich!
right now i am making 6.50$ an hour in my dad's shop, and i have about 200$ coming in this next week, and right now i am broke. For a 14 year old it seems like it takes forever to make money. But anyway, could you recomond a nice priced rod?
i am thinking about an orvis clearwater fly rod...
thnkz,
Jz
Walmart has some good 'start up'...outfits...or if there is a Bass Pro shop near you, they have some great deals on some better quality stuff too.
Have you tried looking at fly rods online to get ideas on prices JZ?
Cheers,
MontanaMoose
Do you just need the rod?
For less than $100 you can get a two piece Temple Fork Outfitters Signature Series, a St. Croix. Triumph (or maybe the older Premier which the Triumph just replaced), Redington Crosswater, Albright Topwater or Albright Yellowstone, Cortland GR-X, or Cortland CL. These rods are not as fancy in terms of fittings (reel seat, rod finish, etc.) as more expensive ones but they perform quite well. These are all decent rods and you would be able to add a suitable reel and line if you do not have one and stay under $200.
For matched rod/line/reel combos look at St. Croix, Redington, Scientific Anglers, Cortland for the various packages they offer for less than $200.
For less than $160 you might like Redington Red.Fly, St.Croix Reign, Temple Fork Pro, Cortland Endurance. These too are also fine rods.
And yes, the Orvis Clearwater rod would be a good choice also.
JZ, you are in some fine country up there in Troy.
OKay, go to the sponsors page, link up with Hook and Hackle and click on the rods on the website. Check out the Pflueger 8/9 rods for about sixty bucks. Those will serve you well for pike fishing. Be prepared to have a spare, but you just might do okay with one rod. Remember that pike often fight sluggishly as though they are not even aware of being hooked. Then all of a sudden they take off and you will think you have a submarine on the end of your line. This is fantastic fun. I wish I had taken up flyfishing at your age. Good for you! :)
cya.
Paul
I second the Pflueger combo from H&H
Good call Gardenfish
Edit.. I changed my mind.
The St. Croix combo from H&H is only $10 more
A very good deal
JZ
Allot of good recommendations. I second the St Croix Triumph. You can pick up a 9' 8wt combo for $170.00. Besides being a sponsor, I own two St Croix rods and just bought a third.
Good Luck!
JZ,
I've got a Cortland and a St. Croix 9wt rods. Both were under $100 and I've caught some VERY big fish on those rods (salmon over 30lbs). For the money I would advise you on a Cortland endurance rod and reel. I haven't fished with the reel yet, but I have handled a few and they seem to be a very good deal for the money. You'll have to save up a little more money, but not much more and you'll have a rod and reel combo that you'll be able to fish with for years and years.
I've been fly fishing for almost 20 years and still haven't been able to take a pike on the fly, so please let us know when you do, and I'd love to see some pictures too.
I hope this helps you make a difficult descision.
Thunderthumbs.
Cortland is a sponsor and has some rods that would work for you in their on-line factory sale site.
http://www.cortlandline.com/factorystor ... 2&subid=80
In the rods only category they have an 8/9 for $39.95. I bought one last year and like it so far. Under outfits and combos there's an 8/9 Bass Outfit that gives you rod, line, backing, reel, and tippet for $99.95 that looks like just what the doctor ordered if you do not already have the reel and line.
Good luck,
Mike
any of the rods mentioned will work well. i have fish for pike with a fly rod and love it. i uded an 8 wt the 1st 2 trips and caught fish in the 36"- 38" 16#-17# range with no problems. however, i have since bought a 9wt. i feel a 9wt is better for fishing the larger flies you sometimes need to throw a 7" bunny leech. it's a very heavy fly when wet, and a 9 wt will handle that better than an 8wt. get a reel with a good drag, a pike is very fast and will take line. i used an orvis battenkill and did well. i also use an ikuma sierra for steelhead that take line as well as a pike. this year i'll be trying out a sci angler system 2 reel. you can get the sierra for about $40 and it will handle any pike your likely to catch. as for line a floating weight foward or triangle taper is all you should need. however if your fishing late summer the fish may be deeper and a sinking line will work better then. i used a lingle strand steel leader but this time i'll try the flexable multistrand or even titanium leaders. some say that heavy mono or fluoro will work too. i have not tried it yet to recommend it.
have fun shopping and good lick fishing
For the money you have I'll triple up on the Pflueger. Good rod for the $$$. If you want to spend a bit more the TFO or St Croix as mentioned above.
Cabela's Three Forks Rods 9 foot 8 weight Combo Rod only $49.95 Combos with diferent reels $79.95---$99.99--- and $109.95 line leader included The three forks outfits are what I have used in classes with over 100 children and if they cant break them no one can--------BILL
You have some great suggestions to pursue. I would also recommend a 9 weight rod. Not so much to fight the fish as to cast the big heavy flies.
Have fun and catch lots of pike!
Get a ninimum of 9wt. You need that for bunny flies. I tried casting one of them on my 8wt and it was ugly.
My 9 foot 8 wt has worked great on pike musky bass and a few12 pound carp. BILL
again it's not the size of the fish that you need need a 9 or even a 10 wt for it's the big, natural fur flies used to catch these fish. it's a lot easier to cast a soaking wet 7' - 9'rabbit strip fly with something heavier than an 8wt. if you only use deceivers and clousers the an 8wt is fine. then in my opinion you're limiting yourself in how many big fish you can catch. because there are times big fish will only eat big baits.
rizeye said,
"again it's not the size of the fish that you need need a 9 or even a 10 wt for it's the big, natural fur flies used to catch these fish. it's a lot easier to cast a soaking wet 7' - 9'rabbit strip fly with something heavier than an 8wt."
I second that. I even like the 9 wt. for Largemouth Bass fishing because I want to use the bigger flies. I have caught enough 10-12" bass on 10" power worms to know that 7-9" bunnies are not too big for LMB.
You dont need a 9 wt to cast big flies---I mean big if you start tying tube flies. Big fies no weight . As i said earlier 9 ft 8 wt for steelhead bass pike musky and my nice large carp Bill
A heavy rod is important for fishing in heavy cover.
If you fish where there's a lot of salad, a rod with some backbone will do a lot to turn a fish away from the thick stuff.
I fish a nine weight for pike for that reason, not just for the size of the flys.
I know a guy who fishes an 11wt for bass. He does very well fishing right in the weeds
The lake i am going to be hishing at, has some fonster pike and last time i went there, i was spin casting, and i was using an 8 in. rapalla, and about a 5 foot pike wouldn't even touch it, so sometimes, i just like to use something smaller, i will also be fishing for steelhead, and silver salmon, possibly kings to, so mabie a 9 or ten would be better.
Thanks
JZ
We don't feel over-gunned with a 10wt on the kings around here. It is also our fav rod for pike and LM's for the reasons already given.....big bugs and tossing into the heaviest poop. And it IS wire for our weedguards....double wire. :P
....lee s.
Northern Pike love bunny flies. They are Barry Reynolds favorite fly, all black, red/white, red/yellow and chartruse. They are heavy to cast. If you are serious about catching big pike get at least a 9wt. You will not regret it.
Have you considered building your own rod from a blank. You've got some time before ice out. Some of the sponsors will have kits or you can put together your own components. I have found that for the money I can build a much nicer rod than I can buy. There is a section here on rod building and your local library may have some books. If you look around you can find some great blanks on sale.
Ever think about getting a rod and using three different size line weights on it?
Lighter lines for smaller flies and presentations and heavier lines for bigger flies and wind. I know it is considered bad voodoo on this website but it's a heck of a lot cheaper and you get more use out of a single rod. Like say get an eight wt rod and get lines in sizes 7, 8, and 9 or 8, 9, and 10. After trying it out and you really want to get a 10 wt later you already got the line to use for it.
As far as backbone is concerned any fish can be landed on any rod as long as you know what you are doing. It's called practice, trial, and error.
Hey JZ, that 5 footer has your name on him. Make sure you post the pics!
I don't fish for pike (yet) but I do a fair amount of fresh and saltwater fishing, so take these comments for what they're worth... which may be nothing but here goes... and no offense intended to any previous posters recommending a 10 weight.
A couple of thoughts, since it sounds like you're building your inventory of rods... what weight fly rods do you own now? And what else, (and how often) will you be using it for?
If I could only have 2 rods for to cover most FW situations, I'd want a 5 wt for trout and panfish and an 8 for LM, SM and FW striped bass, steelhead, salmon, large trout in big rivers and pike.
INMHO, a 10 wt is at the extreme heavy end of fresh water fly rods. It might be ideal for pike but unless you're going to do a lot of it, and/or a lot of big water salmon/steelhead fishing it might be overkill.
If you'll be doing a lot of bass fishing in ponds and fall fishing with streamers for big browns with occasional expeditions for pike or big water steelhead you'll probably get more use out of an 8.
Personally I'd lean towards the 8 because if I ever did want to add a heavier rod for freshwater down the road, I'd want it to be a 10, not an 11 or 12 which are designed more for fighting big (100+ lbs) saltwater fish than for casting. Most 10 weights are sweet casting rods by comparison to the 11 and 12's in the same rod family. And having an 8 and a 10 would be more versatile that a 9 and a 10.
For fishing those big flies that have been mentioned, I think you should consider overlining the rod: say an 8 wt rod with a 10 weight line. (If you geta good deal on an 8 weight combo with rod, reel and line you'll have a great bass outfit and can pick up an extra WF10 wt for your pike trips. And you'll already have a 10 wt line for a 10 wt rod if you ever pick one up down the road.) It would be good to test cast with a heavier line before you plunk down the $ tho.
As for those 10" rabbit strip flies, wow! I use them up to 5-6" or so in the salt. For bigger flies (to imitate mossbunker and herring) I use flies with or without a spun deer hair head (to push water) and a sparse dressing of synthetic fibers which don't pick up water like rabbit. I use stuff like SuperHair (10"), Angel Hair(8"), Polar Plus Fiber (10") EP Sea Fibers (9 1/2") to give a meaty look.
Here?s one without a spun deer hair head I found on the web (not tied by me) so you can see the style and size:
http://www.bunkerflies.com/IMG_0222.jpg
And LadyFisher had a post on a question about flies for barracuda (!!!) and posted a link to a fly of the week, with tying instructions, from a while back. JC caught a big ?cuda on this:
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytyin ... 0fotw.html
Have any of you pike hunters tried stuff like that?
Good luck JZ, let us know what you decide. Am looking forward to the pics of you holding up all 5 feet of Old Snaggletooth.
Best regards and good luck,
Peregrines
I found some great closeout rods for the kids..... Orvis Streamline for $29.00 at Sierra Trading Post I think.
Now I use them instead of MY more expensive rod!! Very nice rod for the $$
i have some good news, and bad news
good: I just talked to probobally the most knolagable flyfisherman i've ever met, Leroy, and a freind of mine Kelly palmer. they both said ... get an 8 weight! so, i have the orvis 4 peice clearwater 9 foot 8 weight coming in the mail.
Bad- my 6 and my "3" weight
i started out with a three weight,that my brother had, so this christmas i got a six weight, but it turns out that the salesman made a mistake, and the 3 weight was really a 5/6 weight.
More good- it turns out that the "three" weight, is, actually, to a bunch of people, the nicest dryfly rod they have ever used, so i gues that the pro angler "3" weight is something worth looking for!
Congrats JZ sounds like you've got a honey of a rod in the 5/6 already and the Orvis should be great too.
Start tying up those Pike Flies!
I use flies like these in saltwater on my 8 wt with a short leader tied on size up to 1/0 and 2/0 hooks
(Mustad 34007). For big flies on my 8 I try to keep them sparsely dressed to make them easier to cast and add some crystal flash to make them stand out.
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytyin ... 1fotw.html
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytyin ... 0fotw.html
and my all around favorite go to fly a sparesly dressed Lefty's Deceiver:
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytyin ... 7fotw.html
And for top water, a Crease Fly:
http://www.flyfishsaltwaters.com/Creasefly.htm
Some of these SW patterns might work for you too in pike fly colors and shouldn't be a problem to throw on your 8 with a good WF line.
Good luck. Catch em up dude!
peregrines