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Every now and then I amaze myself – beyond being
able to walk and chew gum at the same time.
I discovered a new way to tie pike-fly heads. Almost
certainly this technique could be applied to saltwater
flies as well. (Since it seems there are no new ideas,
perhaps someone, somewhere also discovered this
technique. If you are aware of this, please let me
know. Thanks.)
I've been tying up a storm of pike flies in the past
few weeks using body fur material for the heads.
Combined with the Umpqua eyes some pretty neat
creations have evolved. And since they are simply
variations on proven patterns they will be a hit with
the pike come spring. (Flashy pike flies tied this way
with pearl dumbbell eyes likely do more for the fly
tyer's ego than they do for the pike. But they are fun
to tie, are attractive and catch pike.)
I spend between $50 and $100 each winter and spring
on an assortment of stuff for tying pike flies. It's no big
deal–I can afford it. But it was a bit of a concern that
some of the flies tied with body fur, 3/0 hooks, and the
fancy eyes were running between $1 and $2 per fly. Like
I said, it's no big deal, but it is a tad pricey. So I wanted
to write an article on tying cheaper flies.
As Dave Barry would say, I am not making this up – I
wonder if he fishes down there in Florida? In an instant, I
recalled how we made wool yarn pom poms as a kid – I
have no idea why. I placed a 3/0 hook in the vice and using
a not dissimilar method created my first Phentex-head pike
fly. It was pretty good. A few slight modifications have
evolved since the first one, and here is how to do it.
- Tie in dumbbell eyes (optional) and the desired
tail material. Around here the favorite colors for pike flies
are gold flash and orange fibers; and green (chartreuse)
and yellow, again with some flash.
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