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. 
…lee s.