Specifically, do you need wire or can you get away with a heavy mono tippet?
(Having a new kayak suddenly opens up some fishing opportunities – and there is some surprisingly good northern pike fishing nearby!)
I guess it depends on how lucky you feel. You could feasibly catch many northern on just a heavy tippet with out getting bitten off. Me I use 12? of wire when fishing for pike.
Once you look into the mouth of a big one you question will go away. While I have landed pike with out a bite wire it was while i was fishing for something else. From my experience it seems you have a 1 in 3 chance of landing a pike without wire, and the probability goes down the bigger the pike.
Thanks!
What about pike flies? I’m thinking big zonkers would be good – possibly adding a spinner to the mix.
Anything big!
Double bunnys, deceivers, divers, nieghbors chiwawa
Many colors but don’t leave home without red/white combo.
BTW, I use the Cortland toothy critter tie-able Stainless steel leader, easy to use.
Remember you can never retrieve to fast for pike.
I guess I’ll need to work on a double-handed retrieve for those things. My wife is gonna love it when I bring one of 'em home. Ha! 
BTW, my grandmother back in Oklahoma always had about 1/2 dozen chiuauas. They lived in a community dog house on her front porch. There were a couple that I would have been pleased to use for pike bait. I’ll never forget when my dad drop-kicked one of 'em off the porch one day. His mom, too.
Pike have teeth…triangulated-shaped teeth, as opposed to the walleye, having conical shaped teeth.
If you like to tie flies and lose fish use a mono leader my friend.
'Nuff said.
Jeremy.
I use a stiff 20 lb mono “shock” leader for my pike fishing and I’ve yet to lose one to a chomped leader. I’ve caught several in the 10 lb range and many many up to 5 or 6 pounds with absolutely no problem. I have had to change the leader from time to time though.
As for flies, red and white flies tied out of cross-cut bunny strips work great for me.
[This message has been edited by Alastair (edited 03 April 2006).]
BFB,
We landed a pike from the lodge dock useing the “guide’s” rod with an 8# mono leader at trip’s end last season.
The first hit on our stuff on a popper with a 60# bite trace several seasons back, cost us a fine pike AND a “not too bad” popper. Whoosh, and it was gone!
We don’t find American Wire’s Surflon to be detrimental to pike fishing. We like under 20# test. Like ALL wire, including Tyger wire, it DOES kink. Like tyger wire, it does accept “normal” knots well. UNLIKE Tyger wire, you won’t need a loan to purchase Surflon. Both are coated wire, both accept knots, BOTH kink, both work fine…American Wire surflon is far cheaper. 
…lee s.
Yes, I searched and found that on the internet. Thanks! And I’m going to have to do some big pike red and white pike flies!
I have always used Mason Hard Mono with great success. The larger sizes, e.g. 40# test can be tricky to knot but I have not lost fish using this in many years of fly fishing for pike. But, as others have stated there are newer products that should work too.
Get a copy of Barry Reynold’s Pike on the Fly, it is an excellent reference. Chris Helm also has a really good DVD wherein he ties some great pike flies.
BFB,
We generally use the same deceivers we toss for stripers simply because we got lots of’em.
The camp manager at the place swears by rabbit strips in any color you like…more durable. In no way would I think Jason wrong.
We sent him some synthetics he was curious about. Those should serve you well also, and not be as fragile as some other materials.
…lee s.
You might try this site for patterns and links .
[url=http://www.accony.co.uk/PFF/:63b40]http://www.accony.co.uk/PFF/[/url:63b40]
It has a lot of info on flies, traces, rods and reels etc. Some good pictures of pike as well.
Donald/Scotland
[This message has been edited by Donald Nicolson (edited 05 April 2006).]
I like Berkley Fireline as shock tippet, It’s Limp, Won’t kink or coil as wire will, Has 0 stretch and knots same as Mono…10 lb test works very well…it’s made for the spin fisherman and works really well as a FFing shocker…and 1, 125 yd spool will last for many years as the stuff will not ever rot or mildew or degrade…Impervious to chemical’s also… Just some thought’s…
Ahh Bill,
Thanks for the reminder. Gonna try some this year.
…lee s.
Lee S.
I guess you fish for Stripers in SF Bay. Believe it or not, I used to do that because I lived in Alameda at one time. Quite a few years ago, and before FF.
Lots of stuff to try out for pike tippet. And, Donald, thanks for the link!
After reading the tackle section, I now recognize that “trace” is UK word for “tippet”. Or maybe it’s that “tippet” is the US word for “trace”.
[This message has been edited by BigFlatBrook (edited 05 April 2006).]
[This message has been edited by BigFlatBrook (edited 05 April 2006).]
If you can hook one on a large popper you will haveto go to the hospital to have your heart put back in your chest. I miss pike fishing.
I think there is no better way to catch them, Than on fly tackle…A fly tends to allow the fish to close their jaws more tightly…
Thus allowing them to better fight…Plugs and some larger popping bugs of cork make for the oppisite effect…which chokes them with to much water influx…
I tend to go with deer hair for the top water…and spinnered Minnows for the depths…Long pulls followed by long dead drops of the spinner Minnow is a dandy trigger at times when the fish are holding in mid depths…Just was thinking aloud!!
Two cent’s worth from southern Canada (Manitoba): I fish spots that have pike and smallmouth and have found that straight mono hasn’t worked for me, especially when I’m targeting bass. I happened upon kevlar line and have used it to make a short tippet (about 12") with the smallest metal snap that I can find, to make fly-changing easy. Haven’t had a break-off yet and have had it tested against fish over 40". Even with the small snap, I can still fish bass-sized poppers. My biggest knock against kevlar is that it bleaches over time and then stands out more in the water. Does that affect my success? Probably not.
I just picked up on the trick of using fireline and am going to give that a try this summer. I’m thinking that it may prove even better.
As for ffing and pike, they are vastly under-appreciated. Oh man, that strike! I especially like to find them in current, where they hold on the edges and seem to strike even harder. A buddy who runs a remote fishing lodge tells me that in early season his ffing clients do as well or better than the folks fishing with dead-baits – the hardware technique that’s most highly rated for big fish…TIM
Tim,
A couple seasons ago I took my fly rod out along with my son who used his spinning gear, tossing the usual spinnerbaits.
About 2 hrs later he made the comment “Geez pops, you’re 7 fish to my one! And on that dang fly rod!”
It doesn’t always happen that way but it was great because he rubs it in sometimes about “…pike on the fly…no way!!!”
BG
Jeremy.