Spey or switch rods for pike ?

[Altaboy]

Is anyone out there using a Spey or switch set up for warm water species? Also what about using such gear out of a boat on lakes?

[Maxwell87]

I know some guys use them, typically for overhand stuff “surf casting” ... are you looking to toss mega sized flies with ease?

Even the largest skagits won’t turn over a 8-14” fly.. maybe a super sparse well designed fly. BUT with a shot and stuff switch rod u can bomb 100’ casts double overhand with ease! You can wade deep and use a stripping basket also from a boat.

What are you trying to achieve? I can assume less arm wear and tear?

[Altaboy]

Originally Posted by Maxwell87

I know some guys use them, typically for overhand stuff “surf casting” ... are you looking to toss mega sized flies with ease?

Even the largest skagits won’t turn over a 8-14” fly.. maybe a super sparse well designed fly. BUT with a shot and stuff switch rod u can bomb 100’ casts double overhand with ease! You can wade deep and use a stripping basket also from a boat.

What are you trying to achieve? I can assume less arm wear and tear?

I’m just looking for other ways of making use of my Spey gear. It’s a long drive to fish for salmon and steelhead and I only get there once or twice a year.

[Maxwell87]

Depending on your rod and grain window you could toss smaller pike flies, comes down to playing around with fly/line combos. If you docyhe double overhand casting it is recommended to have a long slow casting stroke and ideally drop your line size. Lots of videos of this stuff.

[Altaboy]

So what are guys using to cast large Pike flys?

[Pikebreath]

8 - 10 wt 9 ft single handed rods with "front loaded / extreme" WF lines (ie, RIO Outbound short, SA streamer or wet tip express, pike / musky / clouser tapers etc.) designed for casting large heavy flies.

One of the keys to successful pike fishing is the ability to manipulate the fly on the retrieve while maintaining contact with the fly to tease the pike into striking,,, Pike will often follow the fly right back to the boat before eating the fly. Obviously distance is important, but not as important as "how well you wiggle your worm",,, average casts of 50 - 60 feet catch lots of pike.

Double handed rods were never really made for that kind of fishing where you strip all the line in and then recast it all out,,, but rather for making long casts where distance does matter and you are picking up a lot of line off the water when you recast. In addition to that, I find stripping line to be more awkward with extended butts on the two handers,,, don't think I am alone on that.

That said, pike are not hard to catch and your spey rods will work if you want them too. Single handed rods are easier to use for that type of fishing,,, that is really the only difference.

Kinda like you can catch walleye on the fly if you so inclined,,, but it is easier to catch walleye with spinning rod and jig.

[Maxwell87]

I will agree with pikebreath single handers with lines designed to chuck big flies are best, even single hand skagit heads. I use to chop some spey lines to make a short head to fling mega bugs for bulltrout and pike.

But some ideal rods for double overhand casting to pike would be 10.5-11.5’ in the 7/8 wt range. They do have some advantages. I know the guys using them most where trying to cover large bays faster with really long casts, or wading and having limited back casting room.

What weight/length rod do you have? I assume a 12-14’ 8/9?

[Altaboy]

Originally Posted by Maxwell87

I will agree with pikebreath single handers with lines designed to chuck big flies are best, even single hand skagit heads. I use to chop some spey lines to make a short head to fling mega bugs for bulltrout and pike.

But some ideal rods for double overhand casting to pike would be 10.5-11.5’ in the 7/8 wt range. They do have some advantages. I know the guys using them most where trying to cover large bays faster with really long casts, or wading and having limited back casting room.

What weight/length rod do you have? I assume a 12-14’ 8/9?

I have a 13’ 7-8 wieght, a 14’ 8-9 weight, and an 11 footer 6 weight switch rod.
I do also have a 8 1/2 foot 9 weight single handed rod with a Rio Pike line witch I used last season. I was just expecting to be able to cast further. Sparser flies is proberly the answer

[Maxwell87]

Tying materials can be key with large flies forsure!

Also learning the double haul and focusing on your casting trajectory can be a big aid in distance. The shorter the rod the better your accuracy but it doesn’t help with distance as much.

Try your double handed rod out next year and go from there would be my advice. But 13-14’ might be long for what you want to do.

[Pikebreath]

Originally Posted by Altaboy

I have a 13’ 7-8 wieght, a 14’ 8-9 weight, and an 11 footer 6 weight switch rod.
I do also have a 8 1/2 foot 9 weight single handed rod with a Rio Pike line witch I used last season. I was just expecting to be able to cast further. Sparser flies is proberly the answer

Like us "average guys" like to claim,,,, "Size doesn't matter, but what you do with it is what counts!!!"

Fishing efficiency is based on two things really,, 1) a presentation that elicits a positive reaction from the fish, and 2) maximizing the time of that presentation in the zone where the fish are willing to eat.

Longer casts can help you keep your fly in the game longer if presentation at distance does not suffer,,, and in those cases where the "fish zone" is well away from the boat becuz of boat shy fish,,, or in the case of a wading angler, the fish holding zone is well beyond normal casting distance. So by all means grab that spey rod and go for it, if you are talking about fishing from shore.

But as far from fishing from boat,,, pike are not particularly boat shy,,, a fifty foot cast fished all the way back to boat is in the zone as much as a 100 foot cast fished 50 feet back and then recast as would be a typical spey style cast.

From a stripping and line management point of view, handling 50 feet of flyline off the reel is significantly less problematic than trying to manage 100 feet of line off the reel.

At the end of the day I would venture to say you will get more 50 foot casts in the zone than trying to make 100 foot casts all day. The extra casts ultimately should mean more time with your fly in the zone which should mean more fish as well.

I guess the point of all this is too that while having the ability to go for distance is a good skill / tool in an anglers tackle bag, focussing on distance doesn't always translate to more fish if you can make "better presentations" and spend more time in "time in the zone" with more repeated shorter casts.

[wildbill]

Originally Posted by Altaboy

So what are guys using to cast large Pike flys?

Tfo essox rio pike line, casts the biggest of boat anchors with ease.