Pike flies

After all those trout flies, it felt really good to tie something ‘big’ again. I can’t help it, but when it comes to fly tying, pike flies still give me the most pleasure and satisfaction.

 

If you visit my blog regularly, then you’ve seen a lot of these flies already. In the past, I’ve received a lot of questions concerning the head of this fly. And there are two reasons why most people don’t want to start tying flies like this. One, I mostly use polypropylene fibre, which for most people is a little hard to get, or you have to use EP Fibre (which is the same thing but a lot more expensive). Two, the amount of work that you have to put into them.

So, I made these heads a little different (and easier). I used a brass wire dubbing brush with white Mirror Image (from H2O Products), blended with the same flash material I used in the tail (which is Polar Flash), and coloured it afterwards with Prismacolor and regular permanent markers.

Due to the conical shape I make with tying thread underneath the head, I can use a bigger amount of brass wire to make the head. So this fly will sink immediately. I’m already making the same pattern with a deer hair head, to make a floating diver, but that will be for a next post…