Tuesday 2 April 2013

Pike Flies



Some of you probably thought I went up into thin air, never to hear from me again, but guess what? I’ m still here! Now I could start to explain what happened the last couple of months but, most likely, you wouldn’t believe me anyway. And besides,
this isn’t Facebook! So I’ll stick to the things that matter (for all you pike fly fishermen anyway). I’ve had NO fishing and tying for several months (sad but true), but…
I’M BACK NOW!!!
And I have an upcoming trip to Ireland in less than two weeks, so that’s reason enough to pick up my blog again!

Besides, my vise started to send out some weird ultrasonic waves,

so unable to resist, here’s some new stuff…


This next fly is somewhat different than the previous one. First, this one still has a collar of marabou which I don’t use anymore. Some will say that it flares out while retrieving, well that’s bullshit (pardon my language), because it will only flare out when you have another material underneath that makes that happen (like bucktail for example), otherwise it will remain flat and sticky, which in this case isn’t a problem because it gives it a bloody effect. If you want something to flair out, use raccoon like I did with the first four flies.
But that’s not the reason why I posted it. The weak point with the previous flies are the eyes, sooner or later they get bitten off. I know, some types of glue are better than others, and I’m pretty satisfied with the “Loctite Flex Gel” I’m using, but it will still happen. If they don’t bite off the eyes, it will be the part of the head wherever the glue went.
So with this next fly, I put on some epoxy on the tip of the head and smeared it over the eyes. This way they will never come off. I already tested this one and it has little or no effect on the action of the fly, so I’ll certainly adjust a couple more.


This next one is a combination of two flies. I used the basics of a “ Firetiger Hangtime” by Brad Bohen for the tail and than made a collar of raccoon and my usual head of Slinky Fiber (in a brass wire dubbing brush).


And a couple of tandems as well…



I’m not quite satisfied with the colour of the head on the last one, but I‘m sure the pike won’t mind.

And now I’ll get to work again, I still got a lot of things to do the next couple of days…



9 comments:

Col said...

stunning flies , good to have you back!

Jeff said...

Nice to see you post again and nice flies! What are you making the heads of your flies with? I forget......

Xavier C. said...

Hello Stefaan
Un vrai plaisir de revoir ton blog avec un nouvelle article !!! et toujours avec de super montage !
Bonne continuation à toi
Xavier

brian said...

Cracking flies, looking forward to reading about your Ireland trip!

fabris said...

Hey stefaan
Kben content dak je weer keer hoor.Kga binnen kort keer beln

the lonsome piker said...

Col, thanks, nice to be back.
Jeff, hallo and thanks. And as mentioned in the post, I use Slinky Fibre in a brass wire dubbing brush (and then cut into shape of course).
Xavier, hello et merci.
Brian, thanks and I’m really counting the days now. Next week this time we should already be there!
Fabris, doetda!

Piketeaser said...

Hi Stefaan
Really good to have you back and as before,awsome looking flies.
I got so much inspiration looking at your ties and especially now when I´m running out of ideas.

P.S I know you don´t like facebook but there´s a group called With flyrod after pike.It would be great to have you in :)
-Djuza-

the lonsome piker said...

Hello Djuza! It’s good to hear from you again, but when I look at your latest flies, I don’t think you need me for inspiration anymore (but thanks anyway). And that Facebook thing, well I’ll think about it. It wasn’t easy to get rid of it (believe me it’s a lot easier to get in then out!), but thanks for the invitation.

Carina Sun said...

Lifelike fishing lures, love them, haha
shaddockfishing