I have caught pike on lure rods in the past but can honestly say that the most exciting way of catching them for me is on the fly rod, purely down to the fact that there is so much more feel from having the line in your hand as a pike savages your fly and makes its first powerful run, its sure to get your adrenalin pumping! So if you fancy having a go with some explosive pike action I will try and guide you with some information and ideas on what equipment you will need and how to catch these toothy specimens.

Firstly you will need kit that’s up to the job. By this I mean a powerful rod to subdue these powerful fish, coupled with a reel with a decent drag system to halt the fish’s run for freedom and a fly line that’s heavy enough to turn over some big flies. One bonus with the kit is that it will be suitable for saltwater fly fishing so adding another string to your bow.

In terms of a rod you should be looking for something around the 9’ mark in length that is rated for a 9 or 10 weight line. Don’t forget you will be casting some heavy flies with loads of air resistance so this weight of line will help you get your fly out there to the fish, the line weight has nothing to do with the size of fish you will be catching, this is a question I often get asked by the fly fishing novice. Also make sure your reel is loaded with plenty of backing, if you hook a specimen you will need it!

To the fly line you will need to attach a leader of minimum 20lb breaking strain and of around 6’ to 8’ in length, again this short heavy leader will aid in turning over your fly when cast. Another essential you will need is a wire tippet material to attach to your leader before you tie on the fly. The mouth of a pike is loaded with rows of razor sharp teeth rendering standard tippet material useless, they will bite through this for a past time. I add a length of around 12” of wire to my leader then a snap swivel to attach my fly with, this makes for easy fly changes throughout the session without sacrificing the length of my wire tippet.

Other kit you should carry with you is a selection of flies in various colours and sizes, a decent size knotless landing net, an unhooking mat, essential for the well being of the fish and a good pair of large forceps for removing the hook, keep your fingers away from those teeth! As with all forms of fly fishing always wear a hat and glasses, especially so when piking as sometimes these big flies are unpredictable in their flight path as you cast.

I was lucky in my childhood as I grew up amongst some of the finest free stone game rivers in the Southwest and probably fished those more as I was learning the art of fly rather than the usual Stillwater training grounds. My heart still lies with the river these days and I find nothing more satisfying than fooling an educated wild fish rather than a reared stocked fish. Although your average wild trout may not live up to the size of your average stocked fish, I find the satisfaction comes from matching the hatch correctly then casting the fly into a tight spot with good presentation to fool the fish. All of these skills are not always necessary to catch your Stillwater fish so if river fishing is new to you then it can be like learning to fish all over again when you switch to a river.

A wild Brownie, small but beautiful.

The one thing that really appealed to me about the river was the solitude, no lines of anglers on the bank here all trying to bag the ‘hot spots’, just my own company and getting up close and personal with the surrounding wild life.

When it came to the fishing, one thing I found was that in the summer months when Stillwater fishing became difficult due to high water temperatures and the fish went off the feed, the river water temperature in comparison remained much more comfortable for the fish and they would readily take your fly in pockets of oxygenated water.

Stealth is the name of the game on rivers, you need to spot the fish before they spot you, so travel light and make sure you keep a low profile. You will need to fish the river by being in it, so a pair of waders is an essential part of kit, again this gives you a low profile. The only exception to this are some of the chalk streams which only permit fishing from the bank, but these are usually the stocked waters with manicured banks, a bit like fishing a stillwater with flow! Having said that there are still some chalk streams around that are more natural and offer more in the way of ‘wild’ fishing, these are always my preference.

A vest is another piece of essential kit for all your bits and bobs so that everything is to hand when wading and finally a small net then can be attached to your person or vest but easily to hand when needed, although when wading most fish caught can be glided across the surface of the water to hand rather than using a net. This method of landing fish is much more beneficial to the fish’s welfare when practicing catch and release but make sure your hand is wet before handling the fish and always return them to the water as soon as possible. Hold the fish against the flow to get plenty of oxygenated water across their gills to aid recovery…..wait for the fish to kick in your hand then release it. Only use your landing net for large fish and when necessary.

Surrounded by stunning scenery on a river.

When it comes to the kit everything should be scaled down. Rods, reels, lines, leaders and flies should all reflect the size of water you are fishing and the size of fish you are looking to catch. Always remember to flatten the barb on flies as you should always look to return wild fish as they are a precious resource, if you want some fish to stock the freezer head to you stillwater where they are there for you to take.

Access to river fishing can sometimes be a little difficult to find with many prime rivers being privately owned or run by syndicates but look hard and do some research and you will turn up some cracking day ticket stretches or reasonably priced club waters. It pays sometimes to think outside the box and don’t always look for trout rivers as all species of fish can be caught on fly, so have a go at something different, maybe Chub or Roach, Pike in the winter and many coarse rivers hold Grayling.

So next season in the summer heat when the Stillwater fishing becomes hard, why not try stepping up to river fishing?

With this in mind I have put together a list of things that might give you a few ideas.

If you have been really good this year try getting the ultimate rod…..the Hardy Zenith Sintrix…….a truly awesome rod in so many ways, one of the most advanced rods out for years and a real joy to cast and fish with. If that’s too much of a big ask go for a Greys GRXi+, again a lovely rod but not so harsh on the pocket.

To go with the rod I would probably opt for a Vision Koma reel, either the standard model or the cassette version. These reels are amazing value for money and a reliable piece of kit. At the other end of the scale I would go for the Hardy Demon reel, probably the best cassette reel out there.

When it comes to fly lines it never pays to scrimp. At the top of my list for a new floating line would be a Rio Gold closely followed by one of the Snowbee lines. For a sinking line I would look at the Airflo range, they offer a good quality sinking line with a range of densities to cover every eventuality.

Flies make an ideal stocking filler.

If you fancy doing some roving fishing maybe a technical vest is what you should be looking at. Airflo offer a nice one at a great price, similar to the Fishpond range but a fraction of the price.

If you are looking for stocking filler ideas flies are always a good bet. In my opinion the best ones out there are either Ian Barr’s selections for still water or I like the Fulling Mill range for the river. If you haven’t tried these flies yet give them a go, they truly are top class flies tied on quality hooks.

If you don’t already tie flies ask for some kit and give it a go. It’s a great way to while away the winter evenings and an inexpensive gift idea. You can pick up a beginners kit for around £20 and can always ask people for items to add to it.

Failing all these ideas you could always ask for a Neil Keep Fly Fishing gift voucher……the ultimate gift sure to put a smile on anyone’s face at Christmas!!

Whatever you get this year, a Merry Christmas to you all and enjoy your fishing.

I drove down to Woodford lodge to grab a permit before driving round to Walley bank next to the sailing club. This is one of my favourite haunts when fishing from the bank having enjoyed some real bonanza sessions there in the past.

Flat calm at Chew.

Having pulled up in the car park it’s only a short walk to the water’s edge where I was met by totally flat calm water and a sun that was rapidly rising in the sky…….not good!! Not being put off by the scene that met me I proceeded to tackle up keeping one eye on the water for any signs of activity.

The water is still low at the moment as we have had little in the way of rain to top up the summer levels but the weed beds still hugged the margins offering the fish cover and a food larder so things maybe wouldn’t be as bad as they first looked.

I set up with a team of Diawl Bach’s on a floating line and concentrated my casts around the weed beds where I expected to find some fish feeding but after a fruitless hour wandering the bank without a pull or seeing any fish moving it was obvious this tactic wasn’t going to work on the day.

The weed beds usually hold a few fish.

Then I decided to get in a gap in the weed beds and throw a long line as I had started to see a few fish move but they were way out into the lake taking advantage of the cooler, deeper water. First chuck met with a slight pluck on the line as a fish intercepted the flies on the drop, this happened a few more times but once I started the retrieve any interest dried up. It became obvious the fish were out there at distance so I needed a method to hold my flies in the taking zone so I rigged up a team of buzzers under an indicator and cast a full line out and left it all static apart from an ultra slow figure of eight retrieve to take out any slack forming in the line.

Tactics for the day....buzzers with an indicator.

After a couple of minutes the indicator slid away and I lifted into the first fish of the day. Two more fish followed that were lost in the weed followed by another one banked…..not bad for a short session in tough conditions.

I know this method isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but sometimes needs must. Personally I don’t mind fishing with an indicator as it takes me back to my childhood days when I would spend hours on the bank mesmerized by the float that bobbed up and down in the water before my eyes.

Two hard worked for fish.

When it comes to the indicator, there are many different ones on the market but my personal favourite is Loon indicator yarn, I find this to be the most versatile to fish with as you can vary the size of it easily with a pair of scissors to suit the conditions, it’s very sensitive when it comes to spotting takes and is easily moved up and down the leader when varying depth by using a simple loop attachment to the line. It also comes in two colours to suit different light conditions and offers very little air resistance so is a dream to cast compared to some on the market.

The highly visible indicator yarn.

To make sure you match the line correctly just look at the rod blank near the handle and you will find some numbers after the rod length telling you which weight of line it was manufactured to cast. These numbers are referred to as the AFTM scale (Association of Fishing Tackle Manufacturers). The number on the rod may simply say 7 weight or may read as #7 or even 6/7 giving you two line weight options. For the beginner I would always advise opting for the heavier line weight in this instance as you will be able to load the rod easier and have a greater feel for the cast through the rod blank. 

The correct line weight loads the rod more efficiently.

Fly lines have what is known as a profile, the two most common being Weight Forward and Double Taper, both are abbreviated in fly fishing world to WF or DT.

The WF lines are most common these days purely because they are the easiest to cast and achieve distance with. These start with a thin running line on the reel end, then progress into a thicker heavier section of around ten yards in length towards the end of the line before tapering down thinner again at the very tip of the line to give good presentation. Because most of the lines weight is at the front this enables easy “loading of the rod” (bending the rod) and gives good distance when shooting a line.

DT lines are the same thickness throughout their length and taper down in size on the last couple of feet at either end. In the right hands these lines offer better presentation of the line onto the water and are better suited to river fishing where you may encounter wild fish that are “spooky”. These lines have the added bonus that if they wear out on one end you can simply turn them round on the reel and use the other end as the profile is exactly the same.

Finally the “density” of the line is how it sits in the water and this can vary from floating on the surface to a fast sinking line with a sink rate of 8 inches per second to get your flies down deep fast. As a beginner always start with a floating line as these are easier to cast than the sinking lines, then progress to sinking lines as required as your casting improves and to be honest most of my own fishing is done with a floating line anyway as usually the fish are in the top layers searching for food, I only usually turn to the sinking lines in extreme conditions of hot bright sunshine or very cold conditions when the fish may drop deeper in the water.

James had coarse and sea fished over the years but was keen to get into fly fishing especially after talking to some of his friends from Cornwall who had told him that they target saltwater species on the fly and considering he is based in the forces on the Cornish coast, once he had learned the basics, he had miles of fishing right on his doorstep so no excuses not to get out there and do some!

James picked up the casting quickly.

I arrived at the fishery early morning and the temperature was already rising, not good for trout fishing although there was a bit of cloud cover but the great thing with Burton Springs is that you always have the option to switch to one of the other lakes and target carp on fly if conditions are not favourable for trout.

James arrived around 9.30am, he’d driven up from Cornwall the day before for a night out in Bristol with friends then back down to Burton Springs early on the morning and then he was driving back to Cornwall after our session on the water…..some serious miles!

On arriving at the fishery we had a coffee and a chat about what we would be doing and James informed me that he was a helicopter pilot…….music to my ears! He would surely have good hand eye coordination wouldn’t he? He did not disappoint when it came to the casting, after learning the roll cast he was soon onto the overhead and in no time was shooting line out across the lake and beast of all it was really easy teaching him the mechanics of the cast.

Going through all the different kit.

Apart from the casting we went through all of the kit and what it does in the morning session then after lunch I showed James how to make up some tapered leaders followed by a session on entomology and watercraft. This left us time for a fishing session which after some discussion we both decided to target the carp due to the now stifling heat.

Always an interesting picture to be had on the bank.

Unfortunately the coarse lake was packed with anglers but Adam the fishery manager said that the specimen lake only had two anglers on it and we were welcome to give that a go but warned us that it would not be easy as this is heavily fished and the carp have seen it all!!We headed of armed with a rod and a bag of dog biscuits and found ourselves a swim on a point opposite a promising looking island.

Trying to get the fish feeding.

The first thing to do was to try and get the fish feeding on the surface, not too hard I thought as I had seen a couple of fish moving in amongst the reeds on the island. I proceeded to catapult out a few pouches of biscuits over to the edge of the island….this was followed by every feathered water bird you could imagine from a 3 mile radius descending on my offerings and polishing them off! I scratched my head then realised it must have been because there was only two other anglers on the lake for them to get a free feed off of on the day so we had attracted the whole lakes population of wildfowl. A plan was needed so I fed a bay to my left with the biscuits so diverting the birds away from the island where the fish seemed to be. It was hard work, three pouches to my left and one to the island in that ratio to keep them away.

We were more sucessful feeding the ducks!

We never did get the fish feeding properly in the session and found the only way we could get a take was if the fly was put to within inches of the reeds, the fish just did not seem to want to leave the cover of the vegetation. James managed three good takes from fish but his strike met with no resistance, just a slack line flying back towards us but given time I’m sure he will get his timing right and soon be into some fish but the main thing is now he has all the core skills so he can go away and take which ever fly fishing avenue he so likes.

It needed to be this close to the reeds to get a take.

James sends the fly out towards the island.

The line flies back after a missed take.

Fly lines are made by coating either a nylon or braid core with a PVC coating and as a general rule of thumb the more you spend on a line the smoother and slicker this coating becomes thus aiding the fly casting and shooting of the line. A cheap line will not be as supple and when pulled off of the reel will sit in tight coils at your feet. These coils of line will often be referred to as “line memory” and are a real problem when you consider you have to try and cast these coils of line through the rings of the rod.

To get a good quality line you should be looking to spend anywhere from £30 to £35 upwards. This may sound quite an outlay but a well looked after line will last the average angler a few years, so get yourself a good line and clean it on a regular basis and you will reap the rewards when it comes to casting. I spend many hours teaching casting and even I struggle with a cheap line so you can imagine how difficult it would be for a beginner?!!

Casting with a good line makes things a whole lot easier.

Fly lines generally vary in length between 25 to 35 yards, this is attached to a thin backing line on the reel which serves two purposes. Firstly the backing line will bulk out the spool thus storing the fly line in more open coils and in turn reducing any fly line memory that may occur. Secondly the backing line acts as a reserve so if you hook a big fish that decides to go on a long run you have line in reserve should you run out of the relatively short fly line. A backing line of 20 to 30lbs breaking strain would be sufficient for most general fly fishing and should be wound onto the fly reel as neatly and as compact as possible as this will give the attached fly line a good base to be wound onto. Always aim to load as much backing onto the reel as possible just leaving enough space to fit the fly line on top, this can involve a bit of trial and error but it is worth taking the time to load your reel with line properly as you will be benefiting from this time spent over future fishing trips.

Next time I will be looking at fly line weights, densities and profiles to help you get the best from your fly fishing.

Now you don’t have to be a great caster to catch fish but you will catch more fish if your technique is good. For a beginner, being a good caster will not happen overnight, it will take time and practice just like any other sport, the more you cast the better your technique will become. With this in mind I would suggest if time permits that you get out with a fly rod four or five times a week, in a field will do or your back garden if it is big enough and put in about 15 minute practice sessions. Any longer than the 15 minutes will result in tired muscles and frustration and will be of no benefit. You will soon be reaping the rewards after a few weeks of practice.

Have a goal when you practice, don’t just go for out and out distance, concentrate more on technique and distance will come in time as your technique improves. Another good practice session would to be to put out some targets at various distances and practice hitting these, after a while you will be amazed at how your accuracy has improved which is a real bonus for the river fisherman trying to guide his fly into a tight spot between some overhanging bushes. Far better to practice like this than to just stand there and aimlessly make casts.

Load the rod properly..........

Don’t try and practice the roll cast on grass, it doesn’t work!! For this you need water so that the surface tension grips and anchors the “D” loop in place but grass is fine for practicing probably the more common “overhead cast”. 

Here are some points to consider before your practice session:-

• Always start a cast with your line straight and with no slack, if you have slack you will not load the energy into the rod and therefore the rod will not cast the line in the desired direction.
• All fly casts work best under one main principle – smoothly accelerate the rod to an abrupt stop. Acceleration is needed to load the rod with energy, the abrupt stop is needed to transfer that energy down the line so making it move in the required direction.
• Distance will be more easily achieved with good timing than with sheer power.
• To get your hand in the right position on the back cast imagine picking up a phone to answer it, if your hand is not beside your ear it is too low.
• Push your thumb towards the target on the forward cast, the rod then the line will follow your thumb.
• When casting, the fly line will only ever follow the direction the rod is moving when it stops abruptly on the casting stroke, so bear this in mind when practicing your accuracy.

.........and watch the line shoot to the horizon.

These are a few of the basic points to concentrate on, there are however many more but mostly to complex to try and describe in words without diagrams but drop me a line if you have any questions to do with casting.

Our lodge on the banks of the river Warleggan

For this years expedition I booked a riverside lodge for a week week on the river Fowey at the Wainsford Fishery. In past years I have spent a lot of time Sea Trouting in Devon rivers and also had a few trips to Wales but I had heard good reports about the Fowey so thought it was about time to tackle some Cornish Sea Trout.

The Fowey at Wainsford

As with any fishing for migratory species, good water levels are important for the fish to run up the river systems, and to my dismay on arrival, although not totally unexpected, the river level was very very low. Apart from the obvious problem of no fish running this proved to be a real problem when it came to scouting the river in daylight, a very important part of night time fishing on a water you are not familiar with, as the water was so low and clear and I would have spooked every fish in the pools and so ruined the night time fishing. Trying to avoid this I spent a lot of time on my hands and knees on the bank peaking around and through bushes, for anyone watching this must have all looked a bit odd!!

As we had not had any significant rain for a while any fish that were in the river would have been in there a while and with Wainsford being a fishing estate and fished fairly heavily, these fish would have seen all manner of offerings under their nose and would have become hard to catch but I was up for the challenge and just happy to be on the water.

The Eden Project,a great day out.......if you can stop thinking about fishing!!

Had trouble matching the hatch here....it was about 20ft high!

Day times were spent visiting the local sites mixed in with messing around on the river Warleggan, a tributary to the Fowey on which our lodge was located on the banks, catching some very pretty wild Brownies.

One of the rivers "pretty brownies"

At night I would go out about 10.45 p.m. armed with two rods, one set up with a Rio Gold floating line and the other with a Rio midge Tip, in my opinion two of the very best lines on the market today. Because these lines are so good i fish with more confidence which means I fish better ultimately leading to more fish……its a mind thing but true! Casting single and double speys  in the dark takes some practice but if you have a good line it makes things just a bit easier.

Wainsford fishery is split into four beats, fished on rotation throughout the week and each beat is different so keeping things interesting. There are plenty of holding pools so given the right water I could see this being a first class fishery. 

The first three nights i spent without a fish although i did hear a few fish in the dark of the night and tried everything in the box from deep lures right through to surface wake lures, although fishless i was happy that I had tried everything to try and tempt any fish in front of me. Nothing worse than getting back and thinking ” what if I had tried?” I only spent one to two hours on the water each night as with just stale fish resident i did not think it would be worth flogging a pool for too long.

The fourth night arrived, i set up as usual, waded into the first pool on my beat and after twenty minutes had an arm wrenching pull on the line then all hell let loose as a powerful fish charged up and down in front of me and at one point behind me!! These fish really fight hard when hooked, you only have to look at the tail on a Sea Trout to see where the power comes from. After a 5 minute battle the fish was safely on the bank. I flicked on the head torch and was astounded to see in front of me a fish of around 3lb…..but fresh run!! The next day may have shed a little light on this.

Result.........a fresh run fish.

The next morning while eating a good fry up and drinking coffee i flicked on the t.v. and watched the local news. A report came on saying that 36 hours previous there had been a tidal surge across a lot of the coast line from Plymouth down into Cornwall caused by movement in the sea bed, then followed some footage of a tidal bore making its way up one of the estuaries. Reported as a “mini tsunami”, is this what had pushed a few fresh fish up the river? I don’t know for sure but I could not think of any other reason and two more fresh fish were caught the following night so there’s every possibility this was the cause of fresh fish entering the river system.

Unlike my wading boots.......I never gave up!

The last couple of nights I had no more fish, I had a few pulls and a fish on for a few seconds on the last night but all in all I really enjoyed the trip and I will be back for more and hopefully some decent water in the river.

We arrived at the fishery around 8.15 am and proceeded to set up for the days events but still in the pouring rain. Everyone started arriving around 9.30am and was greeted with tea and coffee and the day got started at 9.45 am.

I had hoped to run some of the course outside in the morning but this was just not possible due to the now monsoon type rain we getting!! Luckily Burton Springs has a lodge so we all packed into this for sessions on fly tying, entomology and knots and leaders.

Burton Springs Lodge....a haven from the bad weather!!

The weather broke just before lunch and I took everyone out onto the lake for a talk and demonstration on basic casting mechanics, 5 minutes into the demonstration the heavens opened again and we all made a dash back to the lodge for cover, it was short lived and we were all soon on the bank again to finish this session.

Getting to grips with the casting.

After lunch we were lucky as the weather seemed to get better and we were all able to get out and get into some casting before finishing up with some fishing with a few fish landed on the bank to end a great day.

One of the casting sessions.

The day was made all the better with the great people that had turned up, all of us had a good laugh and a chuckle throughout the day which helped considering the conditions we had to endure. Everyone went home with a smile on their face so I guess it was mission accomplished!!

The smile says it all!!

For everything they done to make the day a success, I would like to say a big thank you to fellow instructors Sally and Tony Pizii, Gilly for laying on all the great food for the day, taking the photos and not forgetting the home made cakes which went down well!! And finally to Adam and Dave down at Burton Springs Fishery for hosting the day and helping us make the day run smoothly. 

Father & Son enjoying the fishing.

For those of you that attended the day, I would be grateful for any feedback that you can give me by filling out the message box at the bottom of this page and please feel free to copy any of the photos I have posted here.  

Keep an eye out here for similar future events and come and join us on the bank.

Here are some photos of the day, please click on a thumbnail to enlarge the photo.