In this video I hook and land a great pike that measured 33 inches. The fish had given me the slip several times in the past by either eating through my smallmouth tippet or by working free from the fly.
I have been through this section of the St. Croix several times this year; the first two times I hit this spot, the pike ate through my leader of 16 pounds like it was a spider web. I then changed up to a metal tippet and hooked the fish about two weeks past … only to see him flop off just before I could actually land him.
On this trip I tied a fly on a 5/0 hook that did the trick … a reversed tied buck tail that was red, black and white (seems like pike like this color combo). I made a cast into a small shaded area bordered by a large boulder and the rest as they say … is history.
This is the best pike I have landed on the fly and while I know it isn’t one of the 40 or 50 inch versions caught in Canada … it is a very nice, small stream fish. I hope you enjoy this adventure and want to give a shout out to my friend, Dave Ringwald for taking a few photos and helping me with the landing process of this pike on the fly.
If you have any fly fishing questions you can contact me at flyfishingwithjeff@gmail.com or by using the comment section at the bottom of this article. I will do my best to quickly and accurately answer your questions.
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