Boy George, pike fly fishing & christmas

"You must be permanently on grass man, if you really think that thing at the end of your line looks like a fish", the man behind me said. "And to wave it back and forth like that all the time, what's that good for? Why don't you just throw that thing straight into the water and keep it there, you know, I mean: where the fish are?"

Just a typical question from a passer-by that will sound familair to a lot of us pike fly fishermen. Shouldn't be too difficult to answer, one would think, but I dare you to give that a serious try specifically for pike fly fishing. Because indeed, why don't we just throw something that really looks like a fish straight into the water? Why do we insist on fishing with things that look like we tied a hook into Boy George's hair? And why all the hassle with that line in the air anyway?

Good questions. So let's make a comparison with some fellow pike guys, the lure fisherman. Let's start with what's in favour of lure fishermen when it comes to catching pike:

• they can cast further;
• they can cast easier, especially with a lot af wind;
• they can cast in places where fly fishermen can't;
• they will hook less passers-by behind them;
• they can fish a water faster and more efficiently;
• they can fish with exact copies of prey fish;
• they can fish with giant projectiles;
• they can fish with lures that make a lot more disturbance in the water to attract pike;
• they can fish deeper and have better control over the fishing depth;
• they can fish easier and with more people in a boat.

Now let's have a look at the supposed advantages of pike fly fishing:

• it's a very active way of fishing for pike (so is lure fishing);
• you can cast "flies/lures" that don't sink and allow for a shallow, very slow retrieve (what about balsa poppers and the modern streamers for light spin fishing tackle?);
• the fun of tying your own "flies" (many people build their own plugs or jerk-baits: compare that to tying a bunch of feathers on a hook);
• playing a fish on a fly rod is a lot of fun (modern spinning rods with braided lines are the ultimate in lightweight piking).

O.k., so it must be something else then. But right now it's christmas, so we've got other things on our minds (like we should). Let's give this weird "pike on the fly" thing some more thought later, o.k.?.

I'm (not) dreaming of a.......