Rods & Reels:
A number eight or nine weight rod, length 9 to 9’6” is the best choice. Pike & Lake Trout like BIG flies and powerful graphite rods work best. The Sage RPLXi, SP+, RPL+ or Loomis GLX travel series are fine choices. Bring your heavy trout reels or light saltwater reels to match your rod. Pike & Lakers do not take a lot of lien when hooked, but sturdy equipment is suggested.

Lines. Leader & Flies:
Floating weight forward or bass taper lines will handle most of your fishing. A sink-tip or shooting head can be handy when fishing deep. Leader material should be 12 to 20 pounds and should be used with “Seven Strand Wire” as a shock tipped. Top-water poppers, Deceiver patterns (red and white, yellow and green) are effective as well as mouse/lemming patterns for pike. A great pike taker is Whitlock’s Eel Worm in the weedless model. Tarpon flies also get the job done. Other flies to consider are Barry Reynolds’ Pike Fly, McMurderer, Swimmin Frog, Dahlberg’s Rabbit Strip Divers and Bead Slider.

Fishing Techniques:
Pike like to inhabit coves and lagoon, often hanging close to weed beds or structure, i.e. logs, rocks, etc…Popping bugs should normally be fished with patience, covering the water near snags and structure. Pike-like wee-filled shallows and flies, snaked through weed beds, will bring savage, slashing strikes. Lake trout often congregate around the outflow or inflow of a lake and are almost exclusively taken on sub-surface flies. Often times, if you find whitefish or juvenile grayling taking dries, you can fish underneath them with streamer flies for Lakers.