Pike Fly

[mikenewman]

Thought you might like an image of the Umpqua Pike Fly that KD bagged his recent 10lber on:



It's obviously a very big diver. Kevin disposes of all the superfluous materials between the tail feathers to decrease fouling potential but it still represents a substantial mouthful. (It's 5" end to end.)
I bought this one as a model for my own efforts and I must say it's a very nice tye. Retailing at $6 it's hard to see how they do it for the money given the amount/quality of materials and margins for tyer/Umpqua/retailer.
Here's mine tyed to same proportions:



That's it - I've got an appointment with a Moby of my own

[JerryInLodi]

The addition of the red at the throat is a good idea for a fish that can see full spectrum like a LMB. I think I'll add it to my topwater stuff some of the time.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

We just got a shipment in this week of that Umpqua Pike Fly.

[Charlie Gonzales]

Good looking bug there mike.... I'm sure you will have pictures of your 10lb'r soon.

[Hairstacker]

Very nice Mike! Can't wait to see the pics of the fish you entice with that one.

[KD]

Kiene's is carrying (or B.O.'rd) all of the Umpqua patterns that I feel are the strongest for the Delta. Bill and I discussed this awhile back. For years I found it very difficult to find any flyshop that carried any real selection of topwater bass bugs around NorCal. Lee Haskin's gurglers are good as well and shouldn't be overlooked. Weedguards and hook gape are important to me and most commercial hair bugs fall short. This is why I like to tie most of my bugs but I'm finding less and less time and Umpqua has always done an excellent job with hair bugs so i fill in with some of their patterns. I do some mods to them depending on pattern but they'll work good out of the box.

[Charlie Gonzales]

I thought over the years I have purchased some quality bass hair, but when trying to tye some bugs the size of the pike fly, it fell short. Literally. The hair length is too short. I thought at first it was cuz I was spinning and not stacking. But in both situations it was just too short to acheive that girth. Any suggestions. Most of my hair has come from either dugs bugs or hareline.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Charlie,

I have had trouble finding good died bass hair for the past 30 years that I have been in the business.

I would go into every fly shop you ever drive near and check out there bass hair. When you see it, buy it all up.

First, it has to be white or bleached white before they can dye it those nice bright colors.

Secondly, I would bet that big commercial tiers buy it all up first.

Many other industries (exotic dancers up at Lake Tahoe/Reno) buy the fly tying products for much more money than we would pay for it.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

We just got in the Umpqua 'Swimgin Baitfish' in the #1/0 Shad model.

This is a 'bad dude' in the Delta for top water largemouth bass.

[Hairstacker]

Charlie, I think Bill has relayed the right approach and is one I also take -- every time I go into any fly shop, I check out the deer hair and often buy good pieces whether I need them or not. I always check for a good, even dye and sufficient hair length, which is important for certain patterns, as you have found. I often take a piece out of the package just to make sure I'm seeing the length of the hair correctly.

I think it was two years ago that David Lee gave me some big preemo strips that he had obtained from Jay Murakoshi that are just outstanding in all respects. I don't know if Jay still supplies these, though. You might want to check with him.