Those that have caught northern pike on a fly rod, know what an exciting event it is. Pike always aggressively takes a fly, whether on the surface or below it. In Northern Ontario, there are thousands of lakes that possess pike and Bill Spicer from The New Fly Fisher wanted to experience some good early season pike fishing.
An early-season northern pike caught in Ontario's Algoma Country. (Photo credit: The New Fly Fisher)
That is what brought him to Agich's Kaby Kabins on Kabinakagami Lake. This water system is well-known as being a first-rate walleye fishery. In fact, most of the anglers that come to Kaby Kabins are in search of walleye, catching easily on jigs. But there is also big northern pike in this lake that feeds on the walleye.
Showing a walleye caught at Agich's Kaby Kabins. (Photo credit: The New Fly Fisher)
Bill went in the early season so he could find them in the shallows, most 4 - 8 feet of water. Weedy bays and rocky humps seemed to hold most of the big fish at this time of the year. These are post-spawn fish that really have the feedbag on. Flies to use include big deceivers that are in colours that match walleye and perch in 6 - 8 inch lengths.
Bill recommends marking the perch flies with black bars using a permanent marker. In terms of rods, Bill found an 8- or 9-weight was sufficient. Floating lines were ideal and he also found a sink-tip line in type 3 (2 - 3 inches per second sink rate) helped get streamers down in the water column.
Agich's Kaby Kabins is located in Algoma Country and is a short flight via floatplane. Their cabins are very cozy and can accommodate anglers looking for a basic Housekeeping Plan (bring your own food) or the full American Plan Fishing Packages. May and June are considered the best months to come for their big shallow water pike.
