Creating profile and sizing a fly
How big should you make your flies? What should the profile look like? Although it can seem confusing, sizing your flies is simple. You want to imitate a prey item that looks like a valuable food source to a predator. For example, if the pike have 8-12” perch as a prey item, then a fly of that size with a profile and color scheme to match would be a winner. Remember that when tying a predator fly, every material has a purpose. It may give a certain action, it may hold a specific profile, or it may just be designed to look like the real prey item. The key is to find out what exactly the fly should do in each of these categories, and then use the minimum amount of material to achieve it. Talking about creating profile, I would like to spotlight a newer material on the market. It's called Fish Skull Body Tubing, first used (as far as I know) by Blane Chocklett. What is it exactly? It is an expandable tubing, just like the kind used by electricians. By folding the material over itself, you can prop the bucktail (or other materials) up into place and make it hold a profile you want. You can also make a unique head that will push water and make the fly serpentine from side to side. This is a new alternative to reverse tying bucktail, just more durable and handy in many ways. Try this technique on bodies and use any type of long flowy material for the tail, whether it is anything from saddle hackle to Icelandic sheep.
Tube Flies
Tube flies are a great way to fish for pike. This is because they increase the fly’s durability (the fly usually slides up the leader after you hook a fish), and instead of buying lots of expensive hooks you just need tubing and a few hook rigs. These are very popular in Scandinavia, and making their way into North American fly boxes. You can also get a lot of attachments to add weight to your tubes etc. You will need to make or buy a rig for your tube flies, but making one is probably the most effective option. To make one, you will need a hook (and a stinger if you want), wire, lighter, and heavy mono for the butt section of the leader. You can add a rattle to the main hook. Cover all your thread wraps in super glue. Attach this to the wire leader by looping it through the eye, twisting the tag end and main wire around each other, and then melt the wire coating together with a lighter. This is a strong and popular tube rig.