On day two we went pike fishing.
Again it was a hot bright day and we headed up a rough track through the hills and heather in the 4×4. After a 40-minute drive during which we saw a group of red deer stags bound over the hill we arrived at our venue. Setting up the rods while listening to grouse clucking on the moor and an eagle crying above made us glad to be there.
We tried a bit of fly fishing from the bank and then took the boat out. On this day it seems all the pike were in one bay. The first cast in that bay there was a follow from a big pike which came right to the boat. It didn’t take the fly, but now we were primed for action. The next cast was a take and a pike of around 4lb put up a great fight before coming to the net. Shortly after that a 7lb pike kept Joe reeling and watching his line fizz out time and time again. Great sport!
After lunch we tried again from the bank and this time found quite a few pike near the edge.
Pike are an often underrated species. They are fantastic fun on a fly rod and the sport is usually consistent. I tie pike flies to imitate the local baitfish and some which are just general attractors. Long strips with occasional pauses seems to do the trick most of the time.
Depth can be critical when pike fishing so we always have three lines, a floater, intermediate and slow sinker. In the colder months we find they prefer big flies, but by summer and into October you can catch even large pike on flies of 4 inches.
It’s best to learn to fly fish for trout first, as the equipment is lighter and easier than that used for pike fly fishing.
So that’s just two of the many, many fishing experiences Perthshire has to offer. You can fish all year for pike and grayling. For salmon (which is what most people come to Perthshire for) the season starts on the 15th of Jan and ends in October while the trout season runs 15th of March to 6th of October.
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