Winter can be a time when we think that the fly rods have to stay packed away until the new season starts. Or we can jump in the car and go fishing for something else other than trout or salmon. Stan Mankov is back this month and tells why he isn't letting his rods gather dust and is out on the road after pike.
I always considered fly fishing for pike to be great fun… actually I think catching any fish on a fly is great fun. During December and January the trout season in Bulgaria is closed so me and some friends decided to give the fastly gaining popularity lake Joca in Serbia, a try. The place is only 500km from where I live but the weather is much warmer. In our case, in the beginning of January much warmer means +1 or 2 degrees Celsius in the morning and up to 5-6 during the day.
The water surface of Lake Joca covers an area of 500 hectares. The space is covered with reed about 50% of the lake, the water depth is 1-5 meters, and has not fished for more than 12 years. The lake is fed with very good water, coming from the Tisza River, which has a wealth of fish. The lake of Joca is one of the many lakes in the area of Carska Bara. It is the largest individual bog and the biggest nature reserve in Serbia and one of the major Europe. It is located in the Banat region of the province of Vojvodina.
The permits are 20 euro per person for one day in a boat and it is all about catch and release. Fishing from a bank is possible but if you really want to catch fish you have to jump in the boat. Joca is inhabited with some really big grass carp, carp and of course some monster pikes which we were after.
I visited the lake a couple of times in the last two months with a bunch of friends and we caught some good fish using the usual fly tackle for pike which according to me is a 9-10 wt rod no longer than 10 ft, a strong fluorocarbon leader about the length of the rod and at least 40 cm trace. I know a lot of guys use thick fluorocarbon but I don`t want to lose a big fish with sharp teeth to prove that it might not work so I stick to the good old trace.
We fished with floating lines as the lake is pretty shallow and with many underwater branches and weeds. I think this is where the tricky part is to fish in the “wood” and try to avoid hooking the “trees”. This is the kind of place where spinning fisherman could not fish easily without hooking their lure. For the first time I saw the upside down tied streamers with a chain of beads to keep them turned on the Baltic pike flies webpage. They call them rattle streamers. Naturally I experimented a bit with some flies I tied like this and now I am only tying upside down flies for pike. I don`t know if they will have any great advantage if fished on a greater depth but you will catch more trees than fish if you don`t have them while stripping your streamer trough the “woods” of Lake Joca.
In our best day we had 45 pikes caught by 6 people. The average size of the fish is around 6 pounds. Our biggest fish was a nice 16 pounder but there are monster pikes up to 35- 40 pounds in that lake so our fish became “not-that-bad” ones.
I will mention a few things that I consider a must when I`m fly fishing for pike. I hope they will help some of you to catch more fish.
Don’t rush in taking your fly out of the water when it comes close to the boat. Instead of taking it out twitch it with the rod and move it slowly around the boat. The fish might have followed your streamer all of the time and this last twitch could often be the moment when it will take the fly. You will be amazed how many more fish you will start catching by doing this. It is just like the hang in trout fishing from a boat.
Another important thing is to be quiet - avoid moving and stamping in the boat. Try to use your oars more. Use the motor only when you decide to move to another spot. The big pikes are smart and spooky fish.
Try to strip your streamers with different speed: slow, slow, slow - then fast and fast and then very slow, very slow or whatever comes to your mind but not slow only. Cast as much as you can! Don`t try to cast far if it is hard for you, just find a distance that you can cast every time and stick to it, then every cast will be efficient. Open your casting arc a bit more when you are casting heavier flies. Maybe in some of the next issues Jim Williams might give us a few tips for casting larger flies.
Finally wear eye glasses and beware of pike`s teeth.
I am sure the lake of Joca is one of the hot places for pike at the moment and I hope it will stay like this and the fish in there will only grow bigger. It is a really nice place, not only for fisherman but for keen bird watchers as there are many rare birds. In general Joca is a true pike fly fishing water with stunning surroundings and a real chance to catch the pike of your life.
Stan Mankov is a fly fishing guide and instructor operating in Bulgaria. For more details please visit his website.