With most fly fishing, movement is mostly a no-no. A fly being dragged unnaturally across the current is one of the best ways to turn off wary trout and spooky grayling, however, with pike angling an active fly is a good thing. In fact the more the merrier.
Varying your retrieves can induce more strikes
Casting out and stripping the fly back to the boat is the standard way of inducing this popular predator fish to strike. Rather than a standard strip, more strikes can be obtained by varying the speed and inserting pauses. Often pike will follow the fly for several metres before deciding whether to eat it. A tantalizing pause where the fly appears to dive to the bottom as a stressed minnow will often trigger the attack. Another effective way of convincing a reluctant follower to take the bait is to allow the fly to dangle on the top of the water for a short spell at the end of the retrieve.
