Fly Fishing for Monster Pike: A Five-Year Quest

A story by Steve Boardman

Five years ago, after having an estimated 46-inch pike come after a 14-inch largemouth bass I was fighting on a spinning rod, I determined that I was going to catch a mid-40-inch class pike. The only question was how, and the resounding answer was, “On a fly rod.”

My old 5-weight was obviously not going to do the job, so I bought a name brand 9-weight fly rod. It broke after its fifth use. After buying and losing another rod, I decided to try a MCCo. Warm Springs 2-piece 9-weight rod, which I can safely say is the best fly rod I’ve ever owned. Around that time, I also started tying my own articulated and non-articulated flies, ranging from 5 to 9 inches long.

One of my favorite patterns for pike is this 6-inch non-articulated fly with a Gamakatsu B10s 3/0 stinger hook. Fished this on Swan Lake while going after pike and caught a beautiful 25-inch bull trout instead. I was in such a hurry to release it that I forgot to take a picture!

While fishing with that set up over the past four years, I managed to set a new personal best with a 36-inch pike. But I had yet to break into the 40-inch class… Until the perfect day of Pike fishing.

It was a cloudy, breezy, and cold morning—a perfect day to be fishing for Pike. Before too long, I had three nice pike landed and was feeling good about the day. It felt nice just being on the water. Then I hooked up what felt like a brawny fish. After an exciting fight, I landed a 35-inch, 11-pound, 5-ounce pike: a great fish, but still not a new personal record.

I kept working my way down the bank through a mix of weed beds and downed trees. I came to a small cove with a point. It looked like a perfect spot for a big fish to be hanging out. Indeed, a few casts later, I got a good strike. There was a big run that left me thinking, “This feels a lot bigger than the last fish I just caught.”

I got the line on the reel. To my surprise, I worked the fish back to the boat rather quickly—so much so that I wasn’t prepared to try to net it. When I got my first look at her, I was dumbfounded. I couldn’t believe it. This was the fish I had been seeking for five years, and I’d just missed perhaps the only chance I had to land it. Then she blew up and ran to the bottom.

My mind was racing. “I hope I have her hooked good, oh, I hope she doesn’t cut me off.” Then, the fear that she had gotten under a log. I couldn’t move her. “She got under something,” echoed through my head, left my heart sinking. Turned out, there were no logs involved; she was just that heavy.

Several more runs and I was able to get her back to the boat. Netting her took more tries than I care to admit—she got a few more small runs in before I was successful—but, in the end, I had landed a 44-inch-long, 21-inch-girth, 23-pound, 5-ounce Montana pike.

Spring 2025 was great pike fishing all around. The three longer fish here are 31”, 30”, and 28” respectively.

Now the quest is set for a 50-inch class pike in Montana… And you can bet I’ll be doing it on a fly rod.

Have your own pike fishing stories? Share them in the comments below! This blog was written by Steve Boardman, one of our customers. If you'd like to see your own fly fishing tale on the MCCo. blog, contact us here!