Cabinet Gorge Reservoir Report 9.7.16

Ever since we filmed Episode 33: How to Set up for Pike on the Fly of the #AskNorth40 show, I have had the Pike bug. It didn't take long for me to make plans to head over to Montana, and give Cabinet Gorge Reservoir another run.

Interested in seeing other fly fishing related #AskNorth40 show videos? See them all here.

The weather forecast was scattered. One website was calling for 50% chance of rain, another said 7%, one even said blue skies. I came to the conclusion that I needed warm clothes and rain gear because I always seem to get the worst weather. Out of the 9 hours we spent on the water, it rained for 7 of them. Not ideal fishing conditions, but I wasn't about to waste a day off and go home. We toughed it out through the rain with not much to brag about. If it wasn't for the occasional Smallmouth and Largemouth, fishing was poor. Around hour 4, the first pike was hooked on a #4 Articulated Sparkle Minnow. The first pike was maybe an enormous 12...inches. I must admit, even though we had finally caught the first pike of the day, it didn't lift our spirits. It was still pouring on us, and we didn't have a 1 lb pike.

It wasn't until the rain cleared, and the sun came out when we started to hook bigger fish. All of the pike we found were in water ranging from 5-12 ft of water. The sun seemed to really make a difference for these warm water apex predators. Although the water was only 63 degrees, the pike we found seemed to cooperate enough for us to have a fun day. The fly of choice was the same one that worked for us the day we filmed episode 33, a chartreuse/white bucktail clouser with heavy lead eyes.

Want to try out some new flies? Check out our fly selection here

If you are looking to pike fish, stop by the Ponderay fly shop and we can talk strategies. I always love talking about aquatic giants like the Northern Pike.