Anyone have a duckling pattern?

[mojo]

Ard? I think a Sage Largemouth bass rod would be minimum for this.

Pike eats baby duck- Fairbanks, AK - YouTube

Pike eats baby duck- Fairbanks, AK - YouTube

[jpbfly]

Impressive video Mojothanks for sharing...the huge cats we have here can eat ducks...a guy reported one eating a dog

[mcnerney]

Wow, that was fast! Pike are real predators for sure!

[gatortransplant]

This idea bounced up a bit ago, except for use with musky, but there's no reason it shouldn't apply here. I figure you would almost have to use some sort of hollow design to create that much bulk on the hook. I jokingly suggested attaching an 8/0 hook to a rubber ducky, but I can only imagine some serious shoulder injuries as a result of casting such a contraption. I imagine that some sort of giant flatwing design may work too, as I wonder how much vertical profile the fish sees or if its just the churning feet and the base of the body that are really visible. If that's the case, some sort of giant floating merkin-style fly may be useful, with a set of dangling, webbed feet. Sounds interesting.

[rapid eddy]

Imagine a baby black bird being reared in a nest on a low hanging willow tree protruding out over the water. The baby tries to take it's first adventure and falls into the water. Large mouth bass will take one in a heartbeat. I've used #6 rods in situations like this and hung into some very nice ones. The rig you tie up don't have to me beautiful either. It's the movement that a fish cant stand and that my friends is where you come in. An iratic twitch will go a long ways toward inticing the big boys.
Eddy

[FlyFlinger2421]

I have read accounts of largemouth bass jumping up and taking hummingbirds.

[dean_mt]

Whoa. That's top of the freshwater food-chain, awesome.

[Hardyreels]

Allen,

I have seen this out at the cabin, last year over a 2 day period a Teal with 9 babies was reduced to being a lone adult. I'm sure it was the same hen because each time I saw her there were fewer babies. Pike are trouble in areas where they are not a historical part of the ecosystem. I have no idea why anyone would introduce them to a lake that was once the nursery for tens of thousands of salmon, ducks, trout, and even lake trout, but it happened. Now there are very few of anything except pike. because of the lake and cabin being so far from the road system we have very few pike fishermen. The people who do pike fish do not release the intruders.

I will fish some this year and take pictures, there are some big pike out there. If you live in a warm water world where pike are the native specie I understand how you can really love them and C&R them. Here, I like salmon, trout, and ducks a lot more than pike and any that get into my hooks are destined for canning or end up as a free meal for one of our eagles or fox.

I use an Orvis Silver Label 9' 9 weight for them. Diver Dan sent me a couple new flies and a real slick leader last year but I didn't get the chance to use them. I will this spring,

Ard

[gatortransplant]

I was trolling through videos today and found something that might be applicable.

Early Morning Cod - Flyfishing for Australian Murray Cod on Vimeo

Early Morning Cod - Flyfishing for Australian Murray Cod on Vimeo

First of all, this guy is catching some monster bass-lookalikes in Australia. However, more importantly, tune to about 4:45 and you'll see a fly that to me looks like its doing its best impersonation of the black bird Eddy is talking about. With a little manipulation of the pattern, this might be a useful duckling pattern as well.

[Diver Dan]

I took my neice fishing one time on a long fishing dock here in Minnesota. There were Bluegill surface feeding and she was catching them and the occasional Crappie. Then a full grown Mallard Drake goes swimming along the dock and when it gets to directly in front of my neice, a giant Pike came out of nowhere and slammed the duck. It got everything but one wing and the neck in it's mouth. It never had time to quack. In the time it took to blink, it was gone leaving only a few feathers and bubbles for evidence of the murder scene. My neice looked at me with eyes the size of silver dollars and was unable to speak English anymore. These are the apex predator in the waters they live.

OK, there has been to much talk obout duckling patterns. I'm going to do one. White belly, yellow with a little orange beak.