At the start of my fly tying journey there was very little locally to direct me on the right path, no anglers that I knew fished for pike on the fly and the few that fly fished had no interest towards pike as theses creatures were munching on their beloved trouts (so they said).
I thank the gods for a decent internet connection and youtube. This is were I spent thousands of hours searching for patterns, tutorials and how to cast a fly rod. All was completely self taught with some inspiration from the few fly dressers that were knocking about at that time.
My very first predator came on my own fly, and I remember this was so important to me at the time, I registered a few dry sessions before my first hook up, only a small fish but one that will stay engraved in my memory forever.
I’ve always been a bit “artistic” from drawing, to photography, to jamming on drums with some good friends. So the fly dressing came very naturally to me. My rampant imagination helps so is to never be afraid of innovating and not listening to what others have to say … That sounds very selfish but it does makes me unique and helps me come up with my own style.
Pike flies or any flies tied for an agressive predator don't necessarily need to match the hatch. This is what I love about this aspect of the sport, we can constantly come up with new patterns, new materials, go crazy with colours, shapes and sizes.