Tiny Baetis mayflies are perhaps the most commonly encountered and imitated by anglers on all American trout streams due to their great abundance, widespread distribution, and trout-friendly emergence habits.
Fly patterns: something durable. You don't want to have to keep changing flies every time you catch a fish, and if you hit the right spot you might be catching a lot of small pike.
Make sure you've got some decent surface flies because they're fun to fish, and some flashy subsurface stuff.
Leader: Definitely use a steel leader (and bring spares).
As for the rest of the leader between the tippet and rod, I just used some stiff mono, pretty short (5 feet?) and only 1-2 diameters. Nothing fancy.
Take some pictures and let us know how it goes!
If your heaviest set up is an 8 wt, you will have a tough time throwing any kind of distance with an air resistant topwater pike fly - 8-12 inches.
I disagree. 60 pound fluorocarbon will provide ample protection against the teeth of pike and muskies.
Your boat partner...He's not wearing a Rangers cap is he...I'm surprised you didn't push him in!
Ranger, not Rangers. Like his boat.
Ron's older son was drafted by the Pens, and his younger boy played for your Knights.
He would never wear Blue Shirt gear...