Caught a Pike yesterday 8lb 12oz, no pic don't take them if on my own. The question is, this Pike had a reddish pink mark about 3/4 down the right flank and about 1/3 across the girth, although it was not uniform at the edge. The scales all seemed to be intact. It gave a health struggle against me, so I don't thing it was in trouble. I have seen these marks before but only as a small spot. It could of course have been caused by mating, but is it not a bit late in the season for that, would that type of damage still be there. Anyone have a theory as to what the cause of this mark could have been?

[ 03. October 2004, 11:49 PM: Message edited by: Nugg ]

On the Broads we call it 'boat rash'. Basically bad handling, been allowed to rub against something, possibly whilst jumping around in the bottom of a boat.

I'd second that. I have only really seen it on Pike in the Norfolk broads, and never on Canal-caught Pike which would be caught off the bank and not on a boat.

The sad thing is you'd think if somebody could afford a boat they'd be able to buy an unhooking mat!

I personally think it should be illegal to fish from a boat without one.

Depends on the boat BB. Some, like mine and Argyll's, have good, flat, smooth insides. Lay a pike on that then fine. The trouble comes when boats have loads of clutter & people leave the pike flopping around in the bottom and hitting things. Personally I unhook 99% of my pike in the water & they never lay on anything. But since an unhooking mat is so cheap I always carry one, and agree that others should do too. Without putting to fine a point on it some boat anglers take so much excess gear, fish from boats that just don't have an area for handling pike, have too many anglers onboard, and fish far too many rods to be able to handle pike with any degree of skill or care. They just don't have a clear area of floor, shamefull.

[ 04. October 2004, 08:40 PM: Message edited by: Peter Waller ]

Ok, thanks chaps, then it seems that this is some sort of damage and not an infection of some sort. We don't get many boat fishermen on the Wark's Avon [although plenty of pleasure/holiday traffic]so I would think it most likely got this damage some other way.

Probably been allowed to jump around on the bank, or been held down witha foot.

It's far more likely to be 'red sore disease', a bacterial infection which causes oval, reddened areas of skin - and subsequent scale loss - on the flanks of the fish, usually close to the (rear-mounted) dorsal fin.

It often develops when pike are transferred from one water to another, and it can often prove fatal (or rather, the red sore is symptomatic of an ailment that the pike cannot combat). I suspect this is all down to an impaired immune system arising from the stress of being moved.

I have a couple of references to the condition somewhere in the attic, but it's too late now to go up and begin rummaging around in the 'biological abstracts' and the mice nests!

Pike which overcome the condition develop new scales over the infected area, and these show up as oval scars, not dissimilar to those many of us (older) posters have as a consequence of anti-polio & other injections into our upper arms whilst at school.

Back to BB's mat comment.

I have a carpeted boat so some padding. I only ever carry a large garbage bag to use for protecting the fish from rubbing over the carpet surface. Less clutter than a regular mat would be and does the job nicely.

Folks with exposed ribs or similar on the boat's inside bottom or lots of gear adrift as Peter mentioned certainly do need something though.

Seem to remember that we've had this discussion on a number of occasions and the conclusion was that you don't bring a pike into the boat unless you absolutely have to. Keep it in a large landing net in its own environment alongside the boat and deal with it there. That way it comes to no harm from flapping about on the bottom of a boat. Like Newt my boat is fully carpeted (see below) but I doubt if it provides 100% protection from damage to skin and scales, should I have a fish flapping about inside. Its also a completely alien environment without the calming influence of being in the water (albeit inside a net) So far as unhooking goes DONT TAKE THEM OUT OF THE WATER. If you have a decent enough landing net (mine is 44" wide and 60" deep) you can with a little practice and decent wellies perform the same trick at the bankside.

Incidentally Nugg, there are so many ways in which a pike can aquire such marks, some naturally from mating and chasing prey and some from rough handling and contact with boats both inside and outside from passing cruisers. It could also possibly be the start of a bacterial infection.





[ 05. October 2004, 09:55 AM: Message edited by: argyll ]

I want one!

(A boat by the way, not a bacterial infection!)