Neil G

You obvously haven't come across the fussy eating pike that I have then lol I do get my bait back quite often as I use bait bands round the tail and if popping up thread the link through the fish....have caught quite a few pike on the same, gnarled bit of mackerel before !

Indeed some lures come with ridiculous size trebles on which probably cause a lot of damage. I'm still going to stick with the single treble that I started with as it's never really let me down or caused any problems...as they say, it it aint broke etc.

The answer could be the bait and/or the size of the fish I use mackerel lots on reservoirs as it casts so well (unlike sardines) but the only problem with it is that it's so tough that the hooks often don't pull through the bait on the strike into the pike s mouth so you end up 'bouncing' the bait free from it's jaws hooks and all. It could also be the size of the fish and their feeding habits....often smaller fish taking bigger baits or wary fish will be holding the bait rather than taking it fully so a strike pulls it from it's mouth. Sizing the bait down may help

Understand your point with the single but there is less chance of deep hooking when using lures than using deadbaits. You could try using single trebles on your baits with bait bands instead of the standard Jardine setup....I've never used two trebles in the time I have been pike fishing and haven't had a problem with removing hooks yet. Just a thought

Oh dear....sounds like you had a frustrating day. I probably would have moved on at the first sight of kids....other people's children are just horrible, period lol

Great to get back on the rivers again....nobody fishing the stretch I went to so plenty of peace and quiet. Had a couple of small but tidy looking pike and quite a few runs.

I'd take Spinnerbaits Abu Toby spoons Fox bullnose for reservoirs Shads Shallow diving plugs As far as deadbaits goes Mackerel - my No. 1 bait...casts well, oily and seems to work very well. Sardine - doesn't cast as well but great on rivers.....again, very smelly Roach (fresh as possible) naturally occuring fish in most rivers/lakes so always good. Best thing about Mackerel and sardine is they are easily obtainable & the supermarket size mackerel can be filleted to make even more baits.

You can probably 'get away' with using carp rods on rivers with small baits where distance isn't required....often in these places a small underarm flick to put a bait under a tree/bank feature is all you need anyway. The prices of some lures is staggering, especially some of the Rapala ones which are top quality. I'd concentrate more on getting a good spread of lures to suits different situations rather than fewer but more expensive ones. Some shops will do reasonable quality lure packs which contain a selection of types i.e floating plugs, shallow divers & spoons/spinners at a good price. All you may wish to do it to change the hooks for getter quailty (and smaller on some) and your off.

Have to agree on that one

Interesting read

Agree with you on the choices of rod...although I do use a 2.5 tc carp rod for river piking I use heavier pike rods for reservoirs, even up to 3.5tc when large mackerel baits have to be boosted out a long way along with a 2/2.5oz lead. I had issues with a Fox rod as well when it came to the real seat...the DS18 seat on my fox deadbait rod was far too large for an average 4500 series reel...managed to bodge it with some rubber strip though to take up the extra 'room'.

Good advice

Aplogies..we seem to have drifted off topic Back to advice on lure/spinning....

I've always had luck with chub in the past on 'classics' such as cheese, bread and luncheon meat.

Yep....Nige Williams is exactly one of the guys I am talking about. I've seen many a picture of people like Nige with two rods far apart whilst trotting with another....these have usually been on the Fen drains or rivers. With pike fishing location seems to be important so I can see the use in using multiple rods on places like the fens where the bank is easy to negotiate to actually find the 'hotspots'. I think having them so spaced out is just an attempt to cover as much water as possible.

More issues with rules and breaking the 'law'....AN seems to be full of this on a daily basis. These 'big name' anglers are people with years of experience who get results....simple as that. I'm not going to knock it if they have their rods more than the legal distance apart nor am I going to say to everyone that that is the done thing to do.

I agree with the issue of watching more than one float hence why I only use one with another rod ledgered with dropback & bite alarm. I think you have to do what's works best for you...I use multi rod setups where I can on reservoirs etc from the bank where I can watch them safely but rarely use more than one on rivers.

Sorry but I disagree and a lot of the big names in Piking would as well.....like the ones that use three rods with livebaits and deads on the fen drains and rivers. Horses for courses as they say....if you are new to it and want to stay on the move then single rod tactics may suit you better.

Sounds like your on the right path.....just put out a deadbait whilst you lure fish the surface layers. As for venues I can't really help out there as I am way down south near Bristol....you could try getting in contact with some people on the Pike Anglers Club as they do have regional organisers that could point you in the right direction. Rivers are always a good place to fish for pike as well so if you have any good local ones it may be worth seeing if you could get onto them.

Good to hear you have discovered the joys of pike fishing....once I started it I never looked back and am now pretty much fishing for them 100% of the time bar the odd eel or perch session. Pike in different waters all respond to diferent methods as well as bait....I wouldn't write off dead baiting as it's very, very effective, just try as many different baits as you can as often mackerel will work on a day that sprats or herring won't and vice versa. As far as spinning rods go it depends on what sort of lure fishing you are looking at doing. I use a Drennan spinflex 2.5tc rod which at 9ft is ideal for river fishing where you have to negotiate weeds and lilly pads etc. It'll flick out small spinners easliy and can cast heavier, weighted rubber shads and jerkbaits up to 50g so it can get the distance on larger waters & reservoirs. If you are going to get into piking I also reccomend a half decent pike rod....the is more suited to casting heavy deads which can put a lot of strain on rods...it's always good to have the confidence to cast a bait far in the knowledge that the rod isn't going to let go. Sure there will be plenty of people along soon to give you valuable advice....all I can say is the more you fish, the more experience & confidence you get, especially with unhooking etc and you can handle most situations with ease. Good luck Oh yeah....check out the Pike Anglers site for tips on rigs, making your own traces & unhooking etc. www.pacgb.co.uk

Exactly....not a good prospect is it

Agree with the above To be honest I've seen slobs down the commercials do worse fishing normally lol

Good move in that particular situation where it's obviously going to be cost effective to use CCTV to stop vandalism rather than to keep paying for repairs. Asfor bringing them out everywhere I'm not into that....it's not that I get up to no good, it's just the principle behind it.

Time to crack out the pike tackle!

What a read..has got me even more interested in taking steps towards starting a bit of fly fishing. In my eyes it is the pinnacle of fishing where there is so much technique and watercraft/knowledge involved with fly choices and casting etc. Good luck with further fly endeavours