Neil G

I totaly agree with you on the above Self cocking floats are definately a no go...I prefer to make my own 6-8 inch long deadbait pencils that are very sensitive. I does sound as if you have a problem with jacks...I fish a local water where I've lost quite a few fish and my answer to it was just to size the baits down changing from half mackerels to smaller filleted ones or sprats. This seemed to reduce the amount lost but I never fish with snap tackles so I did still loose a few! At the end of the day if you are unsure wind down and strike....if you loose the fish it's most likely to be one of these smaller fish 'mouthing' the bait anyway.....better that scenario than having the problem of a deep hooked fish on the bank and the possibilty of a damaged fish.

I don't own one....as a pike fishermen I don't really need one anyway. Some of the match guys could probably help out.

Yep.....cerainly does look like that pike head

Welcome to the forum

I hope to do lots of lure fishing over he summer to keep me going till sept/oct then its out again for the big pike.

I've never used braid so can't comment on it's uses/feel etc but will be trying some out for long range drifting where keeping the line floating is important. TBH i've never really had any problems with the 15-20lb Sensor line I've been using for pike fishing so will probably carry on using that for the usual river & pit sesions.

Indeed...I think you find setups that suit your style of fishing I'll happily use a 2.5tc rod for river work where you don't have to cast baits far and for margin fishing but feel more confident using my 3.5tc rod when fishing large waters where big baits have to be cast far or baits have to be drifted a long way.

I usually hand land any pike sub 10lb so they don't even go onto the bank I have however had a hook in the thumb from a lure but it's a small price to pay....getting trebles caught in landing nets is an absolute nightmare.

Good points and exactly the reason why I'm going to step up my tackle for the spring/summer when all the weed growth kicks off. I have caught fish in the past with other peoples rigs in.....usually the line snapped off above the trace swivel so clearly snapped off/snagged.

I'm afraid it's the same in a lot of sports.....a lot of marketing BS goes on

I use a single semi barbed treble for most of my piking (barbed one goes into bait)....can still get barbed end in fish though when using soft baits like sardine & smelt as the hook pulls clear easily.

I will be pike fishing this summer as I have little interest in other more traditional summer species i.e. carp If anyone has read Mick Browns book 'The Practice & the passion' you'll see that pike can be caught all year round and even when actually spawning without any issues. As usual it's just a case of being as careful as you possibly can and as Phil says, not playing the fish to death!

Sounds great...pike on the fly is a rare but exciting side to piking. I specialise more in deadbaiting for pike but am definately going to try and get out with lures a bit more this summer as it's a nice method where you can cover a lot of water.....I just find loosing lures at £10 a pop a bit upsetting!

I always thought that Perch holed up in the deeper places in stillwaters over the winter.

I agree with you on spring being a good time to catch pike.....they seem to be very, very hungry in April/May. When it comes to pressure though it does dpend on waters...the commercials I go to are rarely fished for pike and if they are it's only during what we traditionally know as 'predator season' (October to March). As far as the rivers go around my way hardly anyone fishes them for anything let alone pike so I don't see it being a problem. I agree with Budgie here though....there will be fatalities but we as pike anglers have just got to do the best we can to minimize stress/damage.

Politics of fish handling aside, that's one hell of a fish

Great piece of kit I know what it's like..if I go into a my local tackle shop to get a few leads etc I usally end up walking out with a rod or reel!

Councils.....don't you just love them! Sounds like the typical incompetance we can expect from.....what a waste.

The river isn't really that wide but I can usually fish close into the margins without any problems....I usually fish so light that if people p** me off I just move on. I do agree that there are some rivers/streams that probably won't be well suited to canoes due to size and where aquatic life may get damaged from the hulls and paddles etc.

I used the word Peduncles without any refernce towards race etc.....it's just a generic term.

Yep....most likely to be brought by clueless Peduncles/kids who will decimate the pike out there

I often fish right opposite a canoe club!!!!

Well said Most of the boaters on the river where I fish have been nothing but considerate towards myself fishing so O've got no issues with them being there. Most of the fishing I do is in the winter anyway for pike so the traffic on the river then is pretty minimal anyway.

Very good point about the loss of income due to the 90% access given on the tay. I don't see how it's going to make much difference to me though, every summer I'm plauged by big pleasure boats, public punting/rowing up the river (badly) and canoeists...I usually just put up with it. I've never had anyone intentionally try to disrupt my fishing though....TBH most people using the river that I have come across have been pretty well behaved.

Definately second the Eel and river pike....those two really put up a fight. Eels can also swim backwards and can wedge themselves in holes so can be tricky customers!