danj84

I have recently taken up pike angling and i purchased a book called 'The guide to modern pike fishing' which i have found very helpful. Maybe this would be a good idea? You can probably pick it up on ebay for a fiver or so

This is not always the case but if you use a smaller spinner, or smaller deadbait / tail section it reduces the probability of catching the larger pike. It is still likely that you will catch pike, jacks etc, so if you definately dont want to catch any pike opt for worm. A deadbait tail section may also account for eels!

If you have paid to fish on the venue then is it against the rules? Most venues i fish state that a landing net must be used, they dont say they cant be used to catch fish. Although netting fish in shallow water probably would cause damage to them

Personally I feel that waters that are free to fish can offer some of the best sport. For example I remember my older brother taking me spinning for perch for the first time to a free venue. Probably one of the greatest days fishing I can remember. Although this water has since been turned into a nature reserve and fishing is no longer allowed. Other great sessions of free waters have been extremely cheap, just the cost of a pint of maggots. And again fishing rights to this water have recently been bought by a club. My local commercial carp fishery charges around £6 per day, which is not bad but I prefer to go around 8pm, fish a few hours for free and catch more in those last few hours than people had managed in the previous 14 or so. If anglers are willing to do some research and spend time fishing unknown venues then very good, cheap fishing can be experienced. Although don’t expect it to last for long! As soon as the word gets out a club will come in and do the inevitable of transforming it into a commercial carp lake!