benhben

Weird. Surely jellyfish dont actualyl go on the attack, more that the current takes them past the salmon farm.

Depends where u fish i suppose. If its soft grassy banks ull be alright, if its gravely stones or a concrete walkway then you need a mat.

If there is just a smallish circle hook, (Or any single hook for that matter) hooked in the mouth, wont most pike end up taking the back half of the bait without actually getting hooked?

Went out today with afew spinners and lures. Fished up the canal at stretches that are reported to hold good pike numbers. Its still very weedy and shallow on the canal so mostly used a floating white/red head Shakespeare big S. Covered alot of ground and water, and had absolutely nothing. Two blokes who were also fishing gave up and went home after blanking. Ive been out bout 4 or 5 times recently and blanked. Cant find the fish at all in these colder days. Apparently a lad made a killing on deadbaits in the very same spot I was fishing. Took 5 fish and a good double. So frustrating. Apparently he was fishing first thing in the morning though, and another fisherman reckoned he will have spooked the swim for the day. A bloke reported a number of pike hearding and chasing baitfish at the surface. SO this guy was either lucky or the feeding times in winter are short and furious.

Tell me about it mate. I broke 3 rods in as many months this summer. Started to think i was jinked. One was a dodgy rod off ebay that snapped when i was simply cleaning weed off the spinner, the other was a 4 piece travel rod when the tip ended up in the bottom of the canal and the 3rd was a big beach casting bass rod which just snapped when casting. To this day dont have a clue wot happened to it. I find canals a nightmare for tackle. Often the fish are in the margines, but the margins are also covered in brambles which eat up spinners and traces. If you get a treble in there you have no chance.

cool. I might have to get a weedless spoon. The canals where i spin seem to have thick weed all year. Does anyone actually lure fish in winter then? What are the catch rates like?

Im a fairly new pike angler, and have never worn a glove to gill them. I always follow the train of though that if your getting cut then your not handling them properly and could damage them. Once you handle them with no cuts then your doing ok. It would be hard to tell if your doing it right with a glove. Ive never been cut on the gills yet, only time I bled was when a little jack turned its head and bit me haha. Cant blame him though!

Could you name some decent ones? How do weedless spooons actually work? Abit of thin wire doesnt seem like it would stop much weed tangling round the hooks.

Just been out attempting to spin/wobble some deads. Used a smelt then a roach. Had alot of trouble in rigging them up and making them swim properly. How does everyone else rig them? Also they collected alot of weeds as the canal is still extremely weedy, which inevitable ended up ruining the bait. What sort of retrieves do you all use also?

Was speaking to another angler the other day on my canal, and he was saying a group of yobs hooked a good pike, landed it, couldnt get the hook out so killed it, left in on the bank and went home. People like that should be put in a cage and drowned.

Thanks for all the tips. Not had chance to get out yet, been kept in by the freezing wet and windy weather. Think im gonna go for Smelt as the bait of choice.

Cool thanks mate. Think I might give it a try tomorrow on my local canal basin thats quite shallow but is known to hold decent pike. Just another question how do you keep a soft fish like a smelt to stay on the hooks whilst cosntant casting? I tried deadbaiting with sardines once and couldnt cast at all. ive got some of that bait elastic stuff, but that would stop the bait breaking off during a take, making unhooking difficult.

Can someone give me any tips on how to wobble dead baits. I enjoy lure fishing but its beginning to slow, but wobbling dead baits could increase the catch rate. Whats the best bait and techniques to use? Cheers.

You should see my tackle box. Also the scraping of the hooks quickly takes away the finish on the lures. Ive tried looking for some treble hook plugs that ive seen in tv fishermen eg mick brown/matt hayes tackle boxes, but cant find any anywhere. Anyone know of any places that these are sold?

Cant see the pike as food trade taking off though. If you remove too many pike the whole food chain would collapse. I also heard its very bony.

Tarpon!

Alright mate! Nah still go on there, and a couple of other forums. Cast and catch is one but that seems to have died. Like to look through as much info as I can.

Ok thats cool about the posting delay. Went out the other day onto a deep canal marina called glasson dock. Used a heavy spoon and a small red and black bulldawg type thing. Only cost 2 quid. Had a follow by a very good fish (for me!) 10lbs at least i reckon. Missed a bite in the same place, just teeth marks in the rubber dawg left. Later on had a small jack about 3lbs on the bulldawg. Had another jack on a toby further along the canal on a toby spoon but came off at the bank. So they are still about.

Ignore that. Didnt know there was a pause between posting and it actually showing on the forum! That is a strange setup!

I find ondex spinners rubbish at casting. Light and alot of air resistance only go afew feet. Any tips on casting them? Also what sort of retrieve for them style lures? Steady or twitched. Finally, what sort of places do pike lie in colder weather? Deeper water, structure the same places as summer?

I find ondex spinners rubbish to cast. Lightweigh and unaerodynamic only go afew feet. Any tips on casting them? Also what sort of retrieve is best with them? Steady or twitched? So can good numbers of pike actually be caught on lures in winter then?

Dont know really mate. Most of the good fishing is within close driving range of where u stayed at ocean edge. The outflows at high and low, the North Wall which is on the opposite side of the harbour to the outflows, between some rocks with two tower things on and a gate which you cannot drive past is another popular spot. The pipeline near the battery at low tide good for bass, and anywhere along the prom really. But think where you stayed last time is best spot for them. Im sure Arneside, fleetwood and down near Blackpool has some decent fishing but dont know where. If you want some good piking apparently the Lake district is good.

Cool. Did you fish at low or high tide? Also what did you catch on? Im going to go down when the tides are right. There abit early in the morning for me at the moment.

Hi. I want to do some fishing along Lancaster Canal. I know a couple of Basins which are likely to hold some bream, perch and the usual course fish. What I dont know is what rigs are best to use? Float fish or simple Ledgering? Also the biggest thing that Im not confident with is how to bait up the swim? Do Canal anglers lay down groundbait along time prior to fishing, or just upon arrival. Or is it just as effective to just bung out a worm or something and let the fish find it? Alot of questions I know but help would be apprechated. Ben

If your wanting to go spinning and lure fishing there are a couple of places, but its getting abit late in the year now I think. One good spot is behind the powerstations in heysham. There are two outflow streams which pump out warmer water, which Bass seem to congregate round. Climb down the wall to the sea edge and use your spinners. Rubbers shads are quite successful. Saw a couple of Bass caught on soft rubbers just by the outflow nearest the caravan park. Dont use anything heavy or youl lose it on the rocks. Another spot, get down to the same place at low tide, go right to the end of the outflow channels and spin where the warmer water meets the sea. Fish are meant to congregate down there also. Another good spot is called the Pipeline. Along the prom is the Battery Pub/Hotel towards heysham. You have to wait until low tide, then theres an old sewer pipe (think its disused now). Its marked by a tower sort of thing, youll see it when the tide is out. Loads of Bass seem to get caught there, but its shallow and snaggy so use Surface poppers or floating lures. If you want abit of Pike spinning, Lancaster Canal has plenty of Jack Pikes, with the 2 basins in lancaster centre good spots. Also Glasson Dock Marina is meant to have Pike up to 30 odd pounds in it, althought im yet to catch from there. Pulled a small jack out of the canal today. Lost a £7.50 storm chug bug though, so it was an expensive pike.