The Diamond Geezer

If you can think of a better way to try to compare apparent results with different sized lures I'd be interested in seeing it. I wish! It's my view that choice of lure size is probably more likely to be dictated by the size of the water/venue rather than the size of the pike or perch you seek. There's rarely much point in lobbing a mega-great jerkbait into a tiny stream (although there are exceptions). Also I suppose that it also depends whether or not you'd prefer to blank rather than come away without a large pike. For me a fish is a fish and I'd much rather catch a nice big perch or chub and a fat pike too of course, and I wonder if in fact smaller lures give you a better allround chance of this on small venues or even in the shallows and margins of big venues All part of lure fishing fun and the challenge! Richard

quote: Originally posted by Leon Roskilly: [QB]I know one angler who swears that using a battery powered vibrator brings the pike in! I suppose that buying it on the internet would avoid the embarrasment of asking for one at the Anne Somers counter, but I'd need to be sure to get to the post before my wife - she'd never believe me! QB] Bit of a give-away I know, but it's spelt Ann Summers as in www.annsummers.com oooops

Jeremiah,I'm 100% with you and can only guess that perhaps most of the other posters on this thread have never used Daiichi! Richard

quote: Originally posted by Adz: [QB]

RobI think you're getting a tad confused here (or I am!). The review link you posted earlier took me to the Harris Bulldogger rod, NOT a Harrison

30 years! So that's a tough little lure-fishing nut you've left someone else to crack! To keep the picture straight, The Arun, with one of the highest and fastest ebb-and flow of any rivers in the UK IS an unusual case. Who reckons they can crack it in less than 30 years then??? [ 11. December 2002, 02:58 PM: Message edited by: The Diamond Geezer ]

Quest Interesting as they may be, these discussions have always puzzled me! Do pikers REALLY not go fishing whenever they get the chance, just because someone says the barometric pressure is too low or too high, or the wind is in the wrong direction or it's a full moon etc etc?? Personally I'd say go piking whenever the mood takes you and whenever you get the chance .. and cobblers to the rest Richard [ 11. December 2002, 02:13 PM: Message edited by: The Diamond Geezer ]

quote: [QB]I don't know how selective pike would be about their prey size, certainly trout can get very selective about the insect, and sometimes it's state of hatching, that they take. I caught the fish in this picture on a shallow raider, which is a largish 7 or 8" lure. It had very recently taken a fish we estimated to be about 3lb judging from the size of the tail. The fish itself would only have been about 11 or 12lb without its recent meal, but naturally it's in my records as the whole weight! The idea that pike prefer a meal 15% of their size may be true, but I don't think they are that selective. Very few large pike are caught on massive deadbaits compared to those caught on 5-7" ones. I do wonder though how many would be caught using a single minnow as bait. Maybe there is a minimum size that would give a good percentage with the bigger fish, and maybe the same's true of lures. A 4-5" lure may be big enough where a 1-2" one may not, who knows? M QB] I think you have to look a tad deeper, if you'll forgive the pun, than mere prey and/or lure size when you're hypothesising about pike. Hunger isn't the only reason why a pike takes lures, far from it, and as you yourself have experienced. How else would you account for the pike that took Prof Barrie Rickards' lure, only for him to discover the feet of a moorhen (or maybe it was a coot) protruding from its throat. Maybe anger, aggression and territorial factors play a part, who knows, but if that's the case, maybe lure size isn't that critical. Also I have seen several photos of pike having grabbed other pike of similar size to themselves, and died in the attempt. It's very difficult, if not impossible, to assert that one's catch rate of bigger pike has increased size using larger lures because you've no way of knowing for certain, what would have happened if you'd had a different and/or smaller lure on your trace at the time. There are lies, damned lies, statistics and fishing tales? Of course, speculation is very interesting, especially if it really does help you catch mpore and larger fish, but personally I don't think there are any hard and fast rules and I prefer to keep things that way as part and parcel of the fun, mystery and challenge of lure fishing Richard

Impressive perch, Steve, there's no doubt but as one who has the book, I just HATE to see such lovely perch hanging from a treble. I try to be as gentle as I can with perch and the very delicate mouth tissues and would cerytainly net such super specimens. Of course they may just have been held like that for the photos but there's a better way. Richard

Yup, Dave Lumb's rods are the biz too; I think he uses Harrison blanks usually (also the biz) but he'll build you a rod based on a St Croix blank if you want, to your own specn Richard

Rob I don't know much about jerkbaiting; only been at it for a couple of years but you might be interested in this article that I found a while back when I was looking for info myself http://members.lycos.co.uk/lureangler/tack...ck/rodsmult.htm After reading it I bought a St Croix rod and I reckon it's the dogs compared with a couple of other rods that I had been using Richard

I've got an Abu 1044 I think it's called. I think it came between the 506 and the 507 or maybe at the same time as the 507 but cheaper. I sold my 506 and have regretted it ever since. otherwise I'd have scanned-in the instrcution leaflet and posted it. It's maninly self-explanatory though. I'm sure you'll soon get the hang of it. Like Chesters says, steer clear of the 507 when you're tempted to upgrade. Richard

Dvarcet You might also find this website useful http://members.lycos.co.uk/lureangler/ Tight lines Richard

Willow Lakes: Contact Mr Chilton, Newark Rd, Foston, Grantham, tel: 01400 282190. Re: Woodlands ask Tackle shop, Kings Court, Bridge Rd. Gainsborough Tel: 01427 613002 D Geezer

Andy I'm surprised your caravan isn't surrounded by water with the Avon at its current level! I've fished it for pike and zander but prefer the stretch below the town weir. My fave method is sink n draw Geezer

Hmmh .. so no-one's used them it seems Maybe I'll steer clear fo them & go for a couple of Okumas RP

Ok Tony So you had a winning lure in your box all along! Not winding us all up I hope?! Richard

quote: Originally posted by chevin: [QB][i am just totally astonished by Dick's response quoted above. I knew Dick for a long time, like that! QB] Like I said, there was more than one side to Dick. He was quite a complex guy on all fronts, not just fishing! Richard

OK Peter you're right. It has got that lill ole lip. As you say, OK in shallow waters. I prefer to use the Heddon MossBoss which can be fished on the surface or allowed to sink slowly and fished well sub-surface, even long the bottom if you give it time to get down. Either way, personally I don't think the Meadow Mouse would be what I'd suggest to a novice lure angler at this time of year on the Leeds & Lancs Canal though. You're more than a tad spoilt on them there old Norfolk Broads, boy Oh, and Tony said "" can you recommend a couple to try"" so I stuck to two! Geezer

quote: Originally posted by Peter Waller: [QB]So, why are none of us keen piking types supporting your request? I think you only have to look back at what happened to the Legendary Good Gord Burton's site, or the venom that is spewed out on the Pike & Predators site, or the pure vitriol that seems the norm on the Bit Back page of Pike & Predators Magazine to realise that some of us visit this site simply because there is not a pike forum on it! Its a nice friendly place to visit. QB] Couldn't agree more Geezer

Following on from the interesting thread about Okuma reels, has anyone any info or advice about KUDOS reels, please? They seem amazingly cheap for the number of ball-bearings they have etc., but I wonder whether they're man enough for the job for several years, although at those prices, I supposed one could even consider binning one after a couple of years. Thanks in advance for any info; I'm after a couple of new reels and my local tackle shop keeps suggesting these KUDOS ones. Richard

Following on from Leon's link, I'd like to add another that I've found very useful for lure fishing hints, and tackle tips. There's a link to Elton's main pages on their site which ishttp://members.lycos.co.uk/lureangler/ ATB Geezer

I agree with Andy: grebes are OK compared with cormorants and shags. On one of my local lakes they use gas guns to scare off the cormorants and this works really well. Geezer

Brilliant fish, garyling, brilliant! And cold weather doesn't seem to bother them. Well done! Geezer

In a word: DAIICHI