[What would you call a big fish?]

A big fish is one you dont have to exagerate about

 

or Nathans mackarel !!

[Started Piking?....go join PA......arrrgghhh!]

Colin Brett I have just checked out the site you suggested on 26/1. Seems very good to me and I would recommend to anybody interested. Thank you

Peter

[Tenerife... fishing advice]

If you are considering boat fishing ask a number of questions before you do;

 

1) how deep is it ?? i fished Gran Canaria last year water was 300m deep only had time for 5 drops caught only spur dogfish under 2 lb,.

 

2} If trolling who gets to take rod when a big fish hits??. In my experience this will be a regular on the boat not a holiday maker.

 

3} Can,t advise on shore fishing but would try this next time.

 

Nb carp fishing in Cran Canaria excellent

[Started Piking?....go join PA......arrrgghhh!]

May be wrong here but i usually feel that any fish hooked up as a livebait is bound to die if not from drowning but from damage from hooks inserted. I have [previously} livebaited both at sea and in freshwater, dont ever remember a fish used swimming away healthy and likely to survive.

 

Regarding issue with club membership I agree in many occasions it helps but often individuals do every bit as well regarding conduct.

To catch a big cod you need to catch many cod ie. it is a numbers game. Simmilarly pike fishers suffer ie. if you catch a number of pike you will deep hook some.

I honestly dont think members of pike fishing clubs are more attentive than the general fisher but i accept many try to set an example.

[Started Piking?....go join PA......arrrgghhh!]

Mark thanks for the response. I can understand why some people support live baiting, however how any body can say it is not cruel to stick hooks in a fish and leave it to suffer and drown to me is departing from honesty. It works so people do it, that is the truth, the effects they care little about. Automatic support of livebating is to me the churned ou type of factors the original contributor was alluding to

 

Have you compared the honesty of the other mags with the vagueness of The Pike fishers mags.

 

I joined the Pike Alliance but see no difference in my behavior to that of the many good non member pike fishermen. It is frankly a slow pursuit and attention wavers. If you sit next to your rods at all times and hit runs within seconds i applaud you but are you typical?? Anwer honestly please.

[Started Piking?....go join PA......arrrgghhh!]

I may be in a minority but fully understand the points you are making about preprogrammed/standard answers churned out regularly. Would make the following points

1) Livebaiting why should we automatically support it?, it is obviously cruel and doesn,t get us support from either the public or roach anglers.

2)If you have ever read a magazine such as the pike alliance one you will see that swims and locations are never disclosed. So much for helping others. Generally coarse fishers are willing to detail exact swims tactics etc.

3) Finally the hipocrasy which seems to suggest you need to be a member of an organisation to hit bites early and avoid deep hooking is so much bunkum. These people believe it or not are just like the rest of us. They wander around to keep warm ,some take a drink., some light fires, some sleep in a bivy etc. ie. very often they hit bites very late!! Perhaps this is why they are so good at dealing with deep hookig!!!!

[Pike Fledger Rig Question]

I am of the opinion that if you use a sliding weight [of a reasonable size) all bites should be seen as pulls rather than drop-backs. I would not use a fixed weight for this reason. It also seems to be accepted that a pike may drop a bait early if it feels immediate resistance. If you do get broken by a fish it is also in the fishes interest that a weight is not on the trace. I don,t claim to be an expert and a await other responses with interest.

[Boat fishing clubs Central Scotland]

Norrie have sent you an e-mail but am not sure if it "went". If you dont get it would be grateful if you could let me know.

[Under size fish for bait]

In my view killing undersize fish for bait is little worse than killing bagloads of fish just over the limit. How often in thev sea fishing magazines do we see some fisherman proudly displaying a load of fish which are above keeping size but so small you would need a razor blade and a microscope to get a fillet off them!!. This may be legally correct but is it any better in terms of consevation etc??. Moderation has to be the watchword in both these situations in my view.

[Boat fishing clubs Central Scotland]

I live in Hamilton.

[Boat fishing clubs Central Scotland]

I am looking for a Boat Fishing Club in Central Scotland. Am interested in skate, tope, cod, pollack, {East or West coast}. Am prepared to do my share of driving etc. Any suggestions ??