The most fun fish in the UK ?

[Ken L]

For me, it has to be Pike.

Surface lure fishing is the most heart stopping, exiting and fun fishing to be had in the UK but even with other lure styles, I've had fish take lures suspended a foot above the water or come charging and bow-waving through three inches of water (no mean feat for a fish of 7 or 8 pounds) to grab a lure. Best of all, the action can be fast and furious with perhaps a dozen fish and twice that number of missed hits in a short afternoon session.

 

I don't think any other species comes close - or does it ?

[argyll]

Just for fun...perch. Ever since I caught my first fish (a stripey) way back.

Seeing ferocious little gaggles of baby stripeys following a lure back to the boat, just 'seeing it off' rather than trying to eat it. Having a couple of pound of perch attach itself to your lure at dawn and fight like crazy to get away. Never get tired of them big or small.

[Russell Fitzpatrick]

tough one this....

 

well chub and carp off the top are fun,the carp becuase they really scrap on a barbel rod and 8lb main,and the chub fight aswell on balanced tackle.But can be a little trickier to get feeding confidently(carp are greedy, chub are greedy but smart!),then theres the actual take its self,chub take violently turning downstream as they take, carp just slurp it straight in a big swirl/vortex.lovely on a summers day/evening.

 

but i also think pike are hard to beat as regardless of size they really go like the clappers on lure gear,i havent caught much on lures but had enough hooked and lost to feel what its like!toatally agree ken.

 

again another fave-stalking,great fun,i stalked and watched a 19 pound pike take my bait last year,even got to see her head shaking reaction when i hooked her,better still i watched her slowly leave her hide and approach my popped up deadbait.funny thing was,whilst playing this one another apeared alongside(approx 10lbs) and led a sort of dance as if it was hooked and disspeared.On doing the do and releasing the bigger fish i had a scout around and found the smaller fish but couldnt hook it.

i never saw that fish,whilst watching the bigger one, was she there all that time-i think so.

i'll never forget that one.

 

[ 21. May 2005, 03:05 PM: Message edited by: Ratty Fitzpatrick46 ]

[chubb henderson]

Hi Ken

I think stalking chubb or barbel on the on a side stream floating a big peice of bread and watching them take it. Its brill

chubb

[GlennB]

Agreed . Having a pike lunge at a lure a few yards out - and making you step back a few paces on the next cast out of (frankly) fear - takes some beating.

[Sportsman]

Pike fly fishing from a float tube. Nothing like it

[slodger]

I had a pike take a small twin-tail grub while I was standing in about ten inches of water earlier in the year. It came out of nowhere just as the lure reached my feet and actually brushed my wellie as it grabbed the lure. I've been handling pike for more years than I care to remember, and this one was only about twelve pounds, but by christ it spooked me!

[Peter Waller]

I think that the pike is the most exciting, but, well, that doesn't necessarily make it the most fun, does it? I reckon I have more fun with a centre pin, quill float and the humble roach and magnificent perch.

[trent.barbeler]

Dear Chaps,

 

I could twitch my quill and pen some tales that would thrill and excite.

 

And I might just do that shortly.

 

In the meantime, I'll say that stalking wild browns on small streams takes some beating. Not that it requires more skill than its does for chub or barbel, but for the fact the frying pan awaits the trout.

 

A chilled drink, pan fried fresh fish, consumed at the river bank in the dappled shade of overhanging willows.

 

Perfick.

 

Lee.

[Paul Boote]

trent.barbeler:

Dear Chaps,

 

I could twitch my quill and pen some tales that would thrill and excite.

 

And I might just do that shortly.

 

In the meantime, I'll say that stalking wild browns on small streams takes some beating. Not that it requires more skill than its does for chub or barbel, but for the fact the frying pan awaits the trout.

 

A chilled drink, pan fried fresh fish, consumed at the river bank in the dappled shade of overhanging willows.

 

Perfick.

 

Lee.

Chub, barbel, roach, mullet, indeed anything that isn't currently (or likely to be) Official Angling Trade Species Flavour of the Month...

 

But wild trout, though...?

 

Now,I know a bit about them.

 

I'd agree with Lee, but caution you all to forget the frying pan. If we all suddenly did that - had an idyllic, bucolic, al fresco fry-up - what would we be left with?

 

Rainbows (the fish not the spectral vision).

 

Nice fish and all that, rainbows, don't get me wrong, especially when they're wild, or at least swimming in the right sorts of waters... Fine pike baits, sometimes, too.

 

But definitely NOT the real thing, and a very poor replacement for wild browns often either fished or polluted out of their home range now.

 

And they look GREAT as they swim away, those wildies do, just like barbel, chub, roach etc...

 

[ 22. May 2005, 11:26 AM: Message edited by: Paul Boote ]