More piking advice please guys.

[Slickfish]

I've decided to go try again this afternoon, now I've heard of a nice stretch of a local canal that has a large head of pike.

 

I can remember fishing it as a kid and it was stuffed with gudgeon and other small fish, and I mean stuffed, they got to be a pain at times. Light fishing would see you getting hundreds in a day.

 

Now however the gudgeon have all but gone(apparently) and around the same time the pike started coming out in large numbers. mainly jacks but with some larger one's thrown in. I cant see pike nailing them all, but fisheries change over time and it has been 14-15years.

 

I've been told that spinners, spoons and plugs don't really work, dead baits will pick up afew but live baits catch alot, is there any advice you guys can give on fishing a place like that?????.

 

Is there anything you can do to improve chances on a lure or deadbait????.

[Anderoo]

I've decided to go try again this afternoon, now I've heard of a nice stretch of a local canal that has a large head of pike.

 

I can remember fishing it as a kid and it was stuffed with gudgeon and other small fish, and I mean stuffed, they got to be a pain at times. Light fishing would see you getting hundreds in a day.

 

Now however the gudgeon have all but gone(apparently) and around the same time the pike started coming out in large numbers. mainly jacks but with some larger one's thrown in. I cant see pike nailing them all, but fisheries change over time and it has been 14-15years.

 

I've been told that spinners, spoons and plugs don't really work, dead baits will pick up afew but live baits catch alot, is there any advice you guys can give on fishing a place like that?????.

 

Is there anything you can do to improve chances on a lure or deadbait????.

 

You could try wobbling deadbaits. Have a look here: http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/Wobblin...its-t79467.html

[wayne baker]

Like anderoo said wobbling baits can be a good tactic. Like lure fishing you can cover a alot of ground. Small smelts can be good and also sprats. Small dead roach can be good aswell. Experiment with the speed of the retreave and use the rod tip to give them life like movements, Even let the bait settle on the botttom for a few moments then bring it to life again. this sometimes induces old esox to take it if hes feeling a little cagey.

As far as lures go try plenty, Pike are funny old fish and might ignore a certain colour or action on the day. Its all about finding how they want it on the day.

 

Regards Wayne.

[Andy Macfarlane]

Wayne's right. Lures will work on the right day, where all other methods fail and it's a good idea to change your lure every 30-40 casts or so, until you at least get a follow from a pike. There's no such thing as a pike water where lures won't work. It's a case of finding the right lure, colour, action but most of all, perseverance and concentration.

 

...andy....

[Slickfish]

I am so pleased with how today went.

 

Knowing how the water used to fish I couldn't resist buying half pint of maggots on the way down.

 

Had a wander and saw the most incredible shoal of bream just sitting there 30-40 fish all looked a good few pound. Hadn't got the tackle to try for them.

 

Tried all sorts on the pike front and had no joy, so I decided to get my 3m whip out and wind back 15yr's, and what on earth, the place is stuffed with Perch, chub afew minnows. had the smallest perch I hace ever seen followed by a nice 2lb'r, whicked fun on really light gear.

 

In the end I did give in to the temptation to stick a roach on the pike rod, and was rewarded with a take within 15min, Like a class clown I had moved pegs not long before and forgot to get my scales and weight sling back out, had everything else ready, That was my fault not the pike's so I was unwilling to make it wait for me to get sorted so I released it without getting a weight. Gutting as it was a nice fish, at a guess a low double, so around my PB for pike. I will not make that mistake again.

 

The catch has however raised another question from me, I had hold of the pike under the gill flap, lifted its head slightly, but it didn't open its mouth, as soon as I put the forcepts on its lip it would slowly open its mouth at the way then try to flap, rinse repeat, I was as recomended sat astride it to hold it down, obviously not sitting on it with any weight. got the hooks out(one in each corner of its mouth), the but still it did the same thing open up them flap.

 

Is there a secret to get them to open their mouth without the flapping???.

 

It went back no worse for it, got me back by going for a sulk rite in my little perch swim totally killing it off .

 

I am seriously thinking about going down again in the morning.

[Neil G]

Wayne's right. Lures will work on the right day, where all other methods fail and it's a good idea to change your lure every 30-40 casts or so, until you at least get a follow from a pike. There's no such thing as a pike water where lures won't work. It's a case of finding the right lure, colour, action but most of all, perseverance and concentration.

 

...andy....

 

 

There is.....it's waters where there are no pike lol

 

Sounds like you did alright with a low double, I can't even remember the last time I caught a fish that wasn't a single!

 

As for the flapping it's just a case of staying calm and having a bit of patience...they will open their mouths eventually! Careful with forceps/pliers and their teeth as you wouldn't want to break any.

Edited October 13, 2009 by Neil G

[wayne baker]

Its just a matter of getting out there and catching them you will soon get the hang of it. A couple of things i will say though. I see a lot of begginers useing a glove to hold there fishes mouth open when unhooking. But i think it is a good idea to use your bare hand as you will learn a lot more about the pikes mouth and where the bits you dont want to come in contact with are. Another thing i will add is be very careful if they do flap. It can be very easy to break through the skin on the lower part of the gill plate. If they flap be firm with them but dont fight them.

[J.K]

I see a lot of begginers useing a glove to hold there fishes mouth open when unhooking.

 

Though far from essential I can recommend this glove. You still have to be VERY careful as it isnt tooth proof but will stop you getting gill raker rash.

 

Getting caught from time to time by the gill rakers is part of pike fishing, so why not eliminate the problem & use a fish friendly glove ?

[Brian Carragher]

There are waters where lures don't seem to work in much the same way that deads don't seem to work on others. What probably happens in those instances is that the time frame for making the deads or lures work is very short and you have to work it out as to when the optimum time to use either is, get it wrong and you might as well flog a dead horse

 

You can sit there all day with your deads and not get a sniff but it may well be a night time dead venue only time and effort will tell, same as lure selection, you have to go with plenty of different patterns and actions to find out which is the preferred one on your bit of water

 

You will have to approach the canal in much the same way as you would approach a slow moving river, get out your pike float rod and stick a 2oz weight on the bottom, set a sliding stop knot and spend a couple of hours up and down the bank sussing out the water depths looking for ledges and drop offs and depressions in the bottom. If you can find the ledge to the channell you've probably found your pike ambush point where the pike patrol up and down the canal looking for a meal. If you find depressions in the bottom then make a mental note of where they are as they are another spot worth fishing in. See if you can pick up any detritus in the way of weed or dead or decaying vegatation as thats another spot where pike have a habit of lying up in

 

If it was me fishing that canal I'd have my standard float gear with me and a pint of maggots and try and catch myself a handful of livebaits as it would appear that you've already sussed out that liveys are the pikes preferred bait so I'd go along with that and give them what they want

 

Back to the areas that you've already sussed out and with your pike float set up get ready to fish over your already noted drop offs. Using an unweighted float set it about a foot and a half over depth and attach your weight of at least two ounce at the other end. You're now aiming to make a paternostered link from your main line that you can attach your liveys to , not forgetting to include a length of uptrace. Cast out past the drop off and draw back you float until you've got your livey over the top of the drop off. By tightening down to the weight, thats why you need a minimum of 2oz of lead, you will cock the float. Remember well that this method will only show up pike "bites" if you use an unweighted float instead of the traditional weighted float

 

The idea behind this set up is that your livey can only swim in a coned area underneath the float it can swim up or down but only as far as the trace will allow, this is why an uptrace is neccesary in case the bait swims up near your main line and the pike take the bait and mainline which will result in a bite off or break. Its a deadly way of presenting a livey over a drop off as your float will either lift and then lie flat if the pike take the bait at an angle to the weight and moves the weight thus releasing the tension on your line and uncocking the float, or it will just bob and sail under. Often your float will dissapear or lift and bob and your alarms won't even have made a beep its that sensitive a method

 

Its my favourite way of fishing for pike but requires a bit more effort firstly in catching the bait and then plumbing up and setting up correctly but when its done it will usually outfish deads by a very large margin. I like to fish skimmers roach and perch high up in the water under the float as they tend to work to find cover which helps pull the pike in, perch being a very good livebait that will stay alive all day if not attacked by a pike, skimmers tend to die of shock if a pike so much as looks at them, sometimes the pike comes up for a look at the bait before they even have a go at it, try it as I think your results will improve once you've got the method of bait presentation right

[Slickfish]

AH man your joking I would never have thought perch would be a good live bait being dark in colour, with spikes .

 

I sat near all day just catching perch yesterday, throwing them back, I got one roach and used that netting a 6.5lb pike near the end of the day.