Killers!!

[dave_h]

I have been fishing for this fantastic fish for 35 years and whilst i have occasionly cast a odd big s or spinner across the water i cant help thinking that out of all the pike i have caught there is a distinct increase in wounded and dead pike in the last ten years .

And i think it is down to the "killer lure" and most of all those rocket lures can anyone be serios with these lures!!you know the ones about the size of your foot with grappling hooks hanging of them. :mad:

We got it from the states where biggest is best and win at all costs and i mean at all costs.

Please this is not a dig at our cousins across the pond i find americans on the whole very nice and polite people but these things should have stayed over there.

If you make it easier for people to catch pike then more will fish for them,that you might think is a good thing getting kids out and fishing is good so i would have to agree with you but the problem lies in that to fish for pike it is not just a matter of rod line and hook as in arp,bream,etc etc they have to use traces,and no how to un-hook they have to have forcepts wirecutters glove mat as pike are very delicate but in many cases they dont and they snap of leaving the pike an agonising death or they rip the deep hooked lure out of its mouth causing damage and again death.

Two years ago i stumbled across a large pike i estimated it at probably 15-18lb when it was alive on the river bank at closer inspection it had starved to death looking at its lean appearance, at closer inspection it had a lure in its throat and it was about the size of my hand but the worst thing of all was tied to it was nylon and i estimated it at about 4lb strain :mad: :mad:

I know education is the answer but common sense is too leave them in the tackle shop and spend your £14 on smaller lures or bait,anything but these killers.

Dave.

[Croix]

This subject of big lures has cropped up a few times in the angling press and on the various angling websites and to be honest I don't think the theory that big lures kill or do pike any serious damage holds water.

Big lures fished properly on the correct tackle do no more or less harm than any other correctly used piking method. I suspect that unattended or badly fished bait rods kill far more pike every year than big lures ever could.

Any method used wrongly can damage/kill fish.

I've been regularly using large lures for around 8 years now and can honestly say that I don't think they do the pike any serious harm when fished properly.

 

Dave

[davidP]

Lures are like any method - if used inappropriately then they're potentially dangerous. The same could be said for practically any method of fishing you'd care to mention. Big lures are fine provided they're fished with suitable line and, in my opinion, have excess hooks removed by which I mean any more than 2.

 

The main problem I see with lures is that it's quite a learning curve to get used to using them, particularly when fishing from the bank. If you get snagged up when in a boat you just take the boat to the lure and pull it out. If you snag from the bank then all you can basically do is pull and hope it'll come out - not really a very satisfactory outcome. The end result is a lot of snagged up lures and treble hooks left in the water.

 

One thing I would like to see would be more fish-friendly hooks as standard on lures. In these modern times when whisker barbed hooks are the norm how come most lures come with hooks that have huge barbs on them? I normally flatten the barbs down before fishing, but a lot of people just pick up a lure and start thrashing the water to a foam without too much thought about the impact of what they're doing. Yet what chance does a pike have of sheding a lure a lost lure with hooks like that??Can you imagine the response if you fished for carp with hooks like that??

[Peter Sharpe]

re: dave-h

I'm glad somebody agrees with me.

[Cranfield]

There is nor reason that any rig/lure used for pike, needs more than two hooks and they should be made barbless.

 

I have never caught or found a pike with a lure attatched to it.

However, I have caught a number with a bitten off dead bait rig in their mouth/throat, usually consisting of about 6" of wire trace.

 

Whilst its too easy to blame kids, I do cringe when I see them setting off, with no unhooking mats, no landing nets and you know they probably have no gloves or forceps. :mad:

 

The answer is better supervision and bailiffing.

[Alan Pearce]

Whilst I agree with what has already been posted I am certain that the increased pressure puton our pike during spring and summer has a big part to play with the increase in pike deaths. And whilst I know that pike can provide superb sport during these warmer months, do you not think that fishing for them should be preserved for the autumn and winter i.e. October until March.

 

Alan.

[Danny H]

When I first joined this site, I started off with a tirade against 4 rod Carp anglers.

I was advised to do a search of this site as the topic had been discussed over and over.

 

I suggest that is the advice I'll give here.

 

We have debated this time and again, Dave do a search on the site Using " Big lures" or Jerkbaits.

 

If it is still your opinion after reading that lot I suggest you don't use big lures - problem solved.

 

I will just say that most people who invest heavily in the tackle to be able to use big lures,

fish responsibly.

 

I too have found countless snap tackle in pike, and even found a small spinner.

 

I will finally add that when ever I fish below a standerd match fisherman, the roach often wash down dying after being caught, should that be banned?

 

[ 21. August 2002, 10:42 PM: Message edited by: Danny H ]

[dave_h]

Danny when you said you first came on this sight and were told to look up in the search column because us "old timers" have heard it all before, how did that make You feel!!!!!!!

Nuclear weapons, abortion,Isreal the war,and september 11th have all been discussed before but new generations(Newbies) will discuss them in years to come and so they should and they should put there views forward everytime.

So i see anyone who brings up anything that has been discussed before should just read it and shut up.

I am sorry i bored you dan but i suspect that as long as AN is here and pike swim our waters then you may have keep saying this to new members,as all they want to do is express there opinions and what is wrong with that.

Cheers

[Danny H]

Point taken Dave, and well made.

 

You are right.

[Newt]

dave_H - I do lures more than bait. Not pike since it is too warm here for them but other preds.

 

If I have lures with large-barb treble hooks I now make it a practice to snip off one of the three and crush the barbs on the others. But that is mainly a convenience to make unhooking easier and I know I do lose more fish that way.

 

Still, I have to say that in a lot of years of fishing with lures, I have only seen one or two fish with another lure in the mouth and haven't seen but one dead with a lure so I suspect the incidence of problems from that exact cause is low.

 

For one thing, a fish will rarely take a large lure deep down. And I imagine they can usually shake loose from a heavy weight (such as a crank bait) that is in the lip. I know they do it often enough when I have them on.

 

OTOH, I do see trebles from bait fishing lodged in there so I submit to you that trebles with live or dead baits is much more dangerous to the fish.

 

And FWIW, most of my lure work these days is with single hook lures. I like em unless I run into a day when they just won't work.