How long does it take for a pike to die?

[Lurking Pike]

quote:

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we don't get PIke down here,too warm

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well remembered Nugg.

[Vagabond]

Many thanks Jim and LP for responding with the web pages.

 

Now, re the question of do pike die as a result of being spawnbound?, or because of swallowed traces?

 

What if the two are connected? Ie, pike swallows trace, comes to no immediate harm, and SHOULD, if perceived wisdom is correct, eventually digest the hooks and wire (provided these are susceptible to acid corrosion - ie there is nothing stainless etc present)

 

However, what if the traces are still present at spawning time ? Does their presence inhibit spawning? or does the combined stress of spawning and trace prove fatal?

 

Difficult to prove/disprove.

 

However, whatever the true position, it is obviously very important to prevent pike swallowing baits. Bearing in mind that there is a class of pike catcher (I avoid the word angler) who believes in letting pike catch themselves and doesn't read threads like this, can anyone come up with a "bolt-rig" (or any other) system for pike that prevents them swallowing the bait?

 

We need something that is moron-proof and can be "sold" as an effective method via the weeklies..

 

It can be done - for example skate pose a different set of problems to pike, but skate fishers have refined their end-tackle so that a deep-hooked skate is now becoming a very rare occurrence.

[Lurking Pike]

Peter an idea why there might be traces in the fish, the rig may get snagged on the bottom,(with the bait still attached.)and the pike picks it up. I know from my personal expierience that the broad i fished was particularly snaggy.

[big al]

ay my club we are currently looking at introducing a pike ticket where all pike anglers must pass a short course to demonstrate they can fish properly,we are talking to PAC to see if they can put it together.will let you know if it gets off the ground hope so.cheers big al

[grumpybum]

One thing over looked is the age of the pike. Any pike around 35lbs would be by definition an "old" fish, so the act of spawning could be the final nail in the coffin. Even the mid doubles could be old fish so the same argument could be used here.

Dont forget its not uncommon to find dead carp and bream after spawning to.

I am not trying to take any heat from the chuck it and chance it brigade, but if the problem was hooks and traces surely pike would be found dead all through the year.

 

As to when they spawn I know of a water where they dont spawn untill late April at the earliest.

[Lurking Pike]

Can you describe roughly the climate please

[Leon Roskilly]

Vagabond:

 

What if the two are connected?  Ie, pike swallows trace, comes to no immediate harm, and SHOULD, if perceived wisdom is correct, eventually digest the hooks and wire (provided these are susceptible to acid corrosion - ie there is nothing stainless etc present)

I attended a talk by Bernice Brewster a while back. She had performed post-mortems on pike that had swallowed tackle.

 

It had not been digested by acid.

 

Rather tissue had grown around the tackle, causing large 'lumps'.

 

The biggest problem with losing a pike, hooked on a multi-treble rig, is that the throat becomes 'stitched' so that it can never swallow another meal, or else its next meal becomes impaled on a free treble, and decomposes in its throat, blocking the gullet.

 

No one should ever cut a line and release a deep hooked pike with the hooks still down the pike's gullet. (some other species, using single hooks, this is the best option ie eels and perch).

 

Keep pulling with a firm pressure, and you should be able to slowly pull the pike's stomach up into its mouth.

 

Once the hooks have been removed, the stomach should go back down the gullet simply by holding the fish head high, maybe with a little gentle poking with a blunt object.

 

In any case, the stomach will be 'swallowed' back down, when the pike is held in the water to recover.

 

Tight Lines - leon

[Leon Roskilly]

big al:

ay my club we are currently looking at introducing a pike ticket where all pike anglers must pass a short course to demonstrate they can fish properly,we are talking to PAC to see if they can put it together.will let you know if it gets off the ground hope so.cheers big al

Wouldn't it be nice if that becomes universally adopted

 

Well done that club )))))))))

 

Tight Lines - leon

[Nugg]

big al:

ay my club we are currently looking at introducing a pike ticket where all pike anglers must pass a short course to demonstrate they can fish properly,we are talking to PAC to see if they can put it together.will let you know if it gets off the ground hope so.cheers big al

It would be of interests to know exactly what the contents of such a course was.

Originally posted by peter Waller

 

Have the some you have opened, all contained rigs as suggested, and if so, what would you say the quality of the tackle used was, was it broken at the line? If that were the case it could point toward inappropriate line strength or knot used.

 

[ 01. June 2003, 06:15 PM: Message edited by: Nugg ]

[Vagabond]

Re the undigested traces referred to by Leon. I feared as much, which is why I called the idea of traces dissolving in digestive juices "received wisdom".

 

Pike traces need rethinking - do we really need multiple treble hooks? A mate of mine now puts his static dead baits on a large single reduced-barb hook, and he still catches plenty of pike. Makes unhooking a darned sight easier too.