Lure fishing - New to this!

[stooby]

Hi all and Happy New Year!!!

 

Myself and "Scottca" have recently recieved new spinning rods and are eager to give them a test run! However, neither of us have any real experience of lure fishing so any high level key pointers/advice would be good!

 

We are going to give the River Ouse a try in Buckingamshire at the weekend as I know it holds good Perch and a few nice Pike.

 

Should we be fishing low, middle or high this time of year with the lures? How much of a difference does the colour of the water make when using lures? How many casts should you make before getting any bites before moving on to a different section of a river?

 

Any other pointers or advice would be greatly appreciated....

 

Many thanks,

 

Stooby...

[Anderoo]

Hi Stooby, while I can't really offer too much advice on the lure fishing, I have fished various bits of the Ouse in that area (not with lures though), so might be able to help a bit in general terms. I always found the Ouse perch to be very much 'dusk or bust' with most of the day completely blank and then - if you were in the right place - a flurry of feeding activity in the last hour of daylight. With all the crays in the river, I also think they don't feed every day; I think they go on binges, stuffing themselves silly and then resting up for a few days. So blanks are common.

 

When they rest up in the daytime, they are usually in the snags or in the marginal reeds. So in the day I would concentrate on these areas and hope to stir one into action. The closest I came to a lure-caught Ouse perch was when I was bringing a silver spoon down the margin hoping for a pike, and a big perch bolted out from under my feet and had a swipe at it, but unfortunately missed and was never seen again

 

However, at dusk (and probably dawn, if you can handle it - I can't!) when they are feeding, they are bold and hunt out in open water. So I would then concentrate on long casts down and upstream in the middle.

 

There are quite a few pike (mostly small) so hopefully even if the perch don't show, a few pike will turn up. These are almost always in the edge.

 

I always found some colour in the water helped with the perch, but I imagine it will be low and clear at the moment. But there is always a chance.

 

From the small amount of lure fishing I've done recently, I would say start by fishing along the bottom. Although it's not a particularly deep river anyway, so depth may not be that vital. On other rivers I've found I catch any pike that are going to get caught quite quickly, but the perch are a lot trickier. Several times on the Thames I've covered an area of the river well with one lure with no indications, changed the lure to a different colour, and then had a perch first cast.

 

General terms again, and hopefully the more experienced lure fishers will chip in, but I have also found that perch prefer a steady retrieve, and pike like it quite erratic.

[scottca]

Thanks Anderoo - as Stooby said, were hopefully heading out this weekend..

 

armed with my new spinning rod and some lures.. hopefully not to produce the first blank of 2012

[stooby]

Excellent thanks Anderoo! some great pointers there for this river and all noted! I'll be sure to bear all that information in mind when I go after both the stripeys and the Pike! Just catching anything would be a result!

 

Would you recommend spinners/jelly lures/spoons etc?

 

Cheers,

 

Stooby...

[Anderoo]

Excellent thanks Anderoo! some great pointers there for this river and all noted! I'll be sure to bear all that information in mind when I go after both the stripeys and the Pike! Just catching anything would be a result!

 

Would you recommend spinners/jelly lures/spoons etc?

 

Cheers,

 

Stooby...

 

I don't know really, I'd experiment and see what works, or what you prefer fishing with! I'm really into the little rubber shads at the moment, but I don't know if they are any more or less effective than other types of lure, I just enjoy using them the most.

[scottca]

as im fishing with Stooby ill hijack his thread

 

with regards to line strength, what line strength would you say to use (if not using braid) to attach to the wire traces? need to get my spare spool filled and not sure what to go for.

 

The reel is a little Mitchell Avocet Silver, I have a feeling its a 2000 Rear drag, I think its rated up to 6lb line (could be wrong) - am I right in thinking you can just put bigger lines on but you lose some length?

 

Thanks,

 

Craig

[Rich_]

I would consider using braid if you hadn't already, you'll feel a lot more of what's going on at the other end, but if you are using a fixed spool reel don't fill it as far as you would with mono, it helps stop loops on the line on the cast so I've heard.

[scottca]

Thanks Rich,

 

Could I use mono instead? if so, what size would you recomend?

 

Thanks,

 

Craig

[Rich_]

You can use mono if you want, the breaking strain will depend on a things like the weight of the lures you're going to be casting . Unless the rod is one of those light action ones , 6lb mono line may be a bit too light, particularly if the water is snaggy.

[Anderoo]

I'd stick to 10lb mono, that should be strong enough for whatever turns up and not be too think to inhibit casting. You're right, you can put it on any reel but the spool will hold less of it than a lower diameter/breaking strain line. Daiwa Sensor is cheap and reliable.