Pike & Soft Plastic Lures

[M Godliman]

I had the other five

 

Martin.

[Peter Waller]

I just had a day of depressing low light and abject greyness, and my barometer said nothing about a high!

[PeterK]

Hi Newt,

 

I love to fish medium size soft lures like 'Toothy Critters'. I use the type with the long tail that streams out behind causing the lure to swim I also use the medium/light weight ones because I feel they swim in a more realistic way.

 

I have yet to catch a really big pike with them but I've landed loads of jacks up to about 11lbs and also some good Perch.

 

I've fished them from bank and boat and the results are amazing.

 

In a flood (on the kennet) I've tossed them into holes and tree roots. You wont always have to work them because they swim as soon as they hit the water. I have had some great instant takes, the splash seems to alert the fish and then it's often taken as a natural reaction.

 

The fact that they swim on their own helps from a boat too. I cast and hold the rod very high to keep the line up. The lure then swims down in an arc. When it's as deep as I want it I bring it up (keeping the rod end high) and tighten the line and let it swim down in another arc.

 

Because they have a single hook in the back it's possible to bump them along the bottom and also they can be pulled through the middle of streamer weed, I've cought a few bonus fish that way.

[Newt]

If anyone thinks the small lure size is causing problems with attracting large fish or if you can't get the colors, sizes, shapes you want

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/pouring_plastic.html

is a way to deal with that.

 

Rigging is well explained

http://www.fish-hawk.net/tips/wormrig/wormrig.htm

 

While I haven't tried any of these yet, some of these look interesting and the 10 inch "Turtle Back Worm" should be large enough to get the attention of a pike

www.berkley-fishing.com/products/Ca...evious=Products

[Dick Dastardly]

Large soft baits and in fact most other US lures are now a lot more available here Newt.There has as I said been a marked growth in their use due to this.If only our predators were as keen to take a lure as your Bass then I dont think anyone would bother to bait fish!

 

For I should imagine most of the guys here who havnt caudght Large Mouth Bass they are real suckers compared to Pike ,Perch and Zeds.Dont know if thats the same for Small Mouth though as I havnt caught them.Newt,Gerry?

 

Told the story before but it underlines my point- My mate has a tackle shop in Spain.In it he has a large "pond" that he keeps livebait in.Just for fun he has a couple of Bass in it caught from the river.You can sit on the side of it pulling a plastic worm (no hook) on a bit of line and they will grab it time and time again.......would a pike/perch/zed? I think not!

 

[ 14. December 2004, 06:03 PM: Message edited by: BUDGIE ]

[Steve Burke]

John, anticyclonic gloom is what we've had a lot of recently, and is quite common in winter when the anticyclone arrives from the humid Atlantic rather than from dry Europe. Basically it refers to high pressure with lots of cloud and little or no sun. Very depressing!

 

Most fish are undoubtedly affected by atmospheric pressure (despite many writers claiming that they aren't as the water they live is largely incompressible). The reason I believe is that most fish have a swim bladder, and this contains a mixture of gases. Gases of course most certainly are affected by pressure.

 

It's a very complicated issue and one I certainly don't know all the answers to. However, it seems that atmospheric pressure has an effect both on the ability of the fish to take in oxygen and also on its buoyancy.

 

High pressure causes the fish to sink somewhat and vice versa. If it didn't compensate for this it would then sink at an ever-faster rate. I suspect the fish corrects this by swimming higher in the water. I'd stress that this is just a hypothesis though, and gas enchange in the swim bladder is certainly involved.

 

It doesn't seem to be the level of pressure alone that's important. In fact changes in pressure seem to have even more effect. Certainly rising pressure seems to turn pike on.

 

A change in pressure often brings a change in weather. It may be that this weather change is even more important than the change in pressure, especially falling pressure.

 

For instance a depresion moving in will almost always mean more wind, which in turn oxygenates the water. It's also likely to bring rising temperatures as well.

 

Turning to spoons for perch, my favourite by far is the Abu Atom. I usually use the largest size i.e. 90mm/35gms. My guest's fish on Sunday both came on 25gm Atoms (after he'd tried spinners without success, and another friend had no joy with plugs). My perch came at longer range on a 40gm Abu Toby which, being thicker than the standard model, is excellent for long casting. However, the action isn't as good as the Atom.

 

As for soft plastics I'll leave it to others more experienced with them than me. However, I too have done well for pike with Masterline Head Cases (part of the Toothy Critter range of lures). See my review at anglers-net.co.uk/reviews/masterlin...-head-cases.htm

[Dick Dastardly]

FT you raised my favourite subject of air pressure and predator activity.Recently been in correspondance with Ratty on this one.It was really in answer to a question he raised about what constituted high/low pressure but there is some stuff you might find intyeresting and others may want to pass coment on,I will paste the whole reply I sent him-

 

Hi Russ, I havnt answered your question about “What constitutes High pressure” as it isn’t quite as straight forward as that! Meteorologists don't have any particular number that divides high from low pressure; it's the relative differences that count.

 

I think that all fish can not only detect changes in air pressure but can also sense “future” changes. Living in a pressurised environment i.e. water obviously magnifies this. To understand this you really need a basic understanding of how air pressure/weather are related and work.

 

Air pressure, in fact, is one of the important factors that determine what the weather is like.

Air pressure is also called barometric pressure because instruments called barometers are used to measure it.

 

The air's pressure is caused by the weight of the air pressing down on the Earth, the ocean and on the air below. Earth's gravity, of course, causes the downward force that we know as "weight." Since the pressure depends on the amount of air above the point where you're measuring the pressure, the pressure falls as you go higher.

 

The air's pressure is also related to its density, which is related to the air's temperature and height above the Earth's surface. The pressure is high at the surface where air is slowly descending - much to slowly to feel. And, this is going on over a large area, maybe a few hundred square miles. As air descends, it warms, which inhibits the formation of clouds. This is why high pressure is generally - but not quite always - associated with good weather.

 

The air that descends in high pressure areas, has to get to high altitudes in some way, and that way is by rising in areas where the pressure at the surface is low.

 

As air rises it cools. As the air cools, the humidity in it begins to condense into tiny drops of water, or if it's cold enough, into tiny ice crystals. If there is enough water, or ice, rain or snow begin to fall. This is why low pressure is associated with bad weather.

 

Well if your still with me and not bored titless you can see how in the Winter High air pressure results in clear skies, which lead to heavy frosty mornings and bright sunlight. These are very often, especially on the first high pressure day after a period of low brilliant days for predator fishing. They are actively hunting and if you get your homework right and are in the right place i.e. where they are! You can get real good catchs. Lives and lures seem to score best in these conditions or more Accurately, when the pike are feeding in this way.

 

Also have you ever noticed how carp and the likes feed better in the winter during Low air pressure weather conditions i.e. fairly mild, due to the overcast sky keeping the heat in and the inevitable wind?

 

On those initial high pressure days prey fish “know” the predators are active and keep their heads down! Try roach fishing at a venue with a good head of pike in these conditions and I bet you will find it no where near as good as on a low pressure day?

 

All the above is a combination of scientific facts and 35 years of practical observations whilst out piking. Which during the winter is a minimum of three sessions a week for me. Why do predators switch on with the rise in air pressure? God knows mate! I could theorise all day about light levels/prey fish being silhouetted or dazzled or what ever but I just don’t know! The mere fact that it works this way is good enough for me and I doubt if knowing why would catch me any more! I should guess that in the case of prey fish being more active in low pressure it is as simple as that they know the predators wont be so active!

 

Lastly take a look at this chart showing the air pressure readings for this week and compare them to how the weather has changed. Also note the relatively small (numerically) change in millibars/hectopascals (that’s the new fangled name! Same value though!!!) between the high and low pressure periods. The site is also handy for getting an accurate reading to “zero” your barometer or if you havn't got one to use as a barometer!

 

http://www.npl.co.uk/pressure/pressure.html

[argyll]

Budgie, over the years I've only had a dozen or so river smallmouth up at Harpers Ferry, so I'll bow to Newt, but I never saw any difference between the way small and largemouth bass hit a lure.

Spoons for perch. I've temporarily left them aside in favour of fast sinking lures, they seem to work better for me on the Thames in ten feet of water. Favourites are 1/8oz and 1/4oz jigheads with 3" yellow Berkely twintails or Berkely Exude softbaits. Any of Newts small wormy things will do. Change lure is a deep diving crankbait, 2-4" preferably yellow (chartreuse). I use Lucky Craft bass lures most of the time but Shakespeare Mid and Big S will do the trick. I have a load of Ondex spinners in a variety of sizes and whilst they work, they tend to attract more jacks than perch. I also find them a pain to cast. Steve knows more about perch than most of us collectively will ever know, but if I've learned anything its that perch are not too fussy, so long as you dont spook them. They are in the main greedy little beggers that will competitively scoff any lively lure that you put in front of them. It may be just some kind of coincidence but yellow or red seem to work best for me. So first find your perch and dont get too intense about lure patterns.

If you are going to start using soft plastics for pike then start with some 8 inch mag grubs. Nice and cheap usually less than a quid apiece, easy to use on a big jighead or a pair of linked trebles and they definitely work. Whilst you can occasionally catch by ripping the grubs through the water at high speed, the grubs work best at the slowest speed that will make the tail twist. Run them in shallow clear water and see how fast you need to turn the reel handle to make the tail vibrate. Thats the speed you need to memorise when casting out of sight and retrieving. Dont forget to alternate depth too. you can count these down in the water.

I know some prefer shads but I dont. They dont have the movement that you get from a grub and I have found them to be less succesful, but by all means give them a try. There are some good ready rigged shads from Fox and others, not forgetting Steves Toothy Critters. If you are using them for pike, make sure they are the larger 6inch size.

 

[ 14. December 2004, 08:32 PM: Message edited by: argyll ]

[Steve Burke]

I very much agree with Budgie that it's when the pressure first rises that pike usually come hard on feed. Whilst the weather at the time is undoubtedly relevant, I believe it's the rising pressure that's most important.

 

Perch on the other hand, at least when bait fishing, seem to feed best in low pressure. Having said that, it may be the low light (which is one of the most important factors with perch) that's the attraction rather than the pressure. The same goes for roach and, to a lesser extent, chub, although the latter will feed in a much wider range of conditions.

 

However, there's always exceptions. That's why we never stop learning, thank goodness. If it weren't a challenge any more I've give up fishing tomorrow!

 

I'm certainly still learning when fishing for perch, and I also learn about my favourite fish from other Forum members. Thanks, guys!

 

I agree with argyll that perch take a wide range of lures. Get the depth and speed right and some days they'll take anything! I remember one afternoon at Ardingly I caught perch from the same shoal on worm, maggot, spinners, spoons, plugs, jigs, plastic worms, wet flies, dry flies and nymphs!

 

However, what I did discover that day was you caught far more if you rang the changes. Once a fish or two had been caught on a particular bait or especially lure, you caught much fewer or even none at all until you changed to a different offering.

 

On the other hand, big solitary perch that aren't in competition with others in a shoal haven't got to react quickly to a bait or lure. They're a different kettle of fish altogether!

 

They certainly wise up to a given rig much more quickly than other species (including carp in my experience). This is especially compared with pike, that have the disadvantage that they eat a much narrower variety of foodstuffs than an omnivore like perch that can thus afford to be more choosy.

[Steve Burke]

Gerry, I forgot to ask, would you refresh our memories as to which grubs you use and where you get them? Thanks.

 

Which soft plastics have members found most successful with perch?