Pike & Soft Plastic Lures

[argyll]

Steve, I used to get them from wherever I happened to be mooching around. Brundall Angling Centre was always favourite. On-line and on the 'phone, Gordon Griffiths alway seem to have plenty in stock. The two colours that seem to stand out from the rest result-wise, are orange and the two tone versions with a black back. Loads of flash coming off the two tones, so much so that I colour some of the plain orange ones with a black marker pen. forgot ...Harris do them too...or used to, I havent looked at their site for some time.

 

[ 14. December 2004, 08:42 PM: Message edited by: argyll ]

[Steve Burke]

Thanks, Gerry.

[Peter Waller]

Anticyclonic gloom aye? Yes, I like that! Sums up quite a few people's views on a number of things !

[Newt]

Re: air pressure - this is always interesting for me to read and to try (always failed so far) to figure out why UK observations about how fish respond to it is so at odds with the usual over here.

 

Rising pressure usually gives good fishing. However, when the pressure peaks and we get a few days of 'bluebird skies' when there is not a wisp of cloud to be seen anywhere, the preds almost all seem to move tight to cover and get real fussy about what, if anything, they will bite. I think the carp may so so as well but not as much experience with them.

 

After a couple of days if the pressure holds high they will start getting active again but during the first couple of days the trick is to downsize lures and to go with more 'stealthy' ones without a lot of flash or rattle.

 

Localized and rapidly falling pressure such as you get just before and at the very beginning of a rain storm is either very good or very dead and I still don't have a clue how to predict which way it will go.

 

A question for the zander anglers - do the usual US walleye rigs, lures, tactics work for zander? The two are so similar I'd expect them to but do they?

 

A perch/zander suggestion - a lure like the Senko rigged wacky. The bait has a high salt content so it will cast well and sink well with no weight and with the hook through the center, both ends wiggle nicely and the thing looks like a big, juicy lob worm that has fallen in the water and is struggling on it's way to the bottom. Wouldn't do as well with wire though unless you could mount some sort of flotation on the wire to make it to near neutral buoyancy.

 

Most fish will be taken on the fall.

 

It's a really stupid looking soft plastic. Shaped sort of like a ball point pen in fact.

 

 

 

 

[ 14. December 2004, 09:12 PM: Message edited by: Newt ]

[Tim Kelly]

Zander do respond to Walleye tactics, as you would expect, although generally larger sized baits are more effective than are commonly used for Walleye. The other big difference is that most of the writings about walleye tactics are based on fishing large stillwaters from boats. There is NO large stillwater in the country with boat access and zander to my knowledge so most of the tactics need a severe modification! All our boat fishing for walleye is done on rivers, with very few exceptions, and those who lure fish for them are very few in number. The most popular way of catching Zander is bait fishing at night.

[slodger]

'There is NO large stillwater in the country with boat access and zander to my knowledge'

 

You can access a large stillwater that once held the record, in a boat Tim. It's a super water for lures too.

[Tim Kelly]

The only one I can think of is the dreaded Grafham, but you might as well beat yourself over the head with a haddock as try to fish American walleye tactics on there! Everything that might get you a fish is banned and what fish there may be in there are persecuted by the management who want to get rid of anything that doesn't have spots on it.

[slodger]

'The only one I can think of is the dreaded Grafham'

 

Grafham's never held the record Tim, at least not to my knowledge. I don't want to upset anyone by mentioning venues, but I'll pm you details if you'd like. It's a day-ticket water.

[Tim Kelly]

I'd be interested to know.

[slodger]

Pm sent Tim.