Pike & Soft Plastic Lures

[Tim Kelly]

Cheers Chris. I had heard of it, is it a large bit of water then? I always imagined it was fairly small.

[Newt]

I find myself wondering if we have any lurking members/visitors on the site who have read this thread (and some of the other lure threads) and decided to give the lure thing a try - especially piking with soft lures.

[Steve Burke]

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.

When I first started reading US books and magazines I was very surprised for the same reason!

 

Two things spring to mind here. Perch are affected in a similar way, but then they're similar to bass. Pike seem to be opposite in this respect. Indeed, I go pike fishing after a cold front with some optimism, but I wouldn't then expect to catch perch in open water until the light fades.

 

Secondly, our cold fronts are nothing like as severe as in the States. The difference is probably due to our maritime climate. We rarely get extremes of temperature or humidity, and very often there's little change in either temperature or humidity after a cold front. Indeed, a 10F drop in temperature would have most Brits talking about weird weather!

[Peter Waller]

Newt:

I find myself wondering if we have any lurking members/visitors on the site who have read this thread (and some of the other lure threads) and decided to give the lure thing a try - especially piking with soft lures.

12000 postings can't go without comment!

 

Is well done appropriate? Whatever is, plenty of it Newt!!

[Dick Dastardly]

Definately agree with Steve that light levels,or should I say changing light levels are the biggest feeding trigger for Perch. To a certain degree Zander as well.

[slodger]

'is it a large bit of water then?'

 

It's a fair size Tim.

[The Flying Tench]

Steve Burke:

I very much agree with Budgie that it's when the pressure first rises that pike usually come hard on feed.

 

Perch on the other hand, at least when bait fishing, seem to feed best in low pressure.

Steve, thanks for all your answers, but you still haven't cleared up one point. Do you agree with the majoity view (I think) on this forum that for deadbaiting for pike LOW pressure is best, or do you hold a contrary view that rising pressure is best for all types of pike fishing?

[The Flying Tench]

Steve, I can't find Abu Atoms anywhere on the Net. It would seem they've been discontinued. I guess Abu Tobys would be the nearest thing?

[Peter Waller]

Atom copies are available from a number of sources. Probably why ABU no longer supply 'em.

[Steve Burke]

The Flying Tench:

Steve, thanks for all your answers, but you still haven't cleared up one point. Do you agree with the majoity view (I think) on this forum that for deadbaiting for pike LOW pressure is best, or do you hold a contrary view that rising pressure is best for all types of pike fishing?

The contrary view! In my experience high, or better still rising, pressure is better for pike even when deadbaiting. However in low pressure I'd expect to do better with deads rather than lures, and fished deep rather than up in the water.

 

I mentioned earlier that a pressure drop after a sustained spell of weather can also turn the pike on. I'd qualify this by adding that it's not so certain as rising pressure. It also seems to depend on what the weather had been like during the high pressure.

 

If there had been little wind I believe the water may have become de-oxygenated. Falling pressure usually means strengthening winds, which in turn leads to reoxygenation of the water.

 

On the other hand if it had been breezy during the high pressure period, falling pressure seems to have a negative influence.

 

In other words it's not the drop in pressure that appears to be important, but the increase in dissolved oxygen.

 

It's obviously a very complicated equation, and certainly water temperature also plays a part.

 

So rather than blindly following a generalisation, I'd suggest that you'll be more successful trying to work out what effect the conditions will have on the fish. You won't always be right (I'm certainly not!), but you'll get better with practice, and you'll have a lot of fun along the way!

 

[ 16. December 2004, 04:51 PM: Message edited by: Steve Burke ]