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Summer pike fishing


davedave

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From where do we get to believe that shallow water = low dissolved oxygen ? If I took two 10 acre waters ,one of an average depth 4.5 feet , and one of average 12 feet why would the deeper water have more dissolved oxygen than the shallower one per cubic foot/metre . The surface area is the same and I would hypothesise that if the temperatures were the same , wind exposure was the same , available oxygen would be basically the same for a given volume . Surely temperature is the critical point . I agree that pike fight better in higher water temperatures , but does that make it wrong to fish for them when correctly handled ?

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JOHN H,

 

Water volume is expressed as "ACRE-FOOT" of water. This is the volume of water covering one surface acre at a depth of one foot. One of your example lakes has a LOT more water than the other. At 12 ft. the water temperature is going to always be about 3.8 C. At 4.5 ft it is far more dependant on external factors like air temp.

However, temperature is indeed the critical issue. Temp affects the solubility of oxygen. At 0 degrees C oxygen is about twice its solubility at 30 degrees C. "Specific conductance" (solids like salt) dissolved in the water is taken into consideration. Water maxed out is "saturated". Warm water can become saturated quickly.

I don't think pike will read this and I agree it's OK to fish for them in the summer.

Phone

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Far better fish to catch and far more likely to take a lure in the summer; more about too, especially jacks. They're fitter and more energetic, jump and run and pull far better than the bag of spuds they are in winter, all covered in leeches. I'd say pike are best fished in summer personally, they're in far better shape and health and will recover better. NB i'm talking river pike, even slow moving rivers. I don't fish lakes and rarely fish broads either anymore.

 

BUT. To have them recover better it's important to return them in good shape. Don't dick about with light lines, there's no point anyhow. Use braid, 20-50lb is good (the latter keeps your lures out of trees and is the thickness of 10-12lb mono) and either fish lures which rarely require pliers let alone forceps or be quick on the strike if you fish baits. Then get them in, unhook them firmly and efficiently and put them back in a way that ensures they're ready to go before you do. This might mean holding them upright briefly pointing into the flow or fanning water over the gills or even pushing them through the water but it shouldn't be for long if you've unhooked them efficiently.

 

I really don't understand why so many people have repeated and made us swallow the 'pike are the most fragile fish in the world' lie, because that's what it is. A lie. Every specimen hunter, be it carp, barbel, bass, tope or whatever seems to think their chosen species is some kind of god fish that should be wrapped in cotton wool as it's so fragile (so why drag them out of the water at all?) when the reality is often very differnt. I'm not saying mistreat them, just make your own mind up from your own observations.

 

(I feel like a Luftwaffe pilot, expecting to be shot down in flames any second...!)

Wetter than an otter's pocket.

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Interesting point Mark, thanks

 

I didn't catch anything anyway, fished with small spinners, tried a few spots of river including a deep pool, big bend and a weirpool but to no avail, I was surprised I didn't even get a trout. Found out one of my wellies has a hole in it, and on the way back stopped into a club pond to try for the perch and had nothing there either. A good day really :rolleyes:

Edited by davedave

As famous fisherman John Gierach once said "I used to like fishing because I thought it had some larger significance. Now I like fishing because it's the one thing I can think of that probably doesn't."

 

 

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Interesting point Mark, thanks

 

I didn't catch anything anyway, fished with small spinners, tried a few spots of river including a deep pool, big bend and a weirpool but to no avail, I was surprised I didn't even get a trout. Found out one of my wellies has a hole in it, and on the way back stopped into a club pond to try for the perch and had nothing there either. A good day really :rolleyes:

Shame you didnt catch but you have to be in it to win it. Theres always next time :fishing1:

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This is true ATS.

 

I'm back on the river tomorrow, I was going to ask for some advice actually. Its quite a wide and deep bit of river compared to most of the smaller shallower rivers i'm used to. I've only ever fished it for pike but it's got loads of silvers and supposedly bream, tench, perch, chub and carp as well. To get to where I want to fish I couldn't really go on the float so I was thinking the feeder. If I fished a largeish cage or open end feeder with some fairly firm groundbait and clipped it, with my rod rest high do you think this approach could work? I know it's hard to say as you don't know the river but would you say feeder tactics would be the best way?

 

I've got lobs, a pint of white maggot, groundbait, meat, corn, hemp, micros, crumb and some frozen maggot if I need it.

 

Thanks

As famous fisherman John Gierach once said "I used to like fishing because I thought it had some larger significance. Now I like fishing because it's the one thing I can think of that probably doesn't."

 

 

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davedave,

 

IN THE US as the water warms and "silvers" become more plentiful pike become harder and harder to catch until they are almost impossible in August. They are well fed with so many options you practically have to challange them to a fight to get them to bite. It will appear as though the pike hit out of anger (fish have no emotions).

 

I like the traditional Red-&-White Daredevil and the Yellow 5-of-Diamonds Daredevil, red for clear water, yellow for color between 4 and 6 inches long. Small pike in the margins - large pike behind features in the middle. It's what I was taught, not from LOTS of personal experience. Same lure for both large and small pike.

 

Phone

"Silvers" is a new term I had not heard until will after the beginning of the 21st century (mostly on AN). I'm assuming you use the term "silvers" like I would use the term "minnows".

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Been watching some videos on big river feeder fishing, the Shakespeare ones are good but when he put that lovely barbel in a keepnet I had to shut my eyes :unsure:

 

As famous fisherman John Gierach once said "I used to like fishing because I thought it had some larger significance. Now I like fishing because it's the one thing I can think of that probably doesn't."

 

 

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Dave,

 

My first choice on the river these days is always to trot a float down but if the river is not accessible for float fishing I would definitely give feeder fishing a go. I have had some very good days fishing the feeder. I would tend to go for hemp and groundbait in the feeder (or maggots of course) with a few free offerings but dont worry too much about packing the bait in too hard. The idea is to get it out of the feeder and onto the river bed so you dont really want it stuck in the feeder. A medium consistency is fine. If there is somewhere that you can drop the feeder into the margin then you can make up a test batch to see what consistency you need to get it out of the feeder. As you seem to have done a fair amount of still water fishing, one thing I would say is be prepared to use a very long hooklength if you need to in order to get bites. In the past I have used anything from 2 foot right up to 6 foot. I have always found the longer hooklength catches me more fish.

Edited by AddictedToScopex

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