Pike Attractants

[Russell Fitzpatrick]

better than oils imo is teh use of a block end feeder,teh big drennan ones (2oz) i fill one with say sardine or mackarel chooped into nice small chunks,crammed in using a small twig,fish this on a float-leger or running leger rig,-mass attraction-picked it up from p+p,good tatic fish a half mackrel on teh hooks(i often cut a whole joey's head of just below the gills and use this,teh other half is ya hookbait,saves on baits.

 

have had fish to 15lb on this method,can try it with roach sprats smelts(they work!),none have picked up the feeder its self,if i want attraction i use a feeder not oils..maybe im missing something??

[Dave Horton]

Instead of a ledger I use a swimfeeder filled with chopped sardine. Not sure if it works or not but it makes me feel happier that I am doing something positive

 

 

This is a ploy I've deployed (play on words) quite a few times. I'm convinced it helps!

[Steve Tighe]

Slightly away from the topic but what Needle to you prefer to use, i had two tackle shop bought biggies and the rubber has expanded on the plungers and stopped them from working.

 

i assume that the rubber took on the oil and expanded.

 

any brand suggestions ?

 

 

The rubber doesn't expand Melvin,chances are that the oil congealed a bit around it and you've pulled the plunger out.

 

Try cleaning the needle out with water after each time you use it even if you use it half a dozen times in a session,you'll soon know when all the oil is out. You'll get a bit of a longer life with it this way.

 

Of course,if you're doing this already please ignore the two previous sentences

[Steve Tighe]

The rubber doesn't expand Melvin,chances are that the oil congealed a bit around it and you've pulled the plunger out.

 

Try cleaning the needle out with water after each time you use it even if you use it half a dozen times in a session,you'll soon know when all the oil is out. You'll get a bit of a longer life with it this way.

 

Of course,if you're doing this already please ignore the two previous sentences

 

 

 

 

 

(edit) oh yeah,forgot to mention when you've finished with the needle for the day and you've cleaned it out,leave the plunger halfway up the vial just in case there's still a bit of oil residue in there,next time you use it just push down and you'll break any seal there.Hope this helps a bit.Fudgey's idea is a good one too.

[Guest rabbit]

I have always understood that what stimulates a pike to attack is movement of the prey fish, not smell. The pikes sensor receptors are triggered by a sick or injured fish. I am no expert on Pike so perhaps the better informed amongst us might want to comment. It could be that smell might be a factor, but I doubt it.

[Dave Horton]

I have always understood that what stimulates a pike to attack is movement of the prey fish, not smell. The pikes sensor receptors are triggered by a sick or injured fish. I am no expert on Pike so perhaps the better informed amongst us might want to comment. It could be that smell might be a factor, but I doubt it.

 

 

Pike certainly respond to the stimulus you mention Rabbit but as the very pinnicle of the fresh water food chain they have perfected scavenging too and as such are extremely adept at locating food through scent alone. I can be mistaken ofcourse but I'm sure that Smell is indeed a very important factor.

[Peter Waller]

Using scents can do no harm, or can it? I am convinced that pike wise up, and wising up to scents might be a factor. Scents just might identify dead baits that contain hooks.

 

But that said, I am also convinced that lures exuding a scent trail are often taken with greater alacrity than those without.

[Brian Carragher]

Not advocating livebaiting there are we Rabbit?. I seem to remember some of your previous postings on that topic were not favourable to that method.

 

If pike only respond to a movement of prey fish to trigger their attact responses then how do they or more to the point why do they attack deads. The answer has got to be their highly developed sensory system around their head and jaws that allows them to smell trace particles in the water and home in on them. Some scientists think the sensory system on pike works in much the same way as a shark in allowing it to detect electromagnetic fields as well as smell and movement. Pike will home in on a dead bait as its an easy way for them to feed and ingest energy from the dead rather than chasing live prey and expending more energy catching the prey than they get from consuming it.

 

As far as oils and attractants go, if they give you more confidence in their use then use them, after all fishing is confidence based. If you have confidence in your baits, presentation and tackle then you will invariably catch. Anything you can utilise to help you catch more fish has got to be a good thing.

 

As for needle guage I prefer a 2mm guage needle as it does'nt gum up with oil or bung itself up with fish flesh when injecting oil into the bait. A 1mm needle will soon gum up and be usless when on the bankside. Don't worry about a needle loosing its point, it does'nt matter I have had the same 2mm needle for over 2 years now and it still works fine. Can't say the same for the actual syringe though. I've gone through quite a few now as the rubber plunger usually perishes as it reacts with the oil making the rubber loose so that it wont stay on the end of the plunger.

 

Fishing a flooded river Ouse in York on Sunday a recast sardine injected with oil caught a fish. Coincidence or was it the oil, it was the only fish though. Four other pikers never caught so make your own minds up give it a go what have you got to loose.

 

Salmon oil has proved to be the best oil that I've used although pilchard and lamprey oils also work , I also agree with a previous comment about Van Den Eyne predator oil

[Guest rabbit]

Pike certainly respond to the stimulus you mention Rabbit but as the very pinnicle of the fresh water food chain they have perfected scavenging too and as such are extremely adept at locating food through scent alone. I can be mistaken ofcourse but I'm sure that Smell is indeed a very important factor.

 

Thanks Dave, if anyone should know it would be you, quite a creature the Pike, its the one species that I don't fish for much, to me its really best left for anglers who are experienced in handling the pike, I feel a lot more could be done to educate, perhaps a seperate licence should be required. But I digress....

 

Thanks again

[Melvin]

The rubber doesn't expand Melvin,chances are that the oil congealed a bit around it and you've pulled the plunger out.

 

Try cleaning the needle out with water after each time you use it even if you use it half a dozen times in a session,you'll soon know when all the oil is out. You'll get a bit of a longer life with it this way.

 

Of course,if you're doing this already please ignore the two previous sentences

 

 

Yeah, i think i just bought 2 crap needles as the rubber did expand to nearly double the size and came away from the plunger, tried cutting in half and sticking in back on but the rubber went very brittle, i like the idea of cleaning it, never thougt of that !!!

 

i am waiting on some from a midwife at work, so hopefully the good old NHS can provide me something that will last at least a season.