Winter Pike

[HOPPY4]

jeepster, Your comment (keeps me warmer than sat on my backside waiting) is a prime example of the need that I have. The times that I will Predator fish with live bait are in the summer when the season first opens. Until then, the preds are not the list of available prey. Thank You for the reply.

 

HOPPY4

[GlennB]

..... Once the weather turn colder, I am forced to keep moving and this type of fishing is what I do. How about others?

 

HOPPY4

 

Funnily enough I find that sitting in a huddle with something under my feet and a hand-warmer or 2 (and plenty of hot tea) keeps me warmer than strolling around. It's been said on this forum that "there's no such thing as bad weather, just inadequate clothing" (or similar ). Eventually I've found this to be true except for the fingers. The only reasonable way I've found to keep my particular fingers from going painfully numb in freezing weather is to keep them tucked away for long periods, which means floated and legered baits.

 

p.s. great fish Hoppy. Almost as big as the smile

[Peter Waller]

Good Morning,

Strange question as it might be. How many of you lure fish during this time of year? I ask as it seems that all the concerns are about the photos and scales and nothing about the actual Bait! I for one use Lure Exclusively during the Fall and Winter months for Predator fishing. This is both a physical and personal choices. The productivity of Lure fishing may not be as interesting to some as others, but I find it exhilarating. The Old School usage of Bass Lures while in the USA fits well with this form of fishing during this period. During the warmer periods, I will Carp and Wels fish most of the time and can remain in one location for longer periods of time. Once the weather turn colder, I am forced to keep moving and this type of fishing is what I do. How about others?

 

HOPPY4

 

Winter lure fishing is greatly underated in the UK, Hoppy. Those of us who do it know that it works, trouble is, we are not seen as serious pikers, and no one believes our results!! I have never questioned the effectiveness of lures for piking, I just know that they work, and they work well, if the angler knows what they are doing.

 

I've posted this before, but I was well witnessed accidently catching a known 30 pounder, on a lure very similar to a Big S. Funnily enough a very well known piker, of international repute, had just packed up after many hours deadbaiting in that area. I just happened to be passing through his very recently vacated swim and bang, I had her. The following weekend the circus arrived, scores of rods everywhere, non with lures though. Funny old world.

[Hemi]

Concerning winter fishing in Sweden.

Here in Sweden our lakes are often covered in ice from December to April, this results in us getting quite a bit of experience with ice fishing. For the past few years ice fishing for pikes has become increasingly popular. The pikes often gather just outside the bays where they are about to mate. At this point it may even be too easy to catch large pikes, often using live bait such as roach. If it is open water during the winter, it is best to use slow presentation of the bait with a halt. The largest pike taken here lately during ice fishing weight 17.6kg (38.8lb) though ten to thirteen kg (21-28lb) are common. One of the largest well documated pikes taken in Sweden was taken during January in open water, weighting in at 21.45kg (47.9lb) and was 131cm long.

 

The polar bears here we just chase away

 

Skitfiske Hemi

[Peter Waller]

Polar bears, thats nothing, we have to contend with irate wives demanding that the house be painted. Now, that can be fearsom!

 

Hemi, what is the largest pike taken in Sweden? Your fishing strikes me as spectacular.

[poledark]

I do not fel qualified to comment on Hoppy's fish, but I went to a PAC meeting tonight and took a print of the fish.

I asked all those present to write down what they expected the fish to weigh...varied between 23lbs and 31lbs....most said around 26lbs.

 

They were all very experienced pikers.

 

Den

[NEO]

Hemi, what is the largest pike taken in Sweden? Your fishing strikes me as spectacular.

 

The largest pike taken in Sweden weighed 26,57 kg. However there are some doubts about how it was caught.

 

The official record is 19,34 kg (You have to weigh the fish at a crowned scale, so it's almost impossible to get the record if you want to release it).

[slodger]

'I do not fel qualified to comment on Hoppy's fish, but I went to a PAC meeting tonight and took a print of the fish.'

 

Okay Den. Next time take a print of the fish pic I posted of a 27lb 6ozs pike earlier in this thread, and see what those same 'experienced' pikers make of that. I'll guarantee just about none of them, will give it as over about 18/19lbs. I've posted it up on the PnP predator forum in the past, following exactly the same type of thread as this, and even pikers like Nev Fickling didn't get the weight close.

 

I appreciate that in respect of Hoppy's fish, he gave it's length, and that may be justifiable reason for some of the more informed pikers such as our Swedish friends to cast doubts over his claimed weight. You can't tell from the sole evidence of a photo of an angler that you don't know, what the weight of the fish he's holding might be. It doesn't matter how experienced you are.

[dario]

As you say slodger, it's almost impossible to tell the weight of a fish just by looking on a picture. But in this case it's a little bit different, since we know the length of the fish. And it's impossible that a fish with the condition like Hoppy's pike had, and with a length of 115cm could get up to 20 kilos..

But it's still a lovely looking pike, but not really close to the 20 kilos it's claimed to be.

[Hemi]

I concure with Neo. The 21.45kg pike is very well documented (photo and a crowned scales) and is counted among Swedish pike fishers as the record to beat, however, I didn't find the photograph of that pike nor did I find the picture of the 20.7kg pike taken by Karin Franck or the 20.01kg pike taken by Anders Persson (both using crowned scales). However, here are three other pictures of pikes above 20kg.

 

Claimed weight 26.57kg, unclear how it was caught so it was not qualified.

 

 

 

Here are two caught and released pikes, Johnny Jensen 21.2kg and Johan Randén 20.06kg.

 

 

 

There are currently daily reports of fantastic fishing in the archipelago of Stockholm, most of them are caught with jerkbait. These are taken the other day, 50 meters apart by two fellows who usually fish together. Both of them are taken with buster jerk and, of course, c&r. 14.56kg (32.1lb) and 16.315kg (36lb) respectively.

 

Skitfiske, Hemi.