Pike fishing

[The Flying Tench]

I've taken on board what a number of people have said recently about clear bright high pressure days being good for pike.

 

I gave the theory a try today, but I must admit i was a bit half-hearted because the high pressure has gone on for about a week, and I wondered if all the pike wouldn't have had their feast by now and be, well, full-up!

 

So I gave it a bit of a go at my latest discovered hot spot which is only about 18 inches deep. When I got there the water was crystal clear, and you could, for example, see the crayfish starting to tuck into the deadbait when i chucked it in at the end. I stayed well back from the water, of course, but even so I never believed that a pike would come into the open in such clear water - so I was there less than an hour, which admittedly isn't a fair trial.

 

But it raises a question. Are bright days good on clear shallow streams, or is lower light preferable in this case?

[Dick Dastardly]

Your asumption about them having allready fed is quite right John.

 

As for clear,shallow water my preference these days is for a fly! A dirty great big Dahlburg Diver on a floating line.Best way IMO of fishing slowly or in very shallow water there is.

 

Not into the fly fishing lark then try a floating surface lure.Preferably one that gives of lots of vibration/stimulation for very little movement.I find "tipping" the hooks with a "split tail" rubber worm a good way of achieving this.

Edited November 7, 2006 by BUDGIE

[Leon Roskilly]

Lures will often produce when pike are ignoring both livebaits and deadbaits.

 

Something to do with activating the pike's 'strike triggers' rather than tempting it's palette with food.

[Russell Fitzpatrick]

i have stalked pike in small streams,

 

one was a memorable event,i stalked this pike only for it to pick up and drop my roach dead,i had it popped up in a swim about 2-3ft deep,i balanced it out like a carper does a pop-up,head upstream,sitting almost like a livebait.

so teh next week i went back,looked about for the fish i had seen....i couldnt see her,so i put out a fresh popped up sardine,as i scanned teh water with my polarised specs on i spotted her coming upstream from a dying lily bed,straight on ebait and wallop she took it,the fight was incredible!!

i could see her every turn,and she had a companion!? another pike followed her as i played her......she weighed 19.06 and teh one following was easily a double.

 

wobbled deads are just as good as lures if not better! as you can leave em static and sight fish them.

Edited November 7, 2006 by Russell Fitzpatrick

[The Flying Tench]

Thanks, interesting stuff, though I'm not a very accomplished fly fisherman and I fear if I tried the fly rod I'd end up getting caught up in the trees!

 

The difficulty with lures in some of the places I'm thinking of is that there's a fair bit of rubbish in the water, and you keep getting snagged up - and then with the clear water you (or I, rather) scare every fish in sight. But a surface lure? Well, I've only got one, and I've never caught on it, so I must certainly give it a go.

 

No-one's answered the question about bright high pressure days, though. Do you find these are good for shallow streams the same as other waters?