Pike fishing - what method?

[Tim Kelly]

Generally they're too weedy to really drag something across the bottom effectively from the bank, and I've only been able to boat fish one gravel pit, but on those days when the pike are really not having it I have caught occasional fish by hopping a smallish soft plastic across the bottom on a jig head and I think if you happen to drag it right across the pike's face they occasionally take it, but it's a bit of a needle in a haystack as they aren't prepared to move to the bait.

 

In fact I caught my first twenty doing exactly that!

Edited December 23, 2006 by Tim Kelly

[Dick Dastardly]

Tim you must have a days livebaiting with me on a classic high pressure day.I can garantee that you will change your opinion!

 

I cant speak from an experienced point of view about lures on gravel pits in these conditions but on the times I have used,a friend or other angler has used lures near me whilst Ive been doing well on lives they have caught well to.

 

Most of my lure fishing is still done when the water is warmer in late autumn.

 

John these days I very much base my choice of quarry on the conditions (on days that catching is more important than just going fishing) It just seems daft to have a crap days piking when I could have had a good days roaching! or vice versa.

 

Perch and high pressure? well to be quite honest I couldnt say as I simply just dont go perching in these conditions due to my prefference to be out piking! The only thing my experience of perching shows me is that the most influential factor apears to be the light levels.Hope Steve sees this as it would be interesting to hear about perch and high/low weather conditions.I would have thought it a bit harder to draw conclussions though because as you noticed recently not all high pressure days have the same bright light.

[Tim Kelly]

Love to Budgie. I'd also like to take you out on one of the days I think we're both describing on one of my pits!

[Dick Dastardly]

Yes Tim that would only be right! I would like to see if my bait fishing aproach would prove any more sucsessfull or not on your pits in these conditions that you struggle with lures.We will have to try and arrange something but it would be difficult as we are both wanting such exact conditions.Where abouts are you Tim?

[Tim Kelly]

West London, Ealing.

[Newt]

While freely admitting that live or dead bait is going to attract more fish at various times - if you want to fish lures and weedy, hard bottom waters like a gravel pit, how about these as possiblilties?

 

In both cases you have a lure above the weed line and a weight bouncing along to let the fish know that something approaches. Most preds are happy to take an easy prey they is above them so it should be a matter of slowly covering lots of water to increase your chances of pulling your rig by the nose of a pike that is willing to munch an easy meal.

 

Some specific advice on the various bits needed to make the rigs safe are probably in order but I'll leave that to the UK experts since I don't know exactly what you would suggest and I've noticed that for this, the UK has much better hardware available than the US.

 

Bog standard carolina rig /w floating lure

 

Variation for really horrible bottom where you have snags or jagged rock in addition to weed

[The Flying Tench]

Most of my lure fishing is still done when the water is warmer in late autumn.

 

Well Tim did say that it was high pressure days in WINTER that were the problem. Tim, is your experience the same when the water is a bit warmer?

 

Incidently, I've just been looking at 'Catch Pike' by John Wilson. He agrees with Budgie about bright days, but doesn't mention high pressure per se. On p103 he argues that in deep pits a series of overcast days mean that light levels are too low for pike to feed, and then, when there is a bright day, it can lead to a feeding spree for a couple of hours. But that wouldn't apply to canals and estate lakes so much, and I get the impression from Steve Burke as well as Budgie that the high pressure thing (in their experience) doesn't just apply in pits?

 

On another matter, no-one's commented on the choice of canal v pit in winter. I realise this may be because the people on this thread don't have canals nearby. Or maybe many canals have smaller pike?

[Dick Dastardly]

John what I meant was I couldnt comment on Tims veiws re lurefishing in the winter proper as I simply dont do enough of it!

 

Cannals v pits? doesnt bother me either way ! However in extreme cold conditions I choose rivers and faster flowing areas such as weirpools at that.Not just because they are ice free but also the pike are normally more active and prepared (forced?) to feed in these areas than still or slower water.

[Tim Kelly]

Summertime is totally different and fish are much easier to catch whatever the conditions - unless it gets too hot. Gravel pits get cold and a hard overnight frost with still air and bright blue skies kills any chance of a good day in my experience. A mild windy day with cloud cover is much more likely to get the fish moving. River are a much easier prospect in winter as the fish are compelled to eat more often as they have to use more energy against the current than stillwater fish.

 

Also, interestingly I am coming round to the idea that pike are much more likely to take lures during a "feeding window" when they might also take a bait than would be the case in warmer water where they can hit a lure when they might not bother with a bait.

 

Canal fishing, in my limited experience of just fishing the slough arm for a few years seemed best after the water got properly cold, with a few frosts. This also coincided with less boat traffic and clearer water. I had an amazing day the first day of the thaw on there a few years ago. It had been frozen for a week or two and I turned up the day it started to melt and the fish went bonkers! Again though, it's a rise in temps...?

[severus]

Most preds are happy to take an easy prey they is above them so it should be a matter of slowly covering lots of water to increase your chances of pulling your rig by the nose of a pike that is willing to munch an easy meal.

 

That happened to me the other night on Muskegon Lake, Newt. We were trolling for walleyes along a break in 10 - 15 feet of water going less than 1.0 MPH. Water temps were a few degrees above freezing gave us a reason to go slow and we ended up landing 6 walleyes and 2 pike, all in the dark. I knew that pike fed at night but this was the first time I had caught any at that time, and I'm sure they saw our shallow-diving stickbaits slowly wobbling over them before they struck.