Pike in summer?

[The Flying Tench]

I half understand the case against summer pike fishing, but I've a couple of questions.

 

1) What's the difference with barbel? They're both big fish which can be exhausted by the fight. I can see the case for taking a fair while to let them recover before putting them back in running water, lest they go belly up and get swept downstream with risk of damage. But I've never heard anyone say you shouldn't barbel fish in summer.

 

2) What damage is likely in still water? I'm not suggesting you should let this happen, but if they did go belly-up what damage would result?

[poledark]

John, I used to do a lot of Barbel fishing and NEVER had one so exhusted that it needed nursing before returning. But then I didn't Faff about with soft rods and wear a silly hat.

 

Den

[Guest Brumagem Phil]

Same here poledark........in fact when fishing the severn when clear it was quite amazing to watch the barbel go and recover all on their own. For the first 10 feet or so its fairly fast flowing 2ft of water over stones and the barbel would simple swim calmly from the net and sit in the current all on their own and sit there for anything from 5 mins to half an hour before disappearing. They were not bothered by our obvious presence wither whilst there.

 

I have no issues with summer piking either provided people don't play the fish to death.

[Neil G]

I will be pike fishing this summer as I have little interest in other more traditional summer species i.e. carp

 

If anyone has read Mick Browns book 'The Practice & the passion' you'll see that pike can be caught all year round and even when actually spawning without any issues. As usual it's just a case of being as careful as you possibly can and as Phil says, not playing the fish to death!

Edited March 27, 2007 by Neil G

[Grandma]

I half understand the case against summer pike fishing, but I've a couple of questions.

 

1) What's the difference with barbel? They're both big fish which can be exhausted by the fight. I can see the case for taking a fair while to let them recover before putting them back in running water, lest they go belly up and get swept downstream with risk of damage. But I've never heard anyone say you shouldn't barbel fish in summer.

 

2) What damage is likely in still water? I'm not suggesting you should let this happen, but if they did go belly-up what damage would result?

 

There are lots of differences, most are to do with experience:

 

People often find pike more of a challenge to unhook than fish that don't have teeth. Too long on the bank equals dead fish. If you're going to summer fish for pike then you should be aiming to have the fish out of the water for seconds rather than minutes, this takes some practice, the practice is probably best done in the winter, when they will survive out of water for longer.

 

Other complications with unhooking pike include lures getting tangled in landing nets, this can take a while to sort out with a lively pike attached. One answer is to hand land whenever possible, again this requires experience to avoid getting a hook in the thumb. Another answer is to get a lure net, which are fine as far as they go, but fin damage often occurs with some meshes.

 

If you're bait fishing, then you may deep hook fish, this is more likely to result in a fatality in summer months if the person doing the unhooking is not skilled enough to get the job done swiftly.

 

You also mentioned the difference between rivers and lakes. Barbel rivers usually have a reasonable flow, suggesting they are likely to be better oxygenated than still waters, particularly shallow muddy stillwaters.

 

If a fish goes belly up, then it is in serious trouble. Even if they manage to swim off, they often die in my experience, this applies to all fish, not just pike.

[Neil G]

I usually hand land any pike sub 10lb so they don't even go onto the bank

 

I have however had a hook in the thumb from a lure but it's a small price to pay....getting trebles caught in landing nets is an absolute nightmare.

[The Flying Tench]

There are lots of differences, most are to do with experience:

 

People often find pike more of a challenge to unhook than fish that don't have teeth. Too long on the bank equals dead fish. If you're going to summer fish for pike then you should be aiming to have the fish out of the water for seconds rather than minutes, this takes some practice, the practice is probably best done in the winter, when they will survive out of water for longer.

 

Other complications with unhooking pike include lures getting tangled in landing nets, this can take a while to sort out with a lively pike attached. One answer is to hand land whenever possible, again this requires experience to avoid getting a hook in the thumb. Another answer is to get a lure net, which are fine as far as they go, but fin damage often occurs with some meshes.

 

If you're bait fishing, then you may deep hook fish, this is more likely to result in a fatality in summer months if the person doing the unhooking is not skilled enough to get the job done swiftly.

 

You also mentioned the difference between rivers and lakes. Barbel rivers usually have a reasonable flow, suggesting they are likely to be better oxygenated than still waters, particularly shallow muddy stillwaters.

 

If a fish goes belly up, then it is in serious trouble. Even if they manage to swim off, they often die in my experience, this applies to all fish, not just pike.

 

Thanks. I'm convinced, but out of interest I wonder why it is that going belly up is such a problem in still water. As I understand it (for some design reason that I don't understand) fish are unstable so that, if they relax, they go belly up. Once they get their energy back you'd think they'd right themselves. Maybe they can't breathe properly when they're upside down?

[Grandma]

Thanks. I'm convinced, but out of interest I wonder why it is that going belly up is such a problem in still water. As I understand it (for some design reason that I don't understand) fish are unstable so that, if they relax, they go belly up. Once they get their energy back you'd think they'd right themselves. Maybe they can't breathe properly when they're upside down?

 

I don't have any scientific data on this one, I'm just saying that if a fish goes belly-up it's in a bad way. Even when they seem to recover and swim off, they sometimes die soon after. I'm not saying this happens all the time and I don't know why it happens, but I have seen it happen enough to make me cautious.

 

Somtimes I suppose it could be to do with bad hooking, in the gills or some other vital organ, but usually I think it is to do with organ failure from lack of oxygen or loss of moisture. The obvious fact is that fish die if they are kept out of water, they die quicker if it's hot and dry. They even die in warm water if oxygen levels become too low. Some species have greater tollerances than others.

[ColinW]

Thanks. I'm convinced, but out of interest I wonder why it is that going belly up is such a problem in still water. As I understand it (for some design reason that I don't understand) fish are unstable so that, if they relax, they go belly up. Once they get their energy back you'd think they'd right themselves. Maybe they can't breathe properly when they're upside down?

 

I have no scientific backup for this but I think it is because in still waters you often catch them from deeper (say 15-20 feet). This might not seem far, but the pressure is about 50% higher than at the surface. After a fight the fish is too weak to compress its swim bladder (which will expand due to pressure drop) enough to stay upright, until enough gas diffuses out or it recovers enough strength. This will obviously take a long time.