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Pike Fishing


Dave-C

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Personally I would NOT advocate putting out a deadbait whilst lure fishing. Stick to one method, do it well and do it thoroughly. To mix methods such as lures and deads is a sure recipe for disaster. It also means that you can't give 100% to each method.

 

 

Sorry but I disagree and a lot of the big names in Piking would as well.....like the ones that use three rods with livebaits and deads on the fen drains and rivers.

 

Horses for courses as they say....if you are new to it and want to stay on the move then single rod tactics may suit you better.

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Neil G - you are comparing apples to ducks here.

 

Certainly a bank angler who is experienced can watch 2-3 rods with static baits on the bottom. Just a matter of paying attention to 2-3 rod tips and you can have them so they can all be easily seen at one time. If fishing from a boat with rods out to either side and a 3rd out the bow or stern, it needs a fairly large boat so you can back away and watch all 3 rod tips. The UK freshwater boats I've seen don't lend themselves to this.

 

Fishing a float is another matter since you need to watch the float and it will be out in the water. If you fish with a pair of floats close together you can watch both but fishing that way will give you other problems.

 

Fishing a lure calls for some concentration on the 'feel' of the lure and paying attention to how you are bringing it in. You might be able to reel in a lure while watching a float or while watching rod tips but I seriously doubt you could pay proper attention to both and if you somehow could, I don't imagine it would be much fun.

" My choices in life were either to be a piano player in a whore house or a politician. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference!" - Harry Truman, 33rd US President

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I agree with the issue of watching more than one float hence why I only use one with another rod ledgered with dropback & bite alarm.

 

I think you have to do what's works best for you...I use multi rod setups where I can on reservoirs etc from the bank where I can watch them safely but rarely use more than one on rivers.

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I have recently taken up pike angling and i purchased a book called 'The guide to modern pike fishing' which i have found very helpful. Maybe this would be a good idea? You can probably pick it up on ebay for a fiver or so

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I will be fishing from a small boat for most of the day and as you said it's hard to watch a float fished deadbait whilst spinning so would opt for just the one rod. The last thing I want is a deep hooked pike on a rod I'm not able to give my full attention to. If I fish from the bank I'll use a floated deadbait and legered deadbait on a drop back indicator through my optonic so no real worries there.

 

Thanks for the advise and please keep it coming especially about lures and spinning.

A bad day's fishing is better than a good day at work

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My advice is to use an alarm and drop-back indicator even when float fishing (not as an alternative to watching the float). Sometimes your eyes will wander.

 

Also don't use self-cocking floats.

 

Personally I'd wait for colder weather before serious piking, but I do usually have a few evenings in the summer with surface lures.

 

A practical reason not to deadbait and lure fish at the same time is that it'll ruin your mobility.

Edited by Anderoo

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music

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May be some helpful information in this article on using Lipless Crankbaits or this one (draft article and I really need to get busy and finish it) on using Soft Plastics.

 

I do absolutely agree that some purpose made gear will make lure fishing easier and more fun.

" My choices in life were either to be a piano player in a whore house or a politician. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference!" - Harry Truman, 33rd US President

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Thanks for the links newt, I found them really interesting and will give them a try next time out. I've got a 7 foot rod I normally fix a swing tip to and will be using that. Where I am going fishing there is little weed but lots of rocky cover for the fish and this can make it hard to fish spinner without getting snagged so the rigs you mentioned should be ok. Does every lure have a unique retrieve or is it really a matter of trial and error? I think I'm getting information overload, everyone has their own way of doing things so I guess I'll have to find one that suits me. I have just put a 30lb braid on my reel whhich is really fine so hopefully this will be fine. The soft lures I've seen don't seem to have hooks in them, do I need to buy these seperate or are there lures I can buy with hooks attached?

 

Thanks again, Dave

A bad day's fishing is better than a good day at work

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Information overload is a very real possibility when you are first starting.

 

Many styles of lure have a built-in action based on their shape/design and it is only a matter of how fast you retrieve. That will affect depth and to some extent, the action. Crankbaits (including lipless) and spinner baits (both the inline 'mepps' style and the US style with spinners on an arm that sticks out from the body) are this way. Easiest to fish and easiest to feel when you have a take. Good starter lures if the water is suitable.

 

Some like US style jerkbaits are basically a stick and pointed on both ends. You have to give them action by using your rod. Good to leave these alone for a while. Note that when a UK angler speaks of jerkbaits, they are talking about a different lure.

 

Soft plastics can be bought with a hook already a part of the lure but my preference is for the DIY sort where you need to buy hooks to suit the size and design of the lure, weights to suit, and your actual soft plastics. This is by far the lease expensive option and if you use them properly, a good fish catcher. You can compromise a bit by getting a jig head /w hook or a design like the first photo I posted. If you ordered some of those from BassPro, the cost should not be too bad even with shipping. No duty if the item total cost is below £18 and the USD is about 2 per GBP right now so the $3.50 cost is only about half that in pounds. You can buy a pack of 10 soft plastic bodies for under $5.

 

If you decide to try the soft plastics, I suggest starting with two colours that will probably catch under the most different conditions. Watermelon and Pumpkin (neither colour resembles the fruit of that name) with some black flecks. Berkley does some good ones and you can most likely source them at a number of UK tackle shops. Both Fishtek and Tacklebargins advertise here and are very reliable. They also pay a small percentage to Elton (forum owner) if you click on the links from here and that helps him pay the costs of running this site.

" My choices in life were either to be a piano player in a whore house or a politician. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference!" - Harry Truman, 33rd US President

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Neil G, with regard to what 'big name' pike anglers do, there was a recent picture in Pike & Predators of an angling set up clearly showing rods spaced out at a greater than legal distance. The article was written by a very big name angler who is also an official of the Pike Anglers Club. Because a 'name' does something does not make it good angling practice. In that case he was blatantly involved with breaking the law, but does being a 'name' make it right?

 

But I was not criticising the use of three rods, although I do have reservations, I was critiscising the use of different methods, e.g. float fishing whilst lure fishing.

 

By the way, what make an angler a big name in the piking world?

Edited by Peter Waller
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