Big baits for pike?

[Phone]

All,

 

In the US the standard thinking is if you’re looking to catch a monster northern pike then you’ll need something bigger than the average tackle store minnow. Large pike won’t waste the time or energy to chase small bait fish, so you’ll want to use bait that is between 6 to 8 inches. ​Equivalent lures.

 

Phone

[Dales]

I have caught big and small Pike on both big and small baits, so from my experience it does not seem to make a huge difference. But saying that I have never caught really BIG Pike and so it might make a difference for them.

 

I agree with Phone's bait size and in general I use baits around 6" to 8" if targeting Pike and may go bigger or smaller if that is not working.

[Phone]

All,

 

Whilst on the subject of pike bait, whatever happened to the picture of the pike consuming the 5 lb carp or similar?

 

 

Also, on a more serious note about pike fishing. I never learned to "wait". I was taught a large pike 12+ always slammed the bait first stunning it and then took it head first. Is that true in the UK as well? I was a crappy pike fisherman, I always thought it was because of my lightning fast cat like reflexes.

 

Phone

[Martin56]

Yes Phone - It's always been understood in the UK that Pike "SLAM" their quarry side ways, then let go & turn it so it can swallow it head first so the prey's gills & fins doesn't hinder swallowing it.

 

Thus the outdated delayed Strike!!

 

That was in the old days though when a lot of Pike were taken home for the Table.

 

Catching, then eating a Pike up to the 1980's or so was the done thing.

Edited October 4, 2016 by Martin56

[Phone]

Martin56,

 

All fish are predators, but northern pike come dressed for the part: needle teeth, vacant eyes, thick slime, serpentine shape. Their primeval morphology has changed little in 60 million years.

 

"""""Give the pike a couple of minutes to turn the bait around in its mouth before you set the hook.""""

 

Everyone is not in favor of this method - """"Waiting 'a couple of minutes' is lethal, as the pike will swallow the hook.""""

 

 

Field and Stream Magazine; August 2016

Field and Stream promotes C&R but in the case of pike US and Canadian stocking programs are supurb. Even the big boys!

Phone

 

[Peter Waller]

In sixty years of piking. I started when I was nine, I have had several, well, quite a few really, large pike on lures up to six inches. However, ALL my thirties have been on smaller lures such as Muggers, Big S and Manns +1 'alphabet' style lures. I can only theorise as to why, might be coincidence, but I have never caught a thirty on a large lure. Okay, so big pike are female and, as we all know, women can be wholly cussed creatures.

[Dave H]

In my limited experience over the years my most successful tactic has been wobbling and twitching a sprat. It works much better for me on rivers as the casting is not to far because we all know a sprat is not the best for casting but it has out fished any lure i have ever used. Mind you my Big S has put a few on the bank but not as many as the wobbler

[AddictedToScopex]

Wobbling deads can be a superb method. As you say though the longevity of the bait is what stops me doing it more often. It drives me crackers to have the bait hanging off the hooks by the time it gets back to me.

[Emma two]

It is difficult to locate any rhyme or reason so far as pike bait size goes. In thew 70s we experimented with some quite large baits including 1lb plus whole eels with multiple treble traces and even live and dead Jack pike up to 3 lbs. We caught some good fish on them, however were not really able to make a confirmed causal statement that big baits equals big pike. Now I simply vary then size wise, often in a rather random attempt to present the fish with what they want. For what it's worth our top baits which do well consistently (in preference order) 4 to 6 " smelt, half lamprey up to 8" and half mackerel or whole joeys around 6". This as been a slow year so for as piking goes, the best so far was a 17lb which took a 3" float fished sprat.

 

Someone mentioned perch, we have found that big baits equals big stripeys top one a 5" livebait. Of course one picks up pike on those too so wire is a must, I reject the perch won't take

a bait on a wire theory.

[Dave H]

I think that big pike if hungry will eat anything including your floats (i have had this) but if they are not to fussed i believe the bigger bait entices them to have it after all it's probably a meal that is not come across to often for them and in such an easy way

I fly birds of prey and i apply the same theory and it is definately the case that if she sits up in a tree and has eaten then a small chick will do nothing to get her down but stake out a open dead rabbit and you have 50% more chance as i have used this to rescue others birds on many occasions.

 

So i believe that offcoarse small baits have taken big pike as it was probably quite hungry but a big old girl i believe just would not bother with it unless you plonked it on her snout but she may move a bit further for the bigger bait for sure