Pike fishing in cold weather

[The Flying Tench]

Well the water's pretty cold at present, maybe 3 deg C round where I am. What to fish for? I realise chub and grayling are good bets, but what about pike? Does anyone have experience of cold water pike fishing? How cold is OK? And any other advice? eg I assume lures are out. Are deadbaits best? And should they be smaller than usual?

[Andy_1984]

Winter being my favoured time for them id say definitely get in about them. I havnt done much myself the past few years though. big oily baits and dont discount the lures completely its good to have to chuck a lure about your baits, helps with the boredom too.

[Phone]

Tench,

 

Here's a goal for you.

 

 

Phone

[jaa]

In really cold water oils coagulate and don't spread about much. It might be worth making up a water based attractor for dead-baiting.

[Tigger]

Winter being my favoured time for them id say definitely get in about them. I havnt done much myself the past few years though. big oily baits and dont discount the lures completely its good to have to chuck a lure about your baits, helps with the boredom too.

 

 

Yeah Andy, the disturbance caused may attract the pike to your bait even if you don't get a hit on the lures.

[wellyphant]

I do most of my pike fishing in the Lake district where it can get pretty cold, I'll be deadbaiting for them tomorrow in temperatures between 0 and -2 degrees with a south easterly breeze, feeling quietly confident.

[Andy_1984]

Yeah Andy, the disturbance caused may attract the pike to your bait even if you don't get a hit on the lures.

 

Heard that a few times enough to be convinced its a worth while tactic Pike could be sitting there for ages wondering if it should take a bait then along comes a bit of shiny shiny and WHACK!

Edited January 25, 2017 by Andy_1984

[Tigger]

Heard that a few times enough to be convinced its a worth while tactic Pike could be sitting there for ages wondering if it should take a bait then along comes a bit of shiny shiny and WHACK!

 

 

Yeah Andy, throwing a few lures is bound to wake them up and hopefully induce a take on either them or the static bait . It can't do any harm anyhow as we know pike arn't usually the shyest of fish and they are attracted to disturbance. Many times after bringing in dace etc the pike have honed in on it and been a pain in the harris lol.

[Martin56]

I don't pike fish, but I have caught a few - mainly by accident - sometimes on purpose!!

 

I was once given a foam dowel kit - not surprisingly, the kit is comprised of foam dowel & a syringe type applicator to push the foam down the dead bait's throat, making it "Pop Up" off the bottom.

 

I did try it once but didn't persevere, but I can see value in the method!!

Edited January 26, 2017 by Martin56

[Andy_1984]

Yeah Andy, throwing a few lures is bound to wake them up and hopefully induce a take on either them or the static bait . It can't do any harm anyhow as we know pike arn't usually the shyest of fish and they are attracted to disturbance. Many times after bringing in dace etc the pike have honed in on it and been a pain in the harris lol.

 

Ive started twitching my deadbaits in too Tigger. was packing up for the night after a very productive days piking years ago and as soon as i picked up the rod and moved the bait about an inch it got smacked

 

sods law though cause its never happened again since, but I still twitch in.