A question for the experts

[AndyY]

Hi some of you guys have been promoting pike safety and helping beginners from before I even began pike fishing. Now over the years u must find urself repeating a lot of the same thing which is great when people listen but from my experiance they are the few for example I went fishing with a guy keen as to start piking and he been sea fishing for years so i though this should be quite easy. Anyway he went out with another experianced angler who told him rigs setup etc. stating 15lb line is a minimum i would recommend 18lb so i took him to a water containing mostly jacks but with the odd double and it also a good water for testing gear bad banks rocks etc. so we got to the water and he informed me he only had 12lb line i couldnt exactly say your no fishin as we had traveled a fair bit........first snag he gave a pull paperclip opened and weight fell off cool no probs he listened to advice and his rig was safe.........next snag this time not so good hooks never straightened and line snap leavin a baited trace and god knows how much line in the water so i explained to him this i why the need for 18lb line i also stated that it would probably result in a dead pike i was gutted but thought hey he has now witnessed it with his own eyes surely he gota learn fast now n replace his line before even contemplating goin fishin. 1 week later he sends me a msg hi andy fancy fishing tomorrow so i ask im if he got his line sorted and was sorry i couldnt attend.....get a reply no i havent changed my line but im goin to such n such a place n it aint that snaggy ....FFS it only takes one brick learn from mistakes especially if they could have been avoided in the first place 3 reels filled for under a tenner 18lb sensor simple I even offered to go get it for him a 30 mile round trip for me but i would have done it no probs.

 

anyway after the rant I'm just wondering how u guys stick with it after all these years my hat goes off to you as it must be easier just to concentrate on yer own fishing though i think i will continue to advise folk as to find that 1 who listens and then may pass the info onto his friends would make it worth while.(ive now calmed a bit)

 

peace.

[Andy Macfarlane]

To be fair Andy, I know who you're talking about and I made sure he fished where his 12lb line would present no problems but I have also told him that if he wants to join us on some more snaggy venues, he'll have to get it changed and he knows that. He's also bought a lot more gear so he probably thought he'd be OK (because I said he would be on this occasion) so it's not really his fault. He IS changing it ASAP. Next time, he'll have 17-20lb line like you/we suggested. I also had my spare reel so if I thought his 12lb line was going to present any problems, he could have used my reel. Don't worry mate. It's being dealt with.

[AndyY]

To be fair Andy, I know who you're talking about and I made sure he fished where his 12lb line would present no problems but I have also told him that if he wants to join us on some more snaggy venues, he'll have to get it changed and he knows that. He's also bought a lot more gear so he probably thought he'd be OK (because I said he would be on this occasion) so it's not really his fault. He IS changing it ASAP. Next time, he'll have 17-20lb line like you/we suggested. I also had my spare reel so if I thought his 12lb line was going to present any problems, he could have used my reel. Don't worry mate. It's being dealt with.

 

still think it was bad advice bud specially for a beginner as i said it only takes one brick covered in silt to create a problem but we'll leave it at that.

 

peace.

[Dick Dastardly]

Andy Y,Im certainly no "expert" but Ive been doing regular teach ins for over 12 (maybe longer?) years now.Yes it does wear you down on internet sites when people ask for pike advice but then dont want to take it! but in general most of the people who have attended the dozen or so a season teach ins Ive done each year have been only to glad to learn.

 

Piking has given me a lot of fun over the years and I still think my self extremely lucky that some of the best pikers of my day took me under their wing and showed me the ropes. Im not one for campaigning, fund raising etc and due to reasons that have long been put aside even stopped my PAC membership for many years. As such the only way Ive been able to give anything back to the sport I love so much and to try and protect the fish that it involves is by way of my teach ins.

 

I dont know if my very small input has helped but it has been the best I can do.And at least I can say/feel Ive tried.

[Neil G]

I'm no expert either but I feel I can pass on what I know works from experience

 

As far as pike safety goes I do everything I can but there are a lot of people who don't and won't listen either, I tend to steer clear of them but feel a tad p**sed off as I know they're probably screwing the fishing and leaving plenty of litter behind to boot.

[Andy Macfarlane]

Andy, I totally agree with you on the line front. The venue he fished with me last week, would have presented no problems using 12lb line, simply because it's completely snag free but I hasten to add that I DID tell him to replace it ASAP, because not all of our chosen venues are quite so forgiving.

 

From what you've said, he obviously still had the same 12lb line on his old reel. I can't speak for him on that case but you're right. 12lb line was totally inadequate for the less forgiving venue you 2 later fished together on the Wednesday. That was not my fault, nor did I advise him that it was OK to use. He WAS told to change it, so my advice was not the problem.

 

He has replaced it now though. He was using heavier yesterday, so it's not a mistake that will take place again.

 

I didn't give him bad advice Andy and I don't need you telling me my advice was bad. You know how I fish, you know the kind of advice I give people and you know I wouldn't have told him 12lb line was alright to continue using on any other kind of venue.

 

If you're going to tell folk on a public forum that my advice is bad, at least make sure you know what was said first.

 

All you've done is make it appear that my advice cannot be trusted.

[AndyY]

Yes I was going to change the title but why imo the forums are full of "experts" people who offer advice from their own experiances.

 

Thanks for the replies I think I was just really annoyed at a bait being left in the water tbh I would have taken a deephooked fish as opposed to a bait lying in the water.

 

Andy you should have told him he MUST change his line before going fishing again after that if he never well it would be his fault this is what i assumed happened but after blaming him ,you then told me not to blame him but to blame you. I took him to that water for a reason as it is a hard water to fish and if any water was to test gear it would be that. He seen what happened, he left a bait in the water, i explained how this would almost certainly result in a dead pike i also told him to change his line before going fishing again. He NEVER so the same thing could happen again because he never listened. Point is 18lb line straightens hooks 12 doesnt.

 

In no way was i trying to make u look stupid your knowledge of all round fishing amazes me at times and if u think 1 msg on a forum is goin to make u look stupid you need to wake up, Andy Macfarlane is someone widely recognized as a reliable source of technique or skill whose faculty for judging or deciding rightly, justly, or wisely is accorded authority and status by their peers or the public. That sounds more like you so i just put you from stupid to expert in one message though u would probably believe u were stupid before u would accept being an expert.

[Andy Macfarlane]

Andy you should have told him he MUST change his line before going fishing again after that if he never well it would be his fault this is what i assumed happened but after blaming him ,you then told me not to blame him but to blame you.

 

I DID tell him to change it ASAP. As for taking the blame, I admit, I did tell him it would be OK but I meant on my snag-free venue, not anywhere else. He should have changed it right away. I think he's just assumed I meant he'd be OK for his trip with you and as you've said, the worst happened.

If I had known he was going to use 12lb line to go fishing on your more snaggy venue, I'd have told him no, it's too light.

I think this has just been a case of crossed-wires and a learner mistake, that has now been rectified and it's unlikely to happen again.

I'll just be more vigilant when explaining anything again, in case something like this occurs again.