help with piking

right guys this is my tale ,off to norfolk at xmas and hope to do a bit of river fishing and piking :Fishing: but have just got back into fishing since beginning of last year,and have only been knockin about on the carp puddles ,building up tackle and brushing up on methods etc. so now have got back into the swing of things ,would like to get out on rivers ,and especially learn a thing or two about the old piking scene.any help much appreciated have just bought a rod hope it will be ok for piking ,just need to know weather other stuff i have will do , or if i need anything in particular to get me going thanks lads

what tackle are you using at the moment

This will start off a good thread,as most of us on here enjoy our pike fishing.
Firstly, are you gunna lure fish,or bait fish? For lure fishing I shall step aside and let the expertees of Both Woody and Danny help you, although I do a lot of jerk bait fishing,and was the method I started on 8 years ago. Although Im not anywhere in the same league as either of those two
I'll assume you'll be using a fix spool reel. Do you intend to use mono line,or the far superior braided line, which has almost no stretch whatsoever. and Is my personal choice, I use 50lb power pro for my bait fishing,and 80lb of the same brand for my lure fishing,you could go to 100lb if you wanted,and were chucking real big lures.
What test curve rod do you have? theres curently a post on here about test curves, I favour 3.25lb for my heavier bait fishing,just gives that little extra power for big baits,and distance work.
Wire traces are an essential item,I stick with fox carbo flex 40lb wire,this can either be twiddled or crimped,both methods are as good as each other,but there again I tend to favour crimps,as I feel they give that little extra strength,and peace of mind.
Decent trebles,semi barbless,size 6 being a good all round size,but for smaller baits you can use size 8,or a smaller bait theres size 4.
You'll want a decent size net, a 42" will be perfect,even if your confident in chinning them or not,they're indespencible for the times when you dont want to risk it.
A decent size unhooking mat,to rest the fish on for unhooking,dont be placing the fish in gravel or stony ground,as you'll run the risk of damaging the fishes scales allowing possible infection to get in,and may,result in its death.
You'll need a few tools, long nose forceps,pliers,and perhaps even side cutters/good strong snips for the odd occasion when you cannot get the hooks out,and you have to cut the shank to remove it without hurting the fish.
I dont suggest you use a glove for the handling of pike,if your not confident in handling a pike then get someone to show you properly,untill you get the hang,and once you do,there'll be very minimal risk of harm to yourself,perhaps only "raker rash",which then brings me to plasters,I always carry a pack in my bag,for if you get scratched or at worse bitten,then you'll bleed quite a lot,and for quite some time :evil:
You may want to invest in an alarm for bit indication if you dont already own one, I use back bite alarms which show both, drop back bites (when the swims towards you) aswell as normal runs.
Here's one of the one I use: http://billysbackbiters.blogspot.com/
You'll need bank sticks,or a rod rod,I prefer the rod rest/bank stick approach.
You may want to get a set of scales and a weigh sling,some un-hooking mats double up to do this.
Also a camera will prove invaluable,cos you can bet your ar5e the day you go out without one,will be the day you land a specimin.
Keep things as simple as you can,there's no need for technical rigs,And if your out to buy new tackle,get the best you can afford at the time,it will pay dividends in the long-run

For a far more indepth reference guide,I highly reccomend the "fox guide to modern pike fishing" an indespencible book for any pike angler.
The lads will add to this,and we'll soon have you well on your way to getting back to fishing.
Cheers matey


I undoubtedly have missed something out here,as at the current moment in time I am taking rather strong pain killers for my back,and am a little spaced out.
Hope this is of some help.

Also have a look at this for lure fishing hints tips and advice from Woody:

https://ukfishingforums.darkbb.com/predator-fishing-f9/woodchuckers-guide-to-lure-fishing-t69.htm?highlight=woodys+guide+to+lure+fishing

where are you based?

foookin hel Tim...... u went to town on that one mate well done! saved me the job ha ha
yeh all i can say mate is keep it simple!! id advise braided line for ya lure fishing and ya normal 15lb mono for ya bait work, ya carping rods will b fine for that.
lure wise its endless...... venue? style? weather? but a 6-7ft medium rod and 30lb braid will cover your general stuff!! if ya want to jerkbait well thats a bit more advanced
just keep it simple......
any more questions feel free to ask me or PM me on here
cheers

Danny

Yeah, I thought I'd get a head start before the pro's came on
I try to be as helpful as I can,especially when I cant actually get out and fish myself,bummer huh

removed

good info that andy,,,,,







i love pike..........

Welcome to the forum Nicho, I told you the site was spot on

oh i like the carp fishing aswell....................

WOW ! what a response ,massive thanks guys ,can't remember all the answers to your questions but il have a go, i live in pudsey just outside leeds,am using a normark commercial carp rod , but have just bought a shakespeare ugly stik spinning rod , hope this will do the job ,as for reels have a couple of baitrunners ,but just bought shimano twinpower ,am looking for any suggestions if theres a reel that would be better suited to the ugly stik,like i say am doing alot of fishing on commercials at moment hence tackle choices ,i do have some traces ,a few lures and a couple of triple hook trace things?,think there what you use when your hooking baits on ? just what i seen on telly,lol.also have plenty of bank sticks etc. and a set of forceps ,not sure there big enough though ,wiil get some bigger .think thats covered it ? so if anyone local fancies a gilly,and a few pints for a day out somewhere just to watch out for us ,so none of these monsters claim any of my fingers send us a pm ,and thanks once again boys really appreciate your time

just down the rosd from me mate.......... and theres a nice piking place i could show you near me..............

cheers woody can't believe response in less than 24 hours ,fantastic,alot more help than other forum,you know which one ,although stiil a good forum!.but thanks again mate .nidgemac would be great to meet up for a days tutorial ,lol .will definatley a few beers in it ,shall i pm you when i'm free ,got a bit on at moment might be a few weeks ,is that ok? thanks again boys

NICHO wrote:WOW ! what a response ,massive thanks guys ,can't remember all the answers to your questions but il have a go, i live in pudsey just outside leeds,am using a normark commercial carp rod , but have just bought a shakespeare ugly stik spinning rod , hope this will do the job ,as for reels have a couple of baitrunners ,but just bought shimano twinpower ,am looking for any suggestions if theres a reel that would be better suited to the ugly stik,like i say am doing alot of fishing on commercials at moment hence tackle choices ,i do have some traces ,a few lures and a couple of triple hook trace things?,think there what you use when your hooking baits on ? just what i seen on telly,lol.also have plenty of bank sticks etc. and a set of forceps ,not sure there big enough though ,wiil get some bigger .think thats covered it ? so if anyone local fancies a gilly,and a few pints for a day out somewhere just to watch out for us ,so none of these monsters claim any of my fingers send us a pm ,and thanks once again boys really appreciate your time

hope all the help on here helps, leav a report if you get out!! and yeh your twin power is fine for the job, its a stunnin reels and allot better than most of the stuff out today
dont 4get piccys please!
speak soon
Danny

and thanks to Tim and Andy for the good handy replys to this thread....
more than enough info for a newby
your in good hands on my pred section mate so dont worry, feel free to ask me or any of the others 4 Pred help.
Danny

cheers danny ,another top bloke will keep you all posted on first trip ,think nigdemac gonna show me some tricks or two, another top bloke ,massive thanks again to all

Our pleasure,I'd go as far as saying we're possibly THE friendliest forum on the net, Where can a guy or girl post a question,and virtually get an immidiate reply....
There's pretty much always someone on here during the day,so any problems or queries,get it posted and we'll help you out.
As I cant get out and fish at the moment,I'll be as helpful with info as much as I can.
Hopefully this coming autumn/winter will produce some great fishing and even a few personal bests
Tight lines to all

NICHO wrote: cheers danny ,another top bloke will keep you all posted on first trip ,think nigdemac gonna show me some tricks or two, another top bloke ,massive thanks again to all

Only joking Nidge, we need a social at poo city, not been since the pb

Woodchucker wrote:

NICHO wrote: cheers danny ,another top bloke will keep you all posted on first trip ,think nigdemac gonna show me some tricks or two, another top bloke ,massive thanks again to all

Only joking Nidge, we need a social at poo city, not been since the pb

yeah i was actually thinking that myself, only piking i've done this year was when the species hunt was on !

Oh welcome to the site Nicho your not too far from me either i'm in Armley ! i think we need to get together at Poo city for a pike sesh ! i'm sure Nicho would learn alot from a number of us !

lets make it happen then, get the new members on board aswell, it all adds to the positive out going and friendly feedback for our site, word of mouth is great for getting them talking around the fishing circles..........

yeah brilliant idea that ,keep us posted on a date when we can have a jolly boys outing piking,oh by the way already spread the word ,a guy on other forum ,we all know which one ,in same boat as me told him to get on here asap cheers again boys

A jolly boys outing? Who's jolly and why are you outing him?

This place is very worrying.

todd loves jolly boys