A look back part 2 Pike fishing

Woodchucker wrote:Your right Ken there is no excuse

no excuse what so ever,

I still have the scares from some ones bad angling. Darren and my self went pike fishing about this time last yea. Darren hooked into a nice pike when we came to net it I noticed it had a flying treble so I chinned it for him, as I walked across to the mat it thrashed and the pain was terrible I thought it had got me but I held on put it on the mat to find it had 3 set of trebles in it Darren’s hooked in the mouth fine. One set hanging out its mouth the set I thought were Darren’s and a 3ed set on its face the set that got me. The two others sets were on a light mono that I could snap with my some what chewed up hand?



always have a first aid kit at hand




I preach about pike fishing so much I see so many carp anglers take it up as a winter sport (I can say this as yes i fish for carp and yes they are my no1 fish but i love all fish) and they have no clue about the fish and how fragile they are .

Its not just young lads I’m afraid.

still even got a photo of the fish thats my blood on it

my mate caught a pike not so long back with a set of trbles stuck inside its mouth. the fish had been swimming around with them for quite some time as the trebles had actually erroded away compleatly and the trace was held in place by the flesh of the fish healing around it. it looked like a piercing we just snipped the trace and pulled it free. the thing is the pike only weighed around 7lb and should never have been able to snap off the mainline and considering the trace was stuck for a very long time it wouldn't have been 7lb when it got hooked originally. so that set up deffinatly was not upto the job

Whats worrying about Stotty's post is, and I mean no disrespect to Darren, is that the Pike isn't even a big specimen. So how on earth do some people expect to land fish is they use tackle that wont handle them in the first place. Or were the hooks left in the fish because they didn't know how to remove them? Either way that story proves how little some people care. Awful !!

I have pike a number of times with wire coming out of there flank, this is a deep hooked Pike that has swallowed the whole trace and the body has tried to reject, the Pike seem fine but its just wrong

THE WEIRD THIING IS..

in the pic the blood looks fake...

you've heard me rant last year about not just pike but also carp tehtered with poor rigs...


simply there is no reason except "cheap options" and lake of knowledge....




it has been mentioned of offering help.. and i have done this where others around me are not catching.. so you offer them a bit of what is working and they dismiss it ...!!!

some people are just beyond help and the only bad bit is our chosen quarry...


I stand firm by saying that there should be a provisional type licence etc...

with a written test... but the implication of cost alone makes it a no goer... not without the execution...


but hey in a perfect world eh...

sardarel wrote:THE WEIRD THIING IS..

in the pic the blood looks fake...

you've heard me rant last year about not just pike but also carp tehtered with poor rigs...


simply there is no reason except "cheap options" and lake of knowledge....




it has been mentioned of offering help.. and i have done this where others around me are not catching.. so you offer them a bit of what is working and they dismiss it ...!!!

some people are just beyond help and the only bad bit is our chosen quarry...


I stand firm by saying that there should be a provisional type licence etc...

with a written test... but the implication of cost alone makes it a no goer... not without the execution...


but hey in a perfect world eh...

That is what needs to be done Daz.

O lets face it they don’t even police the rod license that well I think I am on my 3ed check in the last 10 years. They say they don’t have the money to police that so how the hell are they going to do that.

It should be down to clubs and fishery owner to see that people have half an idea but this would just be lost on the rivers

But once again the pike is often looked upon as a nuisance as in one of my club water they are considered vermin and member are yes encouraged to remove them. So you’re on a loosing battle before you even start with that one.

i think too many people consider piking as an extra, they think they can chuck a sprat out whilst the do other things. they dont carry the correct unhooking gear or even the correct standard of tackle to handle these proud and evoloutionary perfect creatures.

as woody has said i went along to his teach in day at oaklands and i also attended 2 more before i felt really confident, still wouldnt like to think i was getting a deep hooked fish but my set up and bite indication works to prevent this thanks to what i've learnt.

woody, if i do finally manage to get a big en you can have as much credit as you want. i just wish it would hurry up lol

ed if you like we'll hit oaklands again when it thaws mate, just give me a pm, im sure nidge and a couple of the others will be keen to hit oaklands aswell so we could make a day of it.

chief wrote:i think too many people consider piking as an extra, they think they can chuck a sprat out whilst the do other things. they dont carry the correct unhooking gear or even the correct standard of tackle to handle these proud and evoloutionary perfect creatures.

as woody has said i went along to his teach in day at oaklands and i also attended 2 more before i felt really confident, still wouldnt like to think i was getting a deep hooked fish but my set up and bite indication works to prevent this thanks to what i've learnt.

woody, if i do finally manage to get a big en you can have as much credit as you want. i just wish it would hurry up lol

ed if you like we'll hit oaklands again when it thaws mate, just give me a pm, im sure nidge and a couple of the others will be keen to hit oaklands aswell so we could make a day of it.

i,m just waiting for the thaw chief at oaklands,,,,, they,ll be one or two to come out.....

im busting to get on the stillwaters again mate just giz a shout as soon as its fishable

would have thought it could take a while over there, its only a small pond and quite sheltered

Good call Chief.
Were you in the peg to the left of me? (the peg that actually caught?!)

I fully understand what you mean about the confidence thing - I always go with at least one other person who knows what they're doing!
Better safe than sorry!
Let me know when you're off and I'll be there with so many bells on I'll look like a morris dancer!

its gonna need a couple of weeks of above freezing temps to get it right, nidge is a regular so as soon as its right we'll get it booked. if anyone else wants to come along then the more the merrier

ye i was the guy who caught the 10lb pike early doors, theres a pic on last years blog. feels like ages ago now. at the time i went on a bit of a run catching every time i went out, im on a different kind of run now and it aint nice.

Ha ha! bad times!

At least you bagged one - I'm still waiting

As soon as everyone's ready, I'm there. Big build up, no results, that'll be me ha ha

sh1t happens lads, when your day comes around it makes it all worth while. i had a good start to my pike season, it seamed everything i did produced a fish. its a little slower now but i still feel a sense of achievment when winkling one out on hard day.
chin up boys better days are just around the corner

im sure we'll get some once the thaw happens, the fish will have had their heads down for a while so will be ready for a good feed

Marks right lads it will all just slip into place, no matter what anybody says about Pike being picky, if they are on the feed and your bait is close by then it will be taken.

We have some great lads on here that are up and coming and you will all be rewarded for your efforts and then the flood gates will open. Its a hrad time of year and the weather is just making it that bit harder, keep your chins up and wait and see

What's optimum conditions for a feeding pike?

I'm sure I got told the colder the better but it seems to be falling into disrepute given all the blanks in sub zero temperatures I have been suffering from

edbeef wrote:What's optimum conditions for a feeding pike?

I'm sure I got told the colder the better but it seems to be falling into disrepute given all the blanks in sub zero temperatures I have been suffering from

Pike in the summer can feed very heavily, also in autumn winter and spring, so optimum conditions are a little bit hard to define. At least thats my experiance.

at this time of year your looking for a change in temp really, so at preasent once we thaw out and the water warms up a tad the fish wiil switch on. they will have been largly dormant during this really cold snap so once iy warms up they will need to feed up ready for spawning. feb and early march should be good.

chief wrote:at this time of year your looking for a change in temp really, so at preasent once we thaw out and the water warms up a tad the fish wiil switch on. they will have been largly dormant during this really cold snap so once iy warms up they will need to feed up ready for spawning. feb and early march should be good.

i can't wait for the big spawn build up, as you say not only do they need extra food but they're at thier heavyist and with this being my first pike season i've been looking forward to the coming month or two since i started targeting them in october :crafty: i've got high hopes. my mate got a 28lber during feb/march a cuple of years back n if i got into something of that size i'd be one happy bunny, i doubt my mate would be as it took him many years to earn a fish of that size and piking is one side of the sport he has deffinatly more knowledge of than me

1st season!? How heavy is that croc in your avatar??
Can't be a bad intro to the sport! ha ha

edbeef wrote:1st season!? How heavy is that croc in your avatar??
Can't be a bad intro to the sport! ha ha

don't get me wrong i've done the odd sesh before. my two close friends always turn thier attention to pike when the time comes and i've never really been fussed for it. they've given me some right sh1t for it n at times made me feel a little odd for not wanting to target them so accaisionally i reluctantly tagged along. they used to lend me bits n pieces to help me but i rarely caught and when i did it just didn't do it for me. early this pike season i vowed i'd give it a good go before ruling it out compleatley and one session i caught a few and said to my mate right i've caught a few and still dont like it, it feels like its all down to chance and lacks skill. then a session or two later after listening to him all week telling me i didn't have it in me n so on i thought i'd give it another go and this time pay it a little extra mind and think about what i was doing. haha low and behold i beat him that session and thats the session i got the pug nose pike on my profile picture. it wieghed 14 n halfish lb and at the time although i enjoyed myself i wasn't over joyed with the fish, my friend had caught it twice already and i thought it would be easy to beat hahaha. needless to say that since then pike have got right under my skin and i find them very challenging, i get a reel buzz out of any take and feel like i have added another worth while ribbon to my bow. that pug nose pike is still my pb and is prooving more difficult to beat than i initially thought. maybe thats whats driving me i'm not sure all i know is i enjoy most pike sessions and when i beat that pb it will be very well earnt and i can honestly say it will be from the choices i have made based on my own experiences. i also believe it will be beaten before the season is over :*):