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  • 2010
  • 2011
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FISHING FOR THE ULTIMATE STOCKIE BASHER

ESOX LUCIUS (THE PIKE)

By Andy Everrit

Well I have decided to talk about the ultimate predator, THE PIKE, and how I became obsessed with them and how anyone with the correct tackle can go out and enjoy this superb fish during the winter months.

Well for me it all started away back in 1982 as a young angler fishing a salmon run on my local river Tarff, when I hooked, what I thought was a Silver tourist, as it came to the waiting net I heard one of the locals declare “it’s a F…..G old Pike”. Now, I’d never seen one before and was fascinated by this fish, which now lay in front of me in the net, grown men crowded round and demanded this BEAST to be killed but no one would go near it , it was like they all had an inbreed fear of this fish. I wish I could say that poor fish survived that day but as a young fisherman not yet a teenager, peer pressure won that battle, as I dispatched that fish, but to see the reaction of grown men, prodding it, kicking it, being angry that such a fish should be around, IN THEIR RIVER, made me realise from an early age that this fish was indeed a very special creature to bring out such emotion in grown men.

Any way from that day on, I have spent many hours in pursuit of this fish and anybody is able to so with the correct tackle, you too could enjoy it during the long winter months, and here is how.

One of the greatest things about Pike is the many methods, which you can use to catch one. What I I’m going to do is cover the most common method which you could use to captor the Pike, Dead baiting,

DEAD BAITING

This is the most commonly used method used in the UK, all it is, is using a dead fish, such as; Herring, Mackerel, Roach, Smelt, Sardine or Lamprey the list is endless as Pike have been caught on just about any sort of dead fish. The bait itself is not that important but where you position your bait.

This is you need to be able to plumb your swim; finding them drop offs is the key to being a successful pike angler and not someone who just chucks it and chances, these anglers will still catch fish but no where near as many as the angler who positions his baits to intercept the Pike as she hunts.

The Pike will stay very close to the drop offs using them for camouflage to get close to it’s prey, and if you have a bait on her hunting route you are giving yourself a better than average chance of catching her.

Just remember that all drop offs are not 100 metres or so from the bank, the first drop is usually under 20 metres and if on a river or drain it could be only 1 rod length out so when you are fishing these areas you have to tread carefully.

So what tackle do you require to carryout dead baiting. Well a Carp rod of at least 2.5 lb test curve will be adequate for fishing distances up to 50metres, you may think this is not far, but you must remember the weight you will be casting, 6oz bait with a 2oz lead puts a lot of strain on your tackle so really you will just be lobbing it out unless you have specialist distance rods, but that’s another matter.

Good quality reels are a must, as these take a lot strain while you are playing the fish, you will require your reel to be filled with at least 150 metres of 15lb line, don’t go any lower than 15lb mainline as there’s no prizes for leaving hooks in a fish.

Wire traces, must be used, as the Pike has a good set of dentures, which will make short work of nylon. You can buy ready-made traces from tackle shops, most of which are now of a good quality but make sure you get at least 25lb wire and no smaller than size 6 trebles. To make a trace yourself is simple enough; all you need is two size 6 trebles, 1 size 8 swivel (usually 50lb test) and 30 inches of 30lb test trace wire. Crimp the swivel on one end, then position the trebles at the other end, trebles are about 3inches apart.

Ok them, we’ve got the rod, reel, line, weights and traces but how do we put them all together and know when the Pike has picked up our bait, this is this most important part as the last thing we want is a Big Pike with 2 treble hooks in her gut. Quick bite indication is necessary and unless you are able to set up properly I would urge you to seek an experienced Piker to show you how to, most of them are more than willing to help.

Ok setting up, First thing is to put on a sliding float, set around 2 foot deeper than the swim, depth is set by the stop knot, then your weight, at least 2oz of lead should be used this helps with bite indication and it doesn’t put the Pike off, you can use a large bore ledger ring to carry your lead, then you tie on your trace put on your bait and cast out to the drop off or any other changes in depth you have found while plumbing the swim.

Once you have cast out take your rod and put it onto 2 rod rests, point them at your bait, slowly tighten up your line and your float should now cock under the pressure, you should now open your bail arm and attach the line to a drop back indicator, now you are set. If the fish swims towards you with the bait, the float will pop out of the water then lay flat on the surface and your drop back will slowly fall to the ground, if she swims away from you the float will slide under, the line will be pulled from the drop off, which will fall to the ground but the most important thing is the fish is able to take line freely from your reel.

Once you have a run (a bite) pick up your rod, close the bail arm and wind quickly until you feel the weight of the fish, don’t strike wildly just keep the pressure on and you will feel the fish shake it’s head, now you know you have hooked your quarry.

When you land the fish, only have her out the water for as short a period as possible, even though they look hardy the Pike is one of the most vulnerable fish when out of water, so unhook her, use forceps, and return her as quickly as possible.

This is only one of the many methods to catch this great fish and I know some of the things I have written about will mean nothing to you, but if you fancy learning about Pike fishing just drop me an Email.

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