Pike fishing tackle

[HillBill]

I'm going to Grizedale forest in a couple of weeks for a week. I plan to do some pike fishing on Esthwaite water.

I used to do pike/perch fishing a lot in my teens and i fancy it again.I know there are plenty of fishermen on the forum so this thread is aimed primarily at you guys.

So to my question.
What would you reccommend with regards to a rod/reel combo used for Spinning/lure fishing and any particular lures for this type of water.

I would prefer a telescopic rod as it needs to be easily transportable, not bothered about reel specifics as long as it will do the job. There are many 20lb + pike in the water so it needs to handle this type of weight. Also what poundage line? I'm thinking 10ish with trace?

I saw a rod mentioned a bit back, a shimano exige i think though i may be wrong. Would something like this handle the job?

Thanks
Mark

 

[sapper1]

The shimano exage s.t.c. is an excellent rod for lure fishing,in particular the four piece ,6 footer.Myself ,if the pike run to 20lb I'd use at least 12lb line and a wire leader

 

[mick miller]

Telescopic rods aren't all that, they're okay but tend to be made from glass fibre. You would be better buying a short 3 piece or 4 piece carbon fibre rod. Bear in mind that for lure fishing you don't want anything over 8-9ft.

Reel wise any small, decent fixed spool will do, I use a Shimano Catana 4000R, I think it was around £25, so not expensive. Use braided line too 15lb, you'll impart more action to the lure and any interest will be transmitted straight back to the rod, mono is just too springy for use with lures.

I'll try and dig up a link to a good lure rod, but Harris Angling (if you google that) used to be great for lure fishing supplies, they often have sales on lures too.

Please make sure you have a net with an open weave otherwise you'll be fussing and picking about trying to get the lure out of the mesh and putting the fish under unnecessary stress, something like a trout fishing net or salmon fishing net is ideal.

Also, it is better to use a mat to place the fish on, this can be improvised with a tarp or poncho stuffed with grasses. Placing a 20+lb fish straight onto the ground is a recipe for injury to the fish from sharp stones and sticks.

Please don't use a gaff or one of those horrendous mouth opening devices, I'm assuming that as you fished for pike as a youngster you'll know how to glove a pike and use the gag reflex to open the mouth without injury?

Also, it helps unhooking with lures to crush at least two of the barbs down on the trebles. Lure trebles tend to be very aggressive, often unnecessarily so. You can land pike to 30lb on barbless trebles without a problem provided you keep pressure on the hooked fish. It also gives the pike a chance to shed the lure in case of a snap up.

Sorry if the above sounded a bit like 'talk from teacher', I used to fish extensively for pike and have seen some horrendous scenes on the bank, people don't tend to treat these toothy critters with the respect they deserve and then expect them to fare well on their return to the water, they are a lot more delicate than you would imagine!

Finally, a filleting glove worn whilst gloving the fish aides confidence. I always wear one when predator fishing, you can be reasonably confident your hand won't be shredded by the fish and can therefore concentrate on the sometimes delicate unhooking task at hand.

Of course if your fishing for the pot ignore all the above and just whack it on the head!

 

[mick miller]

Have a look at this one. I reckon the 7-8 footer would be ideal.

EDIT: oh, that IS the Shimano

 

[HillBill]

Please make sure you have a net with an open weave otherwise you'll be fussing and picking about trying to get the lure out of the mesh and putting the fish under unnecessary stress, something like a trout fishing net or salmon fishing net is ideal.

.Please don't use a gaff or one of those horrendous mouth opening devices, I'm assuming that as you fished for pike as a youngster you'll know how to glove a pike and use the gag reflex to open the mouth without injury?

Also, it helps unhooking with lures to crush at least two of the barbs down on the trebles. Lure trebles tend to be very aggressive, often unnecessarily so. You can land pike to 30lb on barbless trebles without a problem provided you keep pressure on the hooked fish. It also gives the pike a chance to shed the lure in case of a snap up.
Of course if your fishing for the pot ignore all the above and just whack it on the head!

Thanks for your replies so far guys,

I remember the net issue, i used to have a close weave net and did have problems with snags etc it ended up with a few tears.

With regards to handling the fish. Are you referring to holding it under the gills?

I used to crush my hooks but that came after a while of fishing and picking up tips. When i first started lure fishing it was just testing a couple of spinners i had and i found i prefered the more active approach to fishing rather than the passive float/ledger etc. What got me hooked( no pun intended ) though was the 3lb perch i caught on my second cast when i was 13 or so and the 18lb pike i caught a week later( i shat myself when i hooked this)

I do plan on taking one or two for the pot as i've never had pike before and i want to try it. Though that depends on the fish. If i do catch a couple of biggies then i will be putting them back. The only ones i'll take for the pot are in the 5 to 10 lb range

 

[mick miller]

Generally speaking the majority of Pike caught are around the 4-7lb mark, these more often or not are the smaller males. As there's many more males to females I would have thought that the odd one or two for the pot wouldn't pose a problem, leaving the big old girls in peace to raise future generations.

Sorry, I call it gloving because I always have my glove on it's correct name is 'chinning' and it is pretty much that, you feel on the underside of the jaw for the split that runs between and get you first two fingers inside, pointing up toward the front teeth. Then apply gentle pressure to the lower jaw, just like pressing down on your own tongue. The pike will then have a tendency to open it's mouth, a natural reflex which ensures that any prey has the best first chance of getting down that big toothy gob.

They usually remain quite calm when you do this and with small jacks you can easily support the fish in this manner off the ground, which means you don't need a mat. When you get good at it you can forget the net too when boat fishing as you just lean over and chin them out of the water.

I'll see if I can find a link to it, there must be one somewhere.


A thread here discusses it.

Oh yeah, keep a CLOSE eye on the trebles, I've had a treble set in my digits numerous times when the fish has thrashed, that's where barbless hooks works for you too! I've also seen an uncrushed barb set in the nose of a labrador pup too, but that's another story.

 

[woof]

I don't fish, but a guy i work with makes pike tackle, could be worth a look.

piketrace.co.uk

 

[johnnytheboy]

I would say taking a fish for the pot is ok, but not upto 10lbs, thats a big fillet much bigger than you would even need unless you are feeding loads of folk, upto 5 lbs has to be a decent size of fish for eating, after a certain size i read they don't taste so good, a 10lb male fish could be 14yrs old, now thats not going to be as tasty as a fresh wee jack in the 3lb region.


Lure as follows have worked for me on a spinning rod
Lil Ernie crankbait
6" jake crank bait
White spinnerbait with red blades
6" manns shad and 14grms jig head
Lucky strike lizard spoon

as mick says crushed barbs are good, it makes it easier to get it out of yourself as well if the worst happens