Pike Fishing

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Pike was the first fish I remember eating. I must have been about seven or eight and was fishing with my uncle on the canal, we both had pike bungs out (remember those big egg shaped ones) using the roach we had caught earlier as live bait. Keep nets were common back then so you always had a few little fish to hand.
Anyway I hooked one, I still remember those few minutes like it was yesterday, I watched the bung being dragged up and down the canal without going under with uncle telling me to; wait.......wait..........wait until it takes it. Well it finally went under, it nearly dragged me in the cut.LOL.
I had caught lots of fish before but never "A PIKE". MY uncle had to take the rod off me and reel it in.

There was no doubt about it, it was knocked on the head, I was always taught that it was wrong to put back a pike as they eat all the fish that we trying to catch. I took it home for my Mam to cook but she wouldn't have anything to do with it. "Take it round your Nana's".

Well I did she was made up, and had it gutted and cleaned in about 2 minutes flat. She filleted it, then diced it and rolled it in flour. It was delicious.

TBC
 
Now I find the best bait is a dead Perch 1/2 to 3/4 lb. Keep it dead a while, until it starts to go white, before you use it. 10 to 20 pounder's on that no problem. Another little trick that still works on the night lines is with the worms- get a syringe, I use the ones from a printer ink refill kit, the ones with the fat needles, and inject the worms until full of air. That's been deadly for as long as I can remember for big perch. We invented the "POP UP" Bait when we were kids.LOL
 
Glad to know that there really are people that look forward to the experience of finding a pike on the end of their line. In my time in the bush I have come to dread the mere sight of a 'slimer' on the hook. After learning to properly fillet them in order to avoid the dreaded y-bones I thought that my appreciation would become enhanced. But no, they still taste like algae from the bottom of a swamp. Last year a someone invited me over to their camp in N. Alberta where they soaked the fillets in milk for 2-3 hours, then breaded and fried. The swamp flavour was cut back a bit, now the texture could be noticed and they felt like grainy mush in the mouth. Finally, last winter I was out ice-fishing and a friend pulled in a larger 'swamp shark' and we decided to have a little feed.

Unbelievable, the flesh was firm, the taste was pleasant....I was stunned! Lesson learned, I only eat jackfish in the winter, or from very cold northern lakes. Otherwise, I would gladly take a trout, or salmon, or walleye, or....possibly go hungry.

As for catching them, around here, anything will work. They must be the single most indiscriminate fish that I have ever met. On the positive note, it would be very hard to starve to death in the north of Canada, you can always catch a jack.

After disparaging the mighty pike, I second the request for recipes. Somehow, someway, sometime, I will learn to cook a jack that will bring a smile to my face.

Happy fishing to all!
 
My time spent in the outdoors is basically spent Pike Fishing, I'm a novice bushcrafter but what i'm picking up on here and the trips i do in various parts of the world i'm integrating into the time i spend at the fishing, we basically tend to be out for a day or weekends at a time the odd week/fortnight here and there

Any other Pike Anglers out there, or is everyone bushcrafters that do abit fishing???

I've spend many year fishing for from the bank for pike as well as other species, have you tried pike fishing from a canoe before, I have, it's well worth a try
 
I've fished on and off for pike for 30 years. Caught a big one once, tasted even worse than the usual ones. I mostly now stick with perch. Lovely fried in some flour and lemon-pepper seasoning.
 
Never tried from the canoe but will soon, gonna buy one asap

practical survivor i caught largemouth to 4lbs in spain on jigs great fish on light gear

grey owl i was in ontario on a fly in to whitewater lake, we ate a few shore lunch style they were great fried in the pan with a cajun mix, never ate them in the uk, its not very pc to eat them over here, the walleye were best they were very tasty
 
We were in extremadura west of madrid there are some big reservoirs there with piles of large mouth, its well worth a look, we were just messing about but if you knew what you were doing you could bag up there, we seen loads, it was spawning time so it was really hard to catch them. The comizo barbel over there take the same lures as the bass they must be one of the most fun fish to catch anywhere in the world they are holigans
 
The carp in those spanish ressies are a sucker for a bit of floating crust too! If you can get away from the natives thrashing the water to a foam you can catch plenty.:D
 

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