The answer to this one is pretty easy. Put it like this: Do maggots or lobworms catch the biggest fish?

And the answer, just as it applies to lures, is that it depends where they're being fished, how they're being fished, and who's fishing them.

Might it be right that in the days when a 4 inch lure was considered enormous, lures did not account for many large pike?

might it be right that a big old girl will be more prepared to chase a 10 inch shad than  a Mepps spinner.

If my lure fishing wa restricted to the sorts of size lure that were prevalent 25 years ago, I would do less of it, i'm sure.

that's not to say that big pike don't take small lures, they plainly do, but speaking for myself the average size of pike i caught increased greatly once I started using the bigger lures.

Yoggy, I've missed you mate, you sneaky bugger. That's the reason you've been off thread eh,knocking a few fish out of that fen drain on the proper lures.he.he. Seriously it's the way to go mate, show them something they have hardly seen ''if at all''

    I've just helped an old friend to nail his P.B.after ''twenty eight years'' of bait fishing.  He was dubious initially about lures generally-not now. Incidentally his fish came from the water you and Nick will be on when you visit.

     Let me know what you'd like and I'll try and get them down to you,no charge- that's if I've got them. Oh yes my mates fish was just short of twenty five pounds- and by the way it shows lures can and do outfish bait!

Graham makes several interesting points, but I think "who's fishing them" is the most important.

And the person who fishes them, has to have confidence in what he is doing.

Confidence is the key without any doubt. 

Had two 28lb plus on single hook 4in shads (same one Twice) plus lots of other high doubles over the years.

Lots of them on smallish spinners, lost two very big fish one day from same spot within 5 cast on 3in Voblex

 I think personally, if you put a lure past a big pike and its hungry it will take it.

 If it's not hungry you have no chance just the same as other fish.

The way i look at it is this.....if i chuck out one of my spinners or plugs,regardless of the size and it goes past a big old croc,it`ll have it if it wants it and if it doesn`t then thats the way it is. I have had fish in the 10-20lbs range follow my mepps spinners right up to the bank and turn away at the last moment or just sit there and sulk.Ok not monster to some folk but giants to me.....

 If i was lucky enough to fish a big old resevoir from a boat for pike then obviously i would look to step up my tackle and lure size but on the waters i normally fish,whats in my lure boxes and bag is quite sufficient i think.

One point a friend of mine at work made was this.....you don`t need the biggest or best boillie to catch a specimen carp,a tiny maggot could do that.So why should you need the biggest,boldest lure you can get hold of to catch a monster pike.If it wants it then it`ll have it!!! 

I used to beleive that a decent sardine or fresh mackeral would outfish any lump of wood or plastic...how wrong I was.

My pike catch rates using lures are far and away greater than my deadbaiting (and livebaiting) ever was.

But this is all down to confidence, if you don't think you'll catch using a lure you won't, because you don't fish it effectively.

This year for the first time in my involvement deads were allowed on Blithfield reservoir, it speak volumes to me that I had 6 or 7 twenties on lures and none on deads, for the last couple of trips I didn't even take a bait rod on the boat.

I'm with ron on this, a correctly fished lure will outfish baits nine times out of ten, I'm certain of that...

Hi Gary,  I would venture to suggest that in the main we are in agreement. Perhaps with the exception of the size of lures which we use.

     My own views with regard's to trout waters,are that for the first few years of piking being allowed dead baits have proven to be almost a waste of time. It's some time since I last fished a trout water (hence no monsters in recent years), but when I did it was patently obvious to me ''If it didn't move(they) the pike didn't want it''. Bait anglers were fishing two of the waters I was fishing at the same time as me, and it's fair to say their results were abysmal,so much so that many drifted away.

     Some of those guys were not plonkers with reputations already established in the angling world, they just could not adapt. Little were they to know that some seven years later, the pike in those two waters were readily picking up deadbaits! But even though, the catch ratio's were still in favour of lures. So I suppose we could argue that those fish had become used to finding dead fish, or had been weaned onto them by judicious pre-baiting,which one or two enterprising anglers had elected to do.

   My stance on larger lures overall remains the same however, and I too have had more than my share of biggies/not all from trout waters by any means,not that it really matters eh? What however does matter as I have often told Ron is confidence .If you don't have it,you're weighing yourselves out of the game.My philosophy is I expect to catch, not hope to, otherwise this last forty odd years has been a waste of time.

Having lured fished now for over 12 years, i  have had more and bigger pike on

lures, mainly because i lure fish more often the any other method.

I also find that lure fishing lends itself more to my preferred style of fishing, "short opportunist sessions" I can think of quite a few occasions where i only have had 30 minutes of fishing and had a couple of doubles. on one occasion i had a 22lb and a 19lber in 20 minutes.

I have also found that over the years my lure size has increased.

started off using big s size lures. i now use mainly lure between 5-9" with a preference for soft shads.

I think the guys using lures are catching more if they are because they are putting the lure in many more ambush points like sunken trees and reed beds but you can still cover plenty of ground even with dead baits,most of my pike have come soon after the deadbait has touched down but I like to travel light and cover swims like the lure man but with outsized deadbaits ,big is better if everyone else is using the same small baits ,give em a proper mouthful .

  Barbus, I like the sound of your approach mate, keeping it simple has always been a yardstick of my own,''where possible'', If you find the use of large deadbaits to be more productive who can argue.

     I haven't used a bait for many years now, but I recall a guy by the name of Chris Binyon urging their use many years ago, and I seem to remember he had an impressive list of big pike to his credit.

       I only lure fish now but am equally convinced of the value of larger lures from several standpoints-all have been touched upon in earlier posts. I think as time goes by I may be proved more right than wrong, in the meantime enjoy your fishing your way.

Chris Binyon....a blast from the past!

 I think fishing trout waters with static deadbaits is far slower than watching really slow drying paint dry and not worth the effort!

 On it's day lure fishing can be the top gun method....especially on waters that are allowed to lie "fallow" for whatever reason.

 But if i ever had to narrow piking down to one method i could choose wherever i liked and in the manner i liked.............i'll take CB's methods!

Lure fishing enables you to cover far more water than static live or dead-baiting.

I catch a lot on lures at some times of the year but I've never had a 20 doing it.

I think this is partly because I'm no great shakes at it, but also because the rivers I fish seem to respond better and produce the bigger fish when they're coloured-up and running off.

  Stuart, I am one of those anglers who considers ''wobbled baits'' as a lure,although I know there are many who would dispute that. This is not the place for me to argue the semantics of the point.

     Back in the early sixties I did quite a lot of wobbling baits, in fact it was that very method that got me my ''first' big pike,a whopper of just over 29lb. And I recall with great affection some of the epic catches of pike made by my late friend A.C.Taylor and I on the South Forty Foot in Lincolnshire. Many times making catches that would have made front page news had we chosen to report them! And I have continued to use the method on and off up to the present day. It's just that nowadays I find the use of lures more convenient and less messy.

     Shows how picky I'm getting in my old age!!

Thanks for a very interesting thread Derek.

Out of interest, what lures would you choose if you could only have say six in your box?

I'm a live and dead man, but your thread has inspired me.  I have a selection of lures/plugs/jellies but not many have teeth marks on them!

I fish the Bristol Avon, Somerset Levels, Cheddar Res' and a few other places

Many thanks in anticipation.

Steve.

   Steve, If I could only have ''six lures'' here goes.

      ''Creek Chub Pikie'' big one.

      ''Fox Replicant'' 8 inch. some weight removed.

      ''Spinnerbait'' any make- but I prefer my own.

      ''Jitterbug'' big one.

      ''Castaic'' slow sinker.

      ''Glide Bait'' neutral density.

      Fish them with confidence and enjoy.

Cheers Derek.

Confidence is built from faith and someone who knows.

Thank you

If you and Ron fancy a trek "darn sarf" look me up.

You're welcome anytime, but Ron knows that already

   Steve, I'm not familiar with either the Bristol Avon, or Somerset Levels.Seeing as like yourself I love river/drain fishing, could you give me a brief description ie. depths, flow rate in order that I might establish any similarities between your water's and mine.      Also Steve, what are typical (if there is such an animal) weight catagories for the fish you get. It all ties in with what qualifies.

     Thanks in advance mate.