Pike Fishing - Handle with Care

[FishingMagic]

This is a dedicated thread for discussing article: Pike Fishing - Handle with Care

[agamemnon]

a very good article for those anglers new to pike or unsure on how best to go about unhooking them.
i might cause some contention here though, i never strike straight away when im pike fishing ive done this so many times and in 80% of takes ive missed the fish. pike dont gulp food down like pretty much every other single coarse fish. theygrab the bait then either sit on it and turn the fish so they can swallow head first or they will move away and turn the bait as they swim away. i fish open bail arm and when the fish pulls the line from my drop off indicators i will lift the rod and allow the fish the take the line counting to at least 5 maybe 10 before i strike the fish. by gently allowing the line to go through my fingers i can feel the tension the fish is applying and gauge when is best to strike.
it is very rare that i miss a fish by doing this and it is also very rare that i hook the fish deep into its stomach.
i was fishing this weekend for pike and i had 6 bites yet i only managed to land 2 fish. 1 of my fish came off just before i managed to slip the net under it, i atribute this to not giving the pike time to get the bait into its mouth fully.

[Cliff Hatton 2]

Good article. The wire-cutters are particularly important, I think, having encountered more than enough situations where 'simply inverting' the treble simply doesn't work! Keeping cool is very important when faced with a tricky unhooking job but if it just ain't working the snips are essential. A really neat, deft de-hooking job on these occasions leaves you feeling like an accomplished surgeon! As it happens, I'm a great advocate of singles where possible and appropriate.

[chav professor]

A super article and very timely!!!! The local fisher boys and teenagers seem to descend en masse this time of year to give poor old esox a bit of a bashing....... Some are really well equiped, whilst others sadly have not got a clue what to do. It is always sad to see a poor old jack flapping around in the dirt whilst these lads look on and ponder what to do next.

I noticed the other day that our local tackle shop sells treble hooks singly at a pound each! I can't help thinking this is bad practice - Do you think they sold a few yards of woven steel pike wire to accompany this migre transaction?

I don't want to see us go down the same route as the German's, but before being issued a fishing permit, you have to attend a course on fish handling...

[keora]

I've tried striking immediately when I get a take when deadbait fishing for pike, and I've found it's not effective as a technique. I've occasionally watched pike picking up deadbaits, and they don't swallow the bait immediately. They seem to grasp the bait lightly in their jaws, often with most of the bait still exposed outside the mouth. A strike at this stage doesn't usually connect with the fish.

With deadbaits I watch the float closely, if it starts to move, or twitches, I strike after about 10 seconds