Can someone tell me why there is a Pike close season of 6 months on many waters? Is just traditional or is there a reason why only pike have a separate close season. Also I have never understood why the open season for Pike covers 3 months of their spawning season.
It is traditional, but for heaven knows why.
Firstly pike spawn early, like perch and dace, very often in February and into March. Yes, 6 weeks whilst the season is still on and of course, the big girls are bigger then if gravid, which means the captors can hold up a fatter fish.
It was said by (I think) Barrie Rickards (famous pike angler) that May and June are the times when pike eat a great percentage of their seasonal diet, as much as 60%. They are active and full of beans, but being a big fish and expending a lot of energy in the fight, they can succumb to lactic acids building up in their muscle tissues and this can lead to mortalities. So the best thing is in summer, fish with good heavy tackle and keep the fight as short as possible.
I did offer some of the general 'traditionalists' (re close season) a compromise on the rivers. In February, March, and April, ban livebaits, deadbaits and lures to protect predators. In April May and June, ban all other baits intended for species other than predators. That way, only April would be the month when no fishing was allowed on rivers, but that excludes small lures and flies for trout, of course. It would please most people, I believe, but my offer was rejected as being too complicated.