What am I doing WRONG!?

[JackGE]

Okay, so a month ago I caught my first pike and was ecstatic! Since, I haven't caught a single fish, I've been out every weekend, not one! Today I got up early and got to the canal, walking over a mile of it. Switching lures, plugs, soft baits and not a single bite. I had a couple of follows from perch when I arrived, and that was it.

I even tried some drop shotting and didn't have a single bite (and also managed to lose that rig ). I try to fish ahead of myself to prevent spooking any potential fish, sit low so that I'm not shadowing the water, slow, fast, jerky retrieves, casting to overhanging bushes and bridges. I know there are perch in there along with a load of roach etc. And there are pike as one came up for my lure last week.

So either I am terrible at lure fishing or the water I'm fishing isn't great.

Has anyone got any suggestions or advice, it's getting really tiring and frustrating dedicating all of my weekend time to fishing without any results!

 

[103841]

My story is exactly the same as yours, a newcomer to piking and catching one immediately, then....nothing I fished for two hours yesterday, at one point I dropped a juicy piece of lamprey almost on the nose of a static pike, no interest at all.

For me it's just conditions, the air pressure has been high for quite a while, I'm convinced this has a direct effect on how fish feed and in turn how the predator hunts its prey.

I fished a spot just a few days back that is noted for good catches of pike, there had been a match there a few days before, I spoke with the angler that won the match, he caught silvers steadily throughout the six hours, he said that he had not a single pike attack as did none of the other competitors, says a lot to me.

Low pressure forecast for later in the week, hang in there I'm sure we'll both be enjoying a few blank free sessions soon.

 

[binka]

Are you fishing an urban or heavily fished canal?

The reason for asking is that, if you are, it could just be that every man and his dog chuck a lure in it and the pike have become wary.

If so it might be worth swapping for a sprat or similar small fish which you can twitch along much more slowly, maybe even under a float which will allow you to leave it to fish itself for a while, perhaps close to a feature, with the take often coming as you move it again.

 

[john step]

I have caught pike on lures but I am not very good at it. Never have been and I have tried very hard in the past.

I now do what I am confident at and I do catch a few of the big old girls.
I use deadbaits when "lure fishing" as Binka says.
I favour perch as a sink and draw bait as they are quite tough.
However any fish can be used. Sprats are good but buy plenty as they are soft and only last a few casts.
I discovered recently that lamprey make an excellent sink and draw bait.
I now save the baits that would have been discarded and use them for this method. They have a lovely wiggly action.

Try a small 4inch bait head up the trace. Fix a small( for pike) float, say a big avon or chubber top and bottom. A couple of AA or swan above the trace enhances action. Set the float so the bait just clears the bottom and TWITCH the bait back towards you SLOWLY often letting it rest for a minute.

Never ever be in a hurry to lift the bait at the end of a retrieve. Let it lie in the edge for a minute. Thats often when a pike will slink away with your bait.

I hope this gives you hope for some fish. Tight lines.

 

[JackGE]

Thanks for the input s63. I have heard about pike being like barometers, where pressure systems can really put them off. It's funny because there was also a match on the canal I was at a couple of weekends ago and they said it was fishing extremely badly, maybe the sudden change in temperature has had an effect also?

Binka, it is an urban canal system and I believe it's fished quite heavily, so maybe they are suspicious of lures. I do want to try sprat twitching, though! I really need to find a more rural and remote area to fish but not many people are willing to give up the details, although I wouldn't be inclined to tell anyone considering I'm a lone angler! (feel free to pm me anyone ).

Hi John, I'm guessing most tackle shops would sell lamprey and sprat? Sure sainsburys or the local fish monger will have some if not. Wondering if it'll be more difficult to cast a sprat with a baitcaster and I don't fancy buying another reel!

Thank you all for your input, I really appreciate it! But I do think I'm going to try and find a less pressured water.

 

[peter crabtree]

A lot of the lure boys on my local canal have switched to worm mounted on jig heads now the water is cooling off. I have also noticed they've slowed down their retrieve to more of a twitch.

 

[103841]

Hi John, I'm guessing most tackle shops would sell lamprey and sprat? Sure sainsburys or the local fish monger will have some if not. Wondering if it'll be more difficult to cast a sprat with a baitcaster and I don't fancy buying another reel! .

Lamprey appears to be a tasty delicacy for Esox and seems to be often out of stock with many retailers. Only used them once but I can highly recommend Bobco, who last week had stock, just £1-99 next day postage with DPD.

It's skin is tough as old boots and is perfect for my single barbless circle hooks, just need to find some feeding pike now.

 

[john step]

Lamprey appears to be a tasty delicacy for Esox and seems to be often out of stock with many retailers. Only used them once but I can highly recommend Bobco, who last week had stock, just £1-99 next day postage with DPD.

It's skin is tough as old boots and is perfect for my single barbless circle hooks, just need to find some feeding pike now.

As lamprey are long and wiggly I have been using a large single top hook to really secure the bait and a barbless treble about half way along it to catch the ones that whack it from behind.

I had a light bulb moment re lamprey as sink and draw when looking through a catalogue and seeing eel like lures for sale.(Savage I think).

As I said in another post, my lamprey comes in a bulk pack from THE TACKLE SHOP, GAINSBOROUGH. He does do mail order. Its a good web site to peruse as his selection of deadbaits is considerable.

As I am in the position to source my own coarse fish deadbaits, small roach and perch are not a problem.

Before the howls of protest, I see no difference from sourcing my own or that of buying bait someone else has sourced. Sea or fresh.

 

[steve2]

You are not doing anything wrong lure fishing always drops back when the colder weather arrives. Try wobbled dead baits on a slow retrieve.
I took some good fish the other day by chopping and changing lures. It wasn’t easy fishing and I must have walked the best part of 2 miles round that lake and cast a few hundred times.

 

[keora]

Thanks for the input s63. I have heard about pike being like barometers, where pressure systems can really put them off. It's funny because there was also a match on the canal I was at a couple of weekends ago and they said it was fishing extremely badly, maybe the sudden change in temperature has had an effect also?

Binka, it is an urban canal system and I believe it's fished quite heavily, so maybe they are suspicious of lures. I do want to try sprat twitching, though! I really need to find a more rural and remote area to fish but not many people are willing to give up the details, although I wouldn't be inclined to tell anyone considering I'm a lone angler! (feel free to pm me anyone ).

Hi John, I'm guessing most tackle shops would sell lamprey and sprat? Sure sainsburys or the local fish monger will have some if not. Wondering if it'll be more difficult to cast a sprat with a baitcaster and I don't fancy buying another reel!

Thank you all for your input, I really appreciate it! But I do think I'm going to try and find a less pressured water.

The water might be overfished, or there might not be many pike there. I'd try another water.

The water temperature on a stillwater I fished last week was only 6 degrees C. This means pike are less active.

You could try fishing wobbled deadbaits for pike. Frozen sprats from Sainsburys vary a lot in size, sprats from fishing shops are bigger and more consistent in size. They don't last long when casting and you might need 15 to 20 for a session. Put one on a two hook rig, or even a trace with one big single hook. Add two or three swan shots to the reel line above the swivel and cast out. Retrieve very slowly. A bigger lead will allow you to cast further but it won't allow the sprat to drift slowly down to the river bed.

You could also add a small float to this rig, and twitch the float back towards you a foot at a time, every 2 or 3 minutes. Pike sometimes ignore a static deadbait but will take one that moves occasionally.

Another approach is to take two rods, one with a lure and one with a float fished deadbait.

 

[greenie62]

......As I am in the position to source my own coarse fish deadbaits, small roach and perch are not a problem.

Before the howls of protest, I see no difference from sourcing my own or that of buying bait someone else has sourced. Sea or fresh.

BIOSECURITY?
Many waters restrict the use of deadbaits from other freshwaters - to avoid introduction of infectious diseases.

It has usually been reckoned that sea-fish can't infect freshwater species - so they were OK to use - don't know if this is still the case - Anyone any updates on this?

 

[thecrow]

Many waters restrict the use of deadbaits from other freshwaters - to avoid introduction of infectious diseases.

I have never seen that or even thought about it but surely if a bait has been frozen as I imagine Johns have been any infectious disease would have been rendered harmless?

 

[JackGE]

Thank you all, I'm definitely going to try the wobbled deadbait method and just twitch it slowly. Maybe frozen would be better as they would last longer? I this think maybe a large hook through the nose and a treble further back. But I think I'm going to try on treble hook through the nose, although this may pick up more weed... Maybe a single hook then!

Good point greenie, I know some places forbid deadbaits from other areas. I guess I'll just check depending on where I fish. I'm going to try a stretch of the Soar when I get the chance.

 

[JackGE]

The Crow, totally depends on the bacteria/virus/parasite. In the lab we freeze a lot of stocks (usually with other additives) in order to preserve them for longer.

 

[thecrow]

The Crow, totally depends on the bacteria/virus/parasite. In the lab we freeze a lot of stocks (usually with other additives) in order to preserve them for longer.

If that's the case and I have no reason to think it isn't how does anyone know that shop purchased pre frozen bait is disease free? I have to admit its something that has never entered my head (even though there is plenty of room )

Have you any idea what fishy diseases could survive being frozen?

 

[JackGE]

Haha, the thing is, diseases can't usually transfer from different animals etc to humans or other animals due to different receptors that the disease targets. There are exceptions such as flu, however.

Totally disease dependent and I haven't read about it previously but my guess is, most would likely survive.

 

[JackGE]

The Crow, I slightly misread your last comment so you can ignore the first paragraph!

 

[john step]

BIOSECURITY?
Many waters restrict the use of deadbaits from other freshwaters - to avoid introduction of infectious diseases.

It has usually been reckoned that sea-fish can't infect freshwater species - so they were OK to use - don't know if this is still the case - Anyone any updates on this?

I shall investigate if poss. Luckily my deads come from where I pike fish apart from the lamprey that I use on the river.

PS. Just looked up on web. Seems that if the fish is frozen to minus 4 for at least 7 days the nasties will be killed.
Very interesting as you can buy trout as well as other freshwater fish commercially for deadbaits. I use lamprey a lot which come into fresh water I think.

I have sent an email to a bait supplier to see if there is any info. as most zandering on the river is done with freshwater baits ..I think.

 

[peter crabtree]

If you're using dead baits a tip I learnt years ago is to get some pipe freeze and using the thin tube attachment, spray the area where you hook the bait, this helps hold the hook(s) in when casting...

Amazon.co.uk: pipe freeze spray

 

[steve2]

We can all get it wrong. Spent the lure fishing today with a friend who was dead baiting, final score 4 doubles to dead bait not a touch on lures. The fish were there but they didn't want lures today.