Havent fished for 20 years!

Haven't been fishing for about 20 years, since I discovered girls, cars, golf and beer etc etc! Always listen to the fishing show on Talksport on the way to golf. Gear been in the garage since my Dad died etc etc.

Stone me, the guy I play golf with is a Pike Nutter! We've got a trip booked for Xmas week!! Hoorah!

So, what has changed?
- I guess my barbed hooks are barred?
- Lead shot and arlessy bombs!
- My Mitchell 324's ? Are they worth anthing these days?
- Something called "braid"...what's that about?
- Fibre glass rods?


And stone, I just heard Ivan Marks died! My boyhood hero?

What else do I need to know?

Wecome back mate. In real terms (don`t you just love that word), very little has changed, or certainly in the basics at least. Technology of course has moved on and we now have tackle made of much finer and more efficient materials.

What else do you need to know, well that depends on what you know already, but of course once you know it all, then I expect it will be time to pack it in again?

Good luck Ian!

Like yourself Ian I had a long (14 years) layoff from fishing even though it had been my passion from childhood until my mid twenties.(Must have taken me a long time to discover women and beer then!) But having hardly given fishing a thought for years, one day I felt the urge to go again and I can't tell you how much I enjoyed that first trip. As you have realised, the tackle and methods have moved on (for example I could not imagine what the bloody hell a spod might be) but the basics are the same and you soon catch up. I actually found some of the angling on TV very helpful in that respect. Thankfully the thrill of hooking a fish remains the same no matter how many years have gone by. Best of luck, you're in for a treat.

you won't catch any fish on the M4.

barbed hooks aren't banned everywhere, but they are in some places.
lead is banned in all sizes between 1oz and number 8.

braid is like string. woven from lots of thin fibres.

rods have really moved on, even the cheapest will be better than an expensive one from 20 years ago, but you might just get away with the reels.

Get rid of the silly "4"

Been watching lots of fishing on satelite TV... who is tha John Wilson prat? Giggles like an idiot when he has a fish on and seems not to want to get it on the bank!

Can't see Kevin Ashurst doing that!

Saw a thing called a "method" feeder!! When I was a lad, you'd never have done that as the splash would has been daid to scare the fish!

you've got a lot to learn, especially about wilson.

Wilson can be a bit too bouncy to watch much of I agree, knows his stuff mind you...

Pike fishing has not really changed a great deal since I was a kid fishing 20 years ago... Apart from the introduction of new rigs like the paternoster etc (don't know when that came about...?)

I would avoid braid sticking to mono line
at first if I were you. Not only is it a load more expensive but it handles very differently to anything you would have used before. Main reason is that it has little if no elasticity and if your using older reels and less forgiving rods then this would be best avoided until you get used to playing pike again ;0)

Depending on how you want to fish i.e. live-bait, dead-bait and the depth of water you can usually get away with the classic pike bung and snap-tackle wire trace. I would recommend you buy yourself some snap-tackles as your existing hooks and wire may have seen better days and you need a strong sharp hook to really set the hooks well when you strike into the mouth of a pike...

Dead-bait roach is my preferred course fish bait or something simple like sprat or half mackerel on the seas baits side...

Could rattle on but your pike-nut mate will tell you tons more.

Marry Xmas and Good luck!

the only problem with wilson is his pike bite indication methods are to be hones bluddi woeful.
it's the one thing that i'd suggest you don't learn from him.

Good piking practise can be learned from a few guys.

I'd recommend you get any book or vidio from Nevile Fickling

or the Fox guide to pike fishing with Matt Hayes and Max Cotis is a good buy.

Jeff

Hi Ian welcome back to fishing and also welcome to the best fishing site there is.
Try here you should find some useful info.

Yes, best site by far!

Oh, and as the link, Mick Brown is also a great pike angler...