Wading through Jacks

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Steven West

Guest
I'll start by saying i am a novice (but improving) Pike angler. I've fished a big lake twice and caught 5 jack pike but have been informed that larger pike are in residence. In my two timed there i have not seen a fisherman to ask, but how do i get through to the biggies. Bare in mind that i fish in the margins where i can see the pike striking at fry/small stuff.
 
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Eric Edwards

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I think you've answered your own question Steven. The margins are often a safe bet for a jack or two. The big fish come close in also but once you've disturbed the swim by pulling in a jack, they will slink away into deeper water.
Carry on fishing the margins but try deeper water - particularly close to features such as weedbeds or depressions on the lake bed. And use deadbaits rather than lives. The average weight of fish to deadbaits is far higher.

Eric
 
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Carp Angler

Guest
Huh, what do you know about catching big pike........ :eek:)
 
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Chris Bishop

Guest
Some of these waters where you have to wade through jacks are worth sticking with. The natural pyramid of pike sizes has been distorted in a lot of waters where cormorants have done their stuff, so the practically the only prey for larger pike is smaller pike.

If yopu fish two rods try different tactics on each - margin fish with one and fish the other at a more distant feaure, or - if you don't know the water that well - blast it out as far as you can, say with a popped-up dead on - and twitch it back a couple of feet every five minutes or so to thoroughly search the swim.

Keep moving as well - the swims which produce jacks probably do so because the razor blade-sized prey are starting to shoal up around them.

Try to find where the bigger prey fish are, esp bream if there are any in there.
 
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Andrew Miller

Guest
I been told that if you catching plenty of jack, forget about the bigger fish as they not feeding but if you not getting any jack then be prepared for the big one as they in a feeding mood and frightened off the jack
 
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Gary Knowles

Guest
Steven,

Seriously though, if you are a novice then enjoy the jacks. When I started piking it took me ages to get amongst a few big pike (they are not as easy as carp) so you should use the opportunity of quite prolific fishing to familiarise yourself with various methods, unhooking, etc...
 
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Rob Brownfield

Guest
The inverted pyramid theory is a sound one. My local water threw up only jacks for 3 seasons...not ita hard to catch anything under double figures, with many fish 18+
 
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Steven West

Guest
Thanks for your help i will put the theory into practice over the weekend!
 
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Chris Bishop

Guest
I know a lake like that.

The cormies have all-but wiped out the hand-sized prey fish, so you end up with a lake full of milk bottle tops and dustbin lid bream.

The larger coarse fish fish spawn successfully and there's little competition for food for the littl'uns, so you get an annual fry explosion which in turn supports a huge head of jacks.

Problem is few make the quantum leap and get any larger than thin, hungry low doubles.

But there are one or two whackers in there, floating between high twenties and 30lb mark, which come out once or twice a year.

The only thing they could feasibly eat is jacks.
 
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