IYCF Seven pike

Bought Improve Your Coarse Fishing because it had a nice pic of a pike on the front and an article on matt hayes catching a Severn 20.

Truly cracking fish.

However, there was something which didn't quite add up in the article.

After all the usual references to things made by Fox, we get down to the nitty gritty of catching something.

He describes playing it, and says he chinned the pike in by hand in the text.

However, a picture shows him slipping the landing net under (presumably...) the same fish, with a caption saying Matt lands his Severn 20, or something like that.

Any ideas..?

Hmmmm..very suspicious..but we must give them the benefit of the doubt and assume whoever wrote the article under Matt's name made an error

Chris...look at most mags and u will see loads of instances of the same thing. Things like "A winter carp comes to the net", and the angler is in a t-shirt and there is a family in the background having a picnic etc.!

The best i saw was a pic of a certain Mr. Cundiff fishing a "northern Mere" when infact it was Catch 22 in Norfolk.

Sometimes its a mistake, sometimes its artistic license, but many times its to pad out a story if not enough pics are available.

Neither mate - he makes a specific point about chinning the fish out, even though it was a 20. One of the small pictures on a spread showed him netting one.

I've said it before and i will say it again....imo "chinning a 20 is a potential horror story......for angler and fish!

Interestingly, it hasn't snowed in Stourport so far this winter. Nice to see good fresh copy in IYCF.

Have a look at the 'Herring' in the Pike baits bit. Is it not a Horse Mackeral shurely shome mistake.

Chinning the pike out.......No way!!!

Many years ago I caught a 6 pound pike on a plug in a Lincs drain. Being lazy I lifted out the fish with my left hand. The fish kicked and slipped out of my hand. The top treble on the plug embedded itself in the flashy part of my hand between thumb and forefinger and the pike carried on kicking!!!

I did a Rambo job and cut the hook out of my hand with my sheath knife which thankfully was kept razor sharp.

I stll have the scar on my left hand.

Matt Hayes must be Bloody Mad pulling a stroke like that!!

Amazing what some people will do for the money shot.... ;o}~

Any angling article is set-up to help sell mags - E-MAP are peticularly, in my opinion, good at pulling the wool over magazine browsers eyes.

We have all messed about with photo's especially if writing articles, my main objection to angling writers of magazines landing pike in this fashion is that newcommers will immitate and as Ron says a size 6 treble in the hand with a 20lb pike also attached is not nice.....use a net and cut up the trebles if need be.
Looked at the article briefly and there were lots of errors!.....perhaps Matt wrote it last year?

I do often chin small pike - but only when I can see where the hooks are and that they aren't going to cause problems. Even if you net the fish you still often have to chin the pike anyway to remove the hooks.

The advantage of chinning the pike is that the hooks can be removed and the pike returned more quickly. This especially applies in summer when active jacks often spin in the net.

Best of all with pike that you're not going to weigh or photograph is to unhook them with pliers whilst they're still in the water. That way you don't even touch them. Just clamp on the hooks and the pike will often twist and do the unhooking for you.

However, I appreciate that netting is often desirable, even essential. I certainly don't agree with those who don't carry a net when lure fishing. Quite apart from big pike, plus hooks in dangerous places, what about when you've a steep bank and can't reach the fish?

Agreed about the pliers bit. I discovered pliers when I started lure fishing last season (or trying to...); just get a good grip on a lip-hooked treble and you can turn it out without lifting the fish out.

Steve,
we all chin small pike, and experienced anglers must decide to what size fish they want to use the method....but i stick to my opinion that for less experienced anglers to use the method (especially from a boat) is a recipe for disaster where fish of the size talked about in the article are concerned.....broken fingers, hooked hands and pike damage DO occur, i've witnessed it.

Paul, I haven't the muscle power to chin big pike, so for me it's a net every time, except for small ones when I play it by ear.

There are pros and cons to each method, but I agree with you that inexperienced anglers should play safe with the bigger fish.

I may be wrong, but I get the impression from one or two pikers that chinning even the bigger pike is a macho thing. As I said some such anglers don't even take a net, which I certainly reckon is a recipe for disaster.

I also think it's a Macho thing with some pikers Steve.....also when i have a twenty pound plus pike on i want to land it quickly!

The big problem is that a lot of pikers are not adequately prepared to deal with a hooked pike, particularly a big one. You want to land it, unhook it, weigh it, photograph it, release it. That takes organising and unless you have a cunning plan, your fish will be left writhing around on the bank or in the boat whilst you, in a heightened state of excitement figure out where the camera is, where the spare roll of film is, where the scales are, oh my God I left the sling at home, do we have a large plastic bag ? Nobody's looking, I'll risk hanging the fish by it's chin on the scales. I've seen all of that too often. Chinning is not the problem if your grip is right and the fish is supported by the other hand. Check out Charlie Bettells website or lure fishing book for a perfectly good way of handling big pike.

There are a couple of good articles on the topic here as well:

<a href=http://www.fishingmagic.com/news/article.asp?SP=&v=1&UAN=1470>Pike 1</A>

<a href=http://www.fishingmagic.com/news/article.asp?SP=&v=1&UAN=627>Pike 2</A>

Gerry,
With all respect mate we are talking of landing pike, so the other hand is usually holding the rod not supporting the fish.......i'll stick with my opinion that chinning big pike when landing them is risky........but yes i do lift them as you state when they are on the mat or in the net, i also show newcommers how to do it, it's part of confidently handling pike.

If you chin a big pike you must use two hands, one to support the middle/bottom of the fish. You either hand the rod to someone else or place the rod, with bail arm open or baitrunner 'on' in a secure position on rests. But you can also use a net. I don't have a problem with chinning a fish as long as it's done correctly. I usually fish from boats and if I don't want to record the capture, I will semi chin the fish, liftng it one third out of the water so that the water supports the weight of the fish, removing the hooks with the other hand and then returning the fish. If you are wearing waterproof boots or wellies you can do the same thing in the shallows if you are bank fishing. I believe that keeping the fish in contact with the water also keeps it relatively calm. If it's a double figure fish that I want to weigh and/or photograph I use a large frame short handled deep boat net. Once the fish is netted it is semi chinned to remove the hook and then left in the net with the net frame drawn back preventing the fish from jumping out, the net handle is looped to a rowlock to prevent the fish swimming off still inside the net. The scales are already to hand and the fish is weighed in the net and the weight of the net is deducted. The net with the fish is then dropped back into the water. Then the fish is lifted completely out for a quick photo or three and then returned, making sure it has adequately recovered. In all the fish is totally out of the water for as long as it takes to take 1-3 photos, say 30-40 seconds. It also helps recovery if you do all of this on the shady side of the boat. There's really a number of 'correct' ways to handle a big fish and my way is just one. But there are two principles that you should always observe
1. Keep the fish out of the water for as short a time as possible
2. Never hold a big fish up horizontally or vertically with one hand.