Help! Winter Piking on Pits....

I don't get on to the bank very often and could use all the help and advice I can get regarding Piking on average size pits in the Lea Valley, Herts.
Preferably aimed at fishing in these colder months. Techniques, tackle, fish location, bait and presentation all welcome so I can avoid those dreadful blank sessions!!!

Hehe - I was SO tempted to put one word in each of about 20 messages, Jeff, just to get you excited - not that I'd EVER wind you up, you know that... <cough!>
But I reckon your first port of call is to get yrself mobile, m8 - I know that means not spending every penny on drink, drugs and loose women, but hey! We all have to make sacrifices... <s>
The idea of a spot of chubbing sounds appealing to me for Boxing Day, if you don't have to do ''family'' things - if you can make it, d'you fancy Ware or Hertford?
Anyroad, I'll give you a bell Xmas Day to see whether or not it's do-able.
Till then...

Jeff, I was brought up on the Lea at Fishers Green and lower down towards Waltham abbey. At the lower end of Fishers Green, just near Holyfield Carp water, there is a bridge over the river. At the same place the river splits through a sluice and forms the Old Lea. Where it splits the river hits a wall and creates a slight back eddie with about 11 feet of water. I have had HUNDREDS of pike from here, mainly on live roach paternosterd. You can get them on deads, but its slow. Also place a bait under the bridge or cross the bridge and trot a livebait about 2 rods out down stream.

You are also close to Hooks Marsh here. Park in the car park and u have a small bay infront of u. There are several cars in the water here, close in. Drop a bait down here for action. Dont tell anyone though!! Also, walk to the left..about 300 yards there is a BIG tree that has fallen into the water. U have about 10 feet at the end...good spot. Keep going and u will see an island with a bay facing u. Put a couple of baits tight to the right hand side of the island...try and get them as close to the overhanging trees as u can. You can catch loads of bait at your feet on the pole in this swim.

There are loads of pits around here, ask in P & B Hall in Waltham Abbey.

Pit pike are very feature-oriented. Look for points, esp if they have deep water near'em, drop-offs, channels etc as the water cools. It helps to get down there early enough to see where the prey fish are.

Top tip I picked up in articles and books is to fish in the north east area of the pit.
After this I look for deep margins. On my pits the river or canal side of the pit is generally deeper.There is also one area that is deeper due to the way pits are dug.This can be a good area.Overhanging trees attract Pike as do the margins of Islands.Areas of inlets or outlets can be good.
Most of the Pike on my pits are under the rod tip.

As Chris says if you can find the prey fish some pike at least are likely to be near by. Often the prey fish will be in deep water or sometimes in a bay. Find both, and you're likely to find the fish.

In bays, the bigger fish often rest up at the entrance thus keeping the prey fish corralled. A well-presented bait positioned here will often score. When they go on the feed I find they often use the margins as David suggested. These are ignored by many pikers.

One other point when learning about a water is to fish at least one bait on the move. This will mean you learn the best spots much more quickly, and is often a good tactic anyway.

Most of all though I'd take this a stage further. I always start on a new pike water by lure fishing. If you use a sinking lure such as a spoon you quickly learn the depths and the position of weedbeds etc. You also catch quite a few pike!

Just blast a bait out into open water and sit and wait. Or is that carp fishing...

Just like to thank everyone for the help and advice so far. Very interesting and eye opening tips. Will be puting it all in to practice very soon, I'll let you know how I get on............

Thanks, Jeff.....

thanks ever so much 4 the tips. ive now more ideas to hit my local pit .as ive just swaped from sea fishing due to the dicline in sea stocks.i know there must be a biggy in there some were.

Just blast a bait out into open water and sit and wait. Or is that carp fishing...


You obviously don't know any decent carp anglers then.

"Just blast a bait out into open water and sit and wait. Or is that carp fishing..."

It's what a lot of specialist anglers do, including me at times, when I have the time and I want to 'doss'. It's the standard hair-rig, boilie, bolt-rig approach. Swap the boilie for some designer paste or a different flavour boilie 'designed' for barbel, and you're after barbel. Swap the end tackle for a set of trebles on a wire trace, and the boilie for a deadbait and you're piking.

And the bloke who has most time to sit and wait often catches the most and biggest fish.

Or that's how it works a lot of the time.

But decent carp anglers, decent any species anglers, are often successful when time is at a premium and they have to dig deep into their experience.

But it's the same factor, time, that eventually exposes the good anglers from the mediocre, the 'time bandits'. Consistent success, with whatever an angler fishes for, shows - in time.......