Accidental pike captures

chav professor

chav professor

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 23, 2010
Messages
2,992
Reaction score
5
Location
Ipswich, Suffolk
I had ANOTHER weird experience last night....... I was retrieving my luncheon meat bait and as it skipped along the surface there was an almighty splash. I continued retrieving and a further eruption resulted in an 8lb pike giving me an interesting fight on 6lb main line.

It made me wonder, how active are pike at night? The pike obviously sensed the movement in the darkness and instinctively struck at it. It obviously took the luncheon meat in much the same way a surface popper lure would be taken.

BTW - the reason I state ANOTHER strange experience was that a few weeks ago I caught and landed a nice 13lb pike on ledgered luncheon meat - once again at night!

An enlightened few do pike fish after dark - but has pike behaviour been misunderstood? Do pike feed just as well - if not better in some circumstanes under the cover of darkness? Is luncheon meat the new pike super bait?;)
 
G

greeny1321

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 9, 2011
Messages
172
Reaction score
0
Location
Wigan
chav professor said:
I had ANOTHER weird experience last night....... I was retrieving my luncheon meat bait and as it skipped along the surface there was an almighty splash. I continued retrieving and a further eruption resulted in an 8lb pike giving me an interesting fight on 6lb main line.

It made me wonder, how active are pike at night? The pike obviously sensed the movement in the darkness and instinctively struck at it. It obviously took the luncheon meat in much the same way a surface popper lure would be taken.

BTW - the reason I state ANOTHER strange experience was that a few weeks ago I caught and landed a nice 13lb pike on ledgered luncheon meat - once again at night!

An enlightened few do pike fish after dark - but has pike behaviour been misunderstood? Do pike feed just as well - if not better in some circumstanes under the cover of darkness? Is luncheon meat the new pike super bait?;)
Click to expand...

A couple of guys I know from another forum Phil Blakey and "jammy" Bob Bibby lure fish at night regularly. From what I gether its no secret that pike dont need thier eyes to hunt and Phil tells me he is convinced they can detect the slightest amount of water displacement in pitch black in deep water! Even soft plastics with a very gentle action!

I have read quite a few times that they also go on the feed at night on waters that are pressured a lot.

I even tried lure fishing at night once or twice but I really need someone to go with me, when those pike hit a lure under your feet in the pitch black its new underwear time!!!!
 
G

greeny1321

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 9, 2011
Messages
172
Reaction score
0
Location
Wigan
peter crabtree said:
why would want somebody with you if you soiled your pants at night???
Click to expand...

Thats a good point lol No seriously though, everything is very intense lure fishing at night, having someone with you is a good plan just having someone to talk to will calm the nerves a bit.
 
laguna

laguna

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 14, 2011
Messages
3,280
Reaction score
27
Location
Bradford, West Yorkshire
Prof, a mate tried landing a pike that took his meat on retrieval when carp fishing, but a single size 8's lost it. How did you land it, were you using a treble hook baited with meat?
On the same water; a huge pike followed my single white maggot in right up and out of the water! Unfortunately for me I didn't have a change of underwear :eek:

The vast majority of my pike (90%+) have been caught on deads at dusk or in total darkness.
I have also caught in daylight hours with lures too but mainly it is dusk or darkness when they come on the feed!
 
chav professor

chav professor

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 23, 2010
Messages
2,992
Reaction score
5
Location
Ipswich, Suffolk
laguna said:
Prof, a mate tried landing a pike that took his meat on retrieval when carp fishing, but a single size 8's lost it. How did you land it, were you using a treble hook baited with meat?
Click to expand...

No, just my usual approach to chubbing if I use luncheon meat. Size 6 hook burried into cubes of meat.

Thought I'd add the picture of the 13....
nightpike005.jpg
 
T

terry m

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 14, 2010
Messages
5,897
Reaction score
4,236
Location
New Forest, Hampshire
This is a subject worth considering.

It is no secret that dusk and dawn are generally the best times for pike, pretty much the same as all fish. But night fishing for Esox is something that I have not seriously considered.

During the 1970's I spent three or four seasons seriously fishing gravel pits and lakes for eels. This was 95% night fishing, often not casting out until after dark, and 95% of the time deadbaits (small 4 inch roach) were used. During all of that time I never once caught a pike during the hours of darkness, although they were definitely present in the waters.

Having said that, overnighters in the middle of winter do not sound overly attractive!!
 
chav professor

chav professor

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 23, 2010
Messages
2,992
Reaction score
5
Location
Ipswich, Suffolk
I think that in periods of stress - pike need to adapt. To be fair, due to low river conditions and drought, these pike might be exhibiting a change in behaviour. It must be very difficult to stalk prey in daytime and are less sucessful in crystal clear water.

I think that perhaps on rivers, using a sea dead bait - the scent in the current would draw the attention of any pike within the vicinity. I don't really understand enough about pike behaviour to understand what happens on still waters.

But i will indulge myself and share the pic of the 8lb'er caught the other night.
nightpike8393.jpg


As for landing them - pure fluke really. what normally happens when I accidentally catch them on Lob worms is that they bite through the line - But luncheon meat on the other hand....................

---------- Post added at 14:21 ---------- Previous post was at 14:18 ----------
peter crabtree said:
do you save the shorts for the winter?
nice pike chav...
Click to expand...

I save the shorts for when the nettles have died down;)
 
Jamesy

Jamesy

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 26, 2008
Messages
93
Reaction score
0
Location
Coventry
Had one on Luncheon meat a few weeks ago (lost it though) and landed one on a crab boilie some years ago
 
Ray Roberts

Ray Roberts

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 12, 2008
Messages
6,983
Reaction score
7,090
Location
Eltham, SE London
I had a 12 lb'er from the Throop on bread, I think it went for the smalll fishes that were pecking at the bread, or it could have been the bread spinning in the current.

I also caught a Pike of about 8lb from the river Uck that went for a small fish that I had dropped back in, the Pike's teeth became entangle in the mesh of the net, the next thing was for the net and handle to go flying along the bank. A slip fielder would have been proud of the way I hurled myself after the handle, I had a bit of a job getting the net free from it's mouth.
 
barbelboi

barbelboi

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 23, 2011
Messages
15,249
Reaction score
4,206
Location
The Nene Valley
A few years ago a friend hooked what appeared to be a solid mid double in the rudder while we were 'up in the water' carp fishing. It gave a good account of itself on a 1.75tc/8lb setup but came off (hence an almost accidental pike capture) before I could get a decent pic (the half with the teeth was always underwater before you could press the button).
Jerry
 
syhaze

syhaze

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 3, 2010
Messages
67
Reaction score
1
Location
Reading
pike are opportunistic feeders and will take anything that looks like food as it zips past...i've had pike on rubber corn whilst tench fishing and seen em fall to boilies, spam and pellets on occasion.

as for night time feeding, i believe pike hunt more on smell/taste than on sight so darkness is not a major issue. in fact a lot of large pike coming out of my local waters recently have been coming to carp anglers in the dead of night.
 
laguna

laguna

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 14, 2011
Messages
3,280
Reaction score
27
Location
Bradford, West Yorkshire
I am of the opinion that pike can hunt MORE effectively and stealthily in the dark.
This is in complete contrast to their prey that do not possess the same senses or have the ability to escape them.

Also; aren't coarse fish more active in the daylight hours spending up energy, and as such are more restful during darkness than are pike?
 
R

rubio

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 30, 2010
Messages
1,234
Reaction score
576
Location
Suffolk
Just imagine how horrific a winter overnighter with The Chav in his shorts can be!
Single hooks for pike is the 'in thing' innit? Chav lands 'em on nylon cos he's just jammy. My best tho not biggest acciental was a 5 pounder that seized a maggot feeder off the surface and hung on long enough to slip a net under it. Which happily allowed the roach to venture out again. I can also remember old match reports where pike were intentionally targeted with twitched lobworms.
 
Titus

Titus

Banned
Banned
Joined
Feb 23, 2005
Messages
2,225
Reaction score
3
I've had quite a few accidental pike captures on all sorts of baits including bread, corn, maggot, worms, pellets, boilies, meat, and cheese; but the oddest ones must have been a couple of summers in the mid 80's when I was fishing allot with maggot feeder on the middle Severn for chub, roach, dace and of course the large shoals of small barbel which the river was famous for. It was common for the pike to turn up and plague you when you got a shoal of silvers feeding, often taking the fish off the hook as you played them in or attacking the keep net, but they would also often attack the feeder on the retrieve, they would usually let go as they approached the net but on several occasions I managed to land the culprits.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top