Please help me

I have done pike fishing once with a friend and he set everything up for me. I just want people to help me choose what lures to buy. There is a canal by me that has lots of pike spreading through it. Its only about 2 1/2 foot deep with a good head of roach and skimmers and perch.also i fish on the river wye but i just dont know what lures or spinners to use. So im asking for some advice for some summer spinning cheers

Blimey how long is a piece of string?....The first thing i would do is go ask for info. If you have been set up before ask what lure was used or ask what lure is best. Try the local Tackle shop but don't let him sell you a £100 of lures as some but noy all will try too...I am a bit of a livebait/Deadbait/Wobbler man really but a wobbled dead bait is in my view better than any bit of plastic!

get in touch with the pike anglers club, PAC, or the lure anglers club
dunno about wobbled deads out fishing lures, think it might be venue/angler specific
anyways a lure dont work once its lost, so might be safer
if you're relatively inexperienced with pike fishing/handling, might be worth getting some instruction/assistance

and here's a spanner to put in the works, as pike need cool water and well oxygenated water to thrive in, and as the UK is at the extreme of their range, should we be fishing for them in the summer/warmer months

I also agree you shouldn’t fish for pike in canals in the summer but in the winter I would go for vibrating lures or rattlers due to the clarity of canal water. Bright Spinner baits tend to do well on murky canals. As for the river Wye, find a weir pool in the summer and you’ll find a good head of pike amongst the prey!

andy247 said:

I also agree you shouldn’t fish for pike in canals in the summer but in the winter I would go for vibrating lures or rattlers due to the clarity of canal water. Bright Spinner baits tend to do well on murky canals. As for the river Wye, find a weir pool in the summer and you’ll find a good head of pike amongst the prey!

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Whether you agree or not with Summer Piking the fact is, some will, whilst others won't.
I personally use my own guidelines, arrived at over many years. During the periods of heatwaves, ''I don't fish at all, regardless of water type''. On the occasions I do fish for Pike during Summer, my mantra is, use strong gear, play them hard, and return them to the water quickly.

andy247 said:

I also agree you shouldn’t fish for pike in canals in the summer but in the winter I would go for vibrating lures or rattlers due to the clarity of canal water. Bright Spinner baits tend to do well on murky canals. As for the river Wye, find a weir pool in the summer and you’ll find a good head of pike amongst the prey!

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If its the Herefordshire Wye, let me know where you find a weirpool

andy247 said:

I also agree you shouldn’t fish for pike in canals in the summer

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I fish canals for pike in the Summer, never had a problem in 25 years of doing so. I fish at night a lot too when oxygen can be at its lowest, still yet to have a casualty.
I don't conform to the idea that they die later out of sight after swimming away either, as i've had lots of repeat captures.
Also to date i've never come across any dead pike that i've previously caught, i often walk past stretches of canal i've fished the day or days before when heading to fish another stretch.
Truth be known, i've seen no evidence whatsoever to support problems when fishing lures for pike in the Summer.
My opinion is that if problems do occur, it's down to handling and the playing of the fish.
99% of pike casualties that i come across are found in the Winter, that's when a good few inexperienced lads turn to pike & problems occur.
My advice to the lad who started this thread would be to fish heavy, get the pike in pretty quick if possible. Have someone with you to show you how to chin, unhook & handle pike.
Phil.

Mick brown has a good DVD on pike fishing, the thing I see most is people being afraid to handle and unhook the fish,(why fish for pike then) good forcepts and hook cutters never leave home without them, like said before if you can go with someone experienced its good to learn first hand.


Gaz

Sent from my BlackBerry pudding using my Toe's.

Good common sense posts from Derick and Phil. Its a subject that divides pike anglers and i think the debate will rage on. Personally i dont fish for pike in the summer much now prefer to target other species until the winter. But as has been said use strong gear and judge the prevailing weather conditions. October by tradition is the start of the pike fishing season but the last couple of autumns have been very warm and ive found myself not starting until much later on.

Another thing to consider is that hot summer conditions are not the best times anyway to target pike as they seem lethargic and not willing to feed. After dark at these times can be much better, this always seems strange to me as oxygen levels are lower and you would think that this would put off pike

As RE to help i would get in contact with your regional LAS chapter im sure they would be more than willing to help. Have fun.