| QUESTION OF THE WEEK – WATERS FOR BIG PIKE Andy Doughty wins a bulk spool of Shimano Catana mono for: In the angling press there are 30lb-plus pike caught most weeks from a variety of waters. But is there a formula or set of parameters that determine whether or not a water can support a pike of 30lb plus? What sort of prey fish density, water quality, etc, should we be looking for? Trout reservoirs produce large pike. It’s a large water with a good quality environment, but are the prey fish densities any more than in a small gravel pit that holds a 30-pounder? Is it the food fish that the pike eat that makes them fatter? |
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This is a great question and one that I have pondered long and hard over the years. In terms of size, I believe that the acreage actually has little bearing on a water’s ability to produce ONE big pike. I know of lakes as small as two acres that have produced thirties, but as a general rule you should be looking at lakes of about eight acres and upwards. In general though you will be fishing for one big fish with perhaps a few jacks. The problem is that this big pike is likely to be close to the end of her life and can die at any time. Be careful that the fish you are after still exists! A major component of the diet of big pike is little pike, so when that big fish dies the next few years will see a lake containing lots of jacks, which compete for the available food, effectively stopping any more fish from growing large. I think you have to look on these big fish in small waters as almost freaks of nature and you need exceptional circumstances to produce one, something that won’t be replicated for some time, if ever. Once you get to lakes between 20 and 100 acres there is enough room and food to support a larger head of pike. Still though you will often find that the handful of big pike are from the same year class, again with only jacks following them up. These big fish might die over two or three years, but although there are more of them they do eventually snuff it, leaving just jacks in their place for a few years at least. In really big waters there is enough room and enough variety in the habitat available for a few pike to make it through to specimen size each year. Although there will be peaks and troughs in the numbers of pike, generally tracking the availability of prey, these big lakes always contain some big pike of different ages. Pike are pretty adaptable creatures, so within reason the water chemistry will not effect whether a lake can produce big pike. What is important though is the constant supply of prey fish, which can be limited by local conditions. Lowland lakes generally contain around 300-500lb of fish per acre. Most of this will be small fish that pike will be capable of eating. Highland lochs contain more like 50lb of fish per acre, so you are much less likely to find big pike here. At the other end of the scale, commercial carp fisheries can contain 3000lb of fish per acre, so if pike were introduced here they would do well! Whilst pike do eat trout, it is a widely held misconception that they form a large part of the diet. Even in put and take trout fisheries, pike tend to feed mainly on coarse fish. The reason these waters produce big pike is that they are fertile and contain good natural fish stocks. Trout are quite agile fish that tend to keep away from the ambush points used by pike. I think it is no coincidence that one of the most prolific of the trout waters to open in recent years, Chew Valley reservoir, is a relatively shallow fertile lake containing huge numbers of roach, bream and perch. The trout are just the icing on the cake. It can be quite surprising just what pike will feed on. I know of a couple of gravel pits where the pike grow to a good size, yet their sole source of food seems to be eels. You can’t rule out anywhere, but if you find a decent sized gravel pit containing a good stock of bream in the 2-5lb range then I would be very excited. Dr Paul Garner |
| RUNNER-UP PRIZE – CONSISTENT CASTING Wendy Perry [wendyperry@tiscali.co.uk] wins a spool of Shimano Exage mono for: I don’t know if there is an answer to this, apart from practising, but I struggle with casting out. Is there anything that can help me to keep getting it in the same spot every time? I’ve heard of placing a rubber band around my reel’s spool, which I tried but it didn’t work for me. Any advice on this? |
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I don’t favour the elastic band method either! This is what I do. I usually start a session off with the marker rod unless the swim is familiar to me and then I may start fishing straight away. But either way I cast a lead to a mark I want to hit and then clip up, using the line retaining clip on the reel’s spool. I then mark the line in front of the clip with Tippex, but remember that this Tippex mark may need touching up at regular intervals. As a secondary measure I push a rod-rest into the bank behind my swim, place the rod in it and ‘walk’ the rig out with the bale-arm open or the reel in baitrunner mode until I hit the clip. I then push some sort of marker into the ground, which means that I’ve always got a reference point should I lose the Tippex mark. If fishing two or three rods to different marks I would have the required number of markers in the bank at the varying distances. Then I can reset both spod and bait rods as I wish. Once I have cast and hit the mark I unclip the line in case of a fast take and/or I need to give line. If I am just reeling in to re-bait I clip up again before reeling in. If I get a take I have either the Tippex or the bank marker to clip up to again. Make sure your clip does not damage the line and don’t cast too hard if the distance isn’t too far, as this could cause line damage and it also causes the rig to stop too suddenly and ‘bounce’ back away from the mark. Feathering the line on the cast as it reaches the mark helps. This is my way, but there are other ways, such as tying a stop knot on the mainline at the casting distance and using the tags on the knot to clip up to or there are purpose made ‘Range finders’ marketed by John Roberts that come complete with instructions. Though personally I still prefer to mark the line. |
| THE RIVER THURNE IN MARTHAM Tony Gwenin [Tony.Gwenin@emap.com] asks: I’m with a part of six who will be fishing the river Thurne in Martham this June. To make sure that I’m the one who catches and lands the largest amount of quality fish, what would you recommend, is it best to trot on the float or throw out a feeder etc? And what advice can you give me on reading the various swims? Any advice, gratefully received. | |||||||||||
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We can’t find anyone who fishes it regularly but it we gather that it’s shallow, weedy and packed with cabin cruisers this time of year, hence the reason hardly anyone fishes it. Bream and roach show at dawn and dusk but there are a lot of bootlace eels, so bread is the preferred bait. The Thurne broads ditto, but with bigger bream. Locals tend to night fish, or bait up the night before and fish from dawn until the cruisers start. Candle Dike/Heigham Sound up to Hickling the fish tend to show in the boat channel, which is a couple of feet deeper.
Would prize winners please let me have their street addresses – send to graham@fishingmagic.com. |
