bad experience

[naas canal fisher]

3rd time going fishing nothing yet again plus i lost my gear i was at the canal and there was LOADS! of little trouth and a few big enough perch the small trout were around 1 inch to about 5 inches fishing and only getting nibble's in my spot my freind screams at me look down i look down to see a 2 foot pike swimming under us i was amazed the biggest fish i had seen in this lake before was a shopping trolley i cast out a spinner after 3 casts the brand new spinner got lose and fell of then i seen the big pike swim off i was wondering can u spinner fish in a canal any way oh and i lost my gear for float fishing too its gonna be atleast 3 days before i get money for new gear

im gonna catch that pike its stuck between two loch's

[pingu]

unlucky on the lost gear
sure you will hit the fish soon enough

you really need to be confident on what you are doing before trying for the pike, they are alot more fragile than people think. especially in the summer, look at the pike angling club website for handling tips

dave

[Bungz]

Pike are not a species I would attempt unless you have a bit of guidance or are confident. They do not lay on the bank with their mouths open sadly!

Although unlikely with a spinner if it gets at the back of the pikes mouth trust me you will not get it back unless you know what you are doing, and ultimately that puts your fingers (!!) and the pike at risk.

On the positive, floats and what not get lost and don't cost too much, ebay is a good place to get a shed load of cheap floats :)

Good luck

Oh and no excuses for losing gear due to knots!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6SvM...eature=related

Thats pretty much the only knot you will ever need for swivels and hooks.

[dave fish]

unlucky on the lost gear take the advice try for silvers first thenwhen you have confidence in handling fish and can dealwith unhooking properly then go for the pike like pingu says they are a delicate fish if handled wrong and a dead fish plays on your concience ,i deep hooked a smalll roach when i first started out and unfortunatly it died i felt well bad afterwards it was my own fault and it knocked me a bit tight lines
and im sure you will get all the help you need on here just keep the questions coming
regards dave

[BoldBear]

Sorry to hear about your tackle loss.

Good luck with your fishing, as Pingu and the others have already advised, I would stick with the Roach, Dace, Skimmers, small Chub, Perch and Gudgeon first untill you have learnt how to handling fish confidently. As you learn about your canal you will start to find swims which produce a better stamp of fish. Most canals have some decent fish in them which you will find if you stick with it.

There are some excellent anglers on this forum who can help you if you need some advice with anything.

I expect you have been told this already, but if you do try and catch Pike make sure that you are using a wire trace as their teeth will cut through mono line easily and you will not only lose your spinner but also end up with a pike swimming around with a spinner stuck in its mouth or throat, possibly resulting in the Pikes death. And also make sure that you have a thick glove and a pair of forceps so that you dont have any nasty accidents with the Pikes teeth while trying to extract the hooks.
As Pingu has already advised take a look at the pike angling club website for handling tips.

Good luck with your fishing
look forward to reading about your exploits.