pike trip

[nic t]

iam going pike fishing at carlingwark loch and loch foot in the west coast of scotland can anyone tell me the best way to fish the lochs and baits cheers

[Norfolkboy]

Best thing on a big loch would be a boat with a fish finder/GPS system.

If not, fishing from the bank will be fine, although may not be as productive.

1 thing you could do is spod out some 'rubby dubby'. Chopped up mackerel, roach etc..

Most baits will work, lamprey, mackerel and herring are my favourites as they're extremely bloody, oily so leave a big scent trail. Roach, perch, bream etc.. will work too especially if theyre's lots of them in the loch.

I'd leger them with a free running rig, or if it's windy then use a float and basically trot the loch and let the float drift with the wind. You can cover lots of ground this way.

Also during the day you could lure or fly fish for them.

Good luck

[mikey-1001]

What Dan said is on the nose but what i would say is take a good selection of deadbait with you. Some days the Pike will be turned on to one specific bait over others. I have noticed this on my club water ,they will usually take roach readily as that is what they are predating on naturally but some days smelt is just pure killer!! Every cast ,10 mins max and youve got a fish on !!
I would also never go on a piking session without a few lamprey, i usually put the lamps. on first actually to get some of that blood and stink into the water, or you could work out which way the water is running (even on a still lake or reservoir the water moves one way more than the other) and position your lamprey rod furthest down stream ,so to speak, it creates a scent trail.

Anyway hope theres a few tips there for you and good luck !!

[fishypaul]

very good idea mate,i've been thinking about giving lamprey a try,i can't think of a more attractive bait for a pike than a popped-up bloody old lamprey,
something that i experimented with was coloured dead baits,i used red with some success but blue whiting and yellow smelt just didn't turn them on

[mikey-1001]

Another tip that ive given before but it was a long time ago and this is dynamite (works best in winter when bites are harder to come by) Take a feeder, cage are best, and with a pair of wire cutters snip the holes bigger (use your common sense so the thing dosn't fall apart!)
Then take the oldest ,smelliest, rankest pieces of old deadbait at the bottom of your baitbox(lamprey and mackrel work best cause of the oil and blood!) and fix the modified feeder to the trace were it joins to the mainline.
It is killer and often produces bites were you would not usually get one !!