First time piking

[Pross]

I am hoping to go out targetting pike for the first time on Saturday (although I have caught a jack by being opportunistic). The water I am hoping to fish is a canal where I have seen a few fish in double figures and one that was probably pushing 20lb. The canal is only about 6 or 7 metres wide and very shallow as it is not used by boats and has become overgrown and silted. I intend dead baiting as the weed makes lure fishing difficult and I've been told it is very unusual to catch on a lure there (although my only pike was). Can someone offer me some pointers regarding rigs please? Would I be best just freelining a dead bait as I will be able to see any takes or will I need to ledger to get the bait down or possibly float fish (may be too shallow). I am thinking of ground baiting with mashed up fish to create a scent trail for the pike and normal ground bait to attract bait fish into the area, does anyone do this or know if it works? For handling any pike I catch I will have a large unhooking mat and a large landing net. Am I likely to need to "chin" the fish or should I be able to manage it while it is in the net? Any tips on handling the fish would be welcome as I don't want to hurt any fish or cause them to hurt me!!!

[Twiddler]

Can't really help you a great deal here, as it'll be my first time piking this season but one thing I know use the unhooking mat and chin the pike, it's the best way to assure his and your safety.....what kind of hook you using? As a tripple semi/ barbed hook would get caught in the net anyway, so no advisable to try to unhook in net.

Good luck on your first pike session, looking forward to read your report on it

Claudia

[Pross]

I'm intending to crush the barbs that aren't holding the bait on the hook to make unhooking easier.

Thanks, I'll report if I manage to catch - at least I know they are there but catching them is another matter!

[fishypaul]

firstly pross lets deal with location,my first inclination would be to look for the prey fish,if you can locate a shoal of silverfish then old esox won't be very far away,if they aren't showing themselves then perhaps visiting the swim where you saw the biggies,pike can be territorial and there is a chance that near twenty could be there or thereabouts,barring that in an overgrown canal you are sure to get plenty of trees overhanging the water on the far bank,a bait nestling under them could be productive.
don't forget the trees in the margins as well.keep quiet and there could be a biggie right under your feet.
next the method,i wouldn't free line,although there is nothing wrong with it,i would much rather stick a float on 6 inches overdepth,thats your bite indication sorted,the silt on the bottom could be a problem ,if you go to the tackle shop you will be able to buy some balsa sticks which you shove down the throat of the deadbait,this will make it bouyant,a swan shot on the trace just above the tail will anchor it and pop the bait up nicely above the silt.
groundbaiting with mashed up fish is a good idea,sometimes it works sometimes not,i believe the idea of groundbaiting with mashed bread to attract the small fish is a much more productive method.
as for handling the pike,by chinning i suppose you mean pulling the bottom jaw open for unhooking rather than "chinning " the fish out of the water instead of using a net,
that is the method mate,get the fish out of the net as soon as possible,a stray treble can make a hell of a mess in a net,
lay the fish belly up on the unhooking mat an "chin" him,ie finger under the chin and pull the bottom jaw open for easy unhooking with your forceps,
if the fish is deeply hooked then carefully slide the hooks through the gill opening and invert the hooks,they should come out easily.
deep hooking is nearly always avoided if you adopt a strike immeadiately policy,there is no need to allow the run to develop or give the fish time to turn the bait like in the old days,strike as soon as you get a take,
a missed fish is better than a deep hooked one
the one thing i always say with the handling of pike is don't be afraid of them,treat them exactly as you would a twenty pound carp,the pike needs treating with respect,they may have a fearsome reputation but they are just as delicate as all the other fish we catch and just as likely to die if mistreated,
sorry i've been rambling a bit,pike are my passion and i enjoy passing any tips on,hope you have a good day pross,if you have any more queries don't hesitate to shout mate

[pingu]

good info paul
been thinking bout this lately and i'm in same situation as mark as only ever caught on lure or by accident
so was top info

oh and good luck mark

[..::Pike Pirate::..]

good luck! my piking adventure didnt go as planned but im sure you will have better luck!

[Pross]

Thanks Paul, some great info. There are always plenty of bait fish visible and the pike themselves can quite often be seen. It isn't an extensively fished area so hopefully they won't be too cautious but my time will be quite limited (3 or 4 hours) so not being too expectant yet!

[..::Pike Pirate::..]

sounds great to me, only time ive seen a pike in the water was when i was trying to get one to take my lure! it was around 6 inches out in some reeds and i was twitching a little devon minnow in front of it and he was like "leave me alone!"

[fishypaul]

did you go piking pross ?

[geffski]

if time is limited id bait up with some hemp crum or pinkys and trickle feed
like you wouild say if you wher silver bashing!
put one dead out maybe half a lamprey or roach and set this up on an alarm drop off style, and work an area (keeping a reasnable distance from the dead)
and wobbel a smelt!
be intrested to see how you do wotever tactics you decide!