Pike Esocidae Esox lucius.
Distribution : Common throughout Britain
Notes : Large pointed snout, prominent backward pointing teeth. Dorsal fin set well back near tail above anal fin.

A fierce predator but having a preference for weedbeds where it lies in wait for its prey, which is just about any other species of fish.
It will not hesitate to attack another member of its own species.

Tackle, Bait, Techniques

Rod
10ft to 12ft

Reel
Fixed spool

Line b.s.
11lb, to 18lb

Hooks
No. 6 to No.10 trebles
2-1/0 singles

Lifespan
Up to 20 years

British record
46lb 13oz, Llandegfedd reservoir, Wales, 1992

Specimen weight
20lb

Bait
Live and dead-baits, small spoons
spinners and plugs.

Techniques
Ledgered and freelined live or dead-baits,
float fished live-baits, wobbled dead-baits, 
plugging and spinning.
 

Landing and playing a fish

SLEEK, POWERFUL, awe-inspiring and unmistakable; the pike is the top-line predator in most European freshwater fisheries and has been caught to weights approaching 701b (31.8kg) in Europe.

Pike lead solitary lives, hiding patiently and well-camouflaged in snags, weed or reeds waiting for an unsuspecting fish to come just that little bit too close. They are built for sudden surges of speed, with the dorsal and anal fins set well back near the tail, enabling the fish to propel itself from its ambush site with frightening speed.

Prey fish are taken side on, and once grabbed in the jaws the fish has virtually no chance of escape as the upper part of a pike’s mouth is lined with countless tiny, backward-pointing teeth. The pike simply manoeuvres the fish around before swallowing it head first.

Pike can swallow alarmingly large fish too, as their jaw is very flexible, allowing fish up to half that of the pike’s weight to be swallowed whole. Indeed, there are several documented cases of pike choking to death after attempting to eat another pike of almost the same size as themselves!

Tactics
Young ‘jack’ pike up to about 12Lb (5.4kg) in weight are fast and agile and able to take live prey fish with ease. However, bigger pike (all females) have more bulk to propel and will often turn to scavenging. They take dead, dying, or diseased fish and so fulfil a vital role in maintaining a healthy fishery.

Although lure fishing and livebaiting will account for plenty of pike, deadbaiting is probably the best method for trying to capture the larger fish.

Baits
The choice of which bait to use is quite tricky and it is often a case of trying a variety of different sea- and coarse-fish deadbaits until you find the best one on your chosen venue. The ideal arrangement is to fish using two rods; one with a sea-fish deadbait and one with a coarse fish. To select the latter, talk to local pleasure anglers to find out what fish account for the majority of catches from the venue.

TACKLING UP

The most important part of any pike fishing tackle is a wire trace, as pike can easily bite through mono or braid lines. Deadbaits should be mounted on a couple of size 4-10 treble hooks, and ready-tied traces are available at tackle shops. Main line should beat least 12lb (5.4kg), coupled with a specimen rod with a 2-31k (0.9-1.4kg) test curve.

If the water is full of 4oz (113g) roach, that is what you should use as bait. But don’t be afraid of big baits. If the main catch is 12oz (340g) bream, that is what the pike will be eating and that should be your chosen bait.

As for the sea bait, you should go for smelly, oily fish for starters. Mackerel tails are a proven pike bait as the oily flesh sends out a scent into the water which pike can detect from some distance. There is also a theory that a mackerel’s markings are very like those of a small pike, which form quite a large percentage of a larger pike’s diet.

Another proven pike catcher is the smelt, which is easy to cast without it flying off the hook due to its tough skin.

Recently another bait has taken the pike world by storm - lamprey section. Its success is undoubtedly due to the fact that eels make up a significant percentage of a pike’s diet on many venues, coupled with the fact that the bait oozes with thick blood which pike find irresistible.

Always remember that the majority of waters will have spells when the pike feed avidly, with long periods of inactivity falling in between. These feeding periods might only last for half and hour, twice a day, and it may take many hours of fishing to find out when they occur.

First and last light are often a good bet, but on hard-fished venues the ‘hot’ time could well be in the middle of the night, when the fish feel confident.