What
has become apparent to me recently is that many answers people coming in to lure
fishing are looking for are to questions they need not ask. It's fair enough asking
how to fish lures in various ways or what sort of tackle to use. Such technical
questions are easily answered and will help the angler perform the mechanical
functions of lure fishing more effectively. But trying to explain how and why
pike react to various lures under various conditions on different waters is pointless.
The only information we need is that various tactics and techniques work every
so often - that some work more frequently than others, and that when those go-to
tactics fail something else might, just might, work.
Why
do pike sometimes appear to want lures worked in a particular manner when logic
tells us they should really prefer the opposite? Does it really matter? I think
not. All that matters is the empirical evidence that one presentation isn't working,
and another is. Given that knowledge what you have to do is try something else.
Anything else. And keep trying different things until one of them works. Then
keep doing that until it stops working and do something different.
That,
in a nutshell is how to approach lure fishing. Start out using the lures and presentations
that logic tells you should work under the prevailing conditions and location.
If it works, fine. If it doesn't then, firstly, try something else, and secondly
try somewhere else.
STEP
ONE
No matter what methods you are using to try and catch pike, livebaits,
deadbaits or lures, the most important thing to get right is location. I know
this has been said many times before, but that's because it is the primary factor
to consider in all fishing. You simply cannot catch fish that are not there. Locating
pike is exactly the same no matter what baits you are using, and is mostly based
around looking for changes; changes in depth, changes in vegetation (weed edges),
changes in water clarity (mud or algae lines), even changes in light level from
overhanging trees or other shade. Of course sometimes pike are found in open,
(apparently) featureless water, which makes no logical sense to us humans (unless
there are prey fish there or it is close to a physical feature).
The
way to find pike is to use the general principles, starting out with what seems
obvious given the time of year and prevailing water and weather conditions, and
to fish the most obvious looking spots. Pike, however, don't read Pike and Predators,
so there will be times when they aren't where we think they should be! This means
you have to look elsewhere. When fishing is tough trial and error has to be applied
- and not only to location.
Given
that there are loads of different situations to deal with, efficient lure anglers
need to have an equally wide range of presentational options open to them to maximize
results. Which is why there are so many lures on the market, all designed to be
fished in various ways. Which brings us to the second important aspect of lure
fishing - lure control.
STEP
TWO
Lure control is not something that can be easily written about. It
is all about being able to gauge where your lure is, and what it is doing, at
all times. It's also about being able to make it do what you want it to do at
all times, and knowing which lures will do that best. All this can only be learned
by casting lures and trying different things with them. I could write a thousand
words about how to make a particular lure perform certain 'tricks', but I'd have
to use words like 'flick', 'pull' and 'snap' to describe what has to be done with
the rod - which is all rather subjective. It is far easier to show someone what
is required. Or they could do what I did, and just mess around with lures in clear
water. You'll soon learn to differentiate between a jerk and a twitch!
With
practice lure control becomes like learning to play a musical instrument. When
you start you have to look at what your fingers are doing all the time to ensure
you play the right notes. After much practice you can play with your eyes closed.
That's the state you have to get to with lure control - to tell by feel what the
lure us up to, how deep and how far out it is. It's not a black art, although
it may well seem impossible to master at first, but it is the one aspect of lure
fishing that will have the most bearing on your success once you have located
some pike.
There
you have the two main things you need to know to be a successful lure angler -
location and presentation, the former dictating the latter. Location varies from
water to water, and the only way to get to grips with that is by getting out there
and fishing. Aside from looking for obvious pikey looking places, catching pike,
seeing pike caught by others, and maybe even spotting pike activity are the best
guides to spots that are going to be productive in future. The only way to really
learn about lure presentation is, as I have already said, by fishing various lures
and getting to know them well.
As
I tried to get across in my Essential Lures
series, it is better to have a small range of lures that you know and understand
really well than a large range that you don't. The same can be said for lure colours.
The main things to consider when selecting a lure to fish a particular spot are
the depth and speed at which you want it to fish. All else is decoration on the
cake. Get the depth and the speed right and the chances are that you will succeed
- if you have got the location part right. I have seen many occasions when one
angler has been throwing a particular lure in a certain colour and catching. His
boat partner obviously reaches for an apparently identical looking lure - same
model, same colour - and fails to match his friend's catch rate. After some chopping
and changing the second angler has run through a few more lures and started catching
by using the same model of lure in a totally different colour, or maybe a different
lure altogether. The reason for the change in success rate being how and where
the lure was presented. Even with plastic lures there can be variation in running
depth, rise or sink rate that can be crucial at times.
There
is no doubt at all in my mind that what the lure does is the most important consideration
for its selection. Colour, presence or absence of eyes, rattles or not are of
far lesser importance. Where you chuck it is of even more importance. The 'spot
on the spot' has been discussed many times and it is just as crucial as lure behaviour.
Even a foot or two can make a world of difference. The closer you can put a lure
to a pike the better. Especially when pike aren't prepared to move far to take
lures. Of course, we have no way of knowing when that will be the case, but coloured
water and low water temps are two conditions that spring to mind when pike need
to be 'hit on the head'. No matter what the conditions it is a good idea to assume
the worst, and make your casts as pinpoint as you can to spots on spots you hope
will hold pike.
STEP
THREE
Persistence. You cannot catch pike on lures that aren't in the water!
You have to keep casting - but you must be thinking about what you are doing to.
Robotic casting and retrieving will catch pike, but not as many or as consistently
as thoughtful presentation and careful lure control. Such concentration takes
its toll on your alertness, so a break every hour or so during a long lure fishing
day will help keep you alert and on the ball and improve your chances of success.
You can use these breaks to assess what you have been doing, to think how you
might improve your presentation and bring about an upturn in success. So although
you might not have a lure in the water you can make that next cast really count
by even a slight change to one aspect of what you have been doing.
Persistence
is easier to maintain if you are confident. Confident that you are in the right
place, throwing the right lures and presenting them correctly - even when no pike
have shown. It's funny how days when action is coming regularly your attentiveness
and confidence levels will stay high for longer. What you don't want is to lose
faith in what you are doing and start chopping and changing lures, or to lose
your edge by switching to automatic pilot on a slow day, because when that one
take comes you might just fluff it. Confidence in persisting with what you are
doing is all a part of the final step to success - experience.
STEP
FOUR
There is no substitute for getting out there and fishing. Not only
will time on the water make you more technically proficient in using lures, it
will also help you learn about pike location. One good thing about lure fishing,
unlike most other forms of piking, is that you can learn a lot from your blank
sessions. Seeing a pike follow or missing a take, even if you don't manage to
land a fish at least fills in a part of the location picture. The more lure fishing
you do, the more you learn about which lures work best for you and where, when
and how to use them. The strange thing is that the more experience you build up
the more you realise how simple this apparently complicated branch of pike fishing
really is.
So
there you have it. Find the pike, select and present your lures well, stick at
it - and do that it as often as you can. Oh, and don't get hung up on worrying
about the things you don't need to know about…
