[9]
HOOKING, PLAYING & RELEASING PIKE
It is all well and good knowing how to get
pike to take your lures, but this is no use
at all if you then fail to hook the fish and
get them on the bank. This is, after all,
why we go fishing - isn't it? Now I am not
going to claim that pike never hit my lures
and then fall off before I get them to hand,
but I will outline a few little steps for
you to take that will keep losses to an absolute
minimum.
The
first thing to do to increase your hook-up
ratio is to sharpen your hooks. I have already
mentioned the importance of this process
elsewhere, but sharp hooks are at their
most important in the split second that
a pike takes hold of your lure. A super
sharp hook will actually take a minute hold
the instant it contacts the pike. The sharpness
to aim for is the sticky sharpness previously
mentioned. It is difficult to describe in
words, but when you get it right you will
know by the way it feels in your hand. Just
touch the hook and you will be in danger
of getting it stuck in your skin. With a
hook in this state you actually gain a little
time to drive it further home.
Except
when pike take lures and turn away from
the angler at speed they rarely hook themselves.
You should always endeavour to strike the
hooks home. Effective striking is enhanced
by a number of factors. Rod position is
the primary one. At all times I aim to have
the rod pointing as directly along the line
as possible. When using a straight retrieve
this is easy to maintain, and will result
in more effective hooking than the stance
I see a lot of pikers adopting where the
line is coming off the tip ring at almost
ninety degrees. It is a nice idea to fish
like this and to strike when you see a take,
indicated by a tap on the rod end. The problem
is that by the time you have noticed the
rod top move the pike has probably ejected
the bait. With the rod pointing down the
line you will feel the take far more positively,
as the rod does not absorb any of the energy,
and you can strike immediately. Because
there is no angle between rod and line you
also have the maximum arc to swing the rod
through to strike. When fishing jerkbaits
or twitching lures, for example, it is impossible
to keep the rod pointing down the line,
so you have to adopt a stance that allows
you a good swing back with the rod when
you get a take as you may have already brought
the rod part way back through the striking
arc when the pike hits. This is not always
as easy as it could be, but a little forward
planning should put more fish on your hooks
for you.
The preferred rod position for bringing
back lures on a straight retrieve is
demonstrated here by Martin McDerby
- rod pointing down the line with the
tip close to the water.
At all times the strike itself should not
be upwards, but more in the horizontal plane.
This way you are pulling the line along
its axis and not trying to pull its length
up, through the water, which causes much
resistance and deadens the effect of the
strike. Hooking pike while you are in mid-jerk
is more problematical. I try to wind down
to the pike while continuing to pull the
rod back, winding down quickly again and
striking a second time. This works sometimes,
often enough for me, being the only tactic
that I have found to be at all successful.
It is worthwhile winding down quickly to
every fish after your initial strike in
an attempt to drive the hooks well home
as the fish turns away from you. As a general
rule, big pike are easier to connect with
than smaller ones as they have more weight
for you to pull against. Little pike often
get dragged through the water, still hanging
on to the lure without getting hooked. As
soon as they open their mouth they fall
off!
Slack
line takes are, thankfully, not an everyday
occurrence as they are difficult to cope
with consistently. The only answer is to
wind like fury as soon as you feel the lure
go dead, or you lose touch with it. Keep
on winding until you either catch up with
the pike, or you feel the lure working again
when the pike spits it out. When you do
feel the fish follow the striking procedure
already described. The only other thing
that I can think of that might improve your
hook-up ratio is the use of low stretch
lines. These lines do put you in more direct
touch with your lures enabling a better
feel of takes, and, as a consequence, quicker
reaction to them. I have sometimes felt
the pike hit the lure before the line has
gone slack when using these braids. Almost
as if someone had hit it with a fly-swat.
Sadly my reactions have always been rather
sluggish so it hasn't helped me much! I
have heard it suggested that nylon monofilament,
because of its stretch, can actually help
hook fish for you. The theory is that with
a tight line to the bait the stretched line
contracts when the pike lets go of the lure,
'catapulting' the lure out of the pike's
mouth. With a bit of luck a hook will nick
the pike in the process. If a hook point
has already made contact, then as the line
contracts it should pull the hook home a
little further.
With
the pike hooked all that remains is to get
it in. Provided that your line, trace and
knot are in order there should be little
reason for the pike making its escape. All
you have to do is keep the rod well bent,
that is what it is designed for, and the
pressure on the pike. Only give line if
absolutely necessary, and never give any
slack. With a good hook hold a momentarily
slack line won't lose you any fish, but
with those tenuous holds that occur at times
(just one point of a hook in the bony upper
palate for example) slack line spells disaster.
I find that a fixed spool with the drag
screwed down tight and the anti-reverse
off gives me the best control and feel of
a pike. With a multiplier it is the thumb
on the spool that I get the control from.
Rather than relying solely on the drag.
When a pike is close to hand I will hit
the free-spool button and use the thumb
alone for line control. I look forward to
trying multipliers with an optional anti-reverse.
They are already available, but not yet
in a model that suits me.
Getting
a pike on the bank, or in the boat is the
final stage of the battle. Using a landing
net has the advantage that it can be used
sooner than you would be able to grab the
pike by hand. The drawback is that the hooks
of your lure are likely, more than likely,
to tangle in the mesh. This means that it
will take a little time to extricate the
pike from the net. It is a swings-and-roundabouts
scenario. Until you get the confidence to
hand land your pike, go for the net every
time. If it has a wide mesh like I have
recommended then the hooks will cause few
problems, especially if they are debarbed.
Getting a lure hooked pike in a net is no
different than for any other pike, with
the proviso that you pay extra attention
to the free hooks which can snag the mesh
before the pike is completely over the net.
Having a big pike attached to the front
of the net by way of the lure is annoying
and results in lost fish. Make sure the
front of the net is well sunk and that the
mesh is not floating, then draw the fish
as far over the net as you can and lift.
With the fish in the net you can put the
rod down and lift the frame of the net with
both hands. In most instances I grab the
spreader block with my left hand, and the
net cord with my right - which is still
holding the rod.
While I prefer to net larger lure-caught
pike, free treble hooks can all too easily
get entangled in the net. A large mesh
size like this makes life easier though.
A net has the advantage that it can be used
as a temporary resting place for the pike
while you get your scales, camera etc. sorted
out. If there are two of you this is obviously
easier as one can hold the net while the
other gets the gear ready. On my own I usually
make sure the fish can't get out of the
net and put a foot on the pole. In the boat
I adopt a similar approach with the pole
across the gunwales. Only if I am alone
and catch a fish that I want to photograph
myself with will I consider retaining it
for more than a minute or two while I set
up the camera and bulb release. In these
(very) rare cases I recommend a pike tube
staked out with a bank-stick at each end,
or hung over the side of the boat. In hot
weather I forgo the pleasure of a trophy
shot and photograph the fish lying next
to a rod or some other item of tackle, like
a lure box. Nice photographs are all very
well, but they are not why I go pike fishing.
I'd much rather put the pike's welfare before
pin-sharp pics.
The back-of-the-head grip which is best
used for grabbing hold of smaller pike.
Another
use for a landing net is to carry pike up
steep banks for unhooking, weighing etc.
Scrambling up a sheer and stony bank with
a fish in one hand, and a rod in the other,
could all too easily lead to the pike taking
a tumble. To my mind this is less likely
to happen if it is in a net. When carrying
fish in the net I hold the spreader block
with one hand, and the rod and net cord
with the other. For carrying pike back down
to the water you can use the sling you have
just weighed it in.
Hand landing fish causes less trouble with
hooks in nets, but is best practised on
small fish at the outset - or it can result
in lots of trouble with hooks in hands.
Small pike are more quickly brought under
control and tend to cause more trouble in
nets than they do in the water! There are
two ways to grab hold of small pike. Very
small ones are best grabbed across the shoulders,
with your forefinger and thumb behind the
fish's gill covers. This gives a relatively
secure grip, and keeps the lure away from
your hand, too. This grip can be used on
larger fish, into double figures, when you
have had practice. The other method, which
works more easily on fish of seven pounds
or more, is the fingers-under-the-gill-cover
grip. Make sure that you go for the side
of the mouth that the lure is not hanging
from. At all times take care that the hooks
are not going to get stuck in your hand.
Horror stories abound of unfortunate anglers
attached to big, thrashing pike by large,
sharp hooks deep in their flesh. Never attempt
to hand land pike if you are not confident
in your capabilities. Pike that are being
brought to hand need to be played out to
a greater extent than those to be netted.
I have seen pike to twenty nine pounds handed
out, but recommend a net for such large
fish as a rule, tending to hand grab pike
up to low double figures, and net those
over that size unless circumstances dictate
otherwise - like I have forgotten the net.
It is easier to hand grab pike when boat
fishing or wading than from the bank, as
you are closer to the water. Sometimes,
when afloat, they will save you the trouble
of choosing between the net or the bare
hand - by jumping in the boat for you! But
watch they don't knock a rod overboard in
the process (Eh, Nige?).
Small
pike that are not going to be weighed or
photographed are best unhooked in the water
if at all possible. In fact, any pike that
has been netted can be unhooked in the net
provided the hooks are not tangled too badly
in the mesh. The less time a fish spends
out of the water the better. If you have
netted the fish and it is badly tangled
up, don't waste time trying to undo the
cat's-cradle get the scissors and cut the
hooks free. A new mesh can be bought easily
enough, but a pike is not so simple to replace
should it suffer from being out of the water
too long. With the pike out of the net,
or not as the case maybe, place it on something
soft. An unhooking mat is the ideal, but
they tend to be bulky to carry. A camping
mat is a cheaper, and very acceptable alternative.
Soft grass will do nicely, or even your
fishing jacket at a pinch. In a boat it
is worth putting down carpet underlay as
this will both protect the pike and deaden
the sound of your feet. Don't put pike down
on stones or anything else that will remove
slime or scales.
Always make sure that the hooks are
well clear of your fingers before lifting
a pike out by hand, particularly with
the gill cover grip shown here.
Always keep a firm grip on the pike to prevent
it damaging itself while it is out of the
water. Should it start to thrash don't let
it fall. Actually getting the hooks out
is generally straightforward. Grip the hook
in question with your pliers or Hookout
and twist. There will be occasions when
more than one hook has got hold and this
can be a more difficult situation. Remove
the hook nearest the outside of the pike's
mouth first, then remove the hook, or hooks,
further inside. In extremely awkward cases
cut the hook free, as close to the points
as possible, using your bolt croppers.
With
the pike free of the lure it is time to
weigh it, if you deem it necessary. Hold
the pike under the gill cover and lower
it into the wetted weigh sling. After weighing
and photographing, both of which should
take as short a time as possible, place
the pike in the water and keep hold of it.
Never release a pike until you are certain
it can maintain its balance. Particularly
after a long fight pike will be tired and
they have been known to swim out of reach
and roll over, either sinking to the bottom
or floating belly up on the surface. These
problems are most often encountered in warm
weather, which is when most lure fishing
takes place. If you worry about taking time
over releasing a fish because you would
rather be catching another, then you shouldn't
be pike fishing. Always have the pike's
well-being foremost in your mind at all
times.