Burty
Registered: 27/04/09
Posts: 4
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Reply with quote | #1 |
I started Lure Fishing in 2003 on a stretch of water where it was believed to be impossible to catch Pike on lures and as a result no one bothered. Besides a few lobbing Mepps and Big S’s, I virtually had the water to myself and after gleaning superb advice from the Harris Forum I went out and started chucking proper Pike sized lures about and had a ball. The only bad cast was one that missed the water. Pike would cross-vast distances to hammer the lures. Unfortunately as time passed a lot of spaced out dead baiters witnessed my good catches and the word got around. Now the fishing is really hard with my annual catch rate down by 60%. Would have caught a lot less but I drastically changed my tactics. I wonder is there more I can do to claw back the good old days. |
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TimKelly
Registered: 02/02/05
Posts: 658
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Reply with quote | #2 |
Stop anyone fishing it for a few years, then only allow yourself to go on it sparingly after that!
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Keef
Registered: 10/02/05
Posts: 614
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Reply with quote | #3 |
Lure fishing for pike is definitely getting harder in Britain. Bound to happen as the sport gains popularity on a small island with limited angling resources.
Windermere provided great lure fishing for me 15 years ago. However its a relatively small lake, in terms of the number of large pike it can support anyway, and you would now have to class it as pressured.
I was over there kayak fishing in mid September, and every bugger was having a go 
Besides the dedicated lure anglers, bait anglers were casting lures around while waiting for a bite, blokes in expensive cruisers anchored up in bays were lobbing lures around from the rear deck.
I think it was Dave Kelbrick wrote an article recently where he claimed pike did not learn. They might not learn, but they get conditioned to be wary of lures pretty damn quick. All fish get harder to catch with increasing angling pressure, pike are no different.
I was fishing a Northumbrian trout reservoir a few days ago, a multi bait fishery, where from this year they have allowed maggots. Thought it would be fun to get rainbows on float tackle, so tackled up with a big 3 swan waggler, 6lb line straight through to a size 10, and 4 or 5 maggots. Started getting roach almost immediately  average 8 to 12 oz, some over the pound. No fiddly bites to hit - that float went down and stayed down.
It reminded me that totally unpressured fish are not hard to catch, you mainly need to locate them.
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puggyfeeesh
Moderator
Registered: 02/02/05
Posts: 2,139
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Reply with quote | #4 |
I'm sure pike learn if they get caught enough in the same places. The pike might still use the same places but they mostly just stop seeing lures except for on special days. Good pike fishing is more often down to uneducated pike than good angling, just move to where you can find less pressurised pike. The same pike will take the same lures with enthusiasm in a different place.
The really dumb thing to do is let others see you catching. Be discrete, if that means moving away from taking fish when you're being watched then do it, it's a smart call in the longterm.
Combine the naive pike with smart fishing and you can enjoy good sport, it's hard to resist the temptation to show off a bit and let other (non-catching) anglers see how clever you are but discretion is a good habit to cultivate and will preserve your sport.
And consider your own impact, I completely ruined a good swim by hammering it a couple of years ago, I could still get takes but the pike just didn't commit properly and fish after fish came off on days when I'd had no such problem elsewhere. The swim still held the fish but I had managed to change their instinctive reaction to a conditioned reflex, they still responded but between their deciding to attack and taking something kicked in to inhibit them.
There are undoubtedly many more anglers throwing lures now than there were 5 years ago but 99% of them are clueless and will only catch in weird circumstances, they could cast for a week and not pressurise anything. I am not overly keen to speak to other lure anglers when I'm out but I'm always amazed at how few fish they've caught and how pleased they seem about it.
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If your rod's in a rest then you're not really fishing. |
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MartinGodliman
Registered: 25/07/06
Posts: 465
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Reply with quote | #5 |
I used to fish a relatively undiscovered water for a while a smallish pit that myself and few friends did very well on for a few years, for a mixture of reasons it died right off to a shadow of itself.
One of the reasons probably was because gradually our catches became known through other friends of ours and through the bailiff who wanted to sell more tickets plus it did have a few twenties in it, I never had one !
It got so that there was often dead baiters on there some times the same people for days and days with four rods out.
In retrospect I doubt it was only the relentless fishing pressure it went through that scuppered it. Other things must have been going on that it would take scientific study to work out.
Originally it was weedy and full of fish with still water chub a good population of perch as well as plenty of pike and when you stood in the margins and looked down there was a constant stream of small fry passing.
The perch went first probably they way they often do through disease then the chub went and the small fry and the weed died off and of course by then the pike population crashed as well.
The last few times I could bare to fish it I only had a few skinny jacks.....I don't go there any more, It would take years to recover even if it were left alone.
If I were ever to be in the same position again I would definitely keep it to myself and a few reliable mates if I could.
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