How To Catch Pike In Winterby Andy Lush
How can you catch Stillwater pike in the winter when the water is at its coldest and often coloured? Before I go into detail on suggested locations and presentations let me first cover a few basic principles that might be overlooked by those starting their pike fishing having previous fished for carp. Resistance is the enemy when it comes to fishing for predators the rigs we use are not self hooking, unlike carp methods the pike can and will drop your bait if they detect too much resistance. When setting up, unless river fishing, I would not use the baitrunner mechanism on your reel opting to fish with an open bail arm and using a drop off indicator to stop line falling off the spool, and use free running leger rigs, if using deadbaits you can use your carp alarms for backup indication, but I would suggest a float leger approach as the main bite indicator.
While talking basics many of you will be using a ‘buzz bar’ set up to hold your rods, if so, you must cast your baits directly in front of your rods, casting anywhere else will create too much friction at the rod tip and cause the pike to drop your bait. I prefer to use single bank sticks for this reason and point each rod at the bait. This eliminates the resistance and allows me to search all of the water in front of me.
With the water being so cold there is a real risk of Pike picking up your bait and swallowing it on the spot. With this in mind, I strongly recommend you use a float as this provides excellent bite indication. The easiest approach is to use the un-weighted ‘Loc and Slide’ dead bait pencil float. This float locks itself at the correct depth every cast, so no need for stop knots. The bait should be hooked tail first so the bottom treble is closest to its head which is the ideal position to hook any pike as it swallows it. Once a run is detected and line is being taken constantly, do not wait, make an instant strike as already described. This will set the hooks into the pike jaws. Any delay could result in deep hooking and a prolonged un-hooking procedure. The addition of foam to your dead bait converts bottom baits into pop-ups. This has the advantage of enabling you to inch your bait back a few feet at a time every 10-15 minutes and then left static without picking up any debris. By working the bait back towards you in this manner means that any pike between your maximum casting range and the bank, will have the opportunity of finding and taking your bait. After each cast has been fished out I always put a fresh bait on as the old one will have lost most of its smell and appeal. Now chop it up into small pieces and catapult them around the swim. This will add extra attraction without giving the pike a free meal.
By fishing two rods and twitching them both alternately means you can search the entire swim. This coupled with different species of baits and casting in slightly different directions, remembering to reposition your rod rests each time, and you have a very effective Pike catching system. Location, undoubtedly the most important facture for success choose areas where shallow water drops off into deeper water preferably where bait fish are usually found if in doubt fish an area that the wind has been blowing into for several days.
This Feature Is Sponsored By
|
Right we’re ready to start, pick smelly deadbaits such as Herring, Mackerel, Smelt or Lamprey. Deprived of vision due to the coloured water, Pike will use their acute sense of smell to locate food hence the choice of baits. You can boost the attraction of your baits by injecting them with ‘winterised’ pike oils. 
