Pike – Esox of light
English: PIKE
French: PIKE
Dutch: PIKE
Danish: POCKET, PIKE
Occurrence
Pike is found in almost all our fisheries – rivers, ditches, joints, large lakes and saltwater seawater (near river mouths). These predators feel great even in the waters of the land of trout and grayling. Classic pike fisheries are overgrown and wild ponds, periodically flooded oxbow lakes. You can also count on catching a large pike in small post-excavation lakes as well as in large rivers and lakes.
Size Medium sizes: 45-65 Cm;
A record specimen: more than 1 m (8 Kg).
Current record: 24,10 Kg 130,0 m Marian Powlaczuk 1970
Pike often jump out of the water while hauling. They open their mouths, they open the gill covers wide and shake their heads trying to get rid of the bait. In order to prevent the pike from jumping out, the tip of the rod should be kept down. Sometimes it is even advisable to immerse the tip in water. A towed predator rarely decides to perform aerial acrobatics, if the reel brake is slightly set. Pike, who can pull the line almost always struggles near the bottom.
Where and when
Locating the pike is not difficult. You just need to look around for some small items. These predators always stand near places, in which small white fish gather.
Pike most willingly hunt hidden. Typical hunting grounds of these fish are under the leaves of waterlily, among the branches of submerged trees, and sometimes even under the piers or hulls of longer moored yachts.
Besides, pike prefer places, in which the shape of the bottom suddenly changes. Good fisheries are therefore located at the foot of the perch hills, in deeper holes or on definitely sloping edge slopes. In a relatively small area, say, near a small perch hill, sometimes it is possible to catch two or three medium sized pikes in a few casts.
However, large individuals are typical loners. They have strictly delimited hunting areas and do not tolerate any other smaller pike in their immediate vicinity. In the stomachs of large pikes, younger individuals of the same species were very often found.
In many lakes, beautiful pikes only stand and move in the water. Due to their size, they have no natural enemies and no longer have to hunt hidden.
The slender whitefish pikes are legendary, fish weighing over 10 Kg, constantly following the shoals of the whitefish in the depths of the water. The most intense chewing, when pikes eat half of their annual nutritional requirements, it comes in the spring.
The great hunt begins right after spawning (usually in April) and lasts until mid-June. In high summer, these predators do not have a good appetite.
At the end of September, with the first frost, pikes begin to feed very intensively, to accumulate the necessary amount of energy before the upcoming winter.
October is the peak season for good foraging. In autumn, pike feed best on warm days, when the fine morning mist stays above the water for a long time.
You can also count on a good catch in November.
In December, however, it is much more difficult – as the water cools down, the pike becomes numb and sometimes for days without eating. Only at noon, when the pale winter sun peeks out from behind heavy winter clouds, mottled predators come to life briefly.
The best pike lures
How and for what
It was quite obvious until ten years ago. Pike was caught on a live bait rig – in the fall just above the bottom, in the water in summer. Today, a live fish as a bait is slowly being forgotten, because more and more anglers prefer to fish for pikes using the spinning method.
Artificial lures can be divided into two large groups: The first is the so-called "classics”, So gnome or alga spoons, wobblers (np. Rapala) and mepps centrifuges.
The second group of lures includes modern plastic lures. The most important American novelties are twisters, rippery, spinnerbaits and surface lures, such as a ghost or a goblin. The third group of spinning lures are dead fish armed with special hook systems. Dead fish are extremely catchy – so the fact is surprising, that so far they are not very popular among anglers. In the spinning method, success is determined by the way the lure is led. The colder the water is, the slower and deeper we lead the lure. In cold water, when pike save energy, large lures turn out to be the most effective; small lures are the most popular in the summer, when predators feed mainly on the brood of white fish. Anglers often throw pike standing by the shore. Reaching a fierce fish farther away can sometimes discourage a predator from catching a predator standing closer to the shore., and then making long throws. Always lower the sinking lures to the bottom on a taut line. We bring the floating wobblers to the right depth by pulling the stick vigorously and using a few faster turns of the handle. During the lead, the bait should "run" upwards, descend or descend to a greater depth, bounce to the sides and only occasionally swim in a straight line. In this way, we perfectly imitate a sick fish. Pike always prefers such prey, because it is the easiest to hunt. Biting with artificial lure is always confirmed with an immediate hook. If we spin with a dead fish on the system, we let the predator go away after taking a few meters. Flyers catch pike mainly with streamers, a large artificial fly imitating a small fish. Streamers are super effective in very overgrown places, in which any other artificial lure immediately catches on the vegetation. The streamer rarely catches on the weed, it can also be driven extremely slowly and shallowly. Anglers who prefer float or bottom fishing methods can successfully fish with dead fish. Lots of anglers (especially the English) he is very fond of this bait. Pike is also good for intensely smelling sea fish, such as mackerel and herring. You can catch a dead fish in two ways – pass it at the bottom and wait for the pike to pick it up, or actively penetrate the water depth on a float set with a sail.
A dead fish that moves in the water should be armed in this way, to make it look as natural as possible, hence remained level. We still have to discuss the equipment. The spinning rod is up to three meters long and the casting weight is from 20 into 40 g or from 40 into 80 grams. The float rod should be a little longer and have a casting weight to 100 grams (Natural baits are almost always heavier than artificial ones). There should be approx 150 meters of fishing line; more line is not needed, because even record-breaking pikes never run away during hauling over such long distances. The reel brake must be precisely set and work flawlessly, because the pike, which cannot be pulled out, almost always jumps out of the water, and then he often manages to shake the bait out of its mouth.
Depending on this, if there are snags in the fishery, or not, the main line should last from 5 into 8 Kg (0,25-0,30 Mm). The only reliable leaders are metal leaders; sharp pike teeth can cut even Kevlar, not to mention the usual monolithic fishing line. A large landing net is required for landing a pike. The landing net arm spacing cannot be less than 70 centimeters.
Pike often attack each other (especially juveniles). Sometimes a pike manages to swallow a relative, fish when joined together are much more likely to die.
