The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

Nice Pike MD,

That a nice surface lure by the way, I think our US cousins call them chuggers?

Thanks Gaz. I think I have heard them called poppers before too. Either way using it was really exciting. In a similar way to surface fishing for carp. Watching the fish grab it as you work the lure back to you and the takes are quite explosive. Big splashes and tail walking. Great fun.

I still loss a few pike, its the law of averages, I`d agree with braid as previously mentioned by Dave, the difference is phenomenal, but I also use single hooks, replacing the trebles......

With lures of all kinds you retrieve, the fish pulls, you raise the rod smartly, tighten up and hold on, the hook/s should then set themselves as the fish kicks at the other end. If the lure comes back to you the hooks did not get a purchase and striking will not help much. Lure fishing is best enjoyed using a reel with a smartish retrieve, in my opinion the Mitchel 300 may look the part, but is too cumbersome and slow. The Mitchell 308 is perfect for light spinning matched with 6-8lb line as it has quite a fast gear ratio. The reason for the rapid retrieve is that you are constantly winding in and may need to skip the lure in if it catches weed etc plus you can fish a wide range of lures with different actions while reeling in at a leisurely rate or speeding it up.

Fixed spool reels are fine for lighter spinning, however the gears involved can make it feel that you are somewhat disconnected to the process with heavier lures for pike,which is where, baitcasters (or multipliers) come into the picture. They are not hard to use, they handle heavier lines better, have rapid retrieve, plus superior drags and there is more of the feeling of 'direct drive'. If looking the traditional part is important, ABU Ambassadeurs fit the bill with the narrow 4600-C3 being very nice to use, though any of the smaller sizes will suit, most anglers use them on straight handled rods which is why they would suit your Hardy rod shown, I have not seen crank handled rods for many years and know of only one bamboo one- the Hardy Jock Scott. Another lovely reel to fish is the Hardy Elarex, easy to cast, snappy retrieve, though no freespool.

One tip is to remove the treble hooks on spinners and spoons and replace it with a wide gape single hook (Siwash) which are great hookers and easy on the fish (and don't catch on snags as much) though I would file the barb down but not make it totally barbless as jumpers like the pike could shake out the hook more easily with the weight of the lure attached. The balance of hard body baits can be altered if the trebles are removed.

Lots of tips above MD and good to see some pictures of your success. For a while I specialised in lure fishing for chub and perch, not that rogue pike didn't show as well. As the weed growth dies back and especially if you have a gravel river bed, its worth using a spoon, letting it drop to the bed and kick up some silt each time you move it. The spoon will need to be quite heavy/dense, but this sometimes tempted the bigger chub for me. Small rapalas, size 3 or 5 are great fun with chub too, but a little more expensive to lose. tight lines!