The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

I have never intentionally fished for pike, but the idea of roving appeals.

I intend to start on the nearby canal on the assumption that the fish might be relatively small until I gain experience.

I have taken onboard the welfare comments here.
Will use a trace and single barbless hooks.
I thought that I would try float fishing a dead bait and plan to get some frozen fish from morrisons tomorrow. I believe they sells spratts listed as white bait.
Being small, I thought that they might also be ok for attracting larger perch.

This might seem strange, but where would a stick the hook in the bait? I assume through the head so it sort of acts like a lure on slow retrieve and when I hold back the float in the current. And are frozen fish robust enough or do folks use that soluble string stuff.

Personally I would always use fresh fish as they keep on the hook much better. With smaller fish like sprats I prefer to hook the stem of the tail rather than the head. I also prefer to leger dead baits rather than use a float.

If you have never Pike fished before I would strongly suggest you go with an experienced Pike angler who can show you the best way to hook,land and unhook Pike.They are very fragile and cannot tolerate rough handling.
An absolute must are good long forceps,large landing net,unhooking mat and at least 15lb line and trace.
Hook the bait through both lips and wind onto the Pike straight away to avoid deep hooking.

Spinning - either a deadbait, plug or spinner - may help, especially if the fish are small. It will give you confidence if/when you hook a good fish, having landed a few.
Could also stop any deep hooking that can occur when deadbaiting.

Sprats are about 4in long - white bait (minisprats) are a bit too small - but still eaten by pike.

Good luck , PLEASE keep a eye on the time you keep them out of the water, after 2 minutes, let it rest in the net, in the water

Good theory, starting small, but small pike are much more difficult to deal with than big ones. They thrash and twist around, their mouths are smaller, so less working space, and they aren't big enough for you to kneel astride them and keep them safe and secure while unhooking.

I would strongly recommend a glove, which will give you a certain amount of protection when unhooking. It's the sharp gill covers, not the teeth, that tend to draw blood.

And has been said above, best to go with someone experienced. Unhooking them is easy most of the time, but not all of the time. I once unhooked a 26lb pike that a novice had caught on totally inadequate gear, and it was hooked very, very deep. Looking back on it, I saved that fish's life.

I once saw a couple of pikers on the other bank with a pike, though my bins I could see they were having trouble unhooking it,by the time I had reeled in my rods and got round there more than 15 mins had passed, they said it had the trace down its thoat, I told them that as they were taking so long to get the trace out it was going to be dead anyway!! and to put in the net and in the water for a bit.You have to remember that you might have trouble getting the hook out, you might want to weigh it ,you might want to have some photos, these all take time but as long as you remember to give it a rest in the water every couple of minutes it should be fine , ,Another thing I say to newcomers to pike fishing is strike as if it was any other fish you were fishing for , if your float goes under or your alarm sounds strike at once to avoid deep hooking , Good luck