Essential Pike fishing tackle

Pike are strong, hard fighting fish, below is a rough guide to what tackle you will need when fishing for pike.

Rods - Pike or carp rods with 2lb/3.5lb test curve

Reels - Stong reels are essential for pike fishing, a reel with a free spool system is ideal.

Mainline - Monofilament or Braid - Minimum 15lb/6.5kg

Wire trace - Minimum 20lb/9kg at least 18inches/45cm in lenght

Floats - A good selection of floats is useful to present baits in a variety of different ways from on the bottom to long range drifting.

Long nosed pliers, wire cutters and forceps for safe unhooking

Landing net -  This should be big enough to easily hold a large fish with a good mesh that will not snag hooks.

Unhooking mat - Essential for safely unhooking fish.

Bite indicators - Audible indicators that can also warn you of a drop-back bite are very useful.

Bait syringe (pictured) - Useful for injecting both flavours and oils into a a bat but also air to pop them up off the bottom.

Sundries - The list can go on but other items such as a glove, plenty of spare clips and swivels, hook sharpeners, weights, beads are all useful...

To catch pike you have to find where they are in a water this may sound easy but in a large lake or river it can prove a big challenge. Typically, being a predatory fish, pike will be near the shoals of small fish that they feed on. If you can locate theses there's a good chance pike will be near by.

Look for features, pike feed by ambushing their prey and love hiding in weed, around fallen trees, or along gravel bars etc... On a new venue it is often worth spending time with a heavy lead and float to find the bars gullys and other areas that could hold fish

Twitching your bait in a few feet every 10 minutes is a good way to encourage a wary pike to strike

When ledgering popping a bait up with foam or air can make them more visible on weedy or silty waters

Watch the water for fish, a feeding pike will often "swirl" or you may see bait fish jumping, it is always worth casting a rod to these areas

To add a bit of extra flavour to your bait try injecting it with fish oil

A wobbled bait can be very effective on waters where pike are feeding actively, try slowly twitching the bait so it mimics an injured fish.

When you do catch a pike it is essential that you unhook it and get it back in the water as quickly as possible. Its a common misconception that pike are a tough fish, in fact the opposite is true. Pike are very fragile and can easily die if mistreated or kept out of the water for too long.

So when you are fishing make sure you have your net, unhooking mat and forceps or pliers close at hand. When handling pike try to stay calm and be confident; they do not “bite” people but it is easy to catch your hand on a tooth or the serrated bones behind their gills if you are not careful. The most important thing is to unhook a pike safely and quickly and get it back in the water. When you net the pike place it on your unhooking mat and try and see where the hooks are.

To hold a pike place a couple of fingers under the gill plate and lift the pikes head, wear a glove if you are not confident doing this. The mouth of the pike will open and you can remove the hooks with your pliers or forceps.  You will need to be firm when removing hooks whie doing so in a controlled way that will not harm the fish.

Without any doubt the best way to learn how to handle a pike is to be shown by an experienced angler.

Once a Pike is unhooked it is important to return it to the water as quickly as possible.  Always hold the fish until it is strong enough to swim away.

Bait for Pike fishing

Chosing the right bait is of course essential but there are no hard and fast rules on what bait is best.  Maybe more a range of established baits that find favour with many anglers.

Live baits - Without a doubt one of the best, yet controversial, baits is a live bait if allowed there isn’t a more effective way of catching a pike.

Very Impotortant! - When using livebait always catch them from the water you are fishing, never transfer fish between waters, this can spread disease.

Deadbaits - The most common baits used are dead fish, either fresh water or sea fish work well.  The fresher you can obtain and store your baits the more effective they will be.

Popula dead baits include - Rudd, Roach, Perch, Bream, Eels, Lamprey and even small Pike from freshwater.

Mackerel, Herring, Sardines, Smelt, Scad, Spratts, and many more from saltwater.