The pike is a particularly moody fish and as such, it is very complicated to lure it in heavily fished environments when it is not active. On the other hand, when it is active, it can be caught using many techniques and families of lures, the simplest of which can be used. Pike is therefore an ideal fish to start fishing with lures, provided you make the right choices.
Autumn, the right time
Autumn is a very good season for pike fishing, because it is a season that offers good weather conditions. Indeed, the windy, rainy and cloudy episodes are regular and favor the hunting actions of predators. Combined with the fact that it is necessary to make fat in anticipation of winter, peaks of activity are frequent and it is the right time to take advantage of it and start fishing for this species.
In areas with strong fishing pressure, these slots are often quite short and targeted. But in preserved spots, you can live incredible days where the catches will follow one another!
Spring, especially just after spawning, is also an excellent time for pike fishing. This is a season where once again the fish will be very aggressive and at times very easy to catch.
The right conditions
The pike is therefore moody, so to multiply your chances of encounter and success, favor short trips at key times.
On windy days or episodes, especially from the west, consider fishing the bank exposed to the wind!
- Rainy episodes in a sunny day (or the opposite)
- The cloudy passages
- The ends of the day in summer. The midday shot being also particularly good in winter.
One technique for beginners
In full activity, the pike is an easy fish to lure. Modern lure fishing techniques offer a multitude of approaches requiring (or not) a certain motor control. Within this wide range of approaches, line fishing, also called crancking, which consists in bringing back the lure in a continuous way to the reel, is very efficient for pike.
This is the approach you should take to start fishing for pike. Fishing simply and at the right time will be enough to catch your first fish.
An adapted selection of lures
Thus your box will not necessarily have to be very provided, but will have to comprise lures which can be animated just with the reel and which will have to be adapted to the constraints of the fished environment.
Thus, you will have to choose them according to the depth, but also to the presence or not of cover.
Then build a simple but complementary box with :
- Soft lures (5 to 7 inches) mounted on different leaded heads and in Texan
- A lipless
- A chatterbait
- A spinnerbait
- Some swimming fish (minnow, cranckbait and swimbait)
- A spinner
Vary the animations simply
If fishing in linear is very simple to implement, you can nevertheless vary your animations by playing on :
- The speed
- Duration and frequency of breaks
- Swimming depth
Vary size and color
Finally, don't hesitate to change the size of your lures and the color if ever the hits are slow or discreet. A simple change can often result in a more decisive attack.
It is always better to have a natural color and a more aggressive one like firetiger.