QUESTION OF THE WEEK – WATERS FOR BIG PIKE

Andy Doughty wins a bulk spool of Shimano Catana mono for:

In the angling press there are 30lb-plus pike caught most weeks from a variety of waters. But is there a formula or set of parameters that determine whether or not a water can support a pike of 30lb plus? What sort of prey fish density, water quality, etc, should we be looking for? Trout reservoirs produce large pike. It’s a large water with a good quality environment, but are the prey fish densities any more than in a small gravel pit that holds a 30-pounder? Is it the food fish that the pike eat that makes them fatter?


DR PAUL GARNER, PhD IN FISHERIES ECOLOGY AND SUCCESSFUL SPECIALIST ANGLER, ANSWERS

This is a great question and one that I have pondered long and hard over the years.

In terms of size, I believe that the acreage actually has little bearing on a water’s ability to produce ONE big pike. I know of lakes as small as two acres that have produced thirties, but as a general rule you should be looking at lakes of about eight acres and upwards. In general though you will be fishing for one big fish with perhaps a few jacks. The problem is that this big pike is likely to be close to the end of her life and can die at any time. Be careful that the fish you are after still exists! A major component of the diet of big pike is little pike, so when that big fish dies the next few years will see a lake containing lots of jacks, which compete for the available food, effectively stopping any more fish from growing large. I think you have to look on these big fish in small waters as almost freaks of nature and you need exceptional circumstances to produce one, something that won’t be replicated for some time, if ever.

Once you get to lakes between 20 and 100 acres there is enough room and food to support a larger head of pike. Still though you will often find that the handful of big pike are from the same year class, again with only jacks following them up. These big fish might die over two or three years, but although there are more of them they do eventually snuff it, leaving just jacks in their place for a few years at least.

In really big waters there is enough room and enough variety in the habitat available for a few pike to make it through to specimen size each year. Although there will be peaks and troughs in the numbers of pike, generally tracking the availability of prey, these big lakes always contain some big pike of different ages.

Pike are pretty adaptable creatures, so within reason the water chemistry will not effect whether a lake can produce big pike. What is important though is the constant supply of prey fish, which can be limited by local conditions.

Lowland lakes generally contain around 300-500lb of fish per acre. Most of this will be small fish that pike will be capable of eating. Highland lochs contain more like 50lb of fish per acre, so you are much less likely to find big pike here. At the other end of the scale, commercial carp fisheries can contain 3000lb of fish per acre, so if pike were introduced here they would do well!

Whilst pike do eat trout, it is a widely held misconception that they form a large part of the diet. Even in put and take trout fisheries, pike tend to feed mainly on coarse fish. The reason these waters produce big pike is that they are fertile and contain good natural fish stocks. Trout are quite agile fish that tend to keep away from the ambush points used by pike. I think it is no coincidence that one of the most prolific of the trout waters to open in recent years, Chew Valley reservoir, is a relatively shallow fertile lake containing huge numbers of roach, bream and perch. The trout are just the icing on the cake.

It can be quite surprising just what pike will feed on. I know of a couple of gravel pits where the pike grow to a good size, yet their sole source of food seems to be eels. You can’t rule out anywhere, but if you find a decent sized gravel pit containing a good stock of bream in the 2-5lb range then I would be very excited.

Dr Paul Garner
Aquatic Research & Management
www.aquaticrm.co.uk
01394 610 399

RUNNER-UP PRIZE – CONSISTENT CASTING
Wendy Perry [wendyperry@tiscali.co.uk] wins a spool of Shimano Exage mono for:

I don’t know if there is an answer to this, apart from practising, but I struggle with casting out. Is there anything that can help me to keep getting it in the same spot every time? I’ve heard of placing a rubber band around my reel’s spool, which I tried but it didn’t work for me. Any advice on this?


FM CONTRIBUTOR AND SPECIALIST ANGLER PAUL WILLIAMS ANSWERS

I don’t favour the elastic band method either! This is what I do. I usually start a session off with the marker rod unless the swim is familiar to me and then I may start fishing straight away. But either way I cast a lead to a mark I want to hit and then clip up, using the line retaining clip on the reel’s spool.

I then mark the line in front of the clip with Tippex, but remember that this Tippex mark may need touching up at regular intervals. As a secondary measure I push a rod-rest into the bank behind my swim, place the rod in it and ‘walk’ the rig out with the bale-arm open or the reel in baitrunner mode until I hit the clip. I then push some sort of marker into the ground, which means that I’ve always got a reference point should I lose the Tippex mark. If fishing two or three rods to different marks I would have the required number of markers in the bank at the varying distances. Then I can reset both spod and bait rods as I wish.

Once I have cast and hit the mark I unclip the line in case of a fast take and/or I need to give line. If I am just reeling in to re-bait I clip up again before reeling in. If I get a take I have either the Tippex or the bank marker to clip up to again.

Make sure your clip does not damage the line and don’t cast too hard if the distance isn’t too far, as this could cause line damage and it also causes the rig to stop too suddenly and ‘bounce’ back away from the mark. Feathering the line on the cast as it reaches the mark helps.

This is my way, but there are other ways, such as tying a stop knot on the mainline at the casting distance and using the tags on the knot to clip up to or there are purpose made ‘Range finders’ marketed by John Roberts that come complete with instructions. Though personally I still prefer to mark the line.

THE RIVER THURNE IN MARTHAM
Tony Gwenin [Tony.Gwenin@emap.com] asks:

I’m with a part of six who will be fishing the river Thurne in Martham this June. To make sure that I’m the one who catches and lands the largest amount of quality fish, what would you recommend, is it best to trot on the float or throw out a feeder etc? And what advice can you give me on reading the various swims? Any advice, gratefully received.


GRAHAM, FM EDITOR, ANSWERS

We can’t find anyone who fishes it regularly but it we gather that it’s shallow, weedy and packed with cabin cruisers this time of year, hence the reason hardly anyone fishes it. Bream and roach show at dawn and dusk but there are a lot of bootlace eels, so bread is the preferred bait. The Thurne broads ditto, but with bigger bream. Locals tend to night fish, or bait up the night before and fish from dawn until the cruisers start. Candle Dike/Heigham Sound up to Hickling the fish tend to show in the boat channel, which is a couple of feet deeper.

RUNNER-UP PRIZE – DISHEARTENED WITH CATCHING ONLY SMALL FISH
Andy Lane [Andrew.Lane@josims.com] wins a spool of Shimano Exage mono for:

I have been fishing for a couple of months now following about a ten year break from the sport and I am getting a little disheartened by the fact that I only seem to be catching the fish in the ‘very small bracket’ and to be honest there isn’t a great deal of them at that. I have fished a couple of pits recommended in ‘Midland angler’ that are supposed to be a mixture of small to big fish but found that I was only catching the weenie stuff. At one point I was fishing no more than 20ft from a chap that was pulling out good size tench, bream and carp on the same set-up and similar baits (maggot and pellet) to me and it is becoming frustrating and this generally is par for the course. I am wondering if there is anything that I can do to improve the size of fish I am catching, such as depth of bait, presentation, hook size, etc, etc. I understand that this is probably a dumb-ass question but I am just in need of a few pointers.


FM COLUMNIST AND ALL-ROUNDER DAVE COOPER ANSWERS

Certainly not a dumb assed question as many novices suffer from this. How would you know if someone doesn’t show you? I would guess that your solution is going to be in changing one of two things, or possibly a combination of both. That’s presentation and feeding.

Presentation first. From your question, although you don’t actually say, I guess you are probably float fishing, so let’s concentrate on that method.

As a general rule for the novice I would always advise that you start a session by fishing with your bait actually on the bottom. This requires careful plumbing of your swim to ensure that your float depth is set a couple of inches overdepth. However, especially where carp are the target species, the fish often come up in the water if loose feed is constantly going in so you will have to be prepared to gradually shallow up your rig to catch ‘on the drop’ if this happens, finding out the optimum depth that the fish are taking at by adjusting a bit at a time.

This leads on to feeding. By starting the session fishing on the bottom that’s ideally where you want the fish to be, so maybe try feeding a few balls of groundbait at the start that will encourage the fish to root about on the bottom. Top up by loose feeding maggots, hemp or pellets over the top on a ‘little and often’ basis to keep them feeding. It’s very important to keep bait trickling in. Even if you are not getting bites straight away just keep a small amount of bait falling through the water and the fish will usually come to you. As you get fish feeding confidently, this is when they might come up in the water as they compete for the falling freebies and you will have to adjust the depth. When small carp are really having it you may end up fishing only a foot deep, so be prepared to experiment. Feeding must be tight and accurate to keep the fish concentrated in one area, so try to keep all the feed going to the same spot, only a few feet across maximum and obviously cast your hookbait to the same spot.

I would also experiment with baits, switching between maggots, corn, pellets, number of maggots on the hook, colour of maggots, etc, to find out what is working best. A change of hookbait often results in a step-up in bites.

My last piece of advice would be to spend some time watching someone who’s bagging up and see what they are doing differently to you. Most anglers are reasonable people and won’t mind you watching and asking a few questions as long as you don’t make a nuisance of yourself.

KNOTTY PROBLEM
TERRY [TELDOCTORX@aol.com] asks:

I have just started fishing, I keep tying my hooks but the hooks keep coming off. Please can you advise me how to tie the knots? Make it easy, lol!


GRAHAM, FM EDITOR, ANSWERS

Terry, have a look at the knot diagrams in the Rig’s Page Library and practise tying the knots at home using a large sea hook, say a 2/0, and a length of brightly coloured heavy (20lb-plus) mono. Such a hook and line will make it much easier for you to get used to the different configurations of each style of knot before you attempt to do them with smaller hooks and lighter line. At this stage I would stick to the Grinner and the Palomar. They are the two knots I use for 99% of my own fishing.

Other knot-tying tips are: always wet the knot with spit before tightening; always take your time; never say ‘it’ll do’ if you think you can do better. And tie as many rigs and hooklinks at home rather than on the bank, that way you can take your time and make a better job, and it’ll give you more time to fish if your rigs and hooklinks are pre-tied.

TEST CURVES
Bryce [Singletonbryce@aol.com] asks:

Please could you explain what ‘test curves’ is all about? We didn’t have it when I was a youngster and I have only taken up angling again since I retired.

GRAHAM, FM EDITOR, ANSWERS

The test curve of a rod is a statement of its power and is measured by how much force is required to bend the tip of the rod to right angles to the butt. So, if it takes a force, or weight, of 2lbs to achieve this 90 degree bend it is said that the rod has a test curve of 2lbs. With modern materials, however, it is wise to take test-curve ratings as a rough guide only, for unlike the days when rod material was mainly split cane when the test curve rating was devised, modern materials have a great latitude, and stated test-curves have a considerable tolerance. Even moreso when you consider that you have to consider test curve along with the action of a rod, ie, ‘fast taper’ and ‘all through’ and all the variations in between.

It is good to understand the meaning of ‘test curve’ but better nowadays to combine this knowledge with achieving a ‘feeling’ for rods, ie, once you have handled a reasonable variety of rods of various strengths and actions you can choose a rod for a specific application much better by its feel rather than its stated test curve.

IDEAL RIG AND BAIT FOR BREAM
David Lyons [lyonsy@thornham1983.fsnet.co.uk] asks:

I was wondering if you could tell me an ideal rig and bait for fishing alongside my bite alarm for bream up to around 5-6lb, on an open stillwater reservoir with an overflow?


FM CONTRIBUTOR AND SPECIALIST ANGLER PAUL WILLIAMS ANSWERS

I don’t think anyone could tell you an ideal bait and rig without knowing a fair bit about the water in question, however I can make a couple of suggestions that work for bream on a lot of waters including the type you specify.

Bream of the size you mention are usually part of a shoal so it pays first to know how big the shoal(s) are and introduce a groundbait mix laced with caster and chopped worm. Then a cage feeder filled with the same groundbait mix can be used with caster and worm cocktail for hookbait, hook size about 10/12 and a simple running rig or semi-running rig

A simple semi-running rig is easily made by placing a rubber float stop behind the feeder, this can then either be fished holding the feeder tight to the mainline to hooklink swivel and using very short hooklinks (3 inches) to make a self-hooking rig if the bites are hard to hit or by pushing the stop away from the feeder you can use longer hooklinks and allow some free line movement at the feeder – though this all depends on the angle the fish takes line! I believe that most leger set ups are self-hooking rigs and we may as well improve on the principle where we can.

Another rig not to be ignored for bream is the Method feeder, a fishmeal based method groundbait fished in conjunction with pellets and/or fishmeal boilies is simply devastating at times for bream, especially if there is shoal competition. Use chopped boilies and or pellets in with the method mix and try to introduce a few balls or pellets into the swim to start off. If the shoal is a large one be prepared to sit on your hands though and turn the alarm sensitivity right down! Your indicators will be bouncing all over the shop when the shoal moves in so wait until you are sure it’s a real take before lifting into the fish. Bream adore fishmeal, I learnt that a long time ago when I used to fish trout pellet paste for carp!

ASK FOR ADVICE

This is where you can ask that vital question about fishing that’s been nagging you for too long. It could be about a certain rig or bait, maybe about groundbaiting or flavouring, or it could be about a simple fishery management problem or a fish behaviour or biology type question.

Whatever it is we’ll hand the question to somebody who we reckon can do it justice, somebody who knows what they’re talking about in that particular field. Sound good so far? It gets better.


Prizes donated by Shimano
If you’re a FISHINGmagic member you can could win a bulk spool of Catana mono for what we judge is the Question of the Week, and the runner-up will get a 100yd spool of Shimano Exage. Some weeks there could be two runners-up.

All we ask you to do is be specific with the question, and to provide some relevant details. Avoid questions like, ‘How do I catch tench?’ Or, ‘Which is the best hook to use for carp?’ There are too many answers to questions like that. Whole books have been written about catching tench, and there is no one hook for catching carp.

And remember, the more information you give related to one specific question the more chance you have of receiving a helpful answer.

Send your questions to graham@fishingmagic.com.

How often this advice section will appear will be according to the volume of questions we receive.

Any questions received that relate to any other series currently running on FM will automatically be considered for this section and will be eligible for prizes.

In the interests of authenticity all email addresses of those asking questions will be given in full unless you specifically request otherwise.

Would prize winners please let me have their street addresses – send to graham@fishingmagic.com.

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