I think most people now realise that pike are not the big bad killers that they are sometimes made out to be, well actually they are, but only if you’re a small fish! More and more anglers are also realising that pike are a very delicate species and they need a lot of careful handling otherwise they will cause permanent injury or death by mishandling, yet still we see some horror stories on the bank.
To that end Ian and I both thought that it would be a good idea for FishingMagic to have on archive a step by step guide to unhooking for future reference for anyone who feels that they might need it.
Obviously the first step in pike care is the minute that you get a run. It’s absolutely vital to make sure that you strike straight away as soon as there is any sign on your float or drop offs. Indeed you should really go back a step further than that and ensure your main line, hooks and traces are up to the job in hand and that the set up you use to register takes is efficient: can you detect drop backs as well as runs? Do you have audio as well as visual indication of a take? These are areas of pike fishing I have no doubt we shall be looking at in some detail on the site in the not too distant future but for now we are going to take a look at the most critical time of all – once you have netted your pike – in an appropriately large landing net of course!
Once you have landed your pike is the time you really do have to be on the ball. All fish are at their most vulnerable when out of water, after all their bodies are designed to be supported by water and not to bear their weight on dry land. Therefore before you lift your pike from the water in the landing net make sure that the trace isn’t snagged in the net and that the fins are all lying flat, then you can lift the fish, supporting the nets arms on both sides, and carry it to the unhooking mat where your unhooking tools should be waiting.
In respect of tools the basic minimum requirement for safe unhooking is a pair of long-handled forceps and a set of long-handled wire cutters. Short-handled, blunt-nosed forceps may, at times, help you to apply a better grip and long handled pliers can be useful too so make sure you are properly equipped and that everything is ready for when you lift the fish onto the mat.
Once you lay the fish down, you must again be careful of its fins, and slip the fish from the landing net and get the net out of the way quickly otherwise the chances are that something will either get caught in it – and loose trebles caught in the net mesh are a danger to both the fish and the angler – or, better still, you will tread on it and break it!
Once the net is out of the way, roll the fish onto its back and kneel either side of the pike so its head protrudes from just in front of your wedding tackle! You will see at this point the two gill openings that form a v shape to the front of the jaw.
Now taking your weaker hand gently slide all four of your fingers into the gill plate on the opposite side from that of the hand that you are using.
In other words if you are using your left hand, as most people will, then the right hand side of the gill plate, taking care not to catch the gill rakers (the bright red feather like things) on the back of your hand as you do so. From here gently slide your hand up towards the front of the pike until you can go no further and gently pull backwards and the pike’s mouth will open automatically.
Once you have the pike in this position it will be very easy to see where the trace is situated. You can then decide which is the best angle to get at the hooks from. If your strike has been nice and quick then on most occasions this will simply be a case of taking your forceps and inverting the hooks (turning them upside down) and removing them.
However, on occasion, the hooks will be a bit deeper in the throat of the pike and here you may find it easier to get at the hooks by going in through the opposite side gill cover. This sounds more complicated than it really is as you already have the pike in position and all you need to be careful of again is the gill rakers on the opposite side as you will be working directly through them.
Please never, ever leave a trace in a pike. Although you may think that you are doing the fish a favour in fact you may just be sealing up the entrance to the fish’s stomach, condemning it to a slow and lingering death.
Should you get a deeply hooked pike then there is a procedure to remove them, however it is best shown by an experienced pike angler, but if you cannot find someone to show you how to do so, this is the way that I do it.
The main issue you are going to face is that it is so much easier if you have another pair of hands available to you in the shape of a friend as you need to have gentle pressure applied on the trace throughout most of the process, but it can be done with patience on your own.
First of all follow the usual unhooking procedure until the point that you need to remove the hooks. At this point take hold of the swivel on the trace and GENTLY pull it. A pike has a stomach that can be inverted and if you are gentle the stomach will start to come up through the throat, but you must not tear the stomach lining so be very careful. As soon as you can see the first treble remove this by inverting it or, if it’s deep seated and tricky to remove, then cut the points of the hook off with a pair of long nosed cutters, but don’t let go of this hook otherwise the stomach will slide back.
Next you again gently pull on the trace until the final treble appears. Once this happens take the first treble and find a place where you can re-hook it inside the mouth. This is done so that the trace is still under pressure and the stomach doesn’t slip back, but it frees up your hands to remove the last set of hooks in either the usual way or by cutting the points off. Once this has all been done the trace can be removed from the fish, but don’t attempt to push the stomach back, the pike will do this itself quite naturally.
It may not sound like the best practice but believe me in the past I have unhooked a number of fish that have had traces left in them this way and with practice you cause the fish no lasting harm, although best practice of all is of course to avoid deep hooking in the first place by striking quickly at all times.
Finally you can easily undo all of your good work at the final stage by taking the fish back to the water the wrong way. Never try and carry the fish back in your hands alone, but put it in either in a sling, mat or even the net and hold the fish the right way up until it gains its strength back and swims off strongly.
And that in a nutshell is all there is to it!
Pike look like ferocious creatures and it is very easy to be intimidated by the sight of all those teeth, but with practice pike are no more of a hazard than any other fish and can be easily dealt with.
I would always recommend in the first instance that you go pike fishing with someone who has been a lot in the past as there is no better way to learn than by being shown by someone who has experience.
Your local Pike Anglers’ Club region will be happy to help out too. You can find your local region by logging on to www.pacgb.co.uk.
Happy piking.
