Pike don’t fight? No, says Jeremy

A while back on the Predator section of the FISHINGmagic forum I was foolish enough to slight the fighting prowess of our favourite predator, ‘Ol’ Esox’. I was actually quite surprised to have got off so lightly. Although I still reckon that pike as a species don’t fight worth a damn – they are challenging and exciting to fish for – it’s just that they have no stamina and or real fighting spirit – what I call ‘attitude’.

Let’s take a VERY light-hearted look at the gospel of fish as fighters according to me.

Please take two things into account: Firstly I will only be including fish I have had personal experience of and secondly this is a VERY PERSONAL view. I accept and hope that other people’s views and criteria are going to differ from mine.

Let’s define what qualities would get a fish species on my ‘well-‘ard’ list.

In the gospel according to Jeremy Airey a fighting fish requires two main qualities – these are strength and attitude. ‘Strength’ speaks for itself, so let’s quickly pass on to ‘attitude’. In this fighting context I define ‘attitude’ as knowing that a hooked fish doesn’t just want to ‘pull your string’ it seriously wants to HURT you for having the downright gall and bare-bummed cheek to have hooked it.

Even after the fight prior to release you can feel it thinking “Come on, come on – just a little nearer and I’ll chew your damned hand off – right up to your ears.” and when you return it you’ll always get a soaking from that final goodbye wave of the tail. If I were to sum up ‘attitude’ in one sentence it would be, “Bring it on – if you think you’re hard enough”. Serious ‘attitude’ rules, Okay?

Now for the controversial stuff. Let us look at a few of my favourite species and see how I – remember this is a personal view – rate them. I divide fish into three ‘fighting’ groups.

First group is the ‘Minis’


A real fight at last, thinks Jeremy…..
Those fish which, despite perhaps having a good attitude, just don’t have the physical size to qualify them as true fighters. A good examples of this would be Gudgeon and especially Perch. Perch have a very serious attitude but lack the physical size to carry out their implied threats. Same with gudgeon; if they only grew to 10 pounds they would be a serious handful. Bizarrely enough I would rate the humble minnow as top of the ‘attitude stakes’ in this group. Jeez – if they grew any bigger I would give up wading – seriously stroppy little buggers, and the same goes for sticklebacks.

Second group is the ‘Could do betters’ (CDBs)

This group is going to be the most controversial because in it I put the pike and carp.

Let’s list some of the ‘prime suspects’ with a brief explanation of why I don’t rate them more. Bream – got the size but no spirit at all. Chub – exciting fish to stalk and hook but first impressions of the fight are very misleading. That first lunge is good but after that – forget it! Shame, as I enjoy chub fishing. Mr Chevin looks the ‘Bruiser’ but lacks heart.

Carp – some carp, especially the smaller ones, exhibit speed and stamina above their weight class, but in general I find carp a rather dull, dour fighter. They are a strong fish but give up too easily with firm handling – most of the ‘tremendous fights’ I have seen with carp have been posers scared to bend the rod in case they crack the nice shiny varnish. Carp are great fun to catch but definitely CDBs in my book.

Pike – Oh dear! Time to get the tin hat out now! I really don’t rate pike as a fighter at all – wherever it comes from, sorry you Scottish and Irish pikers. I don’t know why pike as a species don’t do a lot better on the hook – they look like your archetypal ‘mean, lean killing machine’, with all the physical characteristics to do a lot better on the hook, but they definitely lack attitude – IN MY EXPERIENCE. A fish with teeth like that should really want to do big-time harm but they are real ‘pussies’ at heart. Okay, a few pike don’t play the game and jump a bit and a they do use any weight they have to reasonable effect but not to the extent they could. The ‘take’ and first 10 seconds are what it’s all about for me – love it!

All the above said, I do think the lack of fighting spirit in pike works to it’s advantage taking into account it’s poor recuperative abilities. Lord alone knows why it has such poor recuperative abilities as it hardly expends a lot of it’s energy fighting. Pike are definitely at the ‘should be ashamed’ end of the CDBs in my opinion.

Third and final group is the ‘Fighters’

I think I’ll divide this group into two – the Pluggers and the Stars.


……and is relieved to land this Rooster Fish, a species with fantastic speed and serious ‘attitude’
1) The Pluggers – that is ‘pluggers’ as in fish that plug away all the way to the net. In this group are my two favourite cyprinids – The tench and the barbel. Man, those fish can pull and I have never met a tench or barbel that gave up on me. These fish only miss out on the ‘Stars’ class because they lack true speed and a little ‘meanness’.

Another good example of a plugger would be an eel. Yep – Mr Slippery is a true street fighter who doesn’t give up even when on the bank (it’s a shame the freshwater variety lacks the physique of the conger). Yes, a good ‘attitude’ fish. Now here’s a funny thing, I recently saw a video featuring New Zealand Eels and they didn’t appear to fight worth a hoot – for those of you familiar with the writings of Zane Grey they were a “Punk” fish – i.e. no heart at all.

2) The Stars – Of all the fish species I have caught in UK waters only three qualify for this accolade and they are the Rainbow Trout, the mullet, and the bass. The Rainbow has speed, stamina and a good fighting spirit. It jumps, runs and dives with the best of them and in my opinion rarely gives up. The only thing that keeps it on the ‘B’ list of stars is that occasionally you get those flabby stewpond pigs that are a disgrace to their species and of no true angling value at all.

Let’s move on to our two UK ‘A’ list stars. First the mullet – I mean ‘wow’ what a speedster – flash, bang and, ‘light the afterburners’, Mr Mullet is out of here.

Okay, the best fighting species in the UK is the bass. He’s strong, fast and has the meanest attitude of any UK fish I have caught. He just does not give up. If all that isn’t enough he takes lures and is about the handsomest fish that swims. As for attitude he has everything I look for in this category. He is just so ‘BAD ‘ I’m almost scared to fish for him.

My all-time favourites

For my all-time favourite three you have to go tropical – unfortunately. They are – in reverse order – the Sierra, Cero or Spanish Mackeral: a hard fighting tropical mackerel that has blinding speed and immense stamina.


This pike DID do better, but it doesn’t put it in the ‘stars’ category, says Jeremy
My number two joint second placers are the Bonefish and the Barracuda. The bonefish is one of those fish that really does live up to its publicity. One hundred plus yard runs – no trouble, and some of the fastest direction changes on the hook I have ever experienced. Barracuda eat bonefish – in my book ’nuff said. Seriously evil attitude.

Number one by a long way is (roll of the drums)…. The Roosterfish.

A member of the caranx, scad or ‘Jack’ family it is the strongest fish for its weight that swims -IMHO. It has fantastic speed and stamina and ‘ATTITUDE’ in spades – killing you is the very least it would do to you. It even jumps sometimes. Also it can be caught using probably the most exciting tactic available to us today – very high speed surface lure fishing. My all time ‘Greatest’ so far – bar none.

I said that I would only comment on fish I had caught which is why such undoubted fighters as salmons and Wels were omitted. Also there just wouldn’t be space to include all the different fish species I have caught both here and abroad. Roach or rudd pulled your arm off recently? Caught a pike that left you in need of a trip to casualty?

This article is only my opinion so please let’s have your comments via the forum on FM. The most important thing is to enjoy your fishing and remember the next fish you catch is always going to be the your best ever. Good fishing and sore arms!

Jeremy Airey

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