For many years, certainly since the early Eighties, I have worried about pike care. Unhooking has always been an issue as well as care on the bank, especially when it comes to holding fish for photographs. Not everyone is as comfortable posing with big fish as Robbie Northman – and I include myself in this category.
My latest idea is using this Nash carp cradle. Adrian caught this cracker and we kept it in the net whilst I erected the cradle and put a couple of buckets of water in it.
The fish was unhooked and weighed using a mat, and then transferred to the cradle where it lay, all but covered in water. Adrian lifted it out and it immediately struggled. Normally this might have signalled a problem. Not now. He simply lowered it back to the cradle and the second attempt went well. Three quick shots, and the pike went back into the cradle, and was then carried to the water and returned.
A bit of a fag you might say? Possibly true, but I’m quite content that the effort paid off in this case, and with practice the manoeuvre should become seamless…
