The Pleasure Angle – Top Water Lure Fishing

Mark Hodson

An angler since he can remember, Mark Hodson almost literally lives, eats and breathes fishing. A match angler in his youth, fishing for the junior Starlets, he turned to the dark side and joined the ‘floppy hat’ brigade in his college years. He worked in the tackle trade for ten years, on a part time or full time basis at Chaplains, one of Birmingham’s busiest tackle shops and managed the specialist department there for two years.

He now fishes just for fun, although the ‘floppy specialist hat’ still dominates his angling, his writing concentrates on getting the maximum enjoyment from your angling and trying something different from the norm.

The Legend of Big Bud – a guide to top water lure fishing

But this item of tackle, purchased roughly 10 years ago, had remained as it was bought from the shop, all this time. Secreted away in a welsh dresser, only seeing the light of day to show off to non fishing friends, the legend that is Big Bud, was in this past week finally unleashed into the fury that is surface water lure fishing.

Big Bud and best his best pal Jimmy Coors

Big Bud had been a happy soul, living his life in the warmth and comfort of the welsh dresser, never out in the cold of the garage or bank, or cramped up in the impoverished bedsit type conditions that is the Hodson lure box.

Instead for company he had a collection of crystal glasses, Mrs H’s best Denby dinner set and, of course, his best friend Jimmy Coor.

Bud and Jimmy had remained undisturbed for a few years and lost from memory until June of this year when, during the world cup, one of the official sponsors advertising campaigns, whose genetic makeup Bud carries, reminded me of their presence. They were hastily retrieved from the dresser and admired in all their commercial kitsch glory.

But alas, the sweltering heat of June had produced low oxygen levels not conducive to tempting the conservation minded lure angler that I am out onto the bank. So Bud and Jimmy remained in their packaging, but realising they were in danger of becoming the two first agoraphobic lures in artificial fishing history, they moved home.

Deciding that it was best to take it one step at a time, Bud and Jimmy moved into the Predator fishing bag in the garage, still in their packaging but now they had the rest of the battle-hardened Hodson lure collection for company.

Two months passed, the heady record breaking temperatures of June and July gave way to the continual downpour of August. During this time both Bud and Jimmy remained in the darkness of the predator bag, listening to the shared stories of the rest of the lures, stories of being attacked from all angles by monsters who went by the name of perch and zander.

But worst of all were the stories told by the lures that resembled Bud and Jimmy, those that liked to paddle on the surface or just below. Stories of being attacked from below whilst swimming, stories of huge mouths bristling with razor sharp teeth that stripped the body of paint and tore rubber, ripping wood and plastic from your frame. Then this monster, known as Pike, hangs onto your hooks in a grim determination to rip you apart until the hand of the one and only god, that is the ‘master caster’, he who sets you free upon the water, finally releases you from the jaws of the beast. Bud and Jimmy cowered in the corner of the bag and prayed to their creator, Heddon, that they would never have to endure the terrifying experience.

Calling all adrenalin junkies

There’s something about pike that stirs the primeval soul of every angler. They are the only freshwater fish which carry dark tales upon the back of a reputation for being the executioner of any creature, of a suitable size of course, foolish or brave enough to venture near their lair. Likewise there is not an angler in the land who does not at least jolt like a young dame who has seen a phantom, or as some have, scream out loud and leap backwards, when without warning the camouflaged hunter explodes from the water at your feet. Sending spray everywhere in a frenzied roar of wild thrashing, as it powers and thrusts after whatever you’re retrieving at the time.

Big Bud ready to go swimming

Lure fishing is the angling equivalent to Russian roulette, all of a sudden something goes off without warning, except instead of having a hole in your head your have an angry predator testing your tackle to the limit. For those who like this sort of thing, lure fishing is the business, for those who like their lure fishing with visual effects of a small water borne detonation, the sight of a pike leaving the water like a deranged Polaris missile just can’t be beaten. It sends a shiver up my spine just thinking of it.

When, where, how and why?

I’ve always though it strange how pike attack surface baits or artificials fished just below the surface. Its not something you see all the time in natural conditions. Occasionally you see the odd pike charging at a shoal of fry or smaller baitfish and breaking the water in doing so, and giving away their presence. But I am stuck on the idea that attacking surface and sub surface lures in the fashion they do, is the majority of the time not an act borne from hunger, but an act of pure aggression, whether it be territorial or one of instinctive self preservation when something alien enters its environment.

Takes on surface lures range from the, ‘now you see it, there’s a swirl and the lures gone’, ‘oooh, something’s trying to pull the rod from my hands’, to ‘the dam right kick in the face violent affairs’, as the pike does its ‘look at me I’m a psychotic murdering salmon’, leaping type take.

A nicely marked fish taken on a Mean Jimmy worked hard

Whatever the reason why pike take from the surface, they seem to take with more aggression on days when there is more ripple on the water. Often on calmer days pike seem to attack a lure but never take the bait with any certainty, if at all. Again, acts more of aggression than hunger I’m sure. These sometimes result in the odd hook-up but can lead to infuriating days, when what is usually the easiest of takes to hit become as maddening as trying to tempt the craftiest of carp off the surface.

Just remember that as with all fishing, location is the key, find cover and an ambush point and your quarry will be not far away. I love the scenario where you have the lower two thirds of a water full of thick weed and the top third clear; a surface worked lure will always get a reaction from a concealed pike, if not a take. Surface lures worked next to lily pads, submerged snags such as roots and branches and not forgetting reedbeds will all bring results.

Pin point casting is the key to fishing to features, practice working close to them, heavy braid and a strong trace will retrieve a lure from most snags with the hooks straightening, should you have any accidents and end up practicing tree decoration. If you can’t cast to a snag try letting a surface lure drift into the required area, or if on running water, ‘trot’ it into position, and then start your retrieve. Using these methods you can get lures into the tightest of fish-holding spots.

Its all in the pull! Give it a tug!

Oo-er missus, it’s all gone a bit Frankie Howard. Maybe not, we are talking retrieves here. This is where a lot of the skill comes into the method. Firstly we have the tension building pause after the cast, let that lure sit there motionless for a while, let any pike in the area get a good eyeball on it, let the ripples die away. Sometimes I have left lures just sitting there for minutes and as soon as they are moved an inch they are hit by an unseen pike. If no take is immediate then it’s a case of working the lure to give the desired effect, and resulting stimulation to any pike it should pass near.

Features like this are ideal lairs for pike

On calm days a sedate, almost apologetic, retrieve seems to work best, no fuss, not a lot of noise or splashing, just work the lure back nice and gently. The windier the day, and the more surface ripple there is, the noisier and more disorderly type of retrieve seems to work best. Use the lure to its limits, impart maximum action, get those rattling ball bearings working well, create swirl and froth, cause such a fuss a pike will hit the lure just to shut it up!

But as with all fishing there are no hard and fast rules – experiment.

Shallow divers worked hard, so you get the combination of high attraction with an occasional dive down, work wonders. Lures like a Manns’ Baby Minus that only dive to a depth of 6 to 12″ are perfect for this. Big lures, small lures, novelty lures, fast, slow intermediate and almost stationary retrieves all work sometimes, the only thing that is essential is hard work, the more effort you put in, the more you will get out, literally.

Next time, in Part 2, more on surface lures and tackle, polaroids and the art of stalking pike and, of course, the conclusion to the Legend of Big Bud.