piking basics

Tackle Needed

The best bit of advice for anybody wanting to take up pike fishing, is find a pike angler and ask him to take you pike fishing with him. You could also locate your nearest region of the Pike Anglers Club of Great Britain and attend one of their monthly meetings. They will advise you on what tackle you will require and if you go on one of their fishin's, they will show you how to handle pike.

Some of the most important items of tackle which beginners don't think about, is the unhooking equipment. For this you will need: -

1/. Unhooking mat - This should be around 4 feet long and 2 feet wide and at least half an inch thick.

2/. Landing net - This will also have to be large, with a minimum being a 32 inch net.

3/. Weigh sling - This isn't something that only carp anglers need, You will need one for pike if you want weigh your catch. This will have to be a very large sling, when you consider a pike can be around 4 feet long. Plastic bags will not do the job.

4/. Scales - It's worth getting an accurate set of scales, going up to 40 or 50lb, just in case you get a fish of a life time.

5/. Forceps - It pays to have a few different types of these. You want one pair to be 12 to 14 inches with jaws of only an inch long. A lot of forceps this long have jaws around 3 inches long, the problem with these, is they will twist and slip off the hook. With these it pays to grind down the jaws to around 1 inch. It can be useful to have shorter and also curved forceps to make the job easier.

6/. Strong wire cutters - You will need a very strong pair of wire cutter, incase you have to cut up a hook to get it out. If a bit hasn't been struck in time, the fish may be deep hooked, with all three points in the opening to the stomach. You may have to cut one bend of the treble off, to enable you to remove the other two. Mini bolt cutter are available and will be required on larger hooks, especially lure hooks.

7/. Pliers - Its worth carrying a selection of pliers, long nose and extended long nose are the most useful. They mainly come in handy for spinning or lure fishing, as fish tend not to be as deeply hooked.

There are other unhooking tools on the market, such as "Hookout". these are mainly for lure angling. Both pliers and "Hookouts" tend to get a better hold on the large hooks on lures and spinners.

Before I go onto the tackle required, one very important thing I must mention is that pike are not a tough fish and must be handled with care, as a small amount of mishandling can lead to a dead pike.

Know for the tackle you will require: -

1/. Rods - These want to be around 11 to 13 feet long, with a minimum test curve of 1 3/4lb, 2 1/2lb to 3lb is the normal.

2/. Reels - These need to be strong enough to handle big hard fighting fish and hold around 200yrds to 300yrds of 12lb to 15lb nylon. Something around the size of a shimano 8010 bait runner is about right.

The type of rod and reel you will require depends of the size of water you will be fishing, the distances you will have to cast and the size of baits you want to use. This is why it pays to get in contact with a pike angler, who can advise you on the best tackle for the waters you will be fishing.

3/. Hook traces - These will have to be made of wire, 28lb, 7 strand wire is probably the most common to be found in tackle boxes. Traces should be at least 18 inches long, as big pike have big deep mouths and razor sharp teeth. Most traces carry 2 treble hook's of size 4 to size 10, very few pikers use size 4 hooks, with size 6 and size 8 probably being the most popular. It is advisable to use barbless or semi barbless trebles (only one point of the treble has a barb), this make hook removal a lot quicker and easier. This has the added advantage of better hook setting, as there is no large barb to act as a wedge, stopping good hook penetration.

4/. Other terminal tackle - This is only a few weights ranging from around 1/2 an ounce to say 4 ounces, some good quality swivels, beads, paternoster booms and low resistance leger rings. These will all depend on the type of rigs you will be using.

5/. Bite indication - This can range anywhere from a float to very complicated electronics, the price can range from a couple of pounds for the float to a few of hundred pounds for the electronics. Electronic indicators come in two basic types: -

a). Drop off - This type of indicator has an arm which clips to the line close to your reel. When the pike pulls the line, the line comes out of the clip causing the arm to drop, triggering a switch in the alarm.

b). Optonics - These indicators use a roller that the line rests across, so when the pike pull the line the roller goes round, triggering a sensor in the indicator.

Again this is an item of tackle, that it is best to get the advice of a pike angler, who will help you decide which is best for you. In our regions we will take new comers to our sport out for a days piking and supply bite indicators, so that you can decide which type of indicator you prefer.

There are some very good instructional video's on the market which will help you to develop your own style of rig's and piking method's. In the North East both Tyneside Region and South East Northumberland Region have a selection of video's which members can use.

E-mail me if you have any questions.

5/. Forceps - It pays to have a few different types of these. You want one pair to be 12 to 14 inches with jaws of only an inch long. A lot of forceps this long have jaws around 3 inches long, the problem with these, is they will twist and slip off the hook. With these it pays to grind down the jaws to around 1 inch. It can be useful to have shorter and also curved forceps to make the job easier.
6/. Strong wire cutters - You will need a very strong pair of wire cutter, incase you have to cut up a hook to get it out. If a bit hasn't been struck in time, the fish may be deep hooked, with all three points in the opening to the stomach. You may have to cut one bend of the treble off, to enable you to remove the other two. Mini bolt cutter are available and will be required on larger hooks, especially lure hooks.
7/. Pliers - Its worth carrying a selection of pliers, long nose and extended long nose are the most useful. They mainly come in handy for spinning or lure fishing, as fish tend not to be as deeply hooked.
There are other unhooking tools on the market, such as "Hookout". these are mainly for lure angling. Both pliers and "Hookouts" tend to get a better hold on the large hooks on lures and spinners.