Three and a half hours in the cold, windy UK wilderness, casting lures and setting dead baits in search of Pike. After a few missed takes, something massive strikes… a Pike that stalks the lure three times before finally attacking. The hit is explosive and heart stopping. I honestly jumped out of my skin. Easily one of the scariest moments I’ve ever had fishing.
I have a membership to certain sections of this UK river, but I don't often fish this particular section as the area floods easily, so it was nice to roll the dice and check it out again before the rain comes back and makes it unfishable.
I've fished for Pike for years, but its been a while since I caught a decent size one, so was a little out of touch. I've spent the last few years focused on Sea Bass and Carp fishing.
Typically anglers will start Pike fishing using dead baits after the first frost, but I believe that to be a bit of an old wives tale. I start on the 1st October, always before the first frost and I seem to do alright with dead baits. Although I prefer to catch on a lure, the chances of catching on a lure as the Winter sets in become slimmer. The Pike want to conserve energy, and don't want to be chasing lures. You can still catch on a lure, but often you'll need to get the lure very close to where they are, and they may go for a one-ff strike if it requires little effort for them.
In this instance, this Pike chased the lure and made multiple attempts at chasing then striking it. It's always a mystery to know if the Pike was watching it all day, and then finally gave in, or whether he had only just seen it...all part of the fun with fishing, you don't always know.
Anyway, thanks for reading. 🦈 🧡
Video below if you are interested.
