Pike fishing with carp gear

[ThunderCat]

I'm off up Lake Windermere in the summer and i'm thinking about having a do for the pike, I've thought about bivvying up on the side of said lake and deadbaiting mackeral/smelts (these are supposed to be deadly on there) on a bolt rig with a wire trace of course, and alarms just like carping, anyone else tried this or do you reckon i'm insane
Opinions please ?

[kermit]

Thundercat (ho!),

Piking with carp gear is no problem whatsoever. So long as you're not aiming to but a 4oz bait to the horizon, normal carp rods will do the job fine. Just make sure your mainline is up to the job (minimum of 15Ib is advisable), your rigs are safe and you're using a good quality wire trace. Bolt rigs are not really advisable for deadbaiting - pike will generally shy away from any resistance, so running leads and sensitive indicators are the way forward.

However...... here comes the 'but'. please read the text in italics below (copied and pasted from a post I made a while ago) before deciding to deadbait. Personally, I would advise against it in your instance, for reasons given below, particularly if you are intending to bivvy up when the time between getting a bit and hitting it could be a while. Also, it is not clear whether you've much experience in pike handling from your post. In summer, deep hooking is a definite reality when deadbaiting and this is not the best introduction to learning about unhooking pike.

If you're dead keen on piking in summer, I'd recommend lure fishing. With the warmer water the fish will be up in the shallows (i.e. closer in) and will be more active. You'll be able to cover more water and hopefully find more fish with a roving lure approach. I get my lure fishing kit from this place (they do a wide selection of rods and reels as well if you get in touch) - top service and really good advice Pike fishing lures from Baxter Angling

Mike.

Copied text below:

please forgive me if I'm about to tell you something you already know, or if the following comes across in any way patronising. This isn't my intention at all.

Piking in summer requires a lot more care than in winter to ensure fish wellfare; generally oxygen levels in the water are lower in summer and pike sometimes struggle when caught under such conditions. Therefore, summer piking rule 1 is to have the fish out of the water the absolute minimim length of time.

Summer piking rule 2 concerns deadbaits. In winter pike tend to be relatively lethargic due to cold water temperatures and will take a while to eat a deadbait. This gives you a bit of time to let bites develop before striking. In the summer this is not so - deadbaits will tend to vanish into Mr Pike's belly much, much quicker. Therefore, summer deadbaiting is not something I'd recommend - particularly if you are a relative newcomer to piking (I've no idea if this applies to you). In summer deep hooked pike area real possibility as the bait can be in the pike's stomach before you've even noticed a bite. When this happens, removing the hooks can mean having fish on the bank longer than is ideal (see rule 1!).

For me personally I do most of my piking in autumn/winter. I occasionally do some summer piking, but this is always with lures. The chances of deep hooking are virtually nill, plus lure fishing is ace fun when the fish are warm enough to get chasing lures My deadbait gear is left well alone over the summer and I'd recommend others do the same. Ultimately, how and when to fish is down to the individual, but please bear in mind the above.

Originally Posted by kermit

Thundercat (ho!),

Piking with carp gear is no problem whatsoever. So long as you're not aiming to but a 4oz bait to the horizon, normal carp rods will do the job fine. Just make sure your mainline is up to the job (minimum of 15Ib is advisable), your rigs are safe and you're using a good quality wire trace. Bolt rigs are not really advisable for deadbaiting - pike will generally shy away from any resistance, so running leads and sensitive indicators are the way forward.

However...... here comes the 'but'. please read the text in italics below (copied and pasted from a post I made a while ago) before deciding to deadbait. Personally, I would advise against it in your instance, for reasons given below, particularly if you are intending to bivvy up when the time between getting a bit and hitting it could be a while. Also, it is not clear whether you've much experience in pike handling from your post. In summer, deep hooking is a definite reality when deadbaiting and this is not the best introduction to learning about unhooking pike.

If you're dead keen on piking in summer, I'd recommend lure fishing. With the warmer water the fish will be up in the shallows (i.e. closer in) and will be more active. You'll be able to cover more water and hopefully find more fish with a roving lure approach. I get my lure fishing kit from this place (they do a wide selection of rods and reels as well if you get in touch) - top service and really good advice Pike fishing lures from Baxter Angling

Mike.

Copied text below:

please forgive me if I'm about to tell you something you already know, or if the following comes across in any way patronising. This isn't my intention at all.

Piking in summer requires a lot more care than in winter to ensure fish wellfare; generally oxygen levels in the water are lower in summer and pike sometimes struggle when caught under such conditions. Therefore, summer piking rule 1 is to have the fish out of the water the absolute minimim length of time.

Summer piking rule 2 concerns deadbaits. In winter pike tend to be relatively lethargic due to cold water temperatures and will take a while to eat a deadbait. This gives you a bit of time to let bites develop before striking. In the summer this is not so - deadbaits will tend to vanish into Mr Pike's belly much, much quicker. Therefore, summer deadbaiting is not something I'd recommend - particularly if you are a relative newcomer to piking (I've no idea if this applies to you). In summer deep hooked pike area real possibility as the bait can be in the pike's stomach before you've even noticed a bite. When this happens, removing the hooks can mean having fish on the bank longer than is ideal (see rule 1!).

For me personally I do most of my piking in autumn/winter. I occasionally do some summer piking, but this is always with lures. The chances of deep hooking are virtually nill, plus lure fishing is ace fun when the fish are warm enough to get chasing lures My deadbait gear is left well alone over the summer and I'd recommend others do the same. Ultimately, how and when to fish is down to the individual, but please bear in mind the above.

great advice Kermit

[ThunderCat]

Thanks for that super advice mate, It's truly a great forum this, when such caring thoughtful anglers are willing to share there knowledge and long may it continue.
I've fished for pike on lures during summer before but never deadbaited for them. But i will bare your advice in mind, what i think i may well do now is bivvy up just the same but only lure fish in the daytime in the shallowy reedy bits or when my energy levels are feeling at a premium lol.... As of course the welfare of any fish is always at the fore front of my mind.

[jason]

Hi mate ive fished windermere for pike tonnes of times. Used to fish it nearly every weekend with my dad for about 2 years from the shore and from the boat. If you need any information on where to fish and tips etc dont hesitate to give me a pm.

Lure fishing is much more productive and fun on windermere in the summer. In general the bigger the lure the better. Jerk baits are great on windermere.

Remember if your gonna use bait you cant use live baits and you cant use dead coarse baits. Only dead sea baits.

Im a memeber of a club up their which holds 4 miles of bank on windermere and well worth joining.

Jason

[kermit]

if you fancy a REAL challenge then I have heard there are one or two carp knocking about in Windermere

Mike.

Originally Posted by kermit

if you fancy a REAL challenge then I have heard there are one or two carp knocking about in Windermere

Mike.

jesus I bet they are mahoosive, how deep is that place?? and how many acres is it, size in acres + depth = ridiculous biomass

Has anyone ever seen or know of anyone thats had a carp from windermere?

[ThunderCat]

Originally Posted by amateurblanker

jesus I bet they are mahoosive, how deep is that place?? and how many acres is it, size in acres + depth = ridiculous biomass

Has anyone ever seen or know of anyone thats had a carp from windermere?

I've seen a koi in windermere. albeit a small one and god knows if it survived with all the pikesters !

[jason]

ye ive seen carp a few times in windermere in summer. Especially in ambleside and near bowness. Where the duck are usually getting fed. Never seen any big uns though

[russ]

Originally Posted by ThunderCat

I'm off up Lake Windermere in the summer and i'm thinking about having a do for the pike, I've thought about bivvying up on the side of said lake and deadbaiting mackeral/smelts (these are supposed to be deadly on there) on a bolt rig with a wire trace of course, and alarms just like carping, anyone else tried this or do you reckon i'm insane
Opinions please ?

nowt wrong piking with carp gear i do it regular in the winter but i dont pike fish in the summer and one thing i wont do is night fish for pike as i think its a bit too risky for the fish if you are asleep in your bivvy .
that said if livebaiting is allowed on there give it a go , its a great buzz watching your pike float twitch befopre it races off !

[zanderman]

The main difference between pike fishing and carp fishing is your bite indication a pike can sit on a bait and begin to eat it with out moving off so watch out for single bleeps and even the slightest drop on your bobbin thats why it best to use a rear drop off. I wouldn't recommend night fishing for pike because of the above you may nod off and miss a bite . Kermit has given some very good advice there another good read is the PAC website Pike Anglers' Club of Great Britain
and here is the info on bite indication Drop Off Indicators
dont think I am on a soapbox but just trying to help you out

[Stig]

Carp gear is fine for the job but do not go undergunned as there are some monsters in there always use a wire trace and do not ignore lure fishing the roving approach is the most productive ive found in the recentish past. Also pike dont like resistance when taking a bait so i dont feel a bolt rig would be the best approach

Take heed of the advice given by Kermit and other members as they know their stuff and give sound advice

[Teddy Lad]

Yes ive been to windamere recently and so many anglers, i was sure theyd be pikers as its known as quiete a premier pike water, but i cudnt beleive my eyes when one of the bivvy dwellers came out and gave is swim a gud thrashng with the spod and a couple pouch full of boilies, be a real challenge finding fish in windamere!