Lighter pike gear?

Just curious how light you'd go in terms rods? I've got several Savage Parabellum CC 7-23g 9ft 2" lure rods that I absolutely adore. For (our smaller) Scottish carp they are perfect. I've tested them at 1lb 2oz test curve and I'm entirely certain that they'll handle anything in my local commercial (up to 20lb). Now given that summer carp fight a lot harder than winter pike, is there any reason beyond casting large baits out (which I don't do, as I always fish smaller hookbaits) not to use them for pike? Decent quality 40lb braid has the same diameter as the 6lb Maxima mainline I use in summer, and I'd be using them with the same 4000 size Shimano baitrunners.

I love pike fishing, but the fight can sometimes be disappointing as we so hopelessly outgun the fish we're targeting. I've got 5 pike rods (4 savage gear MPP pros 8-9ft and a 2.5lb TC 10ft carp rod) but given that there are no significant weed beds or snags on the water, I'm tempted to leave them at home. I should say that I would still be using 40lb braid mainline, so no chance of snappages.

I do a lot of lure fishing and I,ve got a lighter parabellum the 7 ft 0.5-7gramm rod and I,ve managed to land pike to 12 pound and wild brownies of 5 pound on it , but it being a soft action I never over-load it for casting , I use it for small soft plastics mostly

mal wynne wrote:I do a lot of lure fishing and I,ve got a lighter parabellum the 7 ft 0.5-7gramm rod and I,ve managed to land pike to 12 pound and wild brownies of 5 pound on it , but it being a soft action I never over-load it for casting , I use it for small soft plastics mostly

0-7g really is very light so that gives me a lot of confidence. Part of the pleasure for me with any form of fishing is the fight. I don't like to be able just to muscle a fish in, and whilst the braid would give me the security to know that I won't be leaving a trace in the mouth of the fish, the light rod would give me a lot more feel whilst playing the fish

J Robinson wrote:

mal wynne wrote:I do a lot of lure fishing and I,ve got a lighter parabellum the 7 ft 0.5-7gramm rod and I,ve managed to land pike to 12 pound and wild brownies of 5 pound on it , but it being a soft action I never over-load it for casting , I use it for small soft plastics mostly

0-7g really is very light so that gives me a lot of confidence. Part of the pleasure for me with any form of fishing is the fight. I don't like to be able just to muscle a fish in, and whilst the braid would give me the security to know that I won't be leaving a trace in the mouth of the fish, the light rod would give me a lot more feel whilst playing the fish

all depends on your venue really  is there a hidden snag your not aware of just out in front of you , don't underestimate  the power of a big pike  say 30lb , they will dictate the fight as I have found out when I had the thirty and nearly lost it to the anchor rope , could not do anything with the fish for the first 5 minutes and this was on a 2 half test 10ft carp rod  through action luckily it went back around the rope , but could not stop the initial burst of power, my point is yes its nice to catch on light gear , but it will let you down when that big beast turns up out of the blue and you will be under gunned, and probably lose that fish of a life time.   wish I had a photo of my rod hoop over with 80lb briad on in 25ft water.......scary pal over the years I have witnessed guys who have hooked really big pike and lost them its make me cry inside
using light lines /rods no idea really...but all this would result in a very big dead pike you never no really what might turn up.....

stubbo wrote:

J Robinson wrote:

mal wynne wrote:I do a lot of lure fishing and I,ve got a lighter parabellum the 7 ft 0.5-7gramm rod and I,ve managed to land pike to 12 pound and wild brownies of 5 pound on it , but it being a soft action I never over-load it for casting , I use it for small soft plastics mostly

0-7g really is very light so that gives me a lot of confidence. Part of the pleasure for me with any form of fishing is the fight. I don't like to be able just to muscle a fish in, and whilst the braid would give me the security to know that I won't be leaving a trace in the mouth of the fish, the light rod would give me a lot more feel whilst playing the fish

all depends on your venue really  is there a hidden snag your not aware of just out in front of you , don't underestimate  the power of a big pike  say 30lb , they will dictate the fight as I have found out when I had the thirty and nearly lost it to the anchor rope , could not do anything with the fish for the first 5 minutes and this was on a 2 half test 10ft carp rod  through action luckily it went back around the rope , but could not stop the initial burst of power, my point is yes its nice to catch on light gear , but it will let you down when that big beast turns up out of the blue and you will be under gunned, and probably lose that fish of a life time.   wish I had a photo of my rod hoop over with 80lb briad on in 25ft water.......scary pal over the years I have witnessed guys who have hooked really big pike and lost them  its make me cry inside
using light lines /rods  no idea really...but all this would result in a very big dead pike you never no really what might turn up.....

dead right stubbo, and to add to that it's unfair to the pike to wear them down enjoying the fight as they are not built for stamina and over exertion is very bad for them. in some cases it can lead to them swimming away only to appear belly up out in the water and out of reach. stick to big guns if you value the pike

I would,nt use the ultra lite rod on waters where there is a chance of bigger pike , then I use 100 gram baitcasting gear , the 12 I had on the lite rod was a suprise when chub fishing on a local river,, so I do agree it is best to be equipped with suitable gear

The only water I'd really consider using the lighter rods on is the local commercial, where the pike run to 24lb only (though 20lb was the largest caught last season) and there are no known serious snags. Just open water really. Beyond that, it would be the 8 and 9ft heavy lure rods which have never let me down in the past. Dragging upper doubles out of thick weed beds was no problem.

J Robinson wrote:The only water I'd really consider using the lighter rods on is the local commercial, where the pike run to 24lb only (though 20lb was the largest caught last season) and there are no known serious snags. Just open water really. Beyond that, it would be the 8 and 9ft heavy lure rods which have never let me down in the past. Dragging upper doubles out of thick weed beds was no problem.

just be aware you need a good rod with backbone to bully a pike when the conditions demand , ie snags,, thick weed beds, over hanging trees which normally have out growing roots that protrude into the swim either side of the swim , as I said this really only applies to waters where there are known to contain big pike ..20 plus fish too , was not having ago but having seen guys lose fish on so called light tackle , there's no point in it if you cant get the fish in quickly.... watch the yanks fish for pike heavy rods, heavy braid , equal's pike in the net double quick , then back in and away less trauma is the way to go me thinks......

stubbo wrote:

J Robinson wrote:The only water I'd really consider using the lighter rods on is the local commercial, where the pike run to 24lb only (though 20lb was the largest caught last season) and there are no known serious snags. Just open water really. Beyond that, it would be the 8 and 9ft heavy lure rods which have never let me down in the past. Dragging upper doubles out of thick weed beds was no problem.

just be aware you need a good rod with backbone to bully a pike when the conditions demand , ie snags,,  thick weed beds, over hanging trees which normally have out growing roots that protrude into the swim either side of the swim , as I said this really only applies to waters where there are known to contain  big pike ..20 plus fish too , was not having ago but having seen guys lose fish on so called light tackle , there's no point in it if you cant get the fish in quickly.... watch the yanks fish for pike  heavy rods, heavy braid , equal's  pike in the net double quick , then back in and away  less trauma is the way to go  me thinks......

You make a fair point. I'll limit my lighter pike gear efforts to the ponds with nothing over about 8lb.

I tested the TC of the Savage Gear lure rods I have today. Two of the 8 footers are about 2.4lb and the other one (all MPP pros, but the black rods are heavier) is about 3lb or so. I'm out tomorrow for pike on a water with an unknown size of fish, so I'll see how we get on.