Is That It??

What's with all this end of season woe? Have you not got a nice stillwater you can try? Am I to believe that you accept the Winter as your pike season and that's it?? Some are talking about other species, which is alright I suppose but why accept your pike fishing it over for another year. Others are talking about dusting the bike off. Fair enough but you could ride somewhere. A lure rod can pack down to 3 feet. Tape..crossbar..pedal..go. This is all very miserable stuff.
I've been out maybe 10 times this Winter. Any more minus temps and blanks and I'd have sold my gear years ago if Winter was all I had to look forward to.
Glacial lakes, quarries, reservoirs, ponds...all full of pike and there for the taking.
Who's going to fish all year and who's going to roll over and accept defeat and if so, why? You don't really accept all this Winter Pike malarkey do you?

Sorry but this is all very negative. There's more to pike than rivers you know.

....Boo-Hoo!....Andy....

really just the start of most of my pike fishing as well andy , never understood people who wont fish after winter, i only really fish for pike all year round apart from later in the season when i do a couple of days salmon fishing

yhe i fish for pike all year round to carnt beat summers pikeing

Andy, as the weather gets a bit warmer the rivers and lakes normally warm up we do suffer in the South from shallower waters than our cousins up in Scotland so we do have to watch out for Pike gassing up in the summer months, i fish for Pike all year round but we do have to use a different method than dead baiting, it is still a thing with a lot of English Pikers that it is a winter thing, you are lucky in the fact that scottish waters are deeper and colder, thats why i will be up there soon

your winters are a lot longer up north mate,this is my first year am going to chuck a few more lures about.newyear res ws to catch a 20 lb plus pike ,done that now,also try lure fishing more,done that an caught thatfish.that fo me means now lure fishing pays off an so going to try more.anyway got them frogs lures in sale,jeff sorted me some spinnerbaits out to so going to try them this spring/summer. keep you posted

i'm not saying i'm giving up on the pike completely, maybe i'll do the odd session here and there if the venue i'm fishing has pike in it (normally with livebaits if i catch some roach/perch on my float gear) but its generally a little routine i have........ i fish for pike from september right through to the point they spawn but from that point i like to leave them alone for the most part.
thing is although pike are my favourite fish i still absolutely adore float/feeder fishing, particularly if large tench and bream are on the cards so thats where i tend to concentrate my efforts once it gets warm enough for them to feed more often.
for the record i'm not one of those people who goes to easy commercial venues to catch a large bag of tame f1 carp, i like my fish more wild and challenging than that (no offence meant to commercials guys, i just dont like 'em).

"Our Winters are longer"...it's Scotland, not Siberia...lol...You have glacials, ressies, huge stillwaters and plenty of oxygenated waters all year round. Even Mick Brown can be found traipsing around in a pair of shorts in Summer.
I don't believe gassing up is a serious problem with worrying about. It happens very seldom and with care it shouldn't be a concern. Besides, Pike that roll over in warm weather are normally suffering from lactic acid build up and that's fairly rare also. Neither of the 2 are major causes for concern if you're prepared to stake them out. Luckily it's something I personally, have never had to do.
You'd need some fairly extreme conditions for either of these two problems to arise and without a boat or blazing sunshine, they aren't going to happen.
Are both of these conditions really enough to put you off??
I think you're being over-cautious. Obviously you don't fish a water with green-blue algae and steam rising off it but there are waters you can fish safely.
Check Neville's jaunts over to Spain for Pike and Comizo Barbel. They're trolling for both in seriously hot weather and they come out OK.

Ok, if you won't,I will....lol....


...Andy...

During summer i always take a lure rod with me in case i fancy a crack...had some good summer pike on lures last year. I'll be spending quite a bit of time hunting my pb chub this summer too, and i'm still to catch a yorkshire barbel, so i'll be having a go at that too at some point.

Andy Macfarlane wrote:

Sorry but this is all very negative. There's more to pike than rivers you know.

....Boo-Hoo!....Andy....

Andy if we all wanted the same thing in life it would be a very boring world. There is more to life than Pike fishing. I just can't see how having another interest is negative. Fishing year round maybe alright for you (and good luck to you)...........but it is not for everyone.

Since I came back to fishing a couple of seasons back I have concentrated solely on river Pike, so I cannot fish through the close season on the rivers.

By the time the end of summer has come round I am raring to with the fishing batteries fully recharged.

As for a pushbike , that is to much like hard work

Regards
Adam

i will be fishing all year. for pike, trout, anything that that will take my bait.
just had great news, i'm getting a berth on a jetty on a nice loch up north .
new fish finder fitted and ready to go....... this sunday.

adamscott wrote:

Andy if we all wanted the same thing in life it would be a very boring world. There is more to life than Pike fishing. I just can't see how having another interest is negative. Fishing year round maybe alright for you (and good luck to you)...........but it is not for everyone.

Regards
Adam

Adam, I posted this thread with my toungue planted firmly in my cheek. I know there's more to life than Pike. I was having a poke at all the stories of woe about the season coming to an end. Try not to take what I say too seriously.
That said, I still think some could broaden their horizons a little.


...Take Care....Andy Pandy....

I'm a year round fisherman and target pike in the warmer months.

I started targeting pike properly whilst on my summer holiday in 2007. Took a spinning rod to the local mere just down the road from the camp-site I was at. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

I cut back on the deadbaits during these months but can't resist spinning for perch and pike in the summer months.

As long as you take care with your catch (as you should all year round) I see no problem.

Lefty wrote:I'm a year round fisherman and target pike in the warmer months.

As long as you take care with your catch (as you should all year round) I see no problem.

well said Lefty