PIKE FISHING AT NIGHT

does anyone else fish for pike at night done a fair bit this season, and have found that i have had more fish at night than i have in day light. not just into dark either i mean , from 10.00 till 4.00 infact anytime. this weekends fish came at 9.30pm. not had any problems either, as long as you have a good head torch and sort everything out before dark it no different than day fishing, oh apart from needing a nice warm sleeping bag

Ive only ever been night fishing for pike once and i thought never again.

Reason.........................plagued by Eels all night long. Buzzer just bleeping all the time and baits with heads missing on retrieval.

I do believe that the Eel population has gone down considerably over the years, so it might be alright i guess.

After reading your post MBA, i might re think and give it a go sometime.

yes ive had problems with eels, but ive found that by popping the baits up the eels tend to leave them alone. also found that they dont seam to like smelt very much, never had an eel take one.

I will give it a go again but this time pop up the baits as you say mate.

I,m into that method at the mo, still havnt caught on it yet, but i,m a trier !!

is the water very clear where you have fished gaz or coloured a bit.

A few say they catch at night but thought pike hunted by sight so if water was clear and moon out for a bit of light ( NOT THE PHASE OF THE BLOODY MOON ) that could give a good nights fishing ? ( ho and the peg gaz ) lol

I'm sure on a nice bright moonlit night in clear or shallow water conditions the pike will hunt if hungry and the baitfish are nicely sillouetted(sp?) against the sky.

Only done it a couple of times myself - once on an overcast night in a muddied up carp pond (got bothered by eels but no pike) and second time on a gin clear pit when the moon was very bright an i caught 2 in the early hours...

Like i say, only twice trying but i think theres something in the theory.

fished 3 different venues and had success on all. one is weedy (even now) and 5 ft deep and clear. another is very coloured and depth down to 10ft. the other is a local canal which is clear at the moment.
one other thing though. 2 of the waters im fishing do get a lot of hammer for the pike, may be like carp that they have sussed out that its not safe to eat during day light, and have therefore taken to feeding at night just a thought. the smaller jack pike have not had time to learn this yet and thats why you still get smaller pike during the day.

its not for me as i sleep far too heavily, however we did play with lures at night

and


black topwaters scored well for my mate over 60 feet of flat calm gin clear water


i blanked, well snoozed mostly until the sun came out

and still blanked

maybe a night pike fishin mad ? there is aplace near you i would not like to fish alone in the day never mind at night lol ? me been shy and retiring

I have fished for pike alot at night Gary, I would go as far as saying that I prefer it! My biggest came in total darkness , but if I am honest I tend to fish at night mainly to make sure I get "" The witching hours"" in. The period just before dark and the first couple of hours of darkness, likewise just before light in the morning. I think it puts extra fish on the bank... However , it wasn't very likeable last Thursday night when the gale force winds snapped 2 of my poles and blew my bivvy down. Not to mention the sleet.... But luckily my mate had enough room in his bivvy for a little un and I got in there. 24 hour session - 15 hours of darkness- no fish-no runs- but I will be back again as soon as poss, I just love it

have tried the night fishing a few times for pike but got pestered by eels even taking the large smelt, but the best one was waking in the early hours by the alarms and finding i had struck into a cormorant taking my roach livebait

Never found it to be that productive,I fish a lot of long sessions and my MO is to fish till I get tired,reel the baits in get my head down and put them back out as soon as I wake.