pike feeding temperatures

so then lads ive been on canal 2today with no joy part of it was frozen but was fishible where the lock is where the river joins it im hoping to get down on there 2moz but the temp is ment to be -6 tonite with snow am i better off cutting my losses and trying the river hopefully that wont be frozen or just staying in bed the thing is tho i really wanna pike with a snowy backdrop just to say to some people there u go im no fairweather fisherman ive got the gear and wont get cold so thats not a problem just concerned if the pike will go on the feed after frozen canal and snow

if it was me craig id get on the river or fish right at the mouth of the canal were it joins parts of the calder are fishing really well at the moment

cheers ryan think its gunna be river my minds set onit now i know a little spot thats been good to people for silvers so where theres baitfish there should be pike or atleast im hoping lol

Hi Lads

I'm new to this game and was wondering the same myself. Left home (Co Down) this morning at 6 and since the roads werent good I couldnt get to my preferred water so went somewhere else instead as I could use the main roads. I blanked, and was wondering if it was the venue or the temperature. About -2 or -3 overnight. The lake was not frozen though. 3 other guys were at the same place and they all blanked, not a single run between 10 rods from 7.30 am to 4.30 pm.

I'm pretty sure it was the venue as it was my second time there and blanked the last time too!

Also has anybody any ideas on the depth of water pike prefer at particular time of the year? I have been fishing a few different waters recently some about 20ft deep and others 120 ft deep, but not often enough to form an opinion (so many lakes so little time)

Marty Mac wrote:Hi Lads

I'm new to this game and was wondering the same myself. Left home (Co Down) this morning at 6 and since the roads werent good I couldnt get to my preferred water so went somewhere else instead as I could use the main roads. I blanked, and was wondering if it was the venue or the temperature. About -2 or -3 overnight. The lake was not frozen though. 3 other guys were at the same place and they all blanked, not a single run between 10 rods from 7.30 am to 4.30 pm.

I'm pretty sure it was the venue as it was my second time there and blanked the last time too!

Also has anybody any ideas on the depth of water pike prefer at particular time of the year? I have been fishing a few different waters recently some about 20ft deep and others 120 ft deep, but not often enough to form an opinion (so many lakes so little time)

hi marty and welcome to the forum

depth wise i'd have to say what ever venue you fish in this weather, find the deepest part possible and you'll find the fish, catching them is another thing!!

i went out on satuarday only to find my chosen lake frozen over, mind you it was -7..... so hit a strech of river i know gets fished alot by many anglers, needless to say when i got there it was busy, although not many fish caught at all, i did have the pleasure of meeting the otter there and looking forward to the 29th and meeting more of the gents on here

hi marty and welcome to the forum

depth wise i'd have to say what ever venue you fish in this weather, find the deepest part possible and you'll find the fish, catching them is another thing!!

i went out on satuarday only to find my chosen lake frozen over, mind you it was -7..... so hit a strech of river i know gets fished alot by many anglers, needless to say when i got there it was busy, although not many fish caught at all, i did have the pleasure of meeting the otter there and looking forward to the 29th and meeting more of the gents on here [/quote]

Thanks Dave

Is that because the water deeper down remains at the same temperature whereas the water closer to the surface is cooler and the pike dont like the water to be that cold?

It might seem obvious to a few of you good fellas, but as I said i'm relatively new to this game.

Ah well i.m off work now for two weeks so should get the chance to test out your theory. I'm looking to get out tomorrow if the the Mrs doesnt leave me a list of chores.

deadbait wrote:if it was me craig id get on the river or fish right at the mouth of the canal were it joins parts of the calder are fishing really well at the moment

u on the wakefield book Deadbait am thinking ov getting this book for next year aswell as bradford no1 and fishing further down the calder!

the wakey book is worth it mate

craigpix2000 wrote:the wakey book is worth it mate

yhe theres sum stillwaters aswell Craig on that book, that a wanna have a go at!

the still waters ive done mate
pm on way

patch wrote:

deadbait wrote:if it was me craig id get on the river or fish right at the mouth of the canal were it joins parts of the calder are fishing really well at the moment

u on the wakefield book Deadbait am thinking ov getting this book for next year aswell as bradford no1 and fishing further down the calder!

no mate ive fished nearly all there waters but never bought the book
its not my cup of tea newmiller is nice but the clubs attitude to pike is rubbish i like my free waters that nobody bothers with a good mate of mine is doing the wakefield book at the moment and not had much and hes had 20 yorkshire 20s and a yorkshire 30

craigpix2000 wrote:so then lads ive been on canal 2today with no joy part of it was frozen but was fishible where the lock is where the river joins it im hoping to get down on there 2moz but the temp is ment to be -6 tonite with snow am i better off cutting my losses and trying the river hopefully that wont be frozen or just staying in bed the thing is tho i really wanna pike with a snowy backdrop just to say to some people there u go im no fairweather fisherman ive got the gear and wont get cold so thats not a problem just concerned if the pike will go on the feed after frozen canal and snow

if it stays cold for a few weeks, the pike will come on the feed. when the snow starts to thaw and run into your lake, the water running into the lake is freezing cold. i'd stay away from tho's "inlets". so long as the water aint frozen over just try a deeper part of the lake away from the "inlets". try very oily and bloody baits thay should put a good scent out for you.

deadbait wrote:

patch wrote:

deadbait wrote:if it was me craig id get on the river or fish right at the mouth of the canal were it joins parts of the calder are fishing really well at the moment

u on the wakefield book Deadbait am thinking ov getting this book for next year aswell as bradford no1 and fishing further down the calder!

no mate ive fished nearly all there waters but never bought the book
its not my cup of tea newmiller is nice but the clubs attitude to pike is rubbish i like my free waters that nobody bothers with a good mate of mine is doing the wakefield book at the moment and not had much and hes had 20 yorkshire 20s and a yorkshire 30

yhe no what ya mean on clubs attitudes to pike! sum are worse that others mate
im fishing an old forgotten res at the moment! but the sheer size ov it makes it hard work to locate them! ya mates done really well to get that many

So what we saying here chaps?

Is it a case of if there is a quick drop in temperature they will not feed, but no matter how cold it is, if it stays consistent they will feed?

pike feeding is simple

if they are hungry they will eat, the second part of this is you have to be there to catch them

now im not saying they feed as well in periods of changable weather but if it isnt settled then they are not going to sit there hungry thinking ah well ill give it another week before i eat cos if i eat that roach in front of me in this weather it will go straight to my fins

noodle wrote:pike feeding is simple

if they are hungry they will eat, the second part of this is you have to be there to catch them

now im not saying they feed as well in periods of changable weather but if it isnt settled then they are not going to sit there hungry thinking ah well ill give it another week before i eat cos if i eat that roach in front of me in this weather it will go straight to my fins

nightwatchman wrote:So what we saying here chaps?

Is it a case of if there is a quick drop in temperature they will not feed, but no matter how cold it is, if it stays consistent they will feed?

in my 15 years experience its nearly always happened that way mate, they always seem less enthusiastic after a major temperature drop but as long as things stay stable after the drop then they do come back onto the feed within a week or so.... they do still slow down in colder conditions though.

My experience (years not given) has shown that barometric pressure, and the variation thereof, has always outweighed the influence on the feeding habits of fish over water temperature................... I must however agree that temp does have a significant effect and acknowledge that I have never experienced temperatures like this???

It was -7 last night but its slightly warmer today.
Hoping to get out as soon as I can find a venue that hasn't frozen over!

nightwatchman wrote:It was -7 last night but its slightly warmer today.
Hoping to get out as soon as I can find a venue that hasn't frozen over!

You and me both mate.................the Pike bug has really bitten me!!!

duane wrote:

nightwatchman wrote:It was -7 last night but its slightly warmer today.
Hoping to get out as soon as I can find a venue that hasn't frozen over!

You and me both mate.................the Pike bug has really bitten me!!!

only -7 its not that cold

duane wrote:My experience (years not given) has shown that barometric pressure, and the variation thereof, has always outweighed the influence on the feeding habits of fish over water temperature................... I must however agree that temp does have a significant effect and acknowledge that I have never experienced temperatures like this???

hmm not too sure on the effect of air pressure as i've been less inclined to take notes of it but i might do in the coming months to see if it does adversely affect the fish

robh107 wrote:

duane wrote:My experience (years not given) has shown that barometric pressure, and the variation thereof, has always outweighed the influence on the feeding habits of fish over water temperature................... I must however agree that temp does have a significant effect and acknowledge that I have never experienced temperatures like this???

hmm not too sure on the effect of air pressure as i've been less inclined to take notes of it but i might do in the coming months to see if it does adversely affect the fish

Just google it mate, it is well enough documented..............any change in atmospheric pressure is amplified under the water pressure at a given depth (obviously deeper the water the greater the water pressure)..............blah-blah-blah...........

well here goes my thoughts and ill keep it simple

water temp rarely (some exceptions exist) rarely drop below 4 deg c
dissolved O2 levels are at there highest at 4degc
pike as with all fish are cold blooded so there body core temps will be around the water temp (poss a fraction of a deg higher due to metabolic processes but certainly not as high as mammalian temps to give an example
if they can take in more O2 then even though the metabolism slows down they can metabolise there food
ok they are facts no geting away from it, well maybe not the last one thats a thought of mine

oh barometric pressure has a large influence on the amount of O2 that can be dissolved into a given volume of water, so if we work on the premise that O2 levels may be the trigger influenced by barometric pressure (more so for predators ill get to this in a bit) in he main then high pressure sould see an increased level of activity, ergo lower presure will see the feeding tail off

about predators, they need to feed up earlier than other species as they breed earlier, so could it be possible that rather than water temp its the availability of dissolved O2 that may be the main reason we read patterns into stable periods in the weather.
ie long periods of stable temps in winter see the O2 levels (bearing in mind the water temp will be near the optimum for accepting disolved O2 levels reach a high level allowing the pike to take advantage of said oxygen to boost the rate at which they can metabolise there food?

any comments?

EXACTLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!