Where And When To Catch Pike

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Fishing Academy

Although it is generally accepted that the pike is ubiquitous and that it can be found in any part of the reservoir, nevertheless, it prefers to stay at a certain time, in certain places. Most often, she chooses a small area with a calm current or a bay with a rocky bottom, overgrown with reeds and sedge along the banks, and from there makes throws at the victim. Sometimes the predator stands under the rift, where small fish usually gathers.

I have witnessed pike fishing in similar places. Everything was surprisingly simple. The predator was located where the jets from the roll merged into one stream. The fish carried away by the water ended up here, and the toothy hunter could only periodically open her mouth and swallow them. As soon as one pike was satiated and left the “fish spot”, another immediately took over on “combat duty”. Moreover, it is always the same size.

In addition to grassy shelters, pikes like to ambush near flooded trees, large stones, under bushes hanging over the water, at the exits from pits.

But it is not enough to determine the places of favorite pike sites, you need to know what serves as their main food in a particular reservoir. If, for example, in the lake the main food of a predator is roach, and there are no ruffs at all, then it is hardly necessary to offer her a ruff. Such a bait will be unusual for her and will hardly give the desired result.

A pike hunter should take into account such an important circumstance. If in some part of the reservoir in a short period of time you managed to catch even two or three fish, it would be nice to go there again. Because it is established: when a convenient place for an ambush becomes available, another predator quickly takes it. In a word, a holy place is never empty.

I found confirmation of this in the journal "Science and Life", where a naturalist who studied the way of life of pikes in the lake concluded: "… When some pikes leave the feeding camp, others appear instead, after these - the third, then the first comes again. That is, the whole cycle is repeated from the beginning.

Local residents, knowing the constant ambushes of pikes in some body of water (especially around trees that have fallen into the water), use this very successfully. To do this, almost at any time of the day, in any weather, they are sent there and lowered in a certain place, even the most primitive tackle, baited with live bait. And almost always the bite of the pike follows immediately."

It would also be nice to pay attention to such a moment: if in summer the pike prefers to actively hunt (and therefore take bait) mainly in the mornings and evenings, then in the fall, due to the reduction in the length of daylight hours, it is forced to hunt during the day. And if in the summer pike can most often be found from the leeward side, then in the fall, on the contrary, it is more likely to be caught in places completely protected from the wind.

And one more thing: when going to catch a pike, one should not forget about the frequency of its biting. Usually, increased pike eating begins in a week and a half after spawning. This is a period of recuperation - post-spawning zhor. Here the predator is greedy and voracious, like no other fish in our reservoirs. She grabs everything that moves; its prey is not only small fish, but also fish weighing more than half the weight of a pike.

LP Sabaneev writes about this: “… During the so-called zhora, when it is hungrier than anything, the pike rushes at large birds, for example, geese, which, of course, cannot cope with, and at fish of the same height as it. (Vavilov) tells how she just grabbed the goose by the leg and did not open its mouth even when the latter pulled it ashore. I personally observed how they caught large and small waders. Sometimes it was only necessary for the sandpiper to move away from the shore, chest-deep into the water, as the predator grabbed him by the legs, and the unfortunate weevil did not have time to squeak plaintively and spread its wings, as the pike dragged him deep into the depths. Swimming waders, especially phalaropes, swallowed whole, almost without any alarm."

This is what pike zhor is in practice.

But it lasts about 10-12 days. In summer, the zhor is noticeably weaker, and on hot and quiet sunny days it almost completely freezes. Although one must always remember: there are no rules without exception. With the onset of cold weather, the autumn zhor begins, which practically does not depend on the weather and continues until freezing. The pike is very active on the first ice. Then, during the deaf winter period (December, January, part of February), the biting weakens and resumes only at the end of winter, when the predator has a short pre-spawning meal.

Most authors on the fishing business claim that even during the most active zhora, pikes never eat burbots and tench. This is also evidenced by our fishing authority LP Sabaneev: “… But live fish do not equally enjoy the disposition of our freshwater shark, but sometimes, as well as with abundant food, they are very picky in food. So, for example, the pike does not like tench, burbot, and in some places does not take on crucians, perches, ruffs”.

It is quite possible that at the time of L. P. Sabaneev (he lived in the 19th century), pikes were so picky, but I, a lover of fishing with mugs and gnats (and not without success!), Must admit: ruffs and okushka are excellent bait for toothy hunters. And the pike takes on small crucians flawlessly. As for tench and burbot, I can’t say anything concrete, because I myself have never caught pikes on them. And I haven't heard anything about it from other fishermen.

Now, when, will count, we know something about the life of a pike and about where and when to catch it, it's time to tell how and what to catch it. But more on that in the next issue …