My pike handling courses have started and the lads have caught quite a few pike and hopefully have learned to unhook and return them without harm. Mother Nature is full of contradictions - pike are probably our most voracious freshwater predator, but also seem to be the most fragile of fish and susceptible to bad handling to a fatal degree. I have seen, so often, in my many years of angling a new pike venue discovered which produces good fishing for a couple of years before the pike disappear. They’re dead, that’s where they’ve gone, not all dead fish float on the surface. They’ve been killed by bad handling, often caused by fear and lack of knowledge, and by deep hooking!
Have you ever wondered why so many managed fisheries and angling clubs do not allow pike fishing until September? I have heard it is because pike take a long time to get over spawning and don’t fight very well. This is rubbish, summer pike fight much harder than they do in winter although they do tend to be leaner and weigh less in summer. No, the reason pike fishing is banned in the summer is to stop inexperienced anglers catching them and damaging the pike stock with bad handling.
The aim of my Pike Handling Courses is to teach students young and old how to handle pike on the bank without harm to the angler or the pike, how to catch pike without hooking them in the stomach and what to do if this happens. I show them the tackle to use, techniques of bait presentation, bite indication and when to strike. They also learn to use the proper tools to remove the hooks, on an unhooking mat and how to hold the fish in a way that will not damage the fish. All my students have gone home with all their fingers.
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