Non Catfish Photos

this is chris's rifst pike with me in the background. those are some really impressive pics, Karl.

Cheers mate, some of them are pb's some arent. The perch and the bottom pike are. All the barbel are caught on the feeder approach I described to you. The one below the perch is taken in january fishing maggot, had three more that day. The bottom pike was on the drifter float, a killer method. Love the photo mate, get them started young!

In fact I am telling you a fib there, the other pike is my pb river pike at 18lb 6. That took as I was landing a 15lber. They both looked great laid in the net. The other pike is just over 25lb. Proper fat bastard that one!!!!

Talking of fat bastards Karl check this beast out! first outting for pike this year 31lb on a full mackrel

Thats a cracking pike Welsmen where did you take that from?.

that's one seriosly fat b-stard, welsmen. i'm afraid that his is bigger then yours on this occasion, Karl.

What can I say I have had my ass kicked! That is a great pike, Its one thing that has eluded me, caught all the targets I have set myself over the years, sea trout, big chub and barbel, multiple 2lb roach and so on but a northern 30lb pike is driving me mad! Gonna get my river 20 this winter too if I have to scuba down and grab the damn thing. I know where 2 live and they are doing my head in!!!!!!!

Thanks Karl it was the best days piking i have ever had. After that fish i had two other twenties. The lake i had them from catman was in deepest darkest East Yorkshire on a syndicate lake called Springfields, its a fifteen acre lake but unfortunately after last years floods two of the largest pike died.

After that fish i had two other twenties.

-welsmen

rub it in why don't you? some of us are yet to catch a 20...

sorry to hear about the pike deaths, m8.

If the 2 largest died what size were they bloody hell! and dont worry about the twenty nick it took me 5 years to catch my first. Best thing to do is find a water that has pike, best one I found was a carp syndicate that allowed day ticket piking over the winter, then just knock the shit out of it. If you are really wanting your first twenty then dont venue hop, find one that doesnt get too much attention and nail it every day you can. One will come once you find what the pike want and where they want it. Syndicate lakes are great for big pike as they dont get too much hammer.

i've got 4 venues in mind. one is a canal drain connected to a large system of backwaters and weirs, but there is basically no current, the clarity is okay and about 1000000000000000 roach shoal up under one perticular bridge. it gets a little pressured and it's full of jacks, you struggle to blank sometimes. that's where i'm gonna night fish as i know the place on the streach, about 60 yards from where the roach shoal, where the big girls lay. a mate of mine (serios pike fanatic) had 2 20's out of this perticular place in 2 seasons and i've seen one pike that looks twice the size of my 16lb PB surfacing and taking every live fish in the area except my livebait then sit under my feet, teasing me the b******.

the other 3 are lakes, one is a rock hard carp water that holds 1 25, but other then that i don't know.

then there's the bream lake i caught my PB out of, it's 7 acres and i have to PVA bag deads covered in groundbait to get to the hotspots, otherwise they fall off on the 80m cast and baitboats are banned even if i could afford one!

also there,s the catfish lake and there are about 30 pike in there as it was electrofished 4 seasons ago. i've had a 13 out of there on the 1 and only occasion i fished it last season but the lake closed for the closed season before i had chance to go back.

in your opinnion, which one do you think is the best pike water??? i've had 14lb + pike out of all of them so i cant decide which one to hammer.

I would go for the cat lake, small head of pike and its a venue you already know. When does it shut? There is every chance there is a big girl in there. Sounds to me like this will be the venue with the least pressure.

sounds good m8. it shuts april 1st, it's a little bit shorter then the traditional closed season but not much difference. the only trouble with that lake is i can only fish daytime.

To be honest mate I have found that pike are like most fish and that my best times have been dawn and dusk when the prey fish are active, have had a few at night but dawn and dusk have always been best for me.

i'm gonna try all of the venues i mentioned, after all i'm gonna spend all summer trying to catch the biggest fish possible, it's just nice to get some runs in the colder weather, and if a 20 comes along i will be more then happy!

wow thats one hell of a pike, cant beat that but i will post some pics up so people can put a face to my screen name

just a couple of my pbs... not massive by anyones standards but i fish waters where u are fishing for maybe 2/3 twenties so these are some of the biggest in the lakes

may have posted that twice... oops