The predator pike

Many anglers recommend using chopped worms as feed when fishing with lobs, but in my experience this can attract smaller perch who will scoff the lot in no time.

Keith Arthur
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This week I've noticed that most of the trees have dumped most of their leaves and the rest won't be far behind. As I write, the sun has just burned off the first lingering autumnal fog. The barometer reading is way up there - hence fog and sun - and for me that spells out one thing: Predators.

Pike, perch and zander always seem a better quarry in the cooler times and the 'season' has kicked off with some super perch. The River Thames in its lower reaches has already produced a few four-pound-plus fish, and I am old enough to remember when a 3lber was a very big fish.

As the new season fry have reached a size where a couple make a decent meal for a big perch, my first choice of bait would be a live bleak or gudgeon -if I could catch one - failing that a small spinnerbait. If the water is coloured then lobworms are still the bait, either legered using as small a weight as possible. Perch, like all predators, are very susceptible to resistance or floatfished closer in.

Many anglers recommend using chopped worms as feed when fishing with lobs, but in my experience this can attract smaller perch who will scoff the lot in no time. I prefer to feed red maggots, which fulfil one of two requirements: they will attract small fish which in turn attract perch, or the perch themselves love them. They actually make a pretty good hookbait too, but big perch are best fished for with a bigger hook and there is a limit to what hook can be used with maggots.

Perch can also be suckers for jig fishing. Jigs are great fun to fish with and loads of water can be covered. A yellow jig head with a red rubber bait on the hook, worked in a flicking motion, can produce hits on days when 'normal' baits simply don't work.

Pike will be feeding in earnest on fry as the latter gather in their winter quarters, usually where there is plenty of cover and between one and 1.5 metres of water. The pike won't be in that shallow water with them though, but venture in when their bellies call. I like to fish for pike in 'drop-offs', where the depth changes dramatically, as they tend to hang at the bottom of ledges.

Floating plug

My favourite method for pike is to use a floating plug, or crankbait as they are known in the USA. I use a small multiplier reel loaded with 50lb b/s braid - sounds ridiculously heavy, but 50lb 'fusion' braid is no thicker than 8lb mono.

I am especially looking forward to using the new Berkley Whiplash Crystal which appears white on the spool but is virtually clear in water. Always use a wire trace and rigid single strand is best.

Using a floating plug is great fun. They don't actually 'fish' on the surface but float when cast out and dive on the retrieve. I cast and leave the plug floating for ten seconds or so, then a few VERY quick winds will make the plug dive and wobble violently.

I then stop winding and let the plug start to float up again but start winding before it can reach the surface. This sort of movement can be used to mimic a distressed small fish and any match angler will tell you that pike attack hooked fish in preference to 'free swimmers'. It is this you should try and imitate.

Sinking plugs are best used a trolling lures behind a boat - remember trolling is banned on most, if not all, navigable rivers but on big lakes and reservoirs this can be a devastating method. I find trolling to be the most boring and exciting fishing at one and the same time. The wait is the boring bit, the strike, usually when least expected, the most exciting.

Legering deadbaits is a very popular style too and many huge pike are caught like this every year. It's not my personal cup of tea as I prefer the 'hunting the hunter' ideology. For zander, however, deadbaits can be the very best method. Legering seems to be best but remember the 'no resistance' rule. Specialised rigs can be bought that eliminate virtually all resistance on the line, drop-off bobbins set as light as practical are the best and strike early rather than late.

Jigs, as for perch, are also very popular for zander fishing on rivers where 'zeds' seem to have successfully established themselves. I wouldn't suggest trying for them with the method that has thrown up the largest zander of the season; legering halibut pellets for barbel on the Severn, although one angler has been using a method feeder wrapped in cloud groundbait to attract 'prey' fish which in turn attract zander or other predators, with a deadbait close by on the hook.

Essential tools

One thing that must be borne in mind is that all predatory species are delicate. Essential tools are a good pair of long, locking forceps and long-nosed pliers for removing hooks, a wet unhooking mat and for the toothy critters, a protective glove, either leather or a 'filletting' glove which is reinforced with chain mail.

If you can't see the hook or hooks, try pulling gently but forcefully on the wire trace for a couple of seconds. Usually the stomach will appear inside out (sounds gory, but it's better than not trying it) and the hooks can be removed by using forceps. Gently return the stomach once the operation is successfully accomplished. If the hooks don't appear, cut the trace inside the mouth. The fishes' stomach acids are powerful enough to rot the hooks quickly, reason enough to never use stainless hooks.

Of course in an ideal world, every fish will be hooked in the 'scissors' at the corner of the jaw and easily slipped out using forceps; to help achieve this it is a great idea to flatten or snip off the barbs of the trebles on lures and use 'semi-barbless' trebles when bait fishing. These have one tine barbed to hold on to the bait and the two intended to go into the target fish are barbless for easy removal.

And last of all, mind your fingers! Pike and zander both have a full set of razor-sharp gnashers and perch, as well as their spiny dorsal fin, have extremely sharp points, almost blades, on their gill covers.

Tight lines

Keith Arthur has been away in Spain this week and hasn't managed to answer your querstions but he will be back with some more answers next week.

Email Keith Arthur