Wise Guys

Peter Waller

Not so much guys but big, hefty ‘gals’. The fish that dreams are made of! Do pike wise up to lures? My feelings are, for what they are worth, and no, I am not a member of the hierarchy, is that they do wise up to being caught, whether on a lure or with a natural bait. I would go so far as to suggest, that on a pressured water, they become wary of feeding. With the popularity of summer piking this means that they don’t pack on weight as they should. You might be right if you read into this that I am not in favour of unilaterally abandoning the close season. Pike need to be able to feed without the threat of capture as part of their recovery after breeding, of that I’m certain.

Pike are the proven survivors; it’s not possible that esox has any great form of super intelligence that allows them to ‘wise up’, but probably, an effective and highly developed, inbuilt survival instinct. It’s only theoretical, but I am convinced, by circumstantial evidence, that the pike is cannier than most folk give it credit for. Also that the older fish become increasingly well aware of what’s on their end of the line and, more importantly, what’s on the other, namely, you and me.

My first inkling of this super ability is based on a fellow angler’s decreasing success. The gentleman concerned had considered that he had had my local water pretty much to himself during the summer. Not so, our work patterns had ensured that we rarely, if ever, met whilst piking. The probable reality was that we were both perfectly content with our own success. My employment was to change, allowing me far greater opportunity for angling at more conventional times. The result appeared to be that my presence was seen as the reason for decreasing sport by the other angler. It was to such an extent that I was openly abused, ‘twat’ being one of the more polite adjectives, the other being a miss spelt reference to his mother’s sister. Work that one out, clever dicks. I must admit to some doubt at the time. Was there a post capture mortality that was the result of my technique? It had never appeared that way in the past, so why now? There was no doubt that, eventually, my own results had also peaked, but why? The first common denominator was that I had taken to using the same dinghy for all my angling, as did my opposite number. For no particular reason, at that time, I changed the colour of my boat, results picked up sufficiently for me to take notice. A few months of good sport followed prior to another dip in success. My anchor, at that time, was small, a chrome, fisherman style job. I was to change it for a more effective, dull grey, Bruce model. Probably a coincidence but I was, once again, aware of an increase in sport. To such an extent that now my practice is to alternate mooring styles when regularly fishing the same general area.

My opposite number continues to roar up to his proposed swim, powered by the same noisy outboard. His style of approach never varying, his use of mud weights and chains, dragged over the side of his boat, the noisy preparation being his signature that the fish, I assume, grew wary of. It would be easy to blame his raucous behaviour for a decline in sport, but it hadn’t, apparently, affected his results in the past. Add to that that he always moored in the same spot, which was always approached by the same, familiar route, all totally predictable. Far fetched? I had fished to pattern and my results plummeted. When the pattern was broken then the fishing reverted back to success. Perhaps it’s just a coincidence, but maybe, just maybe, something worth accepting?

Many experienced anglers have reached the reasonable conclusion that it is unlikely to have continued repeat captures with the same lure. To a large extent I have to agree but as with all things, there are always exceptions. Such as the same pike being caught on the same lure three times in less than twenty minutes. The gullible fish came straight to the hand, knackered, for its third capture. Same lure but the angle of attack, I was fishing into a small bay, was varied as the boat drifted to a drogue. Not a big fish, it hadn’t acquired the wiliness of age. But one hot spot has repeatedly given me good results over very many years. My Landa Pikko doing the business, again and again. One very big fish was caught twice within a week. There is no particular significance with the matter of the time span, simply that giving a hot spot a break is of mutual benefit. Some might consider me arrogant to suggest it, but probably most of the bigger fish in my immediate area have been caught and recaught by me over the years. This particular fish hit the same spoon, from the same angler and with all else being equal, except for the matter of approach and the angle of attack. Similar has happened to often to be just chance. But then, of course, big pike are female!

Whilst some fish carry on accepting the same old lure, week in and week out, the majority do ‘wise up’. That said, whilst big pike still hit lures, the rate of hook ups then clearly decreases. Slack line bites become a regular feature. It’s a big, canny old fish that takes a lure and the only inkling of a take is a weightless line. It’s unnerving as you wind down for a strike. It’s incredibly frustrating when the lure is ejected without a hint of contact, all that’s seen is the swirl of a large tail, and is if to rub salt into the wound, the old girl passes within feet of the boat, a big, elusive shadow. Sod you mate, I’m not falling for that one again. Even a sensitively fished soft bodied shad gets blown out, the tail being pushed forward so it’s hooked up on a flank hook.

Lure fishing is active; there is constant contact with the tackle. Whilst dead baiting this feel factor is greatly reduced. If the human hand cannot detect a take then what hope is there with a float or alarm? It is a pretty convincing theory that pike can be equally wary of natural baits. When the suspended bait is hooked in its dorsal area then, unless Jack Pike takes from below, the trace will be encountered during the take. In reality, does it happen? It must, but how often we shall never know. A wary pike is an incredibly light jawed beast when its survival is literally on the line. The Thurne Forties, one to Nev Fickling and two to Derrick Amies, what happened to them? One theory is that these very large fish were unable to support their internal organs whilst out of the water and thus post capture mortality was a probability. Another reasonable theory is that only a very artful fish makes the magical forty, capture being more down to their error than the undoubted skill of the captor. Subsequent recapture then being even less likely, following the ordeal. Not a case of the fish remembering its past captures, more a case of instinct being honed by the experiences. I would guess that both theories are likely. Information from a very reliable source has convinced be that these forties possibly survived, not to be caught on rod and line but in eel sets. There is no way of knowing if we are talking about the same fish but just how many super pike are likely to have existed on the Thurne? As for their reported, and witnessed weights? I’m not going to motivate the doubting Thomas’s amongst you. Just let it be said that they had continued to grow. Our James certainly thinks that the weights were unlikely!

So, what’s the answer? There are several Broadland anglers who are developing ‘finesse’ piking, with natural baits, with apparently great success. They are keeping their heads well down but hints of success have leaked out. ‘Finesse’, but with lures, is becoming a highly refined tactic for Esox. In all probably this will emerge as the successful fad of the next few years. Staying ahead of the pikes’ inbuilt survival mechanism is calling for changes in technique and attitude that the majority appear content to ignore, their success being more down to chance than any great skill. My feeling, for what it’s worth, is that the Jerk Bait will reign supreme on very lightly fished waters for a while yet. Whilst on the pressured fisheries, micro finesse techniques, both with lure and deadbait, will emerge as the hero, only time will tell!