Converting follows !

[Flipflopjoe]

So I know there’s no hard and fast rules, but,
What’s are your various tactics on converting follows into takes ???
I had several GOOD fish follow my lure this afternoon, one would’ve easily been my lure PB if it had took it.
I tried the lure again, changed lures (swim, crank, jerk, spinners, spoons), slowed and sped up retrieves, the only thing I never tried was resting the swim as I ran out of time !
Is there anything else people do to entice the take ???

[John Milford]

If you're getting repeat follows Joe, stopping the lure for a second - and then cranking as fast as you can - can sometimes induce a reaction take.

Still a longshot, but always worth a try.

[stubbojo]

if no takes , stick a deadbait on and sink and draw does work , give them something different .....

[Flipflopjoe]

If you're getting repeat follows Joe, stopping the lure for a second - and then cranking as fast as you can - can sometimes induce a reaction take.

Still a longshot, but always worth a try.

I did that right in the margins john, the big pike took the tail of the lure in its mouth but the treble was outside, then she spat it !
Proper tease

[Flipflopjoe]

if no takes , stick a deadbait on and sink and draw does work , give them something different .....

I think you’re right stubbo, I need to start carrying some dead’s with me when I go, would give me another angle !

[giantlureguy]

here is what I have noticed:

If the pike is lazy and isint following very fast, throw the lure back towards it and retrieve it faster. You will sometimes get a reaction strike. If nothing happens, coming back a few hours or a day later might be a good idea.

If the pike clearly wants your lure and is chasing it quickly, keep retrieving and figure 8 it. This will often cause a fish to strike and it is very fun to watch.

[John Milford]

I you're carrying a few deads, one static on the bottom might pick up a fish.

There was a top matchman years ago, Roy Marlow I think, who used to fish winter two-rod pike matches. (Glad those days are long over! ).

However, what he used to do was fan cast a Mepps, over a deadbait ledgered at close range. Even when the Mepps got no takes, he'd often get pick-ups from curious pike that his spinner drew onto his waiting margin bait.

[peteren]

Frustrating. Sometimes I think they’re less committed than others . Agree with other advice; especially fast or pause. Moving 10 yards and casting in another direction can also work; noting the spot and trying another lure 30-90 minutes later sometimes works. At least you know there are decent, interested fish there to return for.

[stubbojo]

I you're carrying a few deads, one static on the bottom might pick up a fish.

There was a top matchman years ago, Roy Marlow I think, who used to fish winter two-rod pike matches. (Glad those days are long over! ).

However, what he used to do was fan cast a Mepps, over a deadbait ledgered at close range. Even when the Mepps got no takes, he'd often get pick-ups from curious pike that his spinner drew onto his waiting margin bait.

john.... most sessions i fish ,i will fish a lure in-between my baited rods .... some days they just want a moving target, normally float set ups and yes i think the odd fish gives chase , then maybe sometimes spots the deadbaits ..couple of sessions back caught 2 pike in what looked like a dead swim , my mate caught nothing ,so worth doing it sometimes....
cant do any harm can it , plus it passes time on a slow day ..........nearly always have at least a follow , but not for a week as it happens
been under the weather lately but hopefully be out this weekend ........

[stubbojo]

on another smallish lake in the lake district , you cant wind in fast enough , found this out by mistake reeling my lure in trying to get it in before a swan went over my line ...
bang fish on , my mate also started reeling in stupidly fast and bang he was in , think we had 16 pike between us that day , reeling the lure in as fast as you possibly could ......

[JackHunter]

As others have said putting out a dead/live bait is good advice. I have had followers turn away only for one of the bait rods to go off shortly afterwards with a very similar sized fish on the end.
You will also move fish which you don’t see. I can think of many occasions when a bait rod goes off shortly after I have started casting a lure about. It happens too often to be a coincidence.

[stubbojo]

As others have said putting out a dead/live bait is good advice. I have had followers turn away only for one of the bait rods to go off shortly afterwards with a very similar sized fish on the end.
You will also move fish which you don’t see. I can think of many occasions when a bait rod goes off shortly after I have started casting a lure about. It happens too often to be a coincidence.

the old sink and draw works well to , or twitching a bait in-between your statics , its a method thats out of fashion but it works ...on the day

[Flipflopjoe]

Yeh I’ve used that tactic before, a static bait chucking lures about, in and around it !
I definitely think taking a few dead is gonna be the way forward !

[Pinkie]

I've read that the best thing to do to convert follows into takes is to put the same lure on in a smaller size or change lures either from a gaudy pattern to a natural one, or vice versa.

My friend has had some great follows on the fly right to the boat where the pike has just hung around long enough for me to waft a fly in front of its face and get a take.

A few weeks ago I just had the fly in the water in between cast after my friend had a follow, and I wasn't actively trying to catch it when it took my fly.

[stubbojo]

Yeh I’ve used that tactic before, a static bait chucking lures about, in and around it !
I definitely think taking a few dead is gonna be the way forward !

always worth a try joe

stubbo

[Daniel]

Offer a smaller lure, I've been converting more followers than I have for a long time by dropping to a significantly smaller lure and the first cast with it is fished fast and erratic, it's often getting nailed first or second cast.

I don't tend to waste to much time trying for it, I'll just move on and look for another, hungrier fish.

[Flipflopjoe]

Offer a smaller lure, I've been converting more followers than I have for a long time by dropping to a significantly smaller lure and the first cast with it is fished fast and erratic, it's often getting nailed first or second cast.

I don't tend to waste to much time trying for it, I'll just move on and look for another, hungrier fish.

I like this one Stubbo, I feel like it would work, I’ve got a load of little shads I carry and hardly use anymore so I’ll start trying this.

I couldn’t move on from this fish, it was mahoosive (for me anyway), I’m back there tomorrow and I’ll be armed with a loads of the advice from above.

[Flipflopjoe]

Well, I got her
Maybe she wasn't quite as big as I first thought, still a 20 tho (just!), 20lb 8oz.

5F591082-A57F-42BF-84BC-26AD04052A00.jpeg

Not on the lures unfortunately, picked up the mackerel I had strategically placed in front of me.
Didn’t put up much of a fight, I think it’s an old fish, looked a bit battered tbh, don’t think it’s from poor handling or anything, looked like post spawn damage
(I know it’s too early, just saying it looked like it!), split fins and stuff. Still, if she’s following lures and feeding she can’t be too bad !?!

She graced my net after an hour or so, and about 10 mins after I chucked the mackerel back out, away it went again.

DF69E24C-9C17-486F-9790-CB07F369C658.jpeg

Only a low double but this one was in pristine condition and put up a good scrap.

Had a couple of 7-8lb jacks on the lures, and a few plucks at my wobbled herring !

Safe to say I will be carrying a few dead’s with me from now on.
Cheers for the advise lads.

[peteren]

Good work!

[JackHunter]

Well done

[Ratty46]

Offer a smaller lure, I've been converting more followers than I have for a long time by dropping to a significantly smaller lure and the first cast with it is fished fast and erratic, it's often getting nailed first or second cast.

I don't tend to waste to much time trying for it, I'll just move on and look for another, hungrier fish.

odd, i find the opposite, smaller lures largely ignored..put a bigger lure out 20cm+ and i get a follow or hit within frist cast or so
or they just dont hit it and feck off at last min even then i rarely find anything they want,as they are just not up for it?
if i get alot of follows i often bugger off and come back later or another time.

[Neil_M]

I never carry deads, might have to give that a try.

Last weekend I had a 3lb ish fish follow me right to the bank. Spent the next 2 or 3 minutes wafting the jig fly backwards and forwards under the rod tip. Tried everything, fast, slow, twitched, static. Eventually I think the fish just thought ‘oh ffs go on then’ and took it. Then it’s identically sized mate, which was also hanging about, did exactly the same thing.

[Mark Phillips]

So I know there’s no hard and fast rules, but,
What’s are your various tactics on converting follows into takes ???
I had several GOOD fish follow my lure this afternoon, one would’ve easily been my lure PB if it had took it.
I tried the lure again, changed lures (swim, crank, jerk, spinners, spoons), slowed and sped up retrieves, the only thing I never tried was resting the swim as I ran out of time !
Is there anything else people do to entice the take ???

OK, so here's a few things that work from my book of tricks...

First, watch the pike carefully, what's it doing? Is it tracking the lure from a little way back, just keeping pace... is it chomping, acting aggressively... its body language can tell you a lot about what it's going to do next. Then what?

Speed up the lure - pike don't think, they react, dinner is getting away... if the pike is in the mood, it will react and smash the lure.

Conversely, if you get a follow, do not slow down your retrieve (as many people seem to do) - at the least, keep it moving at the same speed.

Change the direction of the lure - aside from speeding up the lure, probably the most effective trigger I use - think up and down the water column, not just left or right.

Dead stick the lure - an odd one this and seems to work best on fish that aren't fully committed - simply let the lure float to the surface or sink to the bottom, then leave it there and see what they do. I have had quite a few fish on soft plastics, where they have taken the lure off the bottom after leaving it static for a while. Same deal when leaving the lure bobbing around on the surface. Always worth a try.

Throw back a different lure - no hard and fast rules here, but I tend to use something smaller or less flashy (dull colour too) or simply something totally different. What ever I throw back, it'll always be with a lure that I have a lot of confidence with, a banker so to speak.

Mark the spot and walk away - re-visit the spot - I tend to chuck the same lure that was followed first time round, but this time I am expecting a take.

Don't waste your time, move on - some people seem to want to spend far too long messing around with a pike that followed them, especially if it's a decent one - I get it, but sometimes they are just not in the mood. Leave it be and use your time better or again, give it a (long) rest and come back. Worth doing if conditions change on the day.

Hope that helps.

[ken brooks]

So I know there’s no hard and fast rules, but,
What’s are your various tactics on converting follows into takes ???
I had several GOOD fish follow my lure this afternoon, one would’ve easily been my lure PB if it had took it.
I tried the lure again, changed lures (swim, crank, jerk, spinners, spoons), slowed and sped up retrieves, the only thing I never tried was resting the swim as I ran out of time !
Is there anything else people do to entice the take ???

OK, so here's a few things that work from my book of tricks...

First, watch the pike carefully, what's it doing? Is it tracking the lure from a little way back, just keeping pace... is it chomping, acting aggressively... its body language can tell you a lot about what it's going to do next. Then what?

Speed up the lure - pike don't think, they react, dinner is getting away... if the pike is in the mood, it will react and smash the lure.

Conversely, if you get a follow, do not slow down your retrieve (as many people seem to do) - at the least, keep it moving at the same speed.

Change the direction of the lure - aside from speeding up the lure, probably the most effective trigger I use - think up and down the water column, not just left or right.

Dead stick the lure - an odd one this and seems to work best on fish that aren't fully committed - simply let the lure float to the surface or sink to the bottom, then leave it there and see what they do. I have had quite a few fish on soft plastics, where they have taken the lure off the bottom after leaving it static for a while. Same deal when leaving the lure bobbing around on the surface. Always worth a try.

Throw back a different lure - no hard and fast rules here, but I tend to use something smaller or less flashy (dull colour too) or simply something totally different. What ever I throw back, it'll always be with a lure that I have a lot of confidence with, a banker so to speak.

Mark the spot and walk away - re-visit the spot - I tend to chuck the same lure that was followed first time round, but this time I am expecting a take.

Don't waste your time, move on - some people seem to want to spend far too long messing around with a pike that followed them, especially if it's a decent one - I get it, but sometimes they are just not in the mood. Leave it be and use your time better or again, give it a (long) rest and come back. Worth doing if conditions change on the day.

Hope that helps.

Pretty definitive that.
In fact I might print it out laminate it and carry it in my chest pocket.

[Flipflopjoe]

So I know there’s no hard and fast rules, but,
What’s are your various tactics on converting follows into takes ???
I had several GOOD fish follow my lure this afternoon, one would’ve easily been my lure PB if it had took it.
I tried the lure again, changed lures (swim, crank, jerk, spinners, spoons), slowed and sped up retrieves, the only thing I never tried was resting the swim as I ran out of time !
Is there anything else people do to entice the take ???

OK, so here's a few things that work from my book of tricks...

First, watch the pike carefully, what's it doing? Is it tracking the lure from a little way back, just keeping pace... is it chomping, acting aggressively... its body language can tell you a lot about what it's going to do next. Then what?

Speed up the lure - pike don't think, they react, dinner is getting away... if the pike is in the mood, it will react and smash the lure.

Conversely, if you get a follow, do not slow down your retrieve (as many people seem to do) - at the least, keep it moving at the same speed.

Change the direction of the lure - aside from speeding up the lure, probably the most effective trigger I use - think up and down the water column, not just left or right.

Dead stick the lure - an odd one this and seems to work best on fish that aren't fully committed - simply let the lure float to the surface or sink to the bottom, then leave it there and see what they do. I have had quite a few fish on soft plastics, where they have taken the lure off the bottom after leaving it static for a while. Same deal when leaving the lure bobbing around on the surface. Always worth a try.

Throw back a different lure - no hard and fast rules here, but I tend to use something smaller or less flashy (dull colour too) or simply something totally different. What ever I throw back, it'll always be with a lure that I have a lot of confidence with, a banker so to speak.

Mark the spot and walk away - re-visit the spot - I tend to chuck the same lure that was followed first time round, but this time I am expecting a take.

Don't waste your time, move on - some people seem to want to spend far too long messing around with a pike that followed them, especially if it's a decent one - I get it, but sometimes they are just not in the mood. Leave it be and use your time better or again, give it a (long) rest and come back. Worth doing if conditions change on the day.

Hope that helps.

Thanks Mark

[peteren]

Mark's advice makes sense.
However, my usual problem is that I usually only notice follows within 4 feet or less of end of retrieve at bank (often murky water). I probably mostly slow down because no room to speed up - which I'd agree is more likely to work!
Could maybe try vertical twitches / static more.

[Pinkie]

Don't particularly want to re-read everything, so has anyone mentioned doing the figure of eight just before lifting the lure out of the water? That sometimes works. I find most takes occur either just a few seconds after casting or beneath one's feet /boat as the pike sees its last chance to grab the lure!