Spring and early summer -best times to lure fish for pike?

[peteren]

From the thread "Why do you personally stop pike fishing this time of year?"

... a few weeks post spawn; Spring and early summer are the best times to lure fish for pike, they're super aggressive and easy to locate. Once water temps start to creep up, usually early June - but can be sooner or later than that, time to stop and that's me done...

... a few weeks post spawn; Spring and early summer are the best times to lure fish for pike, they're super aggressive and easy to locate...

I understand the logic of this - actively feeding up post-spawn as waters warm - but frankly I've always struggled for anything bar jacks in Spring!

May be partly because the open stillwaters seem harder than the closed rivers and drains that I'm more successful on, but has puzzled me for 15 years now!
Limited success with topwaters, or any of the tactics that work for me at other times.
Comments and tips welcome please!

[Ratty46]

From the thread "Why do you personally stop pike fishing this time of year?"

... a few weeks post spawn; Spring and early summer are the best times to lure fish for pike, they're super aggressive and easy to locate. Once water temps start to creep up, usually early June - but can be sooner or later than that, time to stop and that's me done...

... a few weeks post spawn; Spring and early summer are the best times to lure fish for pike, they're super aggressive and easy to locate...

I understand the logic of this - actively feeding up post-spawn as waters warm - but frankly I've always struggled for anything bar jacks in Spring!

May be partly because the open stillwaters seem harder than the closed rivers and drains that I'm more successful on, but has puzzled me for 15 years now!
Limited success with topwaters, or any of the tactics that work for me at other times.
Comments and tips welcome please!

first/last light? or even at night, topwaters after dark are fun!

[Mark Phillips]

From the thread "Why do you personally stop pike fishing this time of year?"

... a few weeks post spawn; Spring and early summer are the best times to lure fish for pike, they're super aggressive and easy to locate. Once water temps start to creep up, usually early June - but can be sooner or later than that, time to stop and that's me done...

... a few weeks post spawn; Spring and early summer are the best times to lure fish for pike, they're super aggressive and easy to locate...

I understand the logic of this - actively feeding up post-spawn as waters warm - but frankly I've always struggled for anything bar jacks in Spring!

May be partly because the open stillwaters seem harder than the closed rivers and drains that I'm more successful on, but has puzzled me for 15 years now!
Limited success with topwaters, or any of the tactics that work for me at other times.
Comments and tips welcome please!

I find that really odd, as I usually have very good sport and not just with small fish. Pike are everywhere at that time of year and you can find really big fish in very shallow water. They're at their most aggressive and will be way more active for more of the time. Location in my experience is hardly even a thing, just cover lots of ground and you'll find them. Lure wise, I find it pays not to go too big and to use faster moving lures, as they will cover more water and get you more takes. Sure, top waters are super effective, but I tend to start using them once there's decent activity from ducklings and such like, my go to lures are smaller jerk baits and lipless cranks. Easily the best time of year to catch pike in numbers, but the trade off is size or rather weight. I've had a few 20's in spring, but all the fish will down in weight and a low 20 in winter could now be 17 or even less. Time of day? Doesn't matter in my experience. I never bother with an early start in spring and usually am done by mid afternoon. The hardest thing these days is finding decent waters to fish in spring. Many places won't allow pike fishing after March 14th or waters get over run with carp anglers, which doesn't mix well with lure fishing from my experience. Then the newer issue that's surfaced, hordes of EE lure anglers battering waters to death and many of them don't practice good handling, worst case, some still take the fish. Anyway, that aside, April/May/June are great months to be out lure fishing, just be prepared to call it a day if water temps start to creep up.

[andrew_nagel]

Dilemma in my book. Easy fishing, but common sense tells me to leave well alone as the pike are generally in their worst condition. If I do dabble it'll be to check out the future potential of a new water as a couple days of easy fishing is usually all it takes to find out if it's worth coming back when the fish are back to full condition.
(reap what you sow - face)

[peteren]

Thanks Gents - sounds like I'm not missing many tricks; maybe will experiment with more fast shallow retrieves. Agreed Mark - carper issues on many of the waters.
Also, thinking about it, most of my close season waters are not ones I favour in winter; their decent pike potential may be more limited too.

[Mark Phillips]

Thanks Gents - sounds like I'm not missing many tricks; maybe will experiment with more fast shallow retrieves. Agreed Mark - carper issues on many of the waters.
Also, thinking about it, most of my close season waters are not ones I favour in winter; their decent pike potential may be more limited too.

The carp angler invasion is a major problem. I have tried, but most aren't very reasonable people. I've cast lures a good 100 yards from people and they still kick off, some reacting in a totally over the top manner. Makes me laugh when you think they're lobbing spods out all day. Most regard a lure angler as a Noddy, little do they know. Mid week, early morning and p*****g with rain is the only way round it and to give every bivvy a wide (ish) berth. I have a couple half decent waters that I'd love to lure fish more, but no chance with the carpers.

[john hufton]

I have difficulty in finding waters where lure fishing is allowed, except canals where I’ve had very poor results. I had some magic sessions on a local lake a few years ago especially on jerkbaits but they banned braided line so that was that.

[paintman]

I have difficulty in finding waters where lure fishing is allowed, except canals where I’ve had very poor results. I had some magic sessions on a local lake a few years ago especially on jerkbaits but they banned braided line so that was that.

I presume you're using a trace so - apart from a greater chance of losing snagged up lures - why not use mono?

[fenland piker]

Braid bans originally were usually to prevent the precious carp being sliced up. Carp anglers realised that heavy braid allowed them to fish in snags and bully the mudpigs in, resulting in torn mouths, fins and cuts to the fish, or tethered fish dying in the snags if they were too stoned to pick the rods up when they got a run. It was also the era of completely fixed leads and beachcaster setups on some venues (rods in the air under tension). Many of the big famous venues in the Colne and Lee valleys had a wall of shame full of "murder rigs" recovered by bailiffs and would ban offenders for life if caught using certain methods.
I knew several fisheries who introduced blanket rules requiring rig tube on all rigs regardless of whether the mainline was braid, mono or fluorocarbon. In effect making a "safe" bolt rig the only technique that complied with the rules. They would selectively ignore the rule for example if the "proper" angler was fishing a zig or was surface fishing, but didn't want people float fishing or lure fishing.

It is one of those fishery rules where the original problem was possibly used as a reason but the rule has stayed because it then means the owners can prevent other types of fishermen they don't want. See also treble hook bans.

I have also known fishery owners or clubs that only want "proper" carp anglers, using braid bans to deter opportunistic lure fishermen despite never having had a problem caused by braid. They are usually the ones where either the committee is mainly carp anglers, or where there has been a problem with lure fishermen of the telescopic rod/Lidl fishing bag variety.

[Mark Phillips]

I have difficulty in finding waters where lure fishing is allowed, except canals where I’ve had very poor results. I had some magic sessions on a local lake a few years ago especially on jerkbaits but they banned braided line so that was that.

I've come across the braid ban, easy to circumvent, if they even enforce it; like most rules, no one checks where I fish, well you're lure fishing, so one would expect common sense to be applied. If not and you have a job's worth bailiff, use a PE line, e.g. Kairiki and tell them it's not braid. I know... but the stupid are everywhere I've used that one when challenged and it worked every time. If all else fails, feck 'em and do what you like, been there, done that.

Waters? In the close season, you are limited to enclosed waters or canals. I have no canals to fish, but many still waters allow lure fishing all year down my way, but some don't or rather they only allow pike fishing from Oct to March, which makes me laugh as it can be too warm in October, but hey.... Unfortunately the second limiting factor is carp and lure fishing don't mix. I still manage to work my round the bivvies without upsetting them and of course, I do a lot of carp fishing, so often know them and they know me. Come early summer, rivers and drains, so no excuses there, miles of water. But then the limiting factors are water temps - you need to pack it in once it gets too warm and the other (if on the bank) is access to the water. Due to financial constraints, no one seems to be cutting back the bankside vegetation any more. So either get in the boat or fish the bank where the cows live - just watch where you step.

[Steve Dennington]

The hardest thing these days is finding decent waters to fish in spring. Many places won't allow pike fishing after March 14th or waters get over run with carp anglers, which doesn't mix well with lure fishing from my experience.

Very true. I had one half-decent option, but that's now subject to a predator close season

As you rightly say, fishing lures of any kind on carp waters is going to be problematic at this time of year.