pike opener photos

[Shmogley]

nice shawarmz!

 

[instapump416]

I caught my first pike today and I was scared like a little girl.

I didn't have my net on me so I went in the water to lip grab him with my grips.
I pulled out my forceps and started to unhook my jerkbait. After that was done, this beast started to do a gator roll and it made me drop my grips....it happened twice. I was lucky it didn't swim off with it. I tried to slip my hand under its gills but that looked way to dangerous if it started to thrash. I gotta fish with someone who's a pro at handling pike.

I stayed holding onto the fish until it fully recovered and it swam with a thrash.




How long do you think this pike was?

This was my only pic of it.

 

[rich_ace_G]

looks like around 24"-26" 4-6lbs. if you're new to pike fishing, gloves would be better. if you manage to hold the pike, lay it down on it's back and put it between your knees. they tend to relax this way. jerkbaits are easier than natural bait (live or dead) pike will usually swallow baits specially if it's stationary. welcome to the pike club...it will only get better. you can fish them until next your.

 

[instapump416]

I busted out the tape measure and it had to be at least over 30"...I say 33-34"....the camera angle is weird.
I thought I had my camera running but it wasn't recording at all....womp womp womp.

It was caught on a livertarget smelt jerkbait with a long pause.

Dilli...where are you suppose to keep your fingers when its under the pikes jaw? I saw my finger almost touching its teeth and I knew something wasn't right.

 

[Bolcheck]

Hey Pump Congrats

The gill plate grab. You want to take your fingers together and slide them up under the gill plate, careful not to touch the gills themselves and keep your fingers against the inside of the gill plate, you then take your thumb on the outside bottom of the jaw and put pressure with it to your fingers that are in the gill plate, usually ends up being your index finger so your fingers should end up together on the bottom of their jaw. and hold on tight! always remember to hold those big girls horizontal to support their weight.
I've had 20+ lb's thrash on me but if you have that held tight they aren't going anywhere. I looked for a photo of mine to show you but my hand is usually hidden for the photos, I have a couple of pics that might help.

http://s1368.photobucket.com/user/esoxtrout1976/media/P6160058_zps1100e5cf.jpg.html?filters[user]=140203740&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=0

And you can do this for almost every species out there.

 

[Christopheraaron]

I'd say it does look to be around the 30" mark, definitely a nice healthy fish. If you don't want to do the gill hold yet, grab the fish across the back behind the gill plates, the gill plate hold isn't that hard though, you just have to be careful not to reach into it's mouth.

 

[rich_ace_G]

pump, both advice above are bang on, if you do the gill plate, slide your fingers under the gill, but not all the way in, usually your fingers will slide in to the soft tissue right under the teeth line. giving it a little pressure will force the pikes mouth to open. doing this will make it easier if the pike is on it's back. this works better on bigger pikes. smaller jacks, hold them behind the head. as i said, artificial lures are easier because they don't wear off compared to natural bait. if it's all the way down, you can unhook going through the gills instead of the mouth.

 

[rich_ace_G]

I busted out the tape measure and it had to be at least over 30"...I say 33-34"....the camera angle is weird.
I thought I had my camera running but it wasn't recording at all....womp womp womp.

It was caught on a livertarget smelt jerkbait with a long pause.

Dilli...where are you suppose to keep your fingers when its under the pikes jaw? I saw my finger almost touching its teeth and I knew something wasn't right.

and btw, i've seen your awesome pics of steelhead and you miss an awesome shot on your first pike? dude!

 

[John Da Silva]

Fought and lost one earlier today port Rowan. Going back out tonight to try

 

[instapump416]

Thanks for the help guys, I'm gonna give it a try the next time I catch a pike

and btw, i've seen your awesome pics of steelhead and you miss an awesome shot on your first pike? dude!

When I was handling the fish with the gripper, the pike started to belly up. I was more concerned about the health of the fish then taking a nice pic.
I had him tailed for almost 5mins and it finally thrashed and swam away.

Also there was someone around who was watching me land the fish. He asked me if I wanted a pic with it but I declined. Looking back at it now, I should've taken a quick pic. Oh well, I just gotta catch another one.

I'm gonna try my luck again tomorrow.

 

[Kit]

You wanna grab him by the guil plate then support his weight just before the tail. Never hold em vertical, least for long periods. Really stresses them out cause they are so long. Oh and never grab em by their jaw. Super fragile and if they bite could give you some stitches.

 

[BASSMASTER19]

i usually grab my pike just behind the pectoral fins (if thats what their called) and by the base of the tail, in fact thats how i hold 90% of the fish i catch the exemption being bass

 

[Kit]

Yeah I'm the same. Usually again depends on size

 

[Jiggin]

Fishing in under 10ft of water? Rapala Square Bills all day.

Generally considered a bass lure, but it's deadly for pike.

I'm up in Zone 10, so pike doesn't actually close here, it's open year round.

 

[cptpronin]

^

Second that. Pike <3 squarebills fished over and between weedbeds.

 

[instapump416]

What size hardbaits do you guys prefer when targeting pike?

Does size matter?

 

[Kit]

I try to keep it above 2 inches. Depends where your fishing. Lakes where the bigger ones tend to be I'd probably go with a 5-6 inch hard bait but rivers smaller lakes or ponds I'd keep it at 4. Again just depends on the size of the fish wherever your fishing.

 

[rich_ace_G]

What size hardbaits do you guys prefer when targeting pike?

Does size matter?

If water is clear. You can catch pike even with the tiniest spinners. You can catch them with #1 mepps. Problem is unhooking when they inhale it. Caught my PB pike on 6" plug where I have to unhook all 3 trebles inside it. Murky water I go big. 4"-6" plugs, #4 or #5 spinners, or cranks. I have sworn how good the Daiwa plugs are when it comes to big pike. But the Flicker Shad made by berkley is a good lure as well but I mostly caught smaller pikes on it. From my own observation, the smaller pikes chase lures better, where the bigger ones usually rely on ambush or slow retrieve.

 

[instapump416]

Thanks guys.

That Daiwa and Flicker Shad will be on my shopping list

 

[Kleiner]

x raps and swim baits are hard to beat when targeting pike