Tag Archives: lure fishing

Until around four years ago, my only real experience of perch was catching the occasional small fish on maggots or worms as a youngster. I’d never specifically targeted the species and a fish of over 2lb was something I could only dream about. Then one day’s pike fishing on a small drain changed all of this. I was wobbling a mackerel deadbait for pike, without success, when I noticed a group of perch following the bait in. I immediately grabbed my lure rod and caught a phenomenal number of perch from the swim, including a fish of 2lb 7oz. It was one of the most spectacular creatures I’d ever set eyes on, and it set me wondering what a 3lb perch must look like. Since then, perch have become one of my favourite species to target and I’ve had my eyes set on landing a perch over 3lbs; on bait, or preferably on a lure. My previous PB perch of 2lb 7oz I’m now quite experienced at catching perch on lures, and it’s surprising just what a range of lure styles they will take. I target perch on all sorts of venues, and lure style generally depends on whether I’m …

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Just recently I managed a days pike fishing on the River Trent and found the fish in a feeding frenzy! I started the day off lure fishing, using a home-made lure which had so far been my most successful home-made pattern. This time out, it wasn’t to disappoint. On my third cast, I felt the familiar ‘bump’, signalling a take from a pike. Before long, I had played my first fish of the day to the bank. Seeing that the hooks were held in a safe position, I decided to hand-land the fish, which I quickly returned. I estimated the weight at around four pounds. The new homemade lure I was using soon rewarded me for my hard work! On the very next cast, I had turned the reel handle only a couple of times when the resistance went solid. Upon striking, the rod took on a healthy bend and the fish stayed deep, signalling that I’d hooked a good fish.Because I use barbless trebles on my lures, I always keep a tight drag, which means that not many of the fish I hook on lures actually take any line during the fight. This fish, however, managed to power away …

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October 2005 arrived, and with it my first serious piking sessions of the season. The deadbait rods came out to accompany my lure rods as I prepared for what shall hopefully be a very successful Autumn and Winter’s pike fishing. Sometimes pike can seem like one of the easiest fish to catch, but very often they can seem almost impossible to catch. Just when you think you’ve got the species worked out, they turn things on their head and leave you scratching yours. If you haven’t pike fished before, but would like to have a go, then please first go with an experienced pike angler, the main reason for this is pike welfare. Everything from the timing of your strike to the unhooking of pike must be done correctly because an angler can pose a serious risk to the pike’s life if they do not know what they’re doing. I can tell you that already this autumn I’ve had some success with my piking, but to find out exactly how I’ve fared, you shall have to read on! Due to the inconsistency of the weather, I have fished a variety of venues with my regular fishing partner, Matt. The first …

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For the past five years I’ve really enjoyed lure fishing for pike, but this season I have had unprecedented success with lures. I don’t know if my lure-fishing ability has improved or I’ve simply had great luck but, either way, the lure has been my ‘fall-back’ method when my success is dwindling using other approaches. So, when I started blanking fishing for barbel, I decided to have an evening exploring a new stretch of river with the lure rod, to save my sanity. I arrived on the river with only an hour and a half of daylight remaining, so I moved from swim to swim quickly, without spending too much time in any one place. I happened upon a very picturesque weir and decided to have a few casts into the fast water. After trying crankbaits for a while, I clipped on a fairly universal fast-water spinner – a Mepps Aglia Long no.3. On this I had the chance of Pike, Perch or Chub and the lure is quite stable and easy to fish, even in a fast current. As always, I used a long wire trace, because there was a chance of hopefully hooking a pike. After a few …

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A new personal best Since the start of the river season, I have focused mainly on barbel – trying to ‘up’ my personal best – and on my second session I managed a new PB with a barbel of 7lb 13oz – beating my old best by five ounces. Obviously I’m thrilled by this, but I’m still hoping for a double-figure barbel before the end of the season. A new personal best barbel for me, at 7lb 13oz Variety Most of my summer fishing sessions are restricted to weekdays after work, so when I got a day off, I decided it was time for a little variety and visit a new venue, noted for its tench stocks. Tackling up for tench I also took along my light spinning tackle and a barbel rod just in case I fancied a change later on. Arriving at the lake there was a large tent erected near the water, with recent campfires, disposable barbecues, a bow saw, a rubber mallet and loads of litter nearby. It literally looked as if someone had taken up residence. But there was no-one around! Very odd. Then when I looked into the crystal clear water, which was only …

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Fishing for pike on the Norfolk Broads Since writing my last article, I have only had chance to fish twice. The latter session was the Norfolk Broads trip which I mentioned last time. Both trips were extremely fulfilling; but for contrasting reasons. One resulted in my biggest pike catch ever. The other was a full-on experience, with hardly any fish action at all! Due to the Norfolk session being a pike-oriented trip, my friend Matt and I decided we would have a confidence-building pike session first, on a venue we both knew well. It ended up being an exceptional day in terms of the number of pike caught. I took a dozen fish on lures, from a 100-yard stretch of water and Matt took the largest pike of the day – 14lb 4oz, on a deadbait; along with a few perch and some lost pike on a jig. We had found a huge concentration of pike, which only seemed to be interested in slow-moving baits, so I spent most of my time lure fishing. I caught the majority of my fish on a large Mepps spinner, with two fish caught on a Salmo crankbait. Both retrieved very slowly, close to …

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This article was first published on the now-defunct “AnglersToday” website, in 2005 Warm welcome to Andrew By Andrew Kennedy Since this is my first article for AnglersToday.co.uk, I thought I’d better introduce myself – I’m Andrew Kennedy, I’ve lived in Derbyshire for the majority of my life, except for a year in Australia and another in Sheffield.  I have fished for the past 18 years of my life (as of 2005), considering myself to be a bit of an ‘all-rounder.’ Specimen angling in freshwater is my main interest, but I regularly fish a variety of methods for an array of species and my captures in Britain alone include species as diverse as pike, salmon, ruffe, grayling, golden orfe, carp, zander and bleak, to name but a few.  I am by no means an expert on catching huge fish, but at the moment that’s what I’m working on.  My personal best list is very varied, with many fish I’m proud of – but there are no real “monsters” on there ….yet!  I’m still young though, at 23 – so hopefully the next few seasons will see some vast improvements in my catches. What fishing means to me Most of the fishing …

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