Pike fishing in shallow canals and lakes is great fun, easy to do and effective! You don’t need much gear, everybody can learn it and you don’t need a lot of time to have a good chance of catching some fish whilst spending some time outdoors. But how do you start?
ROD CHOICE
Firstly of course you need a rod. When fishing with lures for pike, you’re holding the rod in your hands, casting lures for the best part of the day. A lightweight rod that casts easy is good. For easy casts a rod with a so called ‘fast action’ is preferred. To quickly test if a rod is ‘fast’ you can watch how fast a rod bends back to a straight position after being bend. If the rod immediately bounces back in a straight line without too much wobbles, you are dealing with a fast rod. If the rod however, wobbles for some time, then the rod is slower. All rods in the SPECTER Finesse series are quick. This is not only in benefit of easy casting but also adds to the sensitivity of the rod. Which makes it easier to detect bites. In terms of casting weights you can think of somewhere in between 20 and 70 grams.
REEL OR SPINNING REEL?
The rod should be paired with a casting or spinning reel. When it comes to line choice we can be short and clear: a braided main line of 0,20mm or thicker is fine. Highly recommended is the SPEX8, this line is incredibly smooth, strong and reliable. Then there is a choice to be made: spinning or casting reel? This is a matter of personal preference. Working with a spinning reel is a little bit easier to learn, but if you learn yourself to handle a casting reel well it definitely is an advantage. A casting reel is easier and quicker to operate, even with one hand. On top that you can also better control your cast, so you can cast faster and more accurate. A great recommendation for this style of fishing is the OX BC Light!
KUNSTAAS
With just a rod and a reel you will not catch any fish of course, you need some lures! Lures are available in countless different shapes, weights, colours and sizes. How do you pick the right ones? First of all it is good to know the casting weight of your rod. Because of this lures that don’t weigh enough, or are too heavy can be forgotten. It’s always a good thing to have some choices; jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, crankbaits and softbaits, they all catch fish. Just make sure you have a little bit of everything and you are sorted. The same thing applies for the colours of your lures. If you have some bright and natural options, you’re good to go.
ESSENTIAL
LTo protect the mainline against the sharp teeth of pike you have to use a leader. As a matter of fact it does not really matter which material you choose, as long as it’s strong enough to withstand the extremely sharp pike teet. Some great options are: thick fluorocarbon (starting from 0,80mm), steel or titanium. Everything has its pro’s and cons. Fluorocarbon is almost invisible under water, but it’s seriously thick. Steel is affordable, but kinks quite fast. Titanium does not kink and is quite subtle, but pricey. At last, but absolutely essential is a good set of pliers. You need a long set of pliers to properly get the hooks out of a pike his mouth. A good quality cutting pliers is a must too. Whenever you’re in doubt if you can safely unhook a pike, often it is better to immediately cut the treble hooks of your lure. Then at least the lure can exit the pike’s mouth. Which makes it easier to reach the treble hooks and still get the hooks out.
WATCH LIST
On our YouTube-channel there are quite some videos about fishing pike in shallow water. Here’s a list with watching tips: Pike fishing with two lures only, Catch pike with as many different lures as possible, NOT with lures, but with deadbaits in!