Pike Fishing Properly: How to Fish for Pike Safely and Responsibly
As autumn arrives and water temperatures begin to fall, many anglers start thinking about pike fishing.
And it is easy to understand why.
Pike are one of Britain’s most impressive freshwater fish. They are powerful, beautifully adapted predators, capable of growing to substantial sizes and providing memorable fishing.
But there is something every prospective pike angler needs to understand before putting a bait or lure into the water:
Pike look tough. They need to be treated with considerable care.
Their teeth, size and predatory lifestyle can make them appear almost indestructible, but pike are actually a relatively sensitive fish. Catching them responsibly requires suitable tackle, excellent bite indication, the correct fish-care equipment and, perhaps most importantly, the confidence and knowledge to handle and unhook them properly.
Start with the right mindset
Good pike fishing starts before you cast. The first priority should never simply be “How do I catch one?” It should be:
“If I catch one, am I completely prepared to look after it?”
There is also something that needs saying plainly.
Pike have teeth. Teeth cut flesh.
If you fish for pike regularly, you should expect that at some point you will get cut. It is part of dealing with a large predatory fish, in much the same way that somebody who keeps bees accepts that sooner or later they may get stung.
That does not mean being careless. Quite the opposite. Good handling technique, long forceps and proper preparation reduce the risk considerably. But if you are so frightened of a pike’s teeth that you cannot confidently handle and unhook the fish, then pike fishing is probably not the right choice for you.
Once a pike is on the bank, hesitation can become a fish-welfare issue. The angler needs to remain calm, control the fish properly and remove the hooks efficiently rather than repeatedly backing away from the job.
Pike are apex predators and, because they sit at the top of the food chain, they naturally occur in much smaller numbers than the fish species they prey upon. That makes every pike important.
They play a valuable role in maintaining the balance of a fishery, and particularly in a smaller lake or river system, the loss of even one significant predator can potentially alter the relationship between predator and prey.
Pike deserve considerably more respect than their fierce appearance sometimes suggests.
They are also a fish that require skills beyond simply casting out and waiting for a bite. We encourage newer anglers to gain experience with other forms of fishing first, becoming confident with rods, reels, playing fish, landing them and general fish care before progressing to pike.
The traditional pike season begins as the water cools through the autumn and continues through winter. Specialist pike guidance recommends avoiding deliberate pike fishing when water temperatures reach 18°C or above because warmer conditions can make recovery more difficult. Conditions matter just as much as the calendar.
Pike tackle needs to be strong
There is very little place for underpowered tackle in pike fishing.
The rod, reel, main line, knots, swivels, trace and hooks all need to be strong, reliable and capable of retrieving your terminal tackle in every situation.
As a practical minimum, we recommend:
Main line of at least 18lb breaking strain
Wire trace of at least 28lb breaking strain
If using braid, a minimum diameter of 0.28mm
Heavier tackle may be appropriate depending on the venue, the size of lures being used, weed, snags and the size of fish expected. This is not about overpowering the fish. It is about making sure that when you hook a pike, you remain in control and can land it safely without unnecessary delay. Losing a fish because your tackle breaks is not simply disappointing when pike fishing — it can leave that fish trailing hooks, wire and line.
A wire trace is particularly important. Pike have an impressive collection of extremely sharp teeth and can cut ordinary fishing line remarkably easily. Some anglers recommend fluorocarbon as a trace material, but we do not recommend it for pike, as their teeth are capable of cutting through it.
Treble hooks are also commonly used, particularly when fishing deadbaits and many types of lure. They provide effective hook holds in a pike’s hard, bony mouth, but their use brings additional responsibility.
The aim should always be to never leave a treble hook behind, not on the bank, not in the water and not in a fish.
That applies whether it is attached to a fish, snagged underwater or caught in bankside vegetation. A discarded or lost treble hook can injure pike, other fish, birds and other wildlife.
Pike tackle therefore needs to be strong, reliable and capable of retrieving terminal tackle whenever possible.
Bite indication isn’t optional
One of the greatest risks when bait fishing for pike is deep hooking. A pike may pick up a deadbait and begin swallowing it surprisingly quickly. Waiting for a run to develop, as anglers were sometimes traditionally advised to do, can turn a straightforward unhooking job into a serious fish-welfare problem.
Modern responsible pike fishing therefore relies on good, immediate bite indication.
That might involve a carefully watched float, a drop-off indicator, bobbin or electronic alarm depending upon the method being used. What matters is that movement of the bait is detected quickly, including a pike swimming towards the angler rather than away.
Freelining a deadbait provides poor bite indication and should not be used.
When a definite run develops, the aim is to make contact and strike promptly rather than giving the fish time to swallow the bait. Missing the occasional pike is a much better outcome than deeply hooking one.
Good bite indication achieves very little if you are not there to react to it. Stay close enough to your rods to see or hear the indication and respond straight away. Even when using electronic alarms or remote receivers, they should never become an excuse to move too far away from your tackle.
Your rods should also remain under your immediate control. Wandering off to see another angler may sometimes be accepted in carp fishing, but it has no place in pike fishing, where a bite must be detected and acted upon immediately.
The quicker you recognise a take and respond appropriately, the better the chance of the pike being hooked cleanly in the mouth and unhooked quickly.
Be ready before you catch one
Pike fishing requires more fish-care equipment than simply a landing net and mat. Before casting, you should already have a large knotless landing net, generous padded unhooking mat or cradle, long forceps or long-nosed pliers and a strong pair of wire or side cutters ready for use.
If you intend to weigh the fish, have an appropriately sized weigh sling prepared as well.
The cutters are particularly important.
Occasionally, especially when dealing with treble hooks, the safest option is to cut through the hook itself. This can allow individual sections of the hook to be removed quickly rather than repeatedly manipulating a difficult hook and increasing the stress on the fish.
Cut the hook if necessary — never cut the wire trace.
Cutting the trace risks leaving treble hooks attached to the fish, potentially with a length of wire still connected to them. Those hooks can lodge in the mouth or throat, interfere with the pike’s ability to feed and cause serious injury, potentially leaving the fish to suffer and eventually die. The priority is therefore to remove the complete trace and every hook before the pike is returned.
Everything should be ready before the pike is in the net.
Learn pike handling from someone who knows how
This is probably the most important part. Reading about pike handling is useful. Watching videos can help you understand the process. Neither completely replaces having an experienced and confident pike angler beside you the first few times you do it.
A pike must be controlled confidently without squeezing it or damaging its gills. The accepted hand position involves carefully entering beneath the gill cover and supporting the lower jaw while remaining well clear of the delicate gill structures.
Done correctly, it gives excellent control of the fish and allows safe access to the hooks.
Done hesitantly or incorrectly, things can go wrong very quickly.
There may be several exposed hook points, a powerful fish moving on the mat and a mouth containing a formidable collection of teeth. This is not the moment to learn through trial and error.
That is why our Improve Your Fishing: Pike Fishing lessons at UK Fishing School are aimed at anglers who already have a foundation in general fishing. We can then concentrate on predator tackle, rigs, bite indication, traces and, crucially, supervised pike handling and unhooking.
Your local Pike Anglers Club region may also provide teaching opportunities, meetings or practical guidance and is well worth contacting if you are looking to learn from experienced pike anglers.
Whichever route you choose, gaining practical experience alongside somebody who is confident handling pike is one of the best things you can do before fishing for them independently.
The fish goes back when it is ready
Once unhooked, keep photographs and weighing efficient and minimise the time the pike spends out of the water. Return it carefully and support it in the water while it recovers.
Do not simply let go because the hooks are out. Allow the fish to regain its balance and strength, and let it swim away when it is ready. That final moment really sums up responsible pike fishing.
Catching a big predator is exciting. But the measure of a good pike angler is not simply the fish in the photograph.
It is watching that pike swim strongly away afterwards.
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