Des Taylor’s February Angling Tips

Time for a Big Pike.

The early part of the season the temperature is still up and pike are very active especially the smaller male fish but come the latter part of the season the big females that are getting bigger by the week with food and spawn will start to show and although they are fewer in number this is the time for a personal best.

The thing I like about this time of year is there are so many methods that can produce you a big pike. My number one method for a big pike is a popped up sea dead bait and for a real big fish a whole herring will take some beating, it was the great angler of the past Fred J. Taylor that said when you cast out a whole Herring “it’s not IF it is going to be taken only WHEN its going to be taken” that saying is so true.

Many is the time I had had anglers around me catching Pike on smaller baits and me just sitting there fishless but then suddenly out the blue the whole Herring is picked up maybe my only take of the day but it’s also the biggest of the day.

Of course, livebaits work well but remember you must catch those from the water you are Pike fishing for bringing fish in from another water can cause the spread of disease plus always check before live baiting because some angling clubs do ban this method. I like to drift my livebaits covering as much water as possible with the use of a large float and floating braid on the reel.

A method that I really rate also is “sink and draw” which is simply a dead fish my favourite being small trout or smelt because these fish especially the trout last a lot of casts before breaking up. The fish are mounted on a snap trace with a couple of SSG shot placed near the swivel on the wire and then just simply cast out, let it sink to the bottom and then reel in a few turns, let it sink again and do the same again and again till the bait reaches the bank and cast out again.

But don’t make the mistake of lifting the bait out the water too early for a pike will follow the bait from far out right to the bank only grabbing the bait when the pike thinks its going to get away by leaving the water, believe me its explosive sport when a pike takes that bait at you feet it really is.

But all these methods are only as good as the water you are fishing and the old saying comes to mind” you can only catch what is front of you” so I can help you with the methods but you must do your own research to find where those big pike are sitting.

Best of luck and tight lines.

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