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How do you pick up a pike!
lately, I've been catching more of the toothy critters, pike especially,
now that my buddy and I succumbed to the dreams of RichZ's glorious
reports and begun to explore the many wonders of Champlain. this year, I
started getting more of the urge to pick up the bigger ones for the
proverbial camera shot but tired it a few weeks back and cut my finger,
which was especially uncomfortable because it was one in contact with
the line all day and kept catching on it and cutting it deeper. ouch!
(that reminds me, better add some bandaids to the tackle bag ... one
more thing in there???) so please, a little guidance from the veterans
would be appreciated.I've read the talks here before to slide you hand under the gill plates,
did that(maybe too far back to start with), but I still got cut on
something under there, maybe a gill??? was a nice little cut as I said
so that discouraged the idea for the rest of day but would like to get
the bigger ones up for a minute for the thrill and a closer look-see, as
much as anything else. thanks in advance .... |
dscotts
Aug 17
2005
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| Well, I do have a little experience with toothy critters, having hand landed
probably more than 2,000 muskies up to 48 inches. Small pike and pickeral
can be simply grabbed over the top of the head, squeezing the gill plates
just hard enough to control the fish. Careful not to squeeze too hard
though or you might damage their gills. Larger fish are a different matter however. These require an extra bit of
caution. First of all, there's those teeth, but those don't bother me too
much, it's the lure dangling from their jaw that does. Pike and muskies are
notorious for shaking their head at the wrong time and I've seen too many
hooks buried in an angler. I approach these fish wth caution. Slide your fingertips under the gill plate towards their nose. The key is
not to go really deep or you'll encounter their gill rakers and those will
scrape you up pretty good, too far forward and deep and you'll get teeth,
that's not a good thing. As you slide your fingertips forward, you should
feel a boney ridge (for lack of a better term). You want to grab just on
the other side of that ridge, squeezing your fingertips and thumb together.
Don't go any deeper than that and you'll be fine. You want to make sure to support their body when hoisting large pike/muskies
from the water. All that weight hanging can tear connective tissue and
cause internal damage. Here's a couple photos for reference. http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com/modules.php?name=Frontier_Photos&file=displayimage&album=5&pos=89 http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com/modules.php?name=Frontier_Photos&file=displayimage&album=5&pos=33 I've been handling pike and muskies for over 30 years now and I still get
cuts and scrapes, that's just part of the territory when tackling these
critters. Bandaids are a constant supply in my boat. |
Steve
Aug 18
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| Practice on smaller pickerel first, Steve's advice is dead on. That's how I
learned, Mind you I haven't caught any really big toothy critters, But I
have a lot more confidence in handling them if I do. |
alwaysfishking
Aug 19
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| thanks for the advice. unfortunately, I didn't get much of a chance to
practice it the other day as we only caught 3 pike on Champlain, all
small, under 2 feet; thankfully the bass were more interested. the pike
just didn't seem to be chasing around for some reason as conditions
seemed better than a 3-4 weeks ago, water temps anyway, but less pike.
who can figure? that's fishing .... |
dscotts
Aug 21
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| yea, unfortunately that's what I have been doing as most of the pike we
have run into are of the 2 foot range over the last few years up on
Champlain. a few in the 30 +/- range which are beginning to get a little
scary to just grab hold of under the gills without some idea of what to
do, and a few a little bigger but I have as yet felt confident to pick
them up, that's what nets are for. but, I have high hopes of catching
one of those big suckers RichZ or his son is holding up on occasion so I
want to be ready when that day comes for that picture shot. hows that
for positive thinking? I could have sworn the other morning, especially, would have been a good
shot but basically nothing, thankfully the bass were more in the mood
all day. nothing like the wondrous days that RichZ seems to regularly
have, but not bad for a couple of guys on that lake, actually any lake,
for only the 2nd year(7 days total) since we started our bass fishing
escapades 5 years ago on the Conn. river only. man, do those reports
really help on the learning curve up there, thanks Rich! oh well, maybe
next time??? |
dscotts
Aug 21
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