Pike Fishing for Beginners: Tips, Kits, & Essentials

By Andy Grenfell
|
7 November 2023

Pike fishing has never been more popular and on a cold winter’s day, the pike are often the only fish willing to feed. If you have never fished for pike before, it will require some specialist equipment to help you fish for, catch, and safely unhook and return them. Don’t worry though, because in this beginner’s guide to pike fishing, I will talk you through all the kit you need to enjoy a day of pike fishing.

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT FISHING FOR PIKE!

If you are into carp fishing, then some of your kit will be useful for pike fishing, pike rods, pike reels, unhooking mats, pike fishing nets, etc, but you will need some specific rig and end tackle items, as well as some tools for unhooking the pike safely.

First up is to decide what method(s) you want to use for pike fishing, we would recommend lure fishing to begin with as it is by far the easiest method that requires less kit.

Lure fishing involves casting out an imitation lure, usually imitating a fish or prey species. Then retrieving it slowly, making it act like a wounded or slow-moving fish. Hopefully, the pike will see this, come in for a look and snatch it!

You need a lure rod, a reel loaded with braid, a trace/leader, and some fishing lures.

For fish care you’ll need an unhooking mat big enough for the size of pike you are likely to catch, a landing net, some long forceps, some short forceps, and some pliers that cut thin metal.

All of this can be fitted into a small rucksack, the idea is to be very mobile and keep on the move, exploring likely-looking areas around the lake or river.

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Pike Lures are a great way to catch pike!

Check out this video about setting up lures!

PIKE FISHING FOR BEGINNERS - HANDY GUIDE

A good starting point for a lure rod is to find one about 10ft in length with a casting weight of 20 grams, couple that, with a small 5000/6000-sized reel. Load the reel with a sinking braid in about 20lb breaking strain.

Rod wise we suggest the Sonik Vader X Spin Rod 9ft and a reel like the Shimano Nexave FI in the 4000 or 5000 size.

You’ll need some dedicated pike fishing traces/leaders that the lure will attach to.

We suggest the Drennan Revolver Spin Wire Trace.

Lure wise it really depends on what the pike fancy on the day! Carry a selection of lures and chop and change them to see which ones work best. As a rule of thumb, in coloured or murky water you will want a lure that vibrates as it moves through the water, in clear water, something bright and flashy that the pike can see easily will help you catch a few.

We suggest looking at the following ranges of lures;

Savage 3D Pulse

Fox Rage Replicant Wobble

Mepps Pike Spinner Set

A few of these should definitely keep the bites coming!

When it comes to fish safety and care, you will need a few items to ensure that you can unhook your catch and return the fish safely to the water.

Strong forceps or pliers

Long forceps

Wire/Metal cutters

When handling pike, an unhooking mat is essential along with a good landing net suitable for the size of fish that you might catch.

We suggest the Fox Rage Racket Net and the Fox Camo Flat Mat as good base-level items.

Your kit list is below, feel free to screenshot this and take it with you when ordering on the website!

KIT LIST

8ft-10ft Lure Rod Sonik Vader X Spin Rods are great.
Small Reel Shimano Nexave FI 4000/5000 are perfect.
Sinking Braid Wychwood Agitator AX8 Braid.
Traces/Leaders any of our lure traces are perfect.
Selection of Lures Fox Rage Replicant Wobble.
Pike Tools Long and short forceps and wire/metal cutters.
Fish Safety Unhooking mat and landing net.

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Andy Grenfell

Senior Sales Advisor

Fishing for me has long been more than a hobby, but more of an obsession. Since as far back as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated by water, and all that which lives below the surface, and subsequently, as soon as I was old enough to hold a fishing rod, my angling journey started.

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