Getting started with Pike fishing: The best guide to 1st class catches!

Pike fishing is really fun to do. The hard sinking bites, often right in front of your feet, mean that I keep going to the water's edge to make life difficult for the greenjackets. Add to that the camaraderie of a few good fishing buddies and an addictive hobby is born! How to start pike fishing? What should you consider and other tips, I will explain in this Blog. 

How to start pike fishing?

Ok, so you want to start pike fishing... The first question you should ask yourself is: 'Where, how and with what lure am I mainly going to do that?' This is important in connection with the choice of rod. If you start pike fishing by wandering (fishing on foot) in the Polder with spinners, this places completely different demands on your rod than when you go fishing with jerkbaits in the same polder.

Let's assume you are going to start pike fishing in the typical Dutch Polder.

Jerkbait, Spinner, each has its own specific rod

Basic pike rod is spinning rod

It is advisable to choose a slightly longer spinning rod (approximately 240cm). This length has the advantage that you can existing reed beds for fishing. I would then choose a Medium Heavy version. Colloquially, a pike rod is often called a spinning rod. A bit of a misleading name, because you can do much more with it than fishing with spinners. Chatterbaits and shads, for example, are also great to fish with.

Mill or reel?

When choosing a mill or reel, I would go for the mill. Learning to fish with a reel is simply more difficult than with a traditional mill. A brand like Shimano or Spro has a high-quality reel in its range in every price range.

Not too expensive but solid. Reel and reel from Spro

Line choice: braided line!

In terms of line is one braided line -also called dyneema- the best choice. In the past, fishing was only done with Nylon. But space travel introduced us to synthetic fiber dyneema a few decades ago. The braided lines derived from this are the choice for the pike fisherman. The reason is that these lines have no stretch. This means that as an angler you can feel everything and that you can easily set the hook even from a distance. 30lbs (15kg) is a great choice in terms of pulling power. It may seem thick, but remember that you are just getting started and nothing is more frustrating than having your mounting broken when you are stuck at the bottom or on a branch. You will have much less trouble with this with a slightly thicker line.

Underline

A leader is also a must! The pike's teeth have many very sharp teeth. A steel or titanium leader should therefore not be missed. 30 cm is usually a good length. On large bodies of water this can increase to 50 to 60cm, but for the polder 30cm is sufficient.

TIP: Underlines are very easy to make yourself with a little practice. Just take a look here: Lureparts Tube 

Lure choice

I can well imagine that sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees when it comes to lures. So many colors, shapes, sizes... where on earth to start? That's actually not too bad. Given the fact that you are going to fish in the polder with a 240cm MH rod, a lot is already lost. Deep diving plugs drop off. Our polder is only 1.50m deep at most.

And don't worry too much about those colors. A perch or roach color and a bright (FireTiger) color are often sufficient. For example, a good choice could be 2 spinners, 2 chatterbaits and 2 small spinnerbaits. Then you have 3 baits in 2 colors, each with its own specific action. Natural colors are now used in clear water, bright colors (firetiger) are now used when the water is cloudy with little transparency.

From left to right, Spinner, spinnerbait and chatterbait

TIP: The baits mentioned can also be made yourself with some practice... and what could be better than catching something on a homemade bait! More info here.

Pliers

Come, let's go into the polder... Everyone has a fishing rod and a bag with lures and of course some food and drinks. Forgotten something? Yes, a good pair of unhooking pliers / cutters should certainly not be missing during a day of pike fishing. The unhooking pliers to neatly release the pike from the hooks/trebles. A cutting pliers you need to quickly unhook a wrongly hooked pike and to be able to free yourself from a hook/treble hook in an emergency.

I wouldn't use a net. The pike is a roller by nature, 'the crocodile role' is no stranger to it. It goes without saying that this often results in a hopeless roll in a net and a lot of frustration for the (novice) pike fisherman. What I would immediately learn is the gill grip. In the video below, Ed Stoop explains very clearly how to apply that gill grip. Very helpful if you want to start pike fishing.

TIP: Like many things, pike fishing is best learned through practice. If you have the opportunity, go out with an experienced pike fisherman, or book a fishing day with a fishing guide. This way you will master the basics much faster!

Welfare pike

It remains for me to make a plea for the vulnerable fish that is the pike.

1. Do not go fishing when the water is above 22 degrees. Pike can hardly recover from a fight in warm water, which means that it often dies at high temperatures. I would say avoid July and August and resume fishing in September when the water has cooled down.

2. Always put pike back! A pike fisherman in 2024 does not fish for money, but for fun. Take a photo, measure the fish if necessary and then put each pike back neatly!

3. Make sure you have a fishing permit and stick to the rules. These are for all of us and for the fish in particular!

Wishing you many catches like this!

Look at this Blog also agree. Here you will learn how to make a chatterbait yourself. In my opinion, the bait if you start pike fishing!