Fishing for pike in small rivers

Long ago, when I was fishing for chub in a short session of one-two hours in a small river with a width of 7-8 meters and a depth of, at most, 1-1,5 meters, I've had the chance to catch my first small pike on that river.  That was a surprise as I've never thought that that river has pike even thought that I've heared that some poachers caught some in another stretch of the area.

I've never expected it to catch a pike as I was fishing with a Salmo Hornet BE (Beetle) of 3.5 cm (the floating version) just at where the water current slowed down and where the bottom of the river was beggining to differ abruptly. That lure didn't brought me success in other fishing sessions as I have the tendency to use sinking lures as they are easier to control.

As I've already mentioned in the another post, some of my recent fishing sessions were dedicated for fishing for pike with dedicated lures as there were hearings that some small pike was caught, accidentaly, by someone who fished for chub with a Mepps Aglia nr. 2.

I've had 3-4 short fishing sessions for small pike in different days. The first day ended with one small pike at the river bank; I've also had a good attack from a bigger one in the same area but, I've lost it. I didn't expect them to be so close - I didn't control the lenght of the throw and the pike attacked when I wasn't paying attention, the throw was inadequate as it was too far from it's hiding place.

I fished in the afternoon for two-three hours in one of the few stretchs of river that had a depth of more than 1 meter for a lenght of more that 7-8 meters (usually, there are few places with a big depth and those are no longer  than 2-3 meters) and the attacks were on the opposite river bank, where few dead branches were in the water and where the water was a bit shallow.  The treble hooked itself at the outhide of the pike's mouth.

I've used the Cormoran rod, the 1-12 grams one (the Black Bull version), a Berti lure of 9 grams (as it can be seen in the photographs), a braid line of 10 lbs (a no name one=a unknown name) and a Shimano Nexave FC 1000 reel.

The next day I've caught another pike at a different stretch of the river, one where I've caught a good size chub at the beggining/earlier fishing years of mine. I think that the water was slowly rising. The pike was caught at a metallic lure of 10 grams at the end of the river current, where the water was verry shallow. The fishing session was in the afternoon and I've caught the pike when there were less than 2 hours remaining until it was fully dark.

The third succesfull fishing session ended with another small pike at another stretch of the river, one wich was long and where, in other years, the water was shallow; the attack was at the end of the current, where the depth of the water was the biggest. That stretch of the river as that area was a bit unkind to me until then - no chub attacks in the last few years. I've used the same equipment but a different lure. That pike was caught somewhere in the middle of the day; it was sunny. The pike unhooked itself and that's a good thing as I was planning to release it.

In another day, one close to those fishing sessions, on other stretch of the river, i've had a shy attack from a lazy pike, one which just touched the metallic lure; it wasn't verry agressive... I've just saw its action as the water was very clear:

The attack was between those underwater branches.

Now, in the future I plan to dedicate few other fishing sessions just for pike as I have few theories that I want to confirm: 1. the pike isn't so uncommon on that river as there are few places that can hold it/be it's home; 2. when I was fishing for small fish with natural baits I've often had moments when the fish, abruptly, stopped eating even if I throwed them bait and... there were few golden shadows in the water that I associate either with a big perch, either with a pike; 3. there are areas on the river where I rarely can catch or sight small chub (another possible cause for that  can be the fault of illegal fishing/poaching); 4. there are areas where I have caught a big chub... and few others reasons.

Fishing and preconceptions

Do you need to believe in preconceptions ? Are preconceptions needed? I choose not to believe in them as, to me, they are an artificial thing and they can make me change my comportament and so, withouth willing, I'll end up doing something that I don't want to, or even change, temporarly or permanently, my comportament.

One of my last fishing sessions confirmed my beliefs. It was a cloudy day and I've gone fishing with lures; the target fish was small pike, in a small pound, as I wanted to 'verify' the density of fish, where they spend their time and if my fishing skills improved. That fishing session was determined by a previous fishing session, in a small river, where I've target small pike and that's because I've heared from an acquaintance who told me that this year he caught two small pikes - I've also caugh one, but that was two years ago when I was fishing for chub.

The fishing session lasted ~5 hours as I've had to walk more than 5 kilometers to arrive at the fishing place. On the way, an old man wished me 'Good luck!' and a black cat crossed my way, I've also found 1 bancnote, but, after moving it 2-3 meters, i've droped it again - I've hoped that the owner was searching for it and would find it soon.

After I've changed the fishing place - I've gone to a bigger pound - I've tried to find some small pike as I've never caught, nor seen pike in that fishing session in that pound. Unfortunatelly, there was no succes. I've tried various metalic lures, big and small, heavy and light but withouth succes. In the end, I've choose to use a the following lure:

The lure was a metallic one, a Berti lure of 9 grams, one which I've used to succesfully catch small pike on small rivers. The chub was caught in a calm area of the pound, where the water was really still and there weren't any currents, nor wind. As I've fished in the afternoon and it was cloudy, I've choosed a shiny lure. In the morning it drizzled for few hours and the fish coudn't be seen, nor was  very active.

The chub attacked slowly and wasn't very aggresive towards the lure as he attacked at the end of the throw, when there were less than two meters and I was ready to retrive the lure.

 At first I've taught that I've picked up some loose weed, but.. then the line could be seen moving. When the fish tried to go in the banks underwater weeds I've saw that, actually, I've had an attack. The fish wasn't expected by me as, usually, when I fish for chub I use small lures and monofilament ... I've tought that I've caught a small pike but, to my surprise, it was a chub - it's my personal record for stillwater/pond.

The fishing rod is made by Cormoran and is part of the Black Bull seried and it's lenght is of 2.10 meters, 1-12 grams, the reel is Shimano Nexave FC 1000. I've used a braided line, a cheap one, of 10 lbs (5 killos).

My record for river chub is, curently, holded by this chub: