07-08-2004, 04:39 AM
[size 2][font "Arial"]There’s no two ways about it, top-water lure fishing is the most exciting way of catching pike and chub during the summer months.
Seeing a pike or chub following up behind a top-water lure, or bearing down on it from the left or right, is a sight to behold. Even though I have caught countless pike and chub on top-water lures, I still find it hard to control my nerves when I catch sight of a bow wave approaching my lure. [/font][/size]
[font "Arial"][size 2]The Approach[/size][/font][size 1]
[/size][font "Arial"][size 2]Chub I have found some waters to be far more productive than others when it comes to top-water lure fishing for chub. I have found the most productive waters to be those with plenty of small rodents residing along their banks. Rodent eating chub have a tenancy to attack their prey very, very fast - giving the victim no chance at all to escape. Chub can strike with pinpoint accuracy - even at night. When chub are not too hungry they have a tendency to follow rather than strike. They tend to follow 2-3ft back behind the top-water lure and stay 6in to 1ft below the water’s surface - making them very hard to spot. On brightly lit days, sunglasses are a must for spotting following chub, pike and perch. Unlike pike, I have found it difficult to trigger a following chub to strike - but not altogether impossible! Now and again I do get lucky. I have found that small crawlers and chugger plugs (better known as poppers) get the best results. [/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]Pike The speed at which pike strike depends greatly on how hungry they are. I sometimes get the feeling that pike attack my top-water lures just for the shear hell of it - but I'm sure that that is not the case. I often get the impression that pike are just ‘practicing’ what they are masters at - i.e. hunting, killing and eating. If a pike is really hungry, believe me, nothing, and I mean nothing, that swims in or on the water, will break free of a sizeable pike’s vice like jaws. On one of my local waters, a big pike was spotted by grounds men taking a fully grown duck off the water’s surface. [/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]The water was so clear the grounds men could see the pike laying on the bottom in 6-7 feet of water with the duck gripped firmly in its jaws - just waiting for all signs of life to leave the duck before attempting to consume it! Even using oars like spears the grounds men could not make the pike give up its feathery meal. Was taking a fully grown duck a ‘foul’ deed on the pike’s part? (Sorry about that!) No, of course it wasn’t. [/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]Most species of sea and coarse fish will prey on living creatures at some stage of their lives. Like sharks, pike are at the top of the freshwater food chain. They will attack all izes of living creatures - from chicks and rats, to people. Pike are greatly frowned upon by people who do not understand the law of nature – eat, or be eaten! [/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]Top-Water Lures [/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]3¼in Jointed Jitterbugs (crawlers) are my all-time favorite top-water lures. I have caught many hundreds of double figure pike on them - plus a good few 20lbers. Another top-water lure that I particularly like to use, and which catches very well, is a 5in handcrafted stickbait. To weight the lure at the back end, I inserted two sound chambers. When pike are not responding to crawlers, this lure, for some reason, seems to do the business. I twitch it back very, very slowly. I think that could possibly be the key to its success! When pike are not in a crawler chasing mood, an ultra slow approach can often work wonders. [/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]Over the last couple of years I have been having great success on my handcrafted ‘Pop On The Top’ lure. I designed it to mimic a topping prey fish. The success of this lure relies greatly on the retrieve technique. It may take one of my clients two or three hours to master the retrieve technique, but once mastered, it can be fun and action for the rest of the day! The really nice thing about the lure, is it can also be retrieved sub surface if required - by simply changing to a different trace ttachment eye located at the nose end of the lure. [/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]Retrieve Techniques[/size][/font][size 1]
[/size][font "Arial"][size 2]A high tensile rod, to achieve erratic lure swimming action, is, in my opinion, a must. ‘Enhanced lure action’ can stimulate pike into moving. It can also be used to ‘trigger’ a following pike and make it strike. To spot following pike can be an art in itself. I have on many, many occasions, shouted to a client - “Look at that pike following the lure.” More often than not the client is unable to spot the following pike. I have come to appreciate that being able to look deep into the water, well behind the lure, and successfully spot a following fish, is not as easy for some as it is for others. [/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]Pike can follow anything from 1-8 feet behind a lure. In order to see a following pike, you must slow your retrieve right down as the lure approaches boatside/bankside - to give the following pike a chance to catch up with the lure. Slowing the retrieve down also gives the angler more time to spot a follow pike and trigger it to strike - by twitchin' the rod tip. As soon as my lure comes into view, be it a top-water or crankbait type lure, I focus well behind or beneath the lure. I pay no attention whatsoever to the lure itself - but still [/size][/font]
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Seeing a pike or chub following up behind a top-water lure, or bearing down on it from the left or right, is a sight to behold. Even though I have caught countless pike and chub on top-water lures, I still find it hard to control my nerves when I catch sight of a bow wave approaching my lure. [/font][/size]
[font "Arial"][size 2]The Approach[/size][/font][size 1]
[/size][font "Arial"][size 2]Chub I have found some waters to be far more productive than others when it comes to top-water lure fishing for chub. I have found the most productive waters to be those with plenty of small rodents residing along their banks. Rodent eating chub have a tenancy to attack their prey very, very fast - giving the victim no chance at all to escape. Chub can strike with pinpoint accuracy - even at night. When chub are not too hungry they have a tendency to follow rather than strike. They tend to follow 2-3ft back behind the top-water lure and stay 6in to 1ft below the water’s surface - making them very hard to spot. On brightly lit days, sunglasses are a must for spotting following chub, pike and perch. Unlike pike, I have found it difficult to trigger a following chub to strike - but not altogether impossible! Now and again I do get lucky. I have found that small crawlers and chugger plugs (better known as poppers) get the best results. [/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]Pike The speed at which pike strike depends greatly on how hungry they are. I sometimes get the feeling that pike attack my top-water lures just for the shear hell of it - but I'm sure that that is not the case. I often get the impression that pike are just ‘practicing’ what they are masters at - i.e. hunting, killing and eating. If a pike is really hungry, believe me, nothing, and I mean nothing, that swims in or on the water, will break free of a sizeable pike’s vice like jaws. On one of my local waters, a big pike was spotted by grounds men taking a fully grown duck off the water’s surface. [/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]The water was so clear the grounds men could see the pike laying on the bottom in 6-7 feet of water with the duck gripped firmly in its jaws - just waiting for all signs of life to leave the duck before attempting to consume it! Even using oars like spears the grounds men could not make the pike give up its feathery meal. Was taking a fully grown duck a ‘foul’ deed on the pike’s part? (Sorry about that!) No, of course it wasn’t. [/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]Most species of sea and coarse fish will prey on living creatures at some stage of their lives. Like sharks, pike are at the top of the freshwater food chain. They will attack all izes of living creatures - from chicks and rats, to people. Pike are greatly frowned upon by people who do not understand the law of nature – eat, or be eaten! [/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]Top-Water Lures [/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]3¼in Jointed Jitterbugs (crawlers) are my all-time favorite top-water lures. I have caught many hundreds of double figure pike on them - plus a good few 20lbers. Another top-water lure that I particularly like to use, and which catches very well, is a 5in handcrafted stickbait. To weight the lure at the back end, I inserted two sound chambers. When pike are not responding to crawlers, this lure, for some reason, seems to do the business. I twitch it back very, very slowly. I think that could possibly be the key to its success! When pike are not in a crawler chasing mood, an ultra slow approach can often work wonders. [/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]Over the last couple of years I have been having great success on my handcrafted ‘Pop On The Top’ lure. I designed it to mimic a topping prey fish. The success of this lure relies greatly on the retrieve technique. It may take one of my clients two or three hours to master the retrieve technique, but once mastered, it can be fun and action for the rest of the day! The really nice thing about the lure, is it can also be retrieved sub surface if required - by simply changing to a different trace ttachment eye located at the nose end of the lure. [/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]Retrieve Techniques[/size][/font][size 1]
[/size][font "Arial"][size 2]A high tensile rod, to achieve erratic lure swimming action, is, in my opinion, a must. ‘Enhanced lure action’ can stimulate pike into moving. It can also be used to ‘trigger’ a following pike and make it strike. To spot following pike can be an art in itself. I have on many, many occasions, shouted to a client - “Look at that pike following the lure.” More often than not the client is unable to spot the following pike. I have come to appreciate that being able to look deep into the water, well behind the lure, and successfully spot a following fish, is not as easy for some as it is for others. [/size][/font]
[font "Arial"][size 2]Pike can follow anything from 1-8 feet behind a lure. In order to see a following pike, you must slow your retrieve right down as the lure approaches boatside/bankside - to give the following pike a chance to catch up with the lure. Slowing the retrieve down also gives the angler more time to spot a follow pike and trigger it to strike - by twitchin' the rod tip. As soon as my lure comes into view, be it a top-water or crankbait type lure, I focus well behind or beneath the lure. I pay no attention whatsoever to the lure itself - but still [/size][/font]
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