Boat fishing for pike is becoming more popular these days especially with the opening up of the big trout reservoirs like Llandegfedd and more anglers than ever are getting the chance to fish for big pike from a boat. This is a well and good if the anglers have had any experience of boat fishing, if not they could find themselves in all sorts of trouble. Over the last four seasons I have spent a good deal of time boat fishing on a large reservoir and in this short piece I hope to show some of the problems that you might come across fishing for pike on large waters. A few simple tricks picked up over the last few seasons can make boat fishing a lot easier.

First anchoring the boat. The first main problem you are likely to come across is getting the anchor to hold in rough weather. This is best solved by having a decent anchor with a length of chain attached, the chain needs to be a minimum length of 3 feet and serves to stop the movement of the boat from lifting the anchor off the bottom. The anchor I use is home-made and quite easily constructed by pushing two 18" steel rods through a 2" length of drainpipe and filling it with concrete. The steel rods will help the anchor grip over a hard bottom such as gravel. This used as a front anchor on a rope at least half the depth again of the water you intend to fishing, should hold in all but the roughest of weather. To stop the back end of the boat swinging around a simple mudweight lowered over the back of the boat and kept on a tight rope should do the job.. These mudweights can be either half a breezeblock or a paint can full of concrete or anything reasonably heavy.

Pike and anchor ropes are one of the main problems boat anglers come against. In shallow water the problem doesn’t usually arise but if there is any doubt in the anglers mind, it is quite easily solved especially if there are two of you in the boat as it’s a simple matter for the angler who isn’t into the fish to quickly pull up both anchors, as soon as the fish is hooked. This way there is no rope left in the water for the pike to snag you up on. On large deep waters things aren’t quite so simple as on windswept water you could find yourself blown down the lake into other boats, or worse still the reservoir dam wall. Also by the time you’ve pulled a heavy anchor up out of 30 feet of water the pike could have come back under the boat and snagged. This is where the long anchor rope on the front of the boat comes in. The rope is angled away from the boat and not straight down (see sketch) – with the anchor in this position over deep water the pike is less likely to swim round it. The back anchor is fixed in the normal way but pulled into the boat as soon as a run occurs.

Another common fault is fishing too close to the boat and not having enough room to play the fish. I would recommend fishing at least 50 yards away and casting of the back of the boat so the bait is as far away from the anchor as possible. This may seem to defeat the object of boat fishing, but if you are fishing at, say 20 yards from the boat and you get a fast take with the pike moving towards the boat, by the time you set the hooks it’s only going to be 10 yards from the boat and in deep water, at that distance if the pike decides to head for the anchor rope, it’s going to take a hell of a lot of stopping. If the worse happens and the pike still manages to tangle you round the anchor rope the thing to do, is not panic and try to pull the pike back round the rope to slacken off the pressure as soon as you feel it snag. Usually when you do this, the pike will stop pulling also. It’s amazing once the pressure is off how often the pike just sulks on the bottom. The next thing to do is open the bail arm on your reel and rest the rod across the boat. Very slowly lift the anchor to the surface. Usually you will find the pike has just swam round the rope a couple a times and wrapped the line round it. In this case it is simply a matter of gently untangling the line from the anchor and then picking the rod back up and hopefully finding the pike still attached.

The other way pike snag the anchor rope is more awkward to deal with and only happens when using two trebles on a trace. What happens is that the pike is hooked on the bottom of the two hooks only and manages to snag the loose treble on the anchor rope as it swims past. A lot of the times in this situation the pike manages to break the wire between the hooks but if you are lucky and the wire holds the pike can still be landed. By gently raising the anchor the pike can be brought to the surface and hopefully netted before it realises what is happening. I’ve seen this done a few times in the past and it always amazes me how the pike allows itself to be pulled up with the rope and netted.

Whilst on the subject of pike and anchor ropes a few things about tackle. While boat fishing your tackle takes a lot more stick than while bank fishing and if you’ve ever tried to stop a pike directly below you in 30 feet of water and trying to reach the anchor rope you’ll know what I mean. I would recommend using rods with a test curve of a least 2 ¾ lbs., coupled with good reliable 15lb line and a wire with a minimum breaking strain of 25lbs and hooks to match. I use 30lb breaking wire and Au Lion D’Or extra strong trebles for most of my boat fishing but it’s a case of using what you are most confident in. This particular make has never let me down and believe me they have been given some stick in their time.

The rods I use are the same for 90% of my pike fishing and are Terry Eustace T40’s which are a through action 3 1/2lb test curve job and are the best pike rod I’ve ever used. They may not be carbon but the abuse they’ve suffered over the past 10 years would have seen off any other rod on the market. I have got 100% confidence in their handling of big fish which is all that matters to me.

Next onto landing and unhooking your pike. A standard 42" landing net should do the job but if you intend to do a lot of boat fishing I would suggest making a short landing net handle as this is easier to manoeuvre in the boat. Another useful dodge is to build up one end of the landing net handle with cork so that if it gets knocked out of the boat it will float.

Unhooking pike in a boat is where a lot of anglers come unstuck and the pike can suffer considerable damage if not handled correctly. Obviously its not on to unhook the pike without something soft to on the bottom of the boat. To protect the fish there are several options, from purpose made unhooking mats to carpet underlay. Personally I use a large lump of sponge and a wet carp sack.

The procedure is to lift the pike into the boat and lay it on the sponge placing the carpsack over the pike so just it’s head sticks out. I then kneel gently on the edges of the sack to hold the pike still and unhook it in the usual way. Using this method, the sack holds the pike still so it can’t thrash about on the bottom of the boat and damage itself.

Next hopefully is photographing the fish. Nowadays while boat fishing I won’t photograph a pike in a boat unless it’s something a bit special so lets assume you’ve got a 20lb plus pike in the boat and you wont a photo. This again is a lot easier if there are two of you in the boat. In this position you have a choice of two options; either photograph the pike in the boat or if you close enough, row back to the back and photograph it there. Where possible I would choose the latter as it is a lot easier and if done properly less likely to damage the pike.

This article would not be complete without a mention of the boat angler’s worse enemy, the weather. The weather out in the middle of the lake during the winter months always seems wetter and colder than on the bank due to the openness of the water. Always be prepared for the worst it can throw at you and have good warm clothing and reliable waterproofs with you at all times. Also for safety reasons I would strongly recommend you wear a lifejacket. If you don’t own your own most trout waters will supply you with one if you ask when you hire your boat. If you fall into a half frozen lake wearing a thermal suit and moonboots, no matter how strong you are a swimmer you are you will be in trouble, so don’t just use the lifejacket as a seat cushion wear it!