Lure Fishing For Pike On Gravel Pits

This entry was posted on 23rd March, 2016

Many anglers use quite large lures to target Pike, but I don't think this is always necessary. I like to match the size of the lure to the average size of the baitfish that the Pike predate on, which can vary from venue to venue, but 4"-6" is a nice bite size for most toothy critters, and this also gives you the chance of hooking in to a greedy big Perch, which a couple of my local gravel pits contain.

I very rarely use lures over 7" in length to target Pike unless I feel the need to, so I tend to use a medium-heavy set-up for most of my lure fishing for Pike in gravel pits. This is usually an outfit that can cast lures up to around 60g (2oz), which is essentially a casting set-up many American anglers would use for using big lures to target big Large and Smallmouth Bass. With this set-up I can also use a bait casting reel. I use the Abu Garcia Revo MGXtreme spooled with either 30lb Berkley Whiplash Crystal or Spiderwire Code Red braid - both are equally good. This is a balanced outfit that enables me to make long casts with lures of between 30g-60g, and set the hook at range, whilst not being quite as pokey as a heavy jerkbait set-up - so it enables you to have some rod-bending action even when playing small Pike! A titanium trace of around 35lb-50lb is then tied to this.



Lure choice should be thought about carefully on crystal clear gravel pits. I'll often try two or three different types in one swim if I'm confident there are fish in that area, especially if that swim has a feature such as an overhanging tree, bar, or is based in a corner. Certain hard and soft baits are ideal for fan casting and searching for fish, covering water quickly but efficiently. Some of my favourite hard baits for this include crank baits, swim baits, spinnerbaits and chatter baits, whilst curltails and shads are equally effective categories of soft baits. All of these normally work well on a straight retrieve, but if you're not getting much action, don't be afraid to mix things up by using a stop-start retrieve, by turning the reel handle two or three times, pausing the bait for a second or two, before twitching the rod tip and starting to retrieve again.



However, there are times when other types of lures will out fish these, especially if you're fishing a venue that is heavily pressured by anglers, or if you're getting follows from fish but they're falling just short of taking, turning away at the last minute as if it's not quite sure about your offering. This is a good time to switch to a couple of my favourite tactics that can sometimes make the difference. Suspending jerk baits can be fished much slower than other types of lures, and when jerked and paused for a second or two, they produce an irresistible sub-surface walk-the-dog (side-to-side) action, mimicking an injured baitfish.



A lot of my local gravel pits have an abundance of Signal Crayfish, and at times creature baits can be deadly. Most people normally associate these with Perch, Chub and Large and Smallmouth Bass, but they're one of my favourite types of soft baits for Pike too, as they have a completely different profile and action to most other lures. My two favourites are the Berkley Havoc Pit Boss (which also works as an excellent trailer for skirted jigs and chatterbaits) and the Berkley Havoc Rocket Craw. Rigged on a 14g-21g (1/2oz - 3/4oz) jighead with a 2/0-3/0 hook, these can be hopped or crawled along the bottom where you'd normally find these invasive crustaceans, but they also work equally well on a straight retrieve. If a hungry Pike catches a glimpse of one of these, they should find it irresistible!



If a Pike does follow you in, don't lift the lure out of the water - let your lure fall down to the bottom and the fish will often follow your lure down and eye it up, sometimes for quite a while - my Dad had a Pike follow him in once that nosed his lure for just under 5 minutes before finally taking! If the fish starts to turn away or is still staring at your lure after 30 seconds or so, give the lure a tiny twitch and that's often all that's needed to trigger that fish to wolf down your lure!

After a noticeably mild winter, somehow, Spring is here and the Pike will be at their heaviest, so if you'd like the chance of hooking in to a big toothy critter on a lure, now is the time!

The Tackle Box Abu Garcia Revo MGXtreme casting reel Berkley Whiplash Crystal Spiderwire Code Red Braid Berkley Havoc Rocket Craw Berkley Havoc Pit Boss