Hi Guys

Saturday morning i decided to try for perch on the Forth and Clyde canal in a new spot were ive seen large numbers of perch. The set up a 9' 3wt Vision Cult, Snowbee Geo reel loaded with a 3/4wt floatng line and a 13' leader of 8lb maxima with a rapala knot attaching my bright pink "wriggler" lure with heavy dunbell eyes which gives it a lovely dipping/diving action.

Lovely weather, bright sun and 15 oC but a rather brisk easterly wind..................................the canal looked so inviting and "fishy"




It was'nt long before i felt a fish hit the fly i struck and saw a crazy wee pike going nuts ! Great fun on a 3wt.




I carried on as ive seen lots of perch in this area in the past......................20 minutes or so later i saw a "flash" and felt another strike on the lure ! It went nuts and put a lovely deep bend in the 3wt at first i thought i had a perch ............. but no another wee pike !



I saw what i think was a good size perch following the lure but it was hard to see with the surface ripple ? I put another cast through the area "bang" fish on !! However not a perch ! another crazy wee pike !



Luckily these guys were hitting the long marabou tail so were lip hooked and biting on the long shank size 10 hook. A short time later i hooked another pike the pink lure could clearly be seen in his top lip sadly i lost him at the net ..................

Although it was'nt long till the sport started again ! this being my last pike of the day small but very pretty a much shorter head/ body than the others.



Great sport ! great fun ! the Forth and Clyde canal is plagued with these "tiny" pike i think due to the fact that most locals kill pike there are much larger pike in there but often hard to get to due to these wee pike. All these wee guys were released to fight another day I was of course fishing for perch and failed terribly.

NOTE: I noticed that the third wee pike seemed to deformed or damaged mouth ?? See below ............also note the heavy Pink wriggler which has proved very effective for perch.



Obviously i would'nt normally "target" Pike without trace and indeed i was'nt ! The Forth and Cylde canal is plagued with tiny pike id would have to say 95% of pike encountered are 14" and under ! Ive never seen pike as small in any other water or them in such numbers !

They are a real pain, when im float fishing for perch with the worm using #12 hook and 3lb mono some days i can get hit by up to half a dozen of these tiny pike just sitting in one spot ! this seems a very high density ?? Odviously i loose alot of hooks However i always fish barbless so hopefully these wee pike can shed the hooks without harm.

Funnily enough the biggest pike ive hooked in the Forth and Clyde canal have been on 3lb mono size 12 hook and a single worm ! Im taking fish in the 5lb -8lb range !


Id be interested if other have such high numbers of "tiny" pike in there local waters ?? Im certain the reason is that any larger fish are killed and paraded for all to see

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Englander

"Barbless since 2008"

Vision GT Four catapult 9' 6#
Vision GT Four SW 9' 9#
Vision 3 Zone 9' 5#
Vision Cult 9' 3#
Shakespeare Trion 9' 5/6#
Cortland Endurance 9' 6#
Shakespeare Expedition float tube
Vosseler DC3 reel
Okuma Helios 8/9 reel
Greys G series 3/4 reel
Snowbee Geo 3/4 reel

I used to pike fish a lot due to being brought up in the Fens, and read up a lot on pike habitats. However that was a while a go and my memory is a bit rusty, but from what I remember there is evidence that if you take the big pike from a water then you usually get an explosion of jacks. Reason being is that Pike eat Pike, and when you remove the bigger fish then the smaller fish have better survival rate.

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SpottyHors Fly Fishers

Spot on ............. thats why he has so many jacks in there

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WHEN YOU LEAVE THE RIVER, TAKE NOTHING, AND LEAVE ONLY FOOTPRINT'S!!!

THA CAN TELL A YORKSHIREMAN ,BUT THA CAN'T TELL HIM MUCH !!

Looks like great fun!

Englander: where on the F&C would you recommend? I've just moved to Kirknewton from Cambridge, and am missing the odd coarse session on fly.

The canal has always been polluted with these tiny pike.
I dont think the big pike are being killed so much these days so hopefully the big mammas will sort out the wee stuff.

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It is in truth not glory,nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting,but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with his life.(Declaration of Arbroath, 1320)

Englander you are so lucky to get little pike! i bet thats great fun, round here there arent any places i have been to with loads of little ones! be good fun on spinners or tiny plugs!

one day

Vinny