How to catch pike in autumn | Choosing a Rod, Reel and Lures

Peculiarities of biting in the autumn months (September, October and November)

Warm, cloudy days are the ideal time to catch spotted predators. But a light drizzling rain will not affect the biting activity at all. At the end of September - beginning of October, the most intense bite is observed in the mouth areas of small rivers (approximately the last 10-15 km). Autumn pike bite all day, you need to look for it throughout the entire reservoir. It can be both on the surface and at depth. The colder the water, the larger the bait should be.

Let's equip a spinning rod for pike.

Rod

• for small rivers - light, length 2.1-2.4 m, test load - up to 10 g.
• for medium rivers - length 2.4-2.7 m, test load - up to 20 g.

Coil

We take a spinning reel, as it is very convenient to use, and it is also a reliable and flexible tool. Inertia-free is the best option for spinning at the moment. When choosing, pay attention to the fact that the reel has a smooth ride and ease of rotation.

• for light spinning rods – size 500-1500;
• for medium spinning rods – 1500-2500;
• for powerful spinning rods – 2500-3500.

fishing line

When fishing with a spinning rod, two types of fishing line are used.

• – monofilament, 0.18-0.2 mm – for catching small pike;
• – braided, 0.10 – 0.16 mm – for catching large pike.

Braided fishing line is stronger and not subject to stretching, so it is better to opt for it. We choose a braid with a larger cross-section. One fishing line may have stronger impregnation, while another may have weaker impregnation. Weaker line may hold knots better, so choose according to your preference. The color of the fishing line does not play a special role, but more often they give preference to a colorless fishing line or choose it to match the color of the water.

More and more often, anglers are choosing a dark green color option.

Leash

• tungsten;
• fluorocarbon;
• metal (guitar string).

When fishing for pike, you should always use a leash because its teeth can cut any braided line. Types of leashes do not affect the game of bait. But the metal one can bend, and you have to straighten it by hand. Practice shows that metal leashes are more reliable. You can even make them yourself from guitar strings. A number one string with a diameter of 0.08 mm is quite suitable.

Pike fishing in September using other gear

Fishing this month promises a good catch, provided that the fisherman selects the right gear and chooses fishing tactics. You can use not only active fishing methods, but also supplement them with passive ones.

On the donk

For catching pike on a donk, a fishing rod with a length of 1.8-2.7 meters is suitable. Shorter ones are better suited for boat fishing, longer ones are better for fishing from the shore. The test must be at least 40 grams. Inertialess reels of size 3000 according to Shimano are suitable as reels. Braided or monofilament is suitable as a fishing line.

The sinker should be in the shape of an olive weighing at least 15 grams. The underwater float should be below it on the line. This arrangement will not allow the bait to bury itself in the mud. Bells can be used as bite alarms.

Bottom tackle for catching predators

This fishing method is passive. After casting, you need to wait until the bite comes. Some fishermen use it as additional gear.

Crawfish, frog, live bait are used as bait.

Fishing with live bait

Pike is a predator, so fishing with live bait has every chance of bringing a good catch. It can be brought in advance or caught in this reservoir with a fly rod. One of the predator’s favorite delicacies is small crucian carp.

When fishing with mugs, it is recommended to use at least ten at a time. A smaller quantity will not cover the required area. A larger quantity will be more difficult for the fisherman to control and he may miss the bite. The distance between them is usually 3-5 meters, no less.

Equipment for clubs

The mugs are equipped with a fishing line of 0.3-0.5 mm. You can use monofilament or braid. It is generally accepted that for this gear there is not much difference between them. The length should be 7-10 meters greater than the depth at the fishing site.

Take a weight of 10-20 grams, depending on the size and agility of the live bait. A leash is used with a length of 20-40 cm. This is necessary taking into account the fact that the pike is expected to swallow the bait deeply.

You can catch pike using fishing rods. For this, flyers equipped with monofilament fishing line with a diameter of 0.3-0.6 mm are often used. A weight weighing 10-15 grams is suitable. The leash should be approximately 20 cm long. It should be such that the pike cannot gnaw it.

The gear is installed where the presence of a predator can be expected near the shore. Gear can be checked every 2-3 hours.

Catching pike with spoons

Oscillating spinners

Since high requirements for playing an oscillating spinner are not required, the spinning rod can be of either fast or medium action. The test is approximately selected according to the weight of the bait being thrown. If the spinner weighs 10 grams, then the rod test should fluctuate 5-20 grams. If you fish from the shore, the length of the rod should be 3 meters. This rod will help you make a long cast and control the pike when fishing, preventing it from getting caught in a snag or around any obstacle. When fishing from a boat, we do not need a long rod, and in some cases it can be a hindrance. The length should be 2-2.10.

The reel can be either spinning or multiplying. Since it is easier to work with inertia-free (it is cheaper and less demanding to maintain), this option will be preferable. With a pulling force of at least 2500. The shape of the spoon should resemble the body shape of the fish living there. The color of the spinner doesn't really matter. But it should be taken into account that in sunny weather, light-colored spinners give off large glare, which scares away the pike. Therefore, you need to take a dark spinner.

Fishing technique with an oscillating spoon. Fishing with a spoon is quite simple: throw it out and pull it evenly towards you. If during retrieving we see that a predator follows the lure but does not attack it, then it makes sense to make short jerks with the rod so that the lure makes jerking movements from side to side. This often provokes the predator to attack.

Also, if there is depth in the fishing area and it is possible to let the spinner fall into free fall for 2-3 seconds, then during retrieving you can make short pauses, pausing the reeling of the reel (the spinner falls freely at this time). This will imitate a wounded fish and provoke the pike to bite.

Spinners

We choose the same spinning rod for fishing with rotating spoons as for fishing with spoons.

Mepps #3

Many anglers praise Mepps spinners. Indeed, these lures often produce results. Pike loves red, we know that.

Fishing with a rotating spoon is practically no different from the technique of fishing with a spoon: we throw it and evenly pull it towards us.
There are two types of spinners: with a wide blade and a narrow one. The wide blade has a more sweeping play, but a low rotation speed. With a narrow petal the opposite is true. In practice, it has been observed that pike prefer a wide blade with a lower rotation speed. When fishing in shallow water, when we visually observe a predator, but he ignores the spoon and does not want to grab it, we need to slow down the retrieve and let the spoon lightly stroke the bottom with its petal. This affects the pike like a red rag on a bull.

Features of pike fishing in autumn on small rivers

Autumn is the golden and most productive time for pike fishing on small rivers. In September, the flayer stands mostly in shallow-bottomed places in the water column. She still gets her fill in her summer routine. The difference is that the bite of the toothy fish lasts throughout the daylight hours. Such actions continue until the end of the “Indian summer”. In mid-latitudes this occurs at the beginning of October.

In mid-autumn, aquatic plants eventually begin to disappear and decline to the bottom. The lack of similar shelters and the invariably cooling water force the peace-loving fish to move to deeper areas, sliding towards future wintering areas. Of course, pike in the fall on small rivers move away from shallow waters to find their own food. Now you need to look for it in the following locations:

• deep holes and ditches;
• channel dumps;
• medium depths with variable relief;
• single snags and trunks sunk in the deepest zones;
• return lines and whirlpools.

In late autumn, pike cannot be found in shallow waters. It can only appear here during sudden warmings. And in this case, such an action is considered an exception to the rule, for this reason it is necessary to fish such areas as a last resort.

It is possible to hunt for pike on the small river until late autumn. It stops grabbing just before the ice freezes. In some ponds with non-freezing zones, fishing with summer gear, in particular spinning, can last throughout the whole winter.

Silicone lures for pike

Silicone baits can be varied:

• worms
• vibrotails
• twisters
• crustaceans
• frogs, etc.

The spinning rod required for fishing with silicone baits is different than for fishing with spinners. A spinning rod for jigging needs a fast action.

The test is selected based on the weight of the bait being thrown.

About installation technique. Take a jig head (it can be a jig of any shape or a ball with two ears, which is popularly called a Cheburashka), and the ball is mounted with a hook on the winding rings. We put silicone on the hook. Silicone lures come in different colors, but we recommend using either white or red and white for pike.

The technique of fishing with silicone baits involves jigging (twitching). You need to find an edge on the pond. We throw it onto this edge and take a step down from it. We can see from the rod when the bait is in a free fall, when the bait touches the bottom, we again make two or three turns of the reel. Wiring: 2-3 turns – pause, etc.

Fishing with foam fish

We catch fish with foam rubber in the same way as with silicone.

It has been noticed that when the predator is less active , the step should be short , and when fishing with a foam fish, it makes sense not to throw it immediately from the bottom, but to leave it motionless on the bottom for 3-4 seconds. The pike reacts to this with an immediate attack.

When fishing in snags, in order to avoid frequent snags, it is better to choose a bullet-shaped weight head, as it passes better through obstacles and is less susceptible to snags. You can also use a Tyrolean stick to avoid snags. The hook tip is embedded in silicone. We catch with frequent short light twitches.

It is preferable to choose foam rubber baits in yellow and mouse colors. It has been noticed that they work better.

Fishing with poppers and wobblers

Among the variety of wobblers, the most catchy in the autumn are the following:

1. crank
2. minnow
3. jer-bait

YO-ZURI 3D Flat Crank | Jaxon KarasYO-ZURI | Dino Crank

Three successful Crank wobblers for pike, which have successfully proven themselves among spinning anglers.

A spinning rod for fishing with a wobbler should be taken with a fast action. A spinning reel is suitable for minnows and cranks; for fishing with jer baits, due to its weight, the reel should be a multiplier, since a spinning reel will quickly fail. When the pike is active, it bites better on the crank. During periods of less activity, minnows are preferable.

Wobbler fishing technique:

• Crank : throw and pull slowly (uniform wiring). It makes sense to pause a crank with neutral buoyancy for 2-3 seconds.

• Minnow : Even wiring can be used. During wiring, you can make short jerks so that our wobbler changes direction. Or you can do torn wiring from the very beginning. It has been noticed that shallow-depth wobblers of natural colors attract predators more, and bright acid-lemon color is more suitable for wobblers with deep depth.

• Jer-bait is a surface bait and very heavy. Works best in early autumn at a depth of up to 2 meters. The spinning test is again selected according to the weight of the bait. The depth is small, about half a meter. But if you try, you can drive it deeper. Wiring: you need to make the jerk bait move from side to side with a large deviation; to do this, we make sharp twitches while simultaneously reeling in the fishing line.
• Popper is a surface bait. It has proven itself excellent in early autumn at depths of half a meter to two meters above aquatic vegetation. The rod's action is fast. The reel and line are the same as for the baits described above. Wiring: winding the line with short sharp jerks. No difference was noticed in color.

What bait to choose in the fall for pike

At the beginning of autumn, the situation under water is practically no different from the summer: aquatic plants have not yet died down, and the pike’s food items have somewhere to hide. Toothy has already taken the “high road”, but due to the above-mentioned circumstance, it is quite difficult for her to earn a living.

This is only to the advantage of the fisherman: the pike is hungry, and therefore will begin to rush at all kinds of baits - regardless of the type and horizons of action. There is only one thing, that at present, in the selection of a certain spinner spoon for pike in the fall or a wobbler, it is of no small importance - this is the volume, the larger it is, the more correct, since the toothy one will not waste time on trifles, its current task is to quickly fill its belly more densely .

The pike also bites on small and ordinary baits; of course, the size of the caught specimens leaves much to be desired. Thus, it’s time to use all kinds of jerkbaits and large - more than 20 cm long twisters and vibrating tails (and also foam rubber and mandules). Simply put, everything that simulates very large volumes of production.