The biggest pike

Currently, the IGFA recognizes a 26 kg (55 pound) pike caught by Lothar Louis in Lake of Grefeern, Germany, on 16 Oct. 1986 as the all-tackle world record northern pike.
Interesting fishing news :The new world record holder for the biggest freshwater fish is the Giant Mekong catfish (Pangasius gigas).

There is even an English story of a pike found dead in a haystack. His teeth were set into the hind leg of a dead fox. The story suggests the pike attacked the fox before it was dragged from the water. The English do like country tales!

The Irish have even more pike stories. That's fair; they have more pike. Many of these early big fish were caught in Ireland's Lough -- lakes -- or rivers. Few were caught on rods. It was only after 14th century German armorers developed the art of drawing wire that reliable wire leaders became available and bigger fish could be taken by more sporting methods. Horsehair leaders don't cut it with pike!

John Buller, in his British book Pike and the Pike Angler lists at least 34 Irish and English pike ranging in size from 92 pounds down to the weight of the current North American record fish. A recent magazine listing reported 99 fish larger than Dubuc's North American Record. Some of these records (the list goes back to 1822) are a bit obscure. A number are well-documented and pike approaching muskie-size may be the occasional result of the combination of ideal conditions and a lack of angling pressure.

Pike (also known as Northern Pike) are found in both temperate and arctic areas in Eurasia and North America. They prefer shallow lakes and calm rivers with a lot of vegetation. Pike can also be found in brackish water.

The pike is a long fish with a flat and broad snout. The dorsal fin and anal fin are far back on the body and are similar in length. The male pike rarely achieve a weight of more than 18lbs(8 kg), while the female pike can weigh as much as 44lbs(20 kg).

Fishing news

Depending on how the weather is the best thing to know is (great fishing news)
1. always make sure while fishing shortlines that the wind is blowing towards you when it is coolout and but the sun is shining bright. 2. always make sure that if its cool out to fish when the sun is directly above you. that insures you the fish will be active and be feeding. 3. during spring the morning from 1-10 is about a 4 for amazing fishing, noon about a 7,night about a 5 because the sun was shining on the water making the surface water temp a little warmer and the fish will go to the surface mor to get the suns rays and warmth of the warmed water, that also goes along with the steps 1 and 2 i stated above!! also if using lures when it is warm out be sure that you follow step 1 and use surface lures because the fish love the warmer water and if you are interesting fishing for bass this is the best thing to catch the giants... but it is also wise to use bait instead of lures, and for those of you who don't know this bait is live and lures are fake!! 4.when fishing with bobbers always make sure; depending on the water depth, that you put the bobber no more than 4 feet from the bait or lure and no less than 1.5 feet from it and always make sure that you use small bobbers because fish aren't smart, but they definately aren't stupid!! 5. always fish shorelines during the warmer weather and rain is good too because the fish move to the surface while it is raining and you are more likely to get the catch of a lifetime!!! finally obey the catch and release rules, have fun and catch a beauty!!!!
Best-buy small fishing boats ...

Bass Fishing

Fishing for and catching Bass, in various waters across the globe, has a proud history and tradition. Most of us are too glad to get dabbling in and form part of it, whether from small boat, shore, rocks or rocks, rivers, streams, lakes or oceans. We like to tell our mighty tales and contemplate how to change and modify, adapt and or create new techniques, approaches to hook small mouth, large-mouth, speckled, spotted, striped and black bass. To each his own. You pick your favorite.
Knowing how to tell a small mouth from a large-mouth bass, striped from spotted and so on, is a very basic skill most anglers master quickly. Looking specifically at size and physical features
are good places to start. Train your eye to ‘spot the differences’, so to speak. Most, if not all of the so-called ‘insider’ secrets, tips and stories to tell of big hauls of Bass, all revolve, around a very simple basic rule – understanding the fish, (their life-cycles, feeding preferences, habits and patterns, habit and menu of choice, their nature, their relationship with the broader eco-system
and position on the food-chain, timing it right. Also heeding your surroundings, your fishing equipment (tools), having the know how and basics under your belt and finally optimizing (every!)
opportunity… In effect, you are going about, creating the most favorable angling process and outcome you can muster! Bass fishing is a passion, a science and an art form upon itself.
It appeals to young and old, attracts anglers from all walks of life and both sides of the professional and amateur spectrum.

River Monsters is a very scary show. It’s a series about huge fresh water fish – with names like the Goonch (you immediately know its going to be nasty) and the Piraiba. Then there is the Goliath Tiger Fish and the Giant Fresh Water Sting Ray. These are fish unlike anything you have seen before, all teeth and spines and each with a reputation for not only maiming and killing – but also sometimes consuming their human victims. They grow to unfeasibly large proportions, look like extra-terrestrials and inhabit rivers such as the Congo and the Amazon – far, far from the nearest Holiday Inn, Best Western or Chinese Take-Away. But the really, really scary thing about making this series is having to deliver one of these monsters in each show. This means that the presenter – extreme angler, biologist and adventurer, Jeremy Wade, has to actually catch one and wind it in on his reel.
Following the huge success of Jeremy Wade's River Monsters series in the US (highest ever audience figures in the history of Animal Planet) it is now showing on ITV1 in the UK. These half-hour programmes air on Thursday evenings at 7.30pm. A second season is also in production, featuring an all-new cast of outsize and outlandish fish. This will be broadcast on Animal Planet US from April 2010.
It’s a moment of television gold – and unlike some other television shows that Jeremy would be far too polite to mention, nothing is faked. It all happens in the camera and for real. The only trouble is that Jeremy has to perform this stunt every week and do so in genuinely harsh conditions.

Blue Marlin

The blue marlin is the largest of the marlins, common to 11 feet, and known to exceed 2,000 pounds. It is cobalt blue on top shading to silvery white on bottom, although colors can vary by region, leading to the belief that their may in fact be two distinct species - Atlantic Blue Marlin and Indo-Pacific Blue Marlin . The upper jaw is elongated in form of a spear, dorsal fin pointed at front end with no spots, and pectoral fin and anal fin are pointed. The lateral line is reticulated (interwoven like a net), making it difficult to see in large specimens. The body of the blue marlin is covered with imbedded scales ending in one or two sharp points.
Blue marlin feed primarily on tunas and other pelagic fishes and to a lesser extent on young reef fishes and squid. It is difficult to find a blue marlin over 10 years old, however they are believed to live up to 15 years. All specimens of trophy size are females; males do not exceed 300 pounds.
The blue's enormous size and legendary fighting ability make it one of the most highly-targeted gamefish in the world. Anglers commonly troll natural baits such as mackerel, tuna, bonito, ballyhoo and dolphin in hopes of enticing one of these giants. Brightly colored lures and teasers are also commonly used.

Fishing From Small Boats

Fishing from small boats is an international pasttime that provides opportunities for anybody from any social or economic situation to enjoy time on the water. Small boats of all shapes and sizes are found on our lakes, rivers and ponds year round. The reasons for owning and fishing from small boats are as varied as the people who own them, and range from economic to just plain preference.

When someone mentions using a small boat, it conjurs up images of pulling a flat bottom boat out of the mud and sitting in the leaking aluminum hull while plying shallow stumps and bushes for fish that inhabit these type waterholes. But on this site, you'll find that fishing from small boats is more than just a mudhole experience. With a carefully rigged flatbottom boat, canoe or kayak, you can do some serious fishing on some serious bodies of water. And while the pond experience will be included because of it's value to those with small boats, fishing from small boats in lakes of all sizes and types are discussed on this web site.

Fishing the Major Fish Habitats

SHALLOW TIDAL WATERS OVER SAND AND VEGETATION, FLATS:
Warm Water: tarpon, permit, ladyfish, bonefish, machete, horse-eye jack, spotted sea trout, barracuda, jack fish , amazing fish .

Cold and Temperate Water: weakfish, striped bass

ESTUARIES, BRACKISH COASTAL RIVERS, AND INLETS
Warm Water: Snook, tarpon, jacks, spotted sea trout, Atlantic croaker, red drum, black drum, gulf flounder and Snapper

DEEP SMOOTH SEA BOTTOMS
Warm water: gulf flounder, diamond turbot, naked sole

Warm and Temperate Water: Pacific tomcod, Pacific ocean whitefish, African pompano, jack fish, Pacific halibut, California halibut, English sole

Cold Water: cod, haddock, hake, rock sole, winter flounder, lingcod, Atlantic halibut

OFFSHORE SHELVES AND CHANNELS DROP-OFFS
Warm Water: yellowtail, permit, bigeye, southern kingfish, Atlantic croaker, red drum, redfish

Cold and Temperate Water: striped bass, bluefish, white sea bass, weakfish, redtail surfperch, black perch, rainbow sea-perch or sea-bass, cobia

SHALLOW REEFS, SHALLOW ROCKY BOTTOMS, KELP BEDS, AND ISLAND CHANNELS
Warm and Temperate Water: black grouper, jack fish, horse-eye jack, yellowtail, red snapper, yellowtail snapper, barracuda, bigeye and snapper

Cold and Temperate Water: jack mackerel, redtail surfperch, black perch, kelp perch, striped sea-perch, walleye sea-perch

OPEN OFFSHORE OCEAN SURFACE AND MIDDLE DEPTHS
Warm Water cobia, rainbow runner, amberjack, wahoo, dolphin, skipjack tuna, chub mackerel, king mackerel, bigeye tuna, Sailfish, spearfish, redfish

Warm and Temperate Water bluefish, Atlantic bonito, bullet mackerel, little tuna, Spanish mackerel, albacore, yellowfin tuna, bluefin tuna, swordfish, blue and black marlin, white marlin, sailfish, striped marlin and more interesting fish .