Tips for landing a pike in kayak sitting?

[Fred Allen]

Today I fished a water I didnt fish before (25 years ago from shore) in my kayak. I threw a crank and a big fish hit it. I thought he was a 10 pound bass the way he fought. Got him close and he was a pike about 2 feet long. I panic looking at his teeth and all those treble hooks. Luckly I had my fish grabbing thing but he would NOT open his mouth for the grabber. After trying to use the grabbers I gave up because he started flopping around a lot. I tried to grab him from the back with my hand around him and he was so slippery he freaked out and ended up spitting out the lure and the trebles stuck my hand and the fish swam away. Luckily the hooks were not in too deep so they came out with only a little bleeding.

 

What did I do wrong and how do I do it right? Never came across this fish before.

[MN Fisher]

15 minutes ago, Fred Allen said:

What did I do wrong and how do I do it right?

You need a net.

 

[Deephaven]

I either grab the fish by my hand or paddle to shore.  

[jimmyjoe]

   You're in a kayak? Carry a small bath towel. Then you can grab them from the top more easily. If you really need to, dust the towel with corn meal. That provides friction. You can keep the towel rolled up quite nicely.                                     jj

[NYWayfarer]

I use a net for pike and big pickerel when kayak fishing.
 

Landing them is no joke. They often thrash around so much and love to smack against my kayak dislodging my lure. When I hook into one it’s usually a 50/50 shot at getting it in the net and kayak.

[MN Fisher]

18 minutes ago, NYWayfarer said:

I use a net for pike and big pickerel when kayak fishing.
 

Landing them is no joke. They often thrash around so much and love to smack against my kayak dislodging my lure. When I hook into one it’s usually a 50/50 shot at getting it in the net and kayak.

Or they just bite it off - which happened to me last year.

[Michigander]

I don't use treble hooks in the kayak.

[Further North]

Net, jaw spreaders, long needle nose pliers (mine are 15") and pinch your barbs, they come out much easier.

 

[MIbassyaker]

15 hours ago, Michigander said:

I don't use treble hooks in the kayak.

 

Do you replace with singles, or just not fish crankbaits, jerkbaits, poppers, etc.?

[Michigander]

Just now, MIbassyaker said:

 

Do you replace with singles, or just not fish crankbaits, jerkbaits, poppers, etc.?

I fish mostly single hook presentations in the kayak and the few hardbaits I use in the kayak have all been changed to inline singles.

 

 

 

[TnRiver46]

The way I understand it, it’s a victory when the pike shakes off. Sounds to me like you did everything correctly except getting the hook stuck in your hand. 

[Cdn Angler]

If I am fishing water with pike/muskie in my kayak I always carry a net, which I of course learned the hard way.  The longer you spend trying to land them in close quarters the more likely you are to get broken off, snap a rod (have done this with a big-ish muskie in the backcountry), catch a treble or some teeth. 

 

Unhooking a big one in a kayak can be a challenge and I'll often beeline to shore to try and handle things there. 

[Fred Allen]

I went back to that same lake today and got a WAY bigger Pike. Landed him with the net! Thing was huge hard to photograph myself. Only problem was my net was almost too small for him!

 

 

[Scott F]

Holding your rod in one hand, grab them by the back of the head squeezing them at the back of the gill plates with your free hand.  The back of the head isn’t nearly as slippery as the body and you control the head with all the teeth. With your hand there, you can control the pike with your fingers safely out of the way. Set the rod down and with your free hand you can remove your lure with long nose pliers. (And jaw spreaders if needed) The pliers keep fingers clear of the teeth. Once the lure is out, drop the pike back in the water.  I’m not a big fan of using nets on small to medium sized pike. They flop around so much, that they get tangled and it gets hard to get the lure out when you can’t control the fish like you can when you have a firm hold on the back of the head. Your net also gets covered in slime and it gets on everything in your yak.  Fish grippers also don’t give you enough control.