The 1st of October

[Santiago]

Well said John!! Traditionally many went piking in the winter for the table because they wanted fish to eat on a Friday and due to winter storms at sea there was no guarantee of fresh fish at the fish mongers. And summer piking was unheard of because there was very little respect for pike as a sporting fish and by many was considered vermin.

Fortunately times have changed much for the better, and pike now are considered by many knowledgeable anglers to be a good sporting fish worthy of angling for in both winter, autumn and summer months. To name a few TV anglers I have seen on TV recently pike fishing during the summer to include John Wilson, John Bailey, Mick Brown and Matt Hayes. So if they think it's Ok then I feel in good company. Yet actually, nowadays I only find myself pike fishing in the summertime when I ' m trotting for roach and they snaffle the odd one. But then again, I may do more lure fishing next summer if the mood takes.

[Santiago]

There's also a big flaw in the argument that fishing past 1st October is better for the pikes welfare than fishing during the summer, given that this encourages fishing just before spawning. One of the arguments against summer fishing goes that after spawning in late February /March the pike are so knackered that they are out of condition for the next seven months so should not be fished for even during colder spells throughout the summer (and yes, they certainly should not be fished for during heat waves). So given that the 1st October advocates say that pike require 7 months to recover from spawning, why do they fish for them just before they spawn and stress them even more just before an event that will knacker them for 7 months. This does not make sense. Surely then, if welfare is the issue due to spawning fatigue and heat/oxygen levels, pike fishing should be restricted to October through to December