First lay the Pike on a suitable unhooking mat. In the absence of a commercially made mat, a strip of carpet or wet sacking would suffice. Turn the Pike onto its back and straddle it with your legs. Light pressure from knees and thighs will now stop the fish from struggling, the idea is to lightly but firmly hold the Pike in position and not sit on it.

Next, find the gill covers and carefully open them so that you can look inside. Check for the presence of your trebles and if they are well clear insert your fingers staying close to the covers themselves, avoid the red filaments that will also be in view. These are the gill rakers and the bony structure will rasp your skin and cause bleeding if you come into contact with them. Slide your fingers forward towards the snout of the Pike following the "V" of the gill structures. Once you have the Pike between your legs and with your hand in the "V" of the gill structure he/she is at your mercy, you are in control. Close your hand and maintain a firm grip under the jaw, avoid clawing or curling the fingertips. However as there is a risk your fingers will break through the Pikes delicate skin, keep fingertips straight when clenching fist. Maintaining a firm hold, gently pull the Pike upwards and towards you. The Pike has no option but to open its mouth.

Continue applying firm upward pressure until the Pike’s jaw is fully open. At this point you should be able to see the whereabouts of your terminal tackle and prepare to remove it. Do not rush at this stage. Take time to work out the appropriate access route and which treble to remove first. Stay calm, you will have no need to put your fingers anywhere near the teeth and in any case it is the rakers rather that the teeth that will cause most of your cuts and abrasions if you lose concentration.

With the jaw fully open a cleanly hooked Pike can not be fairly easily unhooked through the mouth opening. A friend holding the trace end and applying light pulling pressure helps but it is by no means essential. The real benefits of using semi-barbless treble hooks will now be realised. Sometimes terminal tackle will be lower down in a Pikes mouth than we would like and often is difficult to reach through the mouth. In such circumstances carefully enter through the gills avoiding damaging the rakers. From that entry point a low down hook can often be reached, turned and then removed via the mouth

Do not be taken in by the macho types who proclaim that they do not need to use nets and can land any Pike by hand. It takes a deal of experience to be able to hand land Pike and only a fool would proclaim his ability to hand land and an all Pike caught. That said there are obviously going to be some circumstances where it is easier, simpler and sometimes kinder to the fish not to use a net. The Pike may be hooked by just one treble in or near the lip in this instance a quick turn of the hook, using forceps will free the Pike without having to take it from the water. A flying treble, i.e. one outside the mouth, may well tangle in the mesh of the net and can be a particular problem with smaller, highly active Pike. My own general approach is to lift anything smaller the 8lb out by hand and use a net for any heavier fish. When doing so a firm one-handed grip behind the head of the Pike is my preferred method. Inserting my hand into the gills of a hooked Pike thrashing bout in the water is not, I’m afraid for me. For those determined to try hand landing big Pike, consider the case of a Merthyr lad who hand-landed everything, everything that is until the day arrived when he found one treble through he skin between his thumb and finger of one hand and the other treble attached to a 20lb Pike desperate to escape. Painful and definitely not recommended.

Despite all their care even the most experienced Pike Anglers will admit to the occasional deep hooked Pike. It does, regrettably happen to us all at some point in time. In the vast majority of cases there is still little to fear. Usually the first treble can still be seen. This should be freed as above. Should the remaining treble be out of sight pull the end of the trace gently but firmly away from the Pike. Maintaining careful pressure the Pike’s stomach lining will slowly come into view allowing the final set of trebles to be seen and removed. This procedure is easier if you have a friend to help but is by no means impossible for a lone-angler to accomplish. When the last hooks are removed, use a pair of forceps to gently push the stomach back down and the Pike should be no worse for wear for its experience. There are, of course, those very rare instances when, despite our very best efforts, either we cannot remove the hooks or to do so would cause an unacceptable level of damage to the Pike. In those circumstances I would have no hesitation or qualms in cutting the trace and leaving hooks in place. Observations in fish tanks lead me to believe that hooks deteriorate in a fish’s gut far more quickly than we may think. I would however, recommend the following: Cut the tackle a low down as possible; do not leave anything that can be removed. Use wire cutters if possible to cut off any visible parts of hooks. Above all ensure trebles are not stitching up the throat area preventing feeding, in that instance I would risk further damage to the Pike rather than release it to a certain death.

After a hard fight all Pike are tired. In addition an awkwardly hooked Pike may have been on the bank a while as the angler struggled to unhook it. The modern trend towards photographing captures, adds yet more time spent out of the water. On occasions, and particularly so in summer, when Pike give their all to the fight, Pike may well "belly up" on release. First off do not panic. In all probability the Pike merely needs a short breathing space to recover. Hold the Pike upright near the tail and gently move it to and fro, into any current that may be present. If after a few minutes the Pike shows no signs of swimming away and is still going "belly up" by far the best policy is to use bank sticks placed around the fish to hold it in an upright position (preferably facing into any current that may be flowing) and leave it alone! It may take just a few minutes or it may take a few hours, but if that Pike is going to recover then it will in its own time.

Personally I deplore the sacking of any species, but particularly so in the case of Pike. However, in this day and age it is fairly common practice. The time Pike (or any other species for that matter) are kept in sacks should be kept to an absolute minimum, attempt to sack a large Pike overnight for a daylight photo and you risk having a dead fish to photograph or at best a sick one. Sacks should be placed in deep clean water; shallow stagnant waters are out of the question, ensuring a constant supply of cool, well-oxygenated water is readily available. Unless there is ample bank side shade do not sack fish in warm temperatures even if a cool breeze is blowing. Constant sunshine beating down on the water and a sacked fish will cause irreparable harm to the fish. Ensure the sack is well staked down, stories abound of sacks swimming off to the deeps, funny to hear of, but I bet the fish don’t laugh. There is no compromise to a commercially bought sack, Post Office mailing sacks will not do.

Author Peter Jeffs