It's no secret that pike like to lurk near and in the dense underwater vegetation. "To catch a pike, you need to look for weeds," say old anglers, and they're rarely wrong. Especially when the spawning of various carp fish begins, which tend to happen in more shallow and weedy areas of the waters. Pike regularly return to areas filled with vegetation, because life is bustling here during the warm season – an abundance of food attracts small fish. And where there are small fish, you will find pike too.
The end of spring is also one of the best times for spinning anglers when they can catch many pike during one fishing trip. Often very large too, because among the small and medium-sized ones, from the deep waters to the edges to stuff their stomachs come the big "crocodiles". But not all fishing trips are successful during this time. Pike are often really full and don't hunt all day, so it's possible to simply miss their active hours. The fish lays on the bottom or hangs around some vegetation digesting the prey and is not very interested in what is going on around it. Unless it is related to its own safety or invasion of its hunting grounds. This is what can provoke the predator to attack. If the bait comes close to it or tickles its nerves with its appearance and vibrations or stimulates the predator's instincts for self-defense.
That you found such pike is often given away by empty blows, pushes and misses of the bait, stalking, and bite marks on the tail and other parts when fishing with a soft bait. So if you managed to find one like that, you're halfway to success. When changing the baits, their size, colours, sometimes the direction of their pull, it's likely that sooner or later the pike will lose patience and grab this annoying intruder more seriously.
So, to catch a pike on a day of inactivity, the most important thing is to find the pike itself and get the bait as close to its nose as possible. Of course, it is easier said than done. Finding a pike in the vastness of vegetation, filled with schools of fish is no easy task, even if you have a sonar! Older class sonars are really losing here, because they usually show both fish and vegetation equally. Unless the fish is completely detached from vegetation. But Deeper can distinguish fish from vegetation. You only need to set the colours well and know how to read what the sonar is showing. The example illustrates a situation in which the sonar is likely to show pike hiding in the vegetation. Of course, there is a chance to make a mistake when interpreting. However, the possibility to see it is very helpful when you are in this situation.
It's important not to lose patience and try your best to learn to read and recognise what your Deeper sonar is showing!
