European Pike
Title: European Pike Azores, Portugal
Name: European Pike (Esox Lucius)
When: May 2024
Where: Sao Miquel Island, Azores
First off – a short sales pitch for the Azores travel industry. A stay in the Azores is well worth it. We only stayed on Sao Miquel Island because we didn’t have a lot of time, but it was enough to fall in love with the country. The people, food, scenery and hiking.
Fishing is unique because saltwater fishing is tricky with few nearshore opportunities because of the quick drop off in the Atlantic and offshore is challenging because of targetable species – at least if you have a short amount of time on the water. But the island is beautiful and it’s a restful place to get away in totally different nature than the rest of Europe. I can see why some consider it the Hawaii of Europe.
I caught my first pike is a small river leading into one of the crater lakes. I had crystal clear water in a slow-moving stream about 12 feet across. I didn’t have a lot of time to fish this creek and had hoped to pick up both a European Black Perch which I saw and this Pike. There were also a few monster carp around, but I didn’t have any Carp flies that worked which was quite frustrating.
The Pike was extremely aggressive coming out from behind a small log in the water. I caught it on an 8 weight which was the only rod I had taken with me on this trip, so it wasn’t much of a fight – I just had to keep it out of the lumber/limbs in the water.
Northern Pike usually have a dark greenish to brown body color with lighter shades on the belly. They sport irregular, short, lighter-colored spots (often yellowish or white) on their flanks, creating a contrasting pattern against the darker body color. Pike typically have fewer than six pores under their jaw, a handy detail for fishers to note when identifying their catch.
Pike are aggressive predators and are known to bite on a wide range of lures. Large, brightly colored lures or those that mimic the appearance of their prey are effective. Alternative fast and slow strips. When you see a pike chasing your fly instinctively you might feel like slowing down your strip speed, while actually the opposite might be more effective. Imitating a baitfish that's trying to flee can result in some explosive strikes! Consider using heavy tippets (fluorcarbon) to prevent the pike's sharp teeth from cutting the line.
One of the enjoyable parts of this morning was the walk back for breakfast to the hotel as the trail went through an area with ferns growing right out of the side of the trail. Just beautiful and the kind of thing you see a lot in the Azores. Natural beauty.
