Best Pike Fishing in Scotland Near Edinburgh

Scotia Fishing have access to some of the best Pike fishing in Scotland near Edinburgh!

Edinburgh is a fantastic location to visit in Scotland. The city has all you would ever need as a tourist visiting Scotland. Beautiful architecture, historic streets, palaces, castles, a beach and one of Europe’s best cities for food and drink!

It also benefits from being ideally situated only one hour from beautiful countryside and some of the best Pike fishing!

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Best Pike Fishing Guides

Scotland is a bit of a sleeping giant when it comes to Pike fishing. When you think of Scotland, you will likely think of Atlantic Salmon fishing. Scotland is the home of Salmon fly fishing, so we can fully understand this thinking.

However, we feel the Pike is the underdog, If the Salmon is the king, the Pike is the prince!

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Our Head Guide Callum Conner is recognised as one of the best pike fishing guides in Scotland.
He’s been a fanatical Pike angler from a young age. Covering the length and breadth of Scotland to amass a wealth of knowledge on Scotland’s best Pike lochs and when it is best to fish these lochs. 

During this time he has built up a respectable record of large 20lb plus Pike captures. He’s also one of only a hand-full of anglers in the country to have caught a wild of Pike of over 40lbs! (image above)

Using this experience we will guide you on carefully chosen venues to suit your experience.

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Best Pike Fishing Lochs in Scotland near Edinburgh

Pike fishing in Scotland will take you into some of the most beautiful scenery the country has to offer. Fishing the iconic Scottish glacial lochs with roaring stags and aggressive tail walking Pike to interrupt the tranquility.

The glacial lochs are the ultimate challenge for the visiting Pike angler. Due to their size, local knowledge is paramount to success.

A good guide will use his experience to assess the conditions and how best to fish the loch. This will maximise your chances of success.

The glacial lochs are the best for larger Pike. We recommend booking a minimum of three days to give you the best chance at landing a 2olb plus specimen!

We’re fortunate enough to have come across some lesser known private lochs and have gained privileged access for our clients.

These private lochs have some of the best Pike fishing in Scotland near Edinburgh. Big numbers of hard fighting Pike can be caught here all year round.

These lochs have fewer 20lb plus Pike, but lots of sporting Pike in the 4-10lb class which are outstanding on light gear and fly!

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Best Fishing Methods to catch Pike in Scotland

Spring Pike Fishing

In early spring the Pike can be be lethargic until the water warms up. During this period we will fish for Pike with bait (dead-baiting) during the morning session.

After lunch we will try fishing from the boat with lures and flies in shallow to medium depth water. Using a depth finder to locate the drop-offs from shallow bays into deeper water with sinking fly lines. 

Once the water has warmed up and the Pike have spawned by mid to late May we will fly fish from the boat with 9ft #9 fly rods from Loop Tackle and streamer style flies or for spinning anglers we use light lure fishing rods 7ft in length rigged with fixed spool reels, braided mainlines equipped with an array of soft plastic, spinner baits and surface lures from Sakura-Fishing. 

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Summer Pike Fishing

Summer pike fishing is our favourite! This time of year we can find the Pike in shallow areas and sometimes sight cast to them with surface lures and surface flies. This is the best way to catch pike in Scotland!

Pike will often bow wave chasing fast stripped flies just subsurface. At this time of year your guide will use the Minn-Kota engine to manoeuvre quietly into position for you to reach the sun-bathing Pike!

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Autumn/Fall Pike Fishing

Autumn/Fall see’s us revert back to Spring style tactics for pike fishing. As the water cools so does the Pike’s willingness to chase a bait. This all depends on the climate at the time. It is Scotland – so very hard to predict!

As October approaches the Pike will be slowing down and lure fishing opportunities become restricted to the warmer mid-day before eventually resorting to dead-baiting all day. 

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Winter Pike Fishing

We fish for Pike using dead-baits mostly from October to April. This method involves fishing with static baits.

Using a variety of different frozen baits we cast into the loch at various areas using a selection of rods to cover a suitable area. As the baits thaw the scent permeates into the water.

The Pike has a very advanced sense of smell and will sniff out the baits, sometimes very quickly. On its day, this is a very effective method and large catch days are possible.

Has this post wetted your appetite to try some Pike fishing?

Read our reviews on Tripadvisor about pike fishing near Edinburgh.

For more information on Pike fishing trips in Scotland, you can contact us via the “Contact Us” button at the top of the page.