Beginning Pike Fishing - Tackle And Bite Indication

Beginners guide to pike fishing. Tony Stone discusses his recommendations for tackle, wire traces and more pike fishing advice

Beginners guide to Pike Fishing, Part 1 - Tackle and Bite Indication
By Tony Stone

I have been pike fishing for about 12 years, since my dad taught me at a local gravel pit near us. Everything you see here has been either learnt from him or picked up through reading magazines, books or watching DVD's. There are some parts which I have made up myself, such as the popped up trace technique I now use.

I will start with a brief run through the tackle and gear you will need to start out.

Rods

When choosing a rod for pike bait fishing, you need to bare in mind a few things -
Firstly, the rods test curve. This determines how many pounds and ounces of pressure the rod requires to bend the tip round to a 90° angle to the butt.
Pike rods are traditionally between 2.75 and 3.50lb test curve.
A 2.75 or 3lb tc rod is a good all rounder, it will cope with most situations you are likely to encounter on rivers or gravel pits, with the 2.75 being ideal for smaller rivers or canals.
For longer-range fishing, or big water fishing of reservoirs you will need stronger rods of 3.25 - 3.50lb tc to cope with the longer casting or bigger baits.
Drifter rods tend to be longer than normal bait rods with a 3.25lb tc, the longer rod helps with picking up the line at hundreds of yards away.
Pike rods are different from carp rods in that they have a more through action. Carp rods tend to have more tippy actions for casting leads long distances.
With a through action it helps with casting a lead and dead bait, by building the pressure up through the rod, not just from the tip.
I use 2.75lb tc rods, which are perfect for the fishing I do, mainly large rivers, gravel pits, lakes etc. I can comfortably cast 70 yards, and as most of my fishing is done a lot closer than this, I don't need heavier rods.

Reels

A good reel for piking needs to hold at least 170-200 yards of 15lb mono or the same of 30lb braid.
There are some very good budget reels on the market, you can pay £25 for a decent Okuma Interceptor specimen reel which is as good as some of the more expensive shimano or fox specimen reels. Its down to personal preference, I would suggest you get the best you can afford.
Shimano reels are widely regarded as the best specimen reels on the market, they change hands for around £30-40 on ebay, new they cost around £50-£120 depending on what size you want. I use a pair of Shimano bait runner 6010GT's, they are a good size to couple with pike rods and they hold more than enough line.
You can also get some cheaper bit pit reels these days with Daiwa doing a budget one for around £40; these will hold hundreds of yards of line, for long distance fishing. These reels do not come with a bait runner function as standard though and the attachment needs to be purchased afterwards if you choose to use the bait runner.
That point takes me on to whether or not you will need a bait runner on your pike reel. The shimanos that I use do have a bait runner function, but I rarely use it to be honest. I much prefer to have the bail arm open, as this helps to minimise resistance when a pike picks up the bait.
So its up to you if you choose a reel that has one or not, the only essential requirement is that is holds enough line

Line

Monofilament line needs to be strong for pike fishing, it needs to cope with casting large leads and dead baits, as well as being strong enough to cope with the head shaking or tail walking of an angry pike, or powerful runs from a river pike.
For this reason, the MINIMUM breaking strain mono I use for piking is 15lb.

What make of line you use is up to you but there are so many decent makes of line available that it's not worth chancing it with unbranded line or really cheap stuff. Fox warrior, Berkeley big game and Daiwa sensor are very good lines, with my personal preference being Berkeley big game. In 15lb big game breaks in excess of 18lb.

I change the mono on all my reels every season, at only £6 for a 900yd spool; I can do 4 reels with over 200yds on each.

Braid

Many anglers use braid for all their pike fishing. I don't, preferring to use it for float and lure fishing situations.

I prefer to use braid for float fishing situations, this is because braid floats so it's easier to mend the line if your trotting a bait down a river or drifting a bait out 150yds into a gravel pit. This takes me onto the best feature of braid, its diameter and its lack of stretch/memory
Braid of 40 or 50lb only has the thickness of 10-12lb mono, sometimes less.
As braid doesn't stretch its possible to wind down into a fish at 150yds out and make connection like it is only 40yds out.

I use 30lb braid for lure fishing, I would never use mono, unless fishery rules stated, for lure fishing, the lack of stretch when working lures means you can feel every bump and grab from a pike. It also gives immediate hook ups on the strike.

Braid, generally, is more expensive than mono. If you have the opportunity, it's cheaper to get it from the Internet, place like bass pro or cabelas in America. Ebay is also a cheap source for decent braids too.
Some of the best makes are Power Pro, TFG, Fox and Berkley whiplash, all are good braids, which offer great reliability. I used a company called www.braiddirect.co.uk, which came very highly recommended. It's unbranded, but very reliable. And as yet I have not had it break in any situation, let alone a fishing one.
Although more expensive, braid lasts a lot longer than mono, infact I have been using the same Berkley fireline 8lb braid on my feeder reel for around 6yrs with no change in its performance. Pikers braid is the same, depending on the amount of use, however fishing once a week during the piking season, it is likely to last you a good few years, which makes the price a bit easier to swallow.

Tools for the Job

Before setting out to catch pike, you need to make sure you have the correct equipment needed to remove treble hooks from the pikes mouth.

Firstly you will need a large net preferably 42'. The pike is a long fish so you will need a large net to fit the fish in to, for this reason your net should be no smaller than 42'. I use a sovereign baits 43' predator net available from the Internet.

You will also need a large unhooking mat. Something that is well padded and long enough so that the whole fish is protected when you lay it on the mat. I use a Wychwood one with double zip around, so I can zip the sides to carry the fish back to the water without fear of the fish sliding out the end onto the ground etc in your swim.

A large weigh sling will be needed if you want to weigh your fish. There are 2 types, firstly a half moon shape which is the one I use, or you can get specialist weigh slings for longer fish like pike and catfish which feature 2 bars to keep the sling rigid, which therefore doesn't bend the fish.
You will also need short and long nosed forceps, some wire cutters and some bolt/side cutters. It's sometimes a lot easier to snip up a hook worth around 25p than to root around trying to remove it and risk damaging the pike.

Here is the selection of tools I carry with me for a piking session

Traces

Traces are one of, if not, the most important items of tackle in pike fishing.
Pikes teeth are very sharp and even 20lb mono or 50lb braid would be sliced through if used as hook length, therefore it is very important to use a wire trace.

There are many different wires on the market these days, some are coated like fox carboflex, some are 49 strand, which provides a supple wire; some are 7 strand, which provides a slightly stiffer wire.

Wychwood, fox, drennan and ET all do very good wires, with my preference being 7 strand fox and drennan types.
Both of these wires can be either crimped or, my preference, twisted. Whether you twist of crimp is up to you, at the end of the day its whatever you feel confident with, try both and see which works for you.
If you choose to use a wire like fox carboflex, this wire cannot be twisted and you have to use crimps, make sure you make the traces with a proper crimping tool and not just squash the crimp down with pliers, you can damage the wire and crimp and risk not securing it properly.

I like my hook traces to be around 60cms, with the exception of paternoster hook traces which are half that length as these are used with an up trace. The reason a trace of 60cm is used is to stop the pike getting the mainline caught in its teeth it either -
a) The pike rolls over during the fight and the wire wraps around its head
b) If in the unfortunate instance a pike swallows the bait, the trace will still be long enough so that the mainline is not cut on the pikes teeth.

It is cheaper and more satisfying to make you own traces, that way you can vary them in length, hooks etc.

The following will take you through a step by step guide to making your own trace - please note this is for twisted wire traces only not crimped

Cut the required length of trace, I aim to have a finished trace of around 60 cm long so I cut the wire about 70 cm

Next heat up the last half inch with a lighter

Bend the last inch over

Push the bend through the eye of the treble

Next slip the loop of wire over the treble, so that the wire traps the treble,

Pull the loop down tight so you are left with a tag of about an inch or so

Use a twiddle stick, to twist the treble while holding the tag with your other finger,

Until it looks like this

Next slide your second treble onto the wire, decide how far apart you want the 2 trebles

Bend the remaining length of wire along the shank of the treble

Fold wire again along the other side of the shank

Next wrap the wire around the shank 4 times, and pass the remaining length of wire through the eye of the treble and pull tight

Attach the swivel exactly the same way as the first treble

And here's what the final article should look like

Up traces

Up traces should be used with float paternoster, float fished live bait and ledgered live bait rigs. Again this prevents the pike from getting the mainline into its mouth and allowing it to bite through it. Shorter hook traces are used with up traces, so if an up trace is 60cm, then the hook trace should be around 30-40cm

Here is how I set up my up trace, it is quite simply 2 swivels either end with a bead trapped between the 2, the run ring can freely pass over the swivel so can be put on after tying up the trace

The length of the mono attached to the run ring, determines how far off the bottom you require your bait to work. A snap link swivel is attached to the swivel nearest the lead. The hook trace is then connected to this.
The above rig is the same I use for ledgered live baits without, obviously, the float. This rig is safe because if, in the unfortunate case, the line should break above the trace the lead is ejected from the trace so the pike doesn't carry the lead around, whilst trying to rid itself of the hooks.

There is a different up trace, which is commercially available, readymade, which works on the same principle as above, called a rotary or helicopter up trace, but it is semi fixed not free running.

Both are easy to make and safe in the right hands. Just remember to use strong mono/braid and the chances of you snapping up are very slim.

Hooks

Trebles, as with wire, are down to personal preference. You need to find one that you have total confidence in.
I have used may hooks over the years, and the best ones I have found have been Fox Carbon XS, drennan extra strong and more recently eagle claws. All are sharp, and will not bend under normal fishing situations. The eagle claws are my number one choice when fishing near snags, this is because if the hooks get caught up in the snag, a straight pull with 15lb line will bend the hook out and you will retrieve your tackle instead of leaving baited hooks in the water for a pike to snag itself later.
The newer Wychwood hooks come highly recommended to me, but they are not ones I have used myself, yet!

Deciding which hook size to use depends largely on the size of bait you intend to use.
I would use size 8 trebles for very small baits or live baits
I use size 6 for most of my general piking; they are a good size for medium to larger baits
I have recently started using Fox Size 4's, as they seem to be easier to deal with when a fish is being unhooked. They are also used if I am using larger than average baits.

You can purchase cheaper bulk lots of trebles from places like ebay, these are not of a very good quality. A Friend of mine used some and found out they can straighten all too easily, so one to be avoided. I much prefer to pay for quality hooks, at the end of the day, they are what is keeping you in contact with the pike.

Bite Indication

Next up is Bite indication and Alarm set ups

I don't use a bait runner for pike, unless I'm float fishing, preferring to always fish with an open bail arm. I prefer to use an open bail arm in order to give as little resistance as possible to a taking pike. Some people prefer to use bait runners to keep a steady pressure on the pike.
This maybe true, but you will have to find out what works best for you, if you feel that you want to use the bait runner facility on your reel then you should do. All the rigs I have detailed can be used in conjunction with a bait runner or with an open bail arm. I will add that I very rarely have any dropped runs using the set up that I do.

I use audible alarms for my pike fishing, this allows me to keep an eye on the water looking for pike feeding activities or if I am wobbling a dead bait then the alarm alerts me the second a pike takes my bait.
There are four bite alarm set ups that can be used ranging from very simple to advanced.

The first is one I would recommend to a beginner starting out; it is also the cheapest as a rear drop off indicator costs around £3 - £5. With this bite indicator set up it's very important that you keep an eye on it, as there is no audible alarm.

The next is the same as above but with the added benefit of a front bite alarm to be used as an audible warning that the pike has picked up your bait.

The next set up consists of an audible rear alarm; this works in exactly the same way as the above set up. More is explained below of how this alarm actually works. The use of a rear alarm is likely to be better if you intend to do any night fishing for pike. This is due to the rear alarm emitting a constant tone once triggered, should you drop off to sleep.

The next set up is one that gives an early warning of the take on the front alarm, and a constant alarm on the rear when the line has pulled free from the clip. As mentioned above, this is important for night fishing

If you are just starting out into pike fishing then the simple drop off indicator will do. But like I said above if you do use this you must be prepared to watch the indicator at all times.
Please don't think that because I have put these alarm set-ups on here that they are the ones you have to use, they are not. You can use any alarm set up you want, provided it shows both forward runs and drop back runs.

How to set up the rear indicator or alarm

this works for both audible rear alarms and simple drop off indicators.
Firstly cast you rig out the distance required, tighten down to the lead and put the rod on the rod rest.
Keeping the line tight, open the bail arm and clip you line in the clip provided on the rear indicator

You are now ready to catch a pike,

Your indicator will behave in one of 2 ways; if the pike picks up the
bait and swims towards you, the indicator will start to drop

If the pike still continues towards you then the arm will continue to drop

If a pike picks up you bait and swims away from you then the line will pull free from the clip, and the arm will fall away giving the pike slack line to run.

Once the arm starts dropping, or the line pulls free from the clip, pick up the rod, close the bail arm, wind down until the line goes tight and sweep the rod back over your head. Remember you are not trying to rip the pikes head off with the strike, Keep firm pressure on the pike by keeping the rod bent into the fish. By winding down to the fish you are
tightening the line and the sweep over your head will set the hooks.

Beginning Pike Fishing - Baits and Tactics

 

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