ANY Livebaiting advice?!?

Just started Live-baiting and would appreciate ANY advice on it?

Been 3 times to a large pool on Leeds Canal and blanked, getting ridiculous ...

Would appreciate all of the information you can give me on Rigs, Photos, Floats, How to catch Livebait (quickly and easiest - tried a whip), how to hook Livebait (been using roach), single or double trebles (or singles and sizes of Hooks).

Thanks,

I don't live bait much these days but a large treble in the middle of the back held on with a bait flag

Always always use an uptrace to stop being bitten off, safety first. Theres loads of pictures on the web explaining this. I use a single through the dorsal with a bait flag to stop it wriggling off and a small treble just nicked through the pectoral muscle to keep it in place, roach are great baits but catching them in the middle of winter can be a real pain. good luck.

lowdouble wrote:Always always use an uptrace to stop being bitten off,  safety first.   Theres loads of pictures on the web explaining this.  I use a single through the dorsal with a bait flag to stop it wriggling off and a small treble just nicked through the pectoral muscle to keep it in place,  roach are great baits but catching them in the middle of winter can be a real pain.  good luck.

when winter fishing for roach try punched bread on a size 20 hook used to work for me ..... pal

As has been said always use a up-trace
Here's a link to some livebait rigs for you to look at
Click link >>>   Pike livebait rigs

Do you have it free roaming or static  make sure you have the live bait off the bottom I like to fish them at least 12 to 20inch off bottom and let them roam free if conditions allow best to have a weight just above the fish as well to stop it from swimming up and tangling with your float / mainline !
Also try fixing in one spot with a long weak link with a heavy weight so the live bait can't move it ! just like a paternoster rig
If you're not catching with live bait maybe they aren't many pike in that area as they don't usually turn down a live bait !! or keep moving around every 30 mins or so as it might just be that there's none in the area you are fishing search them out  you might drop on some big one's

Here's a paternoster rig in this link >>> Paternoster rig

adie1200 wrote:As has been said always use a up-trace
Here's a link to some livebait rigs for you to look at
Click link >>>   Pike livebait rigs

Do you have it free roaming or static  make sure you have the live bait off the bottom I like to fish them at least 12 to 20inch off bottom and let them roam free if conditions allow best to have a weight just above the fish as well to stop it from swimming up and tangling with your float / mainline !
Also try fixing in one spot with a long weak link with a heavy weight so the live bait can't move it ! just like a paternoster rig
If you're not catching with live bait maybe they aren't many pike in that area as they don't usually turn down a live bait !! or keep moving around every 30 mins or so as it might just be that there's none in the area you are fishing search them out  you might drop on some big one's

Thanks gusy that's great, but I can't seem to activate any of the Links?!?

I don't know why they are working for me both on my mobile and on my computer

Got them to work. Thanks Guys!

Quick one, when I'm using a drifter or sliding float across an expanse of water, how do I know what height to set the float at or how deep it is underneath the stretches of water (I alternate between the big river and the canal behind throughout the day) I'm fishing? I know that it must change radically as the livebait and float moves around?

mcleans99sn wrote:Got them to work. Thanks Guys!

Quick one, when I'm using a drifter or sliding float across an expanse of water, how do I know what height to set the float at or how deep it is underneath the stretches of water (I alternate between the big river and the canal behind throughout the day) I'm fishing? I know that it must change radically as the livebait and float moves around?

if you can cast out a float with say a 4 oz weight and use as a plumbing device , see wants in front of you  first of all  probably up to 50yard depending on how far you can cast . lets say its ten foot deep I like to set the stop knot to about 8 foot deep , next drift this out till it goes past your casting areas  if it does not slow up on the drift its obviously deeper , then its just a case of altering the depth till it does slow or stops  , then you will get an idea of what's in front further out , it can take quite a few drifts to find this out , but well worth it , a lot of the time half depths works quite well  on the venues I use the drifter.

Rather than a bait flag, you can use a 10mm section of wide elastic band to the same effect. Will stand repeated reuse, costs nothing and I'm not sure I like the idea of a bright red bait flag on the side of my bait anyway.

For catching roach, get yourself a cheapo telescopic 3-4m pole (with a bit of elastic in the top, just in case you hook something bigger), some low diameter line (I use 0.13 line with a breaking strain of 4lb 12oz, again just in case something bigger hits your swim) and as small a hook as possible. Best to tie your (ideally) size 24 hook at home with warm fingers though. Single maggot, light pole float (say 0.2 to 0.4 grams) and away you go. The thing I like about maggot is the durability. You can get upwards of 10 fish without having to change the bait.

Regarding hook baits, it's perhaps worth considering that you don't need as large a bait as you think. Some of the largest pike I've had have been on tiny (4 inch, perhaps weighing 10g. About the size of a small sprat) roach baits. I don't think a larger bait brings in a larger fish - I personally never ever use a bait larger than a half joey mackerel. If you find a swim with a lot of small roach, you can always throw 10-30 of them back in chopped in half as ground bait. I've found that to be quite effective. What I like about small hook baits is that you know the moment you get an indication you can strike. Fewer dropped runs/missed runs and fewer deep hooked fish in my personal experience.

J Robinson wrote:Rather than a bait flag, you can use a 10mm section of wide elastic band to the same effect. Will stand repeated reuse, costs nothing and I'm not sure I like the idea of a bright red bait flag on the side of my bait anyway.

For catching roach, get yourself a cheapo telescopic 3-4m pole (with a bit of elastic in the top, just in case you hook something bigger), some low diameter line (I use 0.13 line with a breaking strain of 4lb 12oz, again just in case something bigger hits your swim) and as small a hook as possible. Best to tie your (ideally) size 24 hook at home with warm fingers though. Single maggot, light pole float (say 0.2 to 0.4 grams) and away you go. The thing I like about maggot is the durability. You can get upwards of 10 fish without having to change the bait.

Regarding hook baits, it's perhaps worth considering that you don't need as large a bait as you think. Some of the largest pike I've had have been on tiny (4 inch, perhaps weighing 10g. About the size of a small sprat) roach baits. I don't think a larger bait brings in a larger fish - I personally never ever use a bait larger than a half joey mackerel. If you find a swim with a lot of small roach, you can always throw 10-30 of them back in chopped in half as ground bait. I've found that to be quite effective. What I like about small hook baits is that you know the moment you get an indication you can strike. Fewer dropped runs/missed runs and fewer deep hooked fish in my personal experience.

I do believe a large bait does stop the jacks to some degree  , in general I do target the larger fish and fish a bait bigger than the norm....  full mackerel has accounted for some good fish , but I have put a lot of hours in for the bigger fish as they don't give themselves up easily,,

Fair enough. You have to do what works for you. I've honestly found that the size of the bait has made no difference to the size of the fish I've hooked. I often fish over chopped fish ground bait though, so a larger bait would look out of place. I like fishing with the assurance that once the float dips under (I prefer float fishing where possible) I can strike immediately. I also prefer to fish at very close range, so a large bait/rig set up isn't required to achieve distance on the cast.

J Robinson wrote:Fair enough. You have to do what works for you. I've honestly found that the size of the bait has made no difference to the size of the fish I've hooked. I often fish over chopped fish ground bait though, so a larger bait would look out of place. I like fishing with the assurance that once the float dips under (I prefer float fishing where possible) I can strike immediately. I also prefer to fish at very close range, so a large bait/rig set up isn't required to achieve distance on the cast.

it depends on what size the fish are in your water , if you know there are some good fish in there its worth putting a good sized bait out , if you think about it that's how the very big pike have got that size , I used to fish a trout water for pike a while back and caught a good fish about 25lb and it coughed a 1lb plus trout up , believe me they have no trouble swallowing a good sized trout, some times you have to think outside the box to make a difference

Very true. I've no doubt that large pike eat large baits, but I also think that they are very opportunistic. What I've found works well for me is a spread of ground bait and a similarly sized bait (couple of size 8 trebles) fished amongst it. That being said, I've not had any particularly large pike, as the water I've fished extensively doesn't seem to hold them. 250 plus pike in the past 3 years but only up to 18lb 4oz. I'm an impatient bad lad and would choose a smaller fish every three quarters of an hour over days of blanking!