At last a fish and a new PB!!!!!!!!!

So what was the killing tactic then otter.

Float fished sprat/herring?

Float fished sprat
15lb mainline
22inch trace (30lb ESOX Titannium) size 2/0 single hook rig.

Easy and effective for the canal

I'm intrigued by single hooks for Pike fishing.
Makes hooking easier but I'm also thinking along the lines of do some pressured Pike feel the traces of a normal set up?

I presume the hook was just put through the tail of the sprat?

nightwatchman wrote:I'm intrigued by single hooks for Pike fishing.
Makes hooking easier but I'm also thinking along the lines of do some pressured Pike feel the traces of a normal set up?

I presume the hook was just put through the tail of the sprat?

tbh nightwatchman i'm going back to 20lb b/s wire after spending 2 years trying 30lb....
i hardly ever missed a run or had one dropped til i uprated to 30lb, and at the minute i'm only converting about 50% into banked fish

nice esox thare

robh107 wrote:

nightwatchman wrote:I'm intrigued by single hooks for Pike fishing.
Makes hooking easier but I'm also thinking along the lines of do some pressured Pike feel the traces of a normal set up?

I presume the hook was just put through the tail of the sprat?

tbh nightwatchman i'm going back to 20lb b/s wire after spending 2 years trying 30lb....
i hardly ever missed a run or had one dropped til i uprated to 30lb, and at the minute i'm only converting about 50% into banked fish

rob i thought that stuff i used and reccommended was you kind of trace.......like i say it in my tackle box

i used it in 20lb mate

robh107 wrote:
tbh nightwatchman i'm going back to 20lb b/s wire after spending 2 years trying 30lb....
i hardly ever missed a run or had one dropped til i uprated to 30lb, and at the minute i'm only converting about 50% into banked fish

I used to use 30lb Fox easy twist wire which was really thin stuff but used to kink like hell, so I switched to Fox carbo flex but could only get in at 40lb at the time. it cured the kinking but I'm now wondering if I'm getting less pick ups because it so thick!

So I've just ordered some 20lb Savage Gear Softflex Wire. Its that flexible your meant to be able to tie knots with it!
It'll be interesting to see if my pick up rates increase.

To be honest with you i used to use all types of wire and i have found that it is far the better trace wire than all of the others on the market, it is strong enough thin enough and again does not kink and i always use crimps on my traces, to tie the second treble on i use the knotless knot and it does the trick. I did show BRADFORDLAD on the last fishin and i think he will also be using this wire? Again on the day i hooked the sprat through the back fin and inserted enough only to show the point of the single size 2/0 hook. They are getting wise to the double trebble method i think?

The Otter wrote:To be honest with you i used to use all types of wire and i have found that it is far the better trace wire than all of the others on the market, it is strong enough thin enough and again does not kink and i always use crimps on my traces, to tie the second treble on i use the knotless knot and it does the trick. I did show BRADFORDLAD on the last fishin and i think he will also be using this wire? Again on the day i hooked the sprat through the back fin and inserted enough only to show the point of the single size 2/0 hook. They are getting wise to the double trebble method i think?

thats another reason i never go above a size 6 treble for bait rigs.... when i first started piking i used to fish with a guy who used 4's and 2's depending on the size of his bait but like myself he used 20lb drennan 7 strand..... he had alot more dropped runs than i did.
its highly probable that the pike prick themselves on the larger trebles and immediately drop the bait. although as far as actually wising up to the rig i'm not convinced.... they probably just spook when they feel a treble on the bait.

been useing size for 4 trebles for a long time now yes i do try to select the bigger fish in useing the bigger baits having said that no bigger than half a mackrel dont suffer many dropped runs they would normally be small pike just mouthing a bait as for useing size 4 trebles abig pike 20plus fish wont even know they are there just think a ten ounce perch with all them spines

size 4 for everything for me i use small smelt with them and dont get many droped runs
also ive had the same fish within 10 mins on them

plus when that very big fish turns up it might be once in a lifetime you be glad of them meat hooks its all about big mouth big hooks simple as that muck

stubbo wrote:plus when that very big fish turns up it might be once in a lifetime you be glad of them meat hooks its all about big mouth big hooks simple as that muck

i've hardly ever had problems playing big fish on size 6 trebles mate...... of the 16 or so 20lb plus fish i've hooked into over the years i've landed 13 of them.
i agree as far as to say that bigger hooks will give you more confidence if you have to play a fish hard to keep it away from a snag etc, but most of the time playing a fish too hard will result in a hook pull regardless of the hook size (unless fishing with excessively large hooks)

Size 6's are plenty big enough for me thanks.
Besides that I fish the HDAA waters and the rule book stipulates size 6 is as big as your allowed to go.