Bass Fishing Amongst Pike And Musky

[shady oaks]

Here in Michigan, many (if not almost all) lakes in my area hold a fair amount of pike. One lake in particular that holds hog smallies is a great musky lake as well. My question is when fishing these lakes, would using a very short wire leader be doing more harm than good when fishing cranks and/or spinnerbaits? I'd hate to lose a small fortune in lures if I can prevent it. Thoughts?

[clayton86]

J Francho swears by the northland toothy critter I think it is its tie able and everything. Here in WNY we have the same problems personally I don't throw cranks alot but I do get more pike then bass on some days when fishing flukes and other soft plastics and jigs i used to break off alot not so much anymore and all i did was switch to braid and flouro lines instead of whats on sale at wally world. I do get some bite offs i guess you can call it but i land far more then break off plus if they do im out a soft plastic not a expensive lucky craft.

[J Francho]

Yep, 10# Cortland Toothy Critter will buy you just enough pike insurance without sacrificing too much action for and from bass.

[Jacob34]

Also don't use a firetiger colored bait Tiger muskies and Pike love them up here.

[Lund Explorer]

Here in Michigan, many (if not almost all) lakes in my area hold a fair amount of pike. One lake in particular that holds hog smallies is a great musky lake as well. My question is when fishing these lakes, would using a very short wire leader be doing more harm than good when fishing cranks and/or spinnerbaits? I'd hate to lose a small fortune in lures if I can prevent it. Thoughts?

I've never tried it with a spinnerbait, but I have used a leader for jerkbaits. A little research will tell you which length leader will turn a floating bait into a suspending one. Single strand wire will also stop a lot of bite offs when fishing jigs or worms, but I think it also deters a few bites from the bass too. On a slow moving rig I would suggest using a black felt marker to color every other inch of the leader to breakup the look of the leader.

Make sure to voice your opinion on the new pike regulations that the DNR is looking at right now. They need to allow more people to harvest all of the hammer handles!

[ww2farmer]

I fish in pike infested water year round, I don't buy high $$ hard baits for that reason, at least not more than $12-$15, and most of mine are $6-$10 lures. I lose a few, just part of the game. I would rather lose $50-$100 worth of baits a year, than have my catch rates go down. If it got to be where I was losing the tackle box every trip, well then i would have to do something about it. Just this spring alone, I have probably caught between 30 and 50 pike already and lost one bait, and I fish straight braid most of the time, which is about the worst for pike, a fluorocarbon leader helps too, and it's not to offensive to the bass, nor does it affect the lures action.

[Michael DiNardo]

This is what I don't understand. Why would a wire leader keep fish from biting, but an Alabama Rig does not??? The A rig looks to be waaaay thicker wire than any steel leader that I have?

Mike

[J Francho]

Because it's moving.

[Michael DiNardo]

I can see that, no pun intended.

Mike

[NILBasser]

I like to use a flouro leader when fishing waters in Wisconsin that are full of northern. Got really ticked when I lost 2 Spro frogs to those litlle buggers!!!! Fluoro made a big difference and doesn't affect the bait.

[NBR]

I have fished in Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ontario many, many years with out a steel or fluoro leader. On rare ocassion I've been bit off but I'd guess less than once every 3 or 4 years. I also don't buy expensive cranks and in the past few years I pretty much switched to soft plastic with a plain jig. Two largest northers caught while walleye and bass fishing were 16 and 14 pounds (both released). Many other smaller toothy critters. If I was going to target either I'd use steel or fluoro.

[Sfritr]

Gotta say I don't miss losing my cranks and jerkbaits to the ol toothy ones. All Slimy and man do musky stink!!!!!!!

[SirSnookalot]

I use pretty much the same lures for whatever species I'm fishing for, toothy or not. I do not use wire leaders and I do get cut off, it's the price of doing business. Some fish I target wire greatly reduces the strikes, top water baits don't work too well with wire, either do plastic flukes, I use them for tooth critters all the time.

[Siebert Outdoors]

I do not use a leader either. I do fish flourocarbon line though. The only time I use steel is when I'm targeting musky/pike. I do lose some lures but I noticed when I threw baits on steel leaders my catch ratio went down.