Question fishing for bass with pike

[B1gD4ddy]

Hello all, I was fishing Saturday for bass in a lake known for pike also so I tied on a metal leader knowing pike can cut line..  I'm using 50lb braid did I need a metal leader?  I caught 1 pike all day I was out for around 9 hours..  I was thinking the leader was affecting the action of my lures causing my issues but didn't want to lose my lures, was I underestimateing the durability of my braid or was a leader the right idea?  It was also very windy which was also part of my problem but wasn't completely sure as I have fished in wind with no issues when in local pond with only bass in it..

Anyways I'm interested in your take on this. .  Hope my thoughts came out clear I'm doing this post as I'm on my way to work and haven't yet had my coffee lol

[A-Jay]

The majority of my better lakes all have a very healthy population of Northern Pike.

There's two options ~ fish with no leader and deal with the bite offs or use a leader and eliminate them.

I use leaders on most everything, have to.  If I didn't, I'd be spending most of my day replacing baits & re-tying. Especially in the spring & fall.

I can not tell you if the wire reduces bass strikes.  I still catch bass but don't get bit off.

There are a number of companies that make wire that's less bulky, has less of an effect on a baits action and is tie able.

American Fishing Wire's Surflon Supreme is good, Toothy Kritter & Not2Kinky are both dencent as well.  I use the Surflon Supreme mostly.

Good Luck

A-Jay

 

 

[Derekbass02]

IMO if you should use a wire leader depends on how many pike there are, and what lures your using. If there aren't very many pike then you won't get many bites from them and not every time you get a bite from a pike will it bite you off and if you are using some baits which pike don't eat as often you will have a less chance of bite offs. I think the best idea would be to try not using a wire leader and if your getting too many bite offs than use one. Just my opinion.

[MassBass]

I think bass will often shy away from a thick wire leader with a big ugly clip. Especially if you are trying to use a natural presentation like a suspending jerkbait with long pauses. Straight braid pike will cut. My problem is the pickerel. I use 20lb fluorocarbon as a mainline with no leader. Have not had a fish cut through that stuff. Only downside is you can't cast light lures.

[Gundog]

I've had pike cut off 30 lb power pro braid. For some reason top water pike bites are more likely to separate my lure from braided line. Might be that they hit the front of the lure more thus are more likely to bite into the line close to where its tied to the lure. They will get thru your braid eventually. You may not get as many bass with a metal leader but you won't lose as many baits either. Good luck.

[B1gD4ddy]

Thanks for the thoughts guys...  would you think a heavy floro leader would be good?  Tie that to my main line (braid) I stead of a wire leader?  Would the floro give a more natural appearance then a wire leader?

The winner of the fishing tourney won with only a 4-5lb pike they are bigger in the lake but conditions kept the fish off mostly everyone's like..

 

[Scott F]

Guys who use flouro leaders instead of steel, typically use 100 lb test for the leaders. Anything you can easily cut with a scissors, can be cut by a pike.

[A-Jay]

2 hours ago, MassBass said:

I think bass will often shy away from a thick wire leader with a big ugly clip. Especially if you are trying to use a natural presentation like a suspending jerkbait with long pauses. Straight braid pike will cut. My problem is the pickerel. I use 20lb fluorocarbon as a mainline with no leader. Have not had a fish cut through that stuff. Only downside is you can't cast light lures.

This product is not thick and because the material can be easily knotted, there is not need for a big ugly clip.  The 13lb & 20lb will eliminate your pickerel bite offs while not hindering a bait's "action".

As for bass shying away from leaders - Umbrella Rigs seem to work OK and there's wires, clips & swivels all over that thing.

A-Jay

[Scott F]

34 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

This product is not thick and because the material can be easily knotted, there is not need for a big ugly clip.  The 13lb & 20lb will eliminate your pickerel bite offs while not hindering a bait's "action".

As for bass shying away from leaders - Umbrella Rigs seem to work OK and there's wires, clips & swivels all over that thing.

A-Jay

I've made several leaders from this same wire. You can tie knots with it but it kinks easily and your leaders can look more like pigs tails if you are not careful in the way you tie. To keep the leaders as light as possible, I tied a small, oval split ring on one end, and a loop on the other.  I attached the looped end to my lure, and tied the split ring to my line. For plastics, I tied the leader wire right to some wide gap hooks and jigs while still putting a split ring on the other end.  I used them with good results on jerkbaits. Even with the light leader, the jerkbaits sank a lot faster, but they still caught bass and pike and I never got bit off.  I was having pike inhale my Senkos. I almost never landed a pike on a Senko until I started using the leaders.