How do I avoid pike?

[Further North]

11 hours ago, Fiske said:

Either that or this is just another average Amazon  product review .

Tire Rack Reviews are even better.

I remember one from some Gomer a while back all PO'd because putting Pirelly P7 on his 10 year old Camry didn't turn it into a Ferrari...

[gim]

LOL I started a thread this past spring on the very same subject except I titled it "pike problems."

I hate them with a passion.  I've been fishing in the Midwest (mostly MN, WI, and Ontario) for almost 20 years and I could literally fill a suitcase full of lures lost from pike.  They become a little more tolerable when they're decent sized but the past decade so many of our lakes and rivers up here have become just over run with small snakes.  They ruin lures when they bite, they're slimy, and they've become a nuisance fish.  I'm fully convinced that you could troll a shoe and catch one.  That's how aggressive they've become in some lakes.  Not uncommon to accidentally catch 40-50 of them in one day of bass fishing.

[Further North]

8 hours ago, J Francho said:

I target northerns.  Braid, without some leader is a huge no-no.  My best guess with people that don't have issues with braid is they are using moving baits.  Often, I don't need a leader when tossing a spinnerbait or large crank/plug.  Throw a jig or worm, and your done.  A moving bait, they pursue and grab, then move the bait in their mouth to swallow.  By then, you've set the hook, and aside from the facial and gill cover scales, it's little risk.  A jig or worm on the other hand, they slurp and engulf, like a bass.  Your line is definitely at risk with the teeth.  For leaders, I use titanium, steel wire, or 100# fluoro.  Get a crimping tool for the big line.

Here's a nice fish I caught from a kayak on 8# CXX, and relatively light cranking stick.  I was glad to get my Lucky Craft Flat Mini MR, lol.

 

Nice fish!

I also target Pike, I prefer them, even over muskies.  My favorite sized pike are in that 28 - 40" range...much bigger than that and there's not a lot of fight.

[Jaderose]

Buy this...be done with it.......

 

[hawgenvy]

Anyone have experience with nylon-coated wire leaders in general?

[juicebass]

I find wire baits like spinnerbaits, buzz baits, chatter baits etc I don't break off if a Pike hits..

sometimes with other baits I get a bite thinking its a bass and go to set the hook hard, and the line cuts immediately (pike for sure) but never seem to lose them on wire baits...

ive caught a few nice Pike on jigs also.. 

Where I am from Pike are everywhere... But if I'm catching bass or pike that day I'm happy... I'm not a tournament angler so any fight is a good fight!

If you keep breaking off, try something with a wire and catch those suckers!!

 

[MikeWright]

Bro I would be happy if I could catch something else other than a bass or sunfish...if you have pike you must have muskie and maaaaybe sturgeon if you're in a big lake....I'd give the world to have more than one game fish to seek after...I'm in South texas...it's all LMB down here...

I work for a wire rope company and the wire strands/leaders people are speaking on can hold 1000 to 5000 newtons. I can send you a size .014 grade 133 eipps wire for a price?  

If you want a .012 7x7 strand though it might cost ya!

7x7s, 19x6, 26x6, 31x6, or 31x6 you might as well catch sharks or whales....make some leaders with strong eipps leaders 

[MikeWright]

Btw...I'd give any man a million dollars of I he could break a .012 grade 133 steel wire strand with his hands...very stout...very tough...and that's why I have invested in 60$ wirecutters

[Fiske]

Another downside to pike,,,especially the little guys, is that they're
dangerous.
2014,,,not imbedded to deeply so just opted to push it through clipping the barb.

The only thing more scary than a thrashing mouth full of trebles is Larry (I somehow
find myself in his boat 2 or 3 times a year) coming at you with a pair of vice grips.
Here he is still complaining that it would have been a heck of a lot easier just to let him yank it out.

 

[J Francho]

21 minutes ago, Fiske said:

The only thing more scary than a thrashing mouth full of trebles is Larry (I somehow
find myself in his boat 2 or 3 times a year) coming at you with a pair of vice grips.

Thanks, you owe me some monitor wipes!

You gotta get a FIshGrip.  Those little hammer handles are the Devil's minions. 

[Further North]

On 9/15/2016 at 5:15 PM, Jaderose said:

Buy this...be done with it.......

 

That works OK; I find the Tyger Wire and AFW Surflon to work better...but that's probably 'cause I rush my knots...

19 hours ago, hawgenvy said:

Anyone have experience with nylon-coated wire leaders in general?

Lots.

They work great...when the coating is gone, clip it off and re-tie.  This is why I generally start with 12" - 18".  By the end of long weekend I've usually trimmed off and retied twice, probably down to about 8" - 10".

[Jon P.]

in Montana my biggest problem is having my bass get eaten XD

[Further North]

I had a 23" pike get bit a couple years back, and we had a 20" pike get followed to the boat by a mid 50s musky on LOTW in June this year.

...I've also reeled in walleye heads on occasion.

[hawgenvy]

On 9/16/2016 at 6:21 PM, Further North said:

That works OK; I find the Tyger Wire and AFW Surflon to work better...but that's probably 'cause I rush my knots...

Lots.

They work great...when the coating is gone, clip it off and re-tie.  This is why I generally start with 12" - 18".  By the end of long weekend I've usually trimmed off and retied twice, probably down to about 8" - 10".

Thanks, man!

[FryDog62]

I live in the land of 10,000 lakes and 10 billion pike.  The absolute best solution I have found is a local bait shop (they can mail to you) that makes 2 inch leaders for any moving bait - crankbait, spinnerbait, jerk bait, etc.. Only 2 inches long so it is not very visible on a moving lure at all, doesn't weigh down even a jerk bait... And yet prevents 90% of those pesky and frustrating pike bite offs.  You don't need heavy fluorocarbon line or long heavy wire leaders.  These little leaders really do their job well.  Call Bob at Wayzata Bait and for $2.99 get a pack sent to you (952) 473-2227.  I don't work for them or any affiliation, but if you do a Google search I virtually guarantee you won't find any leaders out there less than about 6 inches and they're too big!   These really work and save me a ton of dough annually on lures.  

[RAMBLER]

To make simple, don't fish in that part of the country or use steel leaders.

[WRB]

AFW Surflon Micro 49 strand nylon coated tieable wire in 13# or 20# looks like a good option. Use a uni knot to attached to the lure and uni to uni knot to your main line.

My first trip to Lake of The Woods was a eye opener with pike and musky, everyone up there used wire leader with braided line, not me I fished with mono and did OK most of the time but not all the time. Finally learned to use a wire leader after losing some good fish and lures I couldn't replace. Small jigs and soft plastic worms I used mono, pike didn't bother with those often and caught lots of Smallmouth and  couple of musky without a wire leader. Faster brighter lures attract pike so avoid those.

Tom

[Further North]

On 9/19/2016 at 4:25 PM, WRB said:

AFW Surflon Micro 49 strand nylon coated tieable wire in 13# or 20# looks like a good option. Use a uni knot to attached to the lure and uni to uni knot to your main line.

Tom

Good stuff, I agree.  An alternative knot is the FG - I find that the main line really bites into the coating on the Surflon leaders and holds it tight with a knot much smaller than the Uni-to-Uni.

[Robert Riley]

Only related to the first post, and a sarcastic response, but have you tried pike fishing? I usually find I catch bass when fishing for pike.

[custer]

In SE virginia we sorta sloved the pike problem by avoiding yellow or light green crankbaits.

 

Didn't seem to have too much impact on the large mouth, but did reduce the pike hits. ..

[GORDO]

On 9/15/2016 at 3:03 PM, gimruis said:

I'm fully convinced that you could troll a shoe and catch one.  That's how aggressive they've become in some lakes.

TRUE

[Cmp240]

Like others have said, why do you want to? Caught a 29in northern this year, fought better than any LM, but maybe not as good as a smallie though, caught on a buzzbait with a chartreuse paddle tail trailer,have never lost a spinnerbait or buzzbait to a northern, but I have lost chatterbaits to them though, I use a 20lb thin steel leader on the chatterbaits now,,,, other than the hammer handles, they fight pretty good,,,, 

 

[Jim Bridger]

I love catching pike, what I don't like is losing lures to them.

Just over the summer alone I've lost 2 crankbaits, a handful of jigs, 2 spinners, a few craw tubes, some swimbaits, 3 poppers and theres more I know I'm forgetting. 

All in all, for a bass fisherman on a budget thats difficult to swallow buying replacements that often. 

I don't need to target pike, they're just easy to catch while fishing for most any other species, but I have noticed a definite uptick in pike strikes since I've focused on bass this summer.

 

Needless to say, from ya'lls advice I've switched to a 15lbs fluorocarbon leader and that has worked wonders so far, its much more abrasion resistant than you would believe.

I had previously always used mono, but on the advice of some in this thread I switched to 20lbs braid to test it out, I still lost lures, not as readily, but I still did.

I also used wire leaders and I definitely noticed a difference in the action of some lures such as jerkbaits, crankbaits, and topwaters.

 

Thank you for the advice, I firmly believe this will save me money, and I can attest that it already has!

 

Very respectfully,

 

Jim

 

[Jar11591]

Where I fish, there is no "avoiding" pike. All you can do is minimize your chance of getting bitten off. For me, that means thicker monofilament.

[A-Jay]

How Do you avoid Pike ?

Now why would you want to go and do that ?

A-Jay