Had a pike break my line yesterday & lost a $150 glide bait. What can I do to my setup to prevent this in the future?

[Fallser]

I've never been a fan of wire leaders.  The only time I've used 100# fluorocarbon is when rigging small lures for inshore and off-shore fishing in the salt.  The larger lures usually were rigged with 225# fluorocarbon.  I don't fish for pike that often, though I do fish for there smaller cousins chain pickerel.  I've got a week of fishing in Northeast Ontario coming up next month and I don't plan on using them.  Normally, if I'm spin fishing or trolling I just tie the lure directly to the braid.  I do use long minnow style lures which give me some bite protection.  If I'm fly fishing which I do most of the time,  I just use a straight piece of 20 or 25# fluorocarbon.   Of course, I don't own any $150 lures.

[Ohioguy25]

5 hours ago, gimruis said:

He knows that. I don’t target them, ever. Still catch a lot of them. If they’re in there, they gonna bite. They’re aggressive and they’ll ruin your lures, even if they don’t take the entire lure.

He said: 

“I personally would not buy a $150 lure. For $150 I can buy a very nice spinning reel or a top of the line rod blank. And pike are really not that selective. Muskies are more selective, but the ones I've caught were on $7 cranks and spinnerbaits.”

 

[MickD]

14 hours ago, Ohioguy25 said:

You must’ve missed where I stated I was not targeting Pike?

You asked about the best way to prevent pike from biting you off, I believe.  I'm giving you my opinion on how to do that with the least influence on the bass you're fishing for.  The light wire leaders are, in my opinion, the best bet if you don't want to get bitten off.  The other option is to just accept a few losses, and don't use expensive lures.  I agree with a previous post that stated that he didn't think a steel leader would be very off-putting of the bass.

9 hours ago, Fallser said:

I just use a straight piece of 20 or 25# fluorocarbon.   

This also is a good compromise, although I might go 30.

[PaulVE64]

50# mono leader

[Ohioguy25]

2 hours ago, MickD said:

You asked about the best way to prevent pike from biting you off, I believe.  I'm giving you my opinion on how to do that with the least influence on the bass you're fishing for.  The light wire leaders are, in my opinion, the best bet if you don't want to get bitten off.  The other option is to just accept a few losses, and don't use expensive lures.  I agree with a previous post that stated that he didn't think a steel leader would be very off-putting of the bass.

This also is a good compromise, although I might go 30.

Oh ok sorry it seemed like you thought I was targeting pike based on your wording just wanted to clarify. So steel leader virtually unbreakable? What about 50-75 lb mono?

[redmeansdistortion]

Use a wire leader.  With pike, most bite-offs aren't actually bite-offs, but from the sharp gill plates.  As the fish thrashes about in the water, a gill plate will make contact with your line either nicking it or breaking it. Those gill plates are sharp enough to cut your hand.  It stinks losing a $10 or $20 bait, but a $150 bait I'd keep scuba gear and a spear gun aboard lol

[MickD]

5 hours ago, Ohioguy25 said:

What about 50-75 lb mono?

That should work fairly well but knots and having it affect the action of some lures may be an issue.  20 pound test tyable metal leaders will affect some lures, too.  I don't know of anything that is not a compromise of some sort, so just try some of the ideas being presented and see what works for you and your fishing techniques.

[The Maestro]

[Ohioguy25]

On 7/14/2024 at 10:07 AM, redmeansdistortion said:

Use a wire leader.  With pike, most bite-offs aren't actually bite-offs, but from the sharp gill plates.  As the fish thrashes about in the water, a gill plate will make contact with your line either nicking it or breaking it. Those gill plates are sharp enough to cut your hand.  It stinks losing a $10 or $20 bait, but a $150 bait I'd keep scuba gear and a spear gun aboard lol

How heavy does the steel leader need to be?

[Columbia Craw]

Fish it on a lake without pike.

[redmeansdistortion]

On 7/15/2024 at 10:31 PM, Ohioguy25 said:

How heavy does the steel leader need to be?

20-30lb is what we normally use north of Toledo.  A 6-9" leader will be plenty for all but the largest pike.  Most where I am seldom exceed 36", but occasionally you get the 40"+ monster on the line.  Pike tend to get larger where there are fewer muskies to compete with them.  My three largest pike (39"/42"/44") came out of the Au Sable River in northern Michigan, no muskies are in the river.  The biggest I've pulled from Lake St Clair was 32", and most are under 30".

 

6 hours ago, Columbia Craw said:

Fish it on a lake without pike.

That's very hard to do in the Midwest.  Pike are present in just about any body of water you can think of.  Outside of privately owned stocked ponds, it's safe to assume pike are present.  

[gim]

1 hour ago, redmeansdistortion said:

That's very hard to do in the Midwest.  Pike are present in just about any body of water you can think of.

 

I honestly can't think of a single body of water I've fished in the area that doesn't have them.  They are in every reasonably sized lake or river here.  Certainly some have more than others.

 

The "farm ponds" people refer to down south don't hold fish here because they freeze out from winter kill.

 

Muskies have almost no effect on pike (or other species) populations here because there aren't enough of them.  Their population isn't dense enough when there's only 1 adult muskie for every 40 acres.  Lots of walleye and panfish anglers think muskie eat "their" fish, but there is no data to back that up.  Its actually the anglers themselves that are affecting the walleye and panfish population.

[redmeansdistortion]

4 hours ago, gimruis said:

Muskies have almost no effect on pike (or other species) populations here because there aren't enough of them.  Their population isn't dense enough when there's only 1 adult muskie for every 40 acres.

Lake St Clair has one musky per acre, it's definitely the place to go if one wants to catch one.  Total musky population is around 175,000 fish between St Clair River, Lake St Clair, and the Detroit River.  The smallie and walleye fishermen hook into them frequently, I personally know people that have caught them jigging for walleye.  The first time I heard musky being the fish of 10,000 casts I didn't believe it just because they are so common here and it's all I could relate to.

[gim]

14 minutes ago, redmeansdistortion said:

Lake St Clair has one musky per acre, it's definitely the place to go if one wants to catch one.  Total musky population is around 175,000 fish between St Clair River, Lake St Clair, and the Detroit River.  The smallie and walleye fishermen hook into them frequently, I personally know people that have caught them jigging for walleye.  The first time I heard musky being the fish of 10,000 casts I didn't believe it just because they are so common here and it's all I could relate to.

 

Jigging for walleye and accidentially catching a muskie isn't really muskie fishing though.  That's bycatch by accident.  We all catch fish we don't target on a frequent basis.

 

Go out and actually targeting muskies is a completely different ball game.  The gear is bigger, the lures are bigger, and it takes a lot of time, energy, and persistence to catch one.  Minnesota has backed way off on their stocking.  Muskie anglers here want a trophy, not numbers.

[Susky River Rat]

St Clair is a musky factory numbers lake. Not uncommon for guides to get a dozen a day. 

[Ohioguy25]

2 hours ago, Susky River Rat said:

St Clair is a musky factory numbers lake. Not uncommon for guides to get a dozen a day. 

How do you avoid getting your glide bit off?

[The Baron]

Ouch, that hurts. 😕

 

We have a lot of pike up here.  I’ll risk inexpensive baits, but for things like jackhammers and glidebaits I use a 6” leader of 40# fluro that a local guy makes.  He calls them “just in case” leaders.  40# is limp enough to allow a glidebait to work well, but tough enough to avoid being bitten off.  Pike don’t “usually” inhale moving baits too bad, but they tend to t-bone things like glides and jerkbaits on the pause and that’s when things get dicey.  Very often it’s the thrashing at the boat that gets you bit off, so a quick and efficient net job is really critical if you’re not running a leader. 

[Susky River Rat]

@Ohioguy25 I do not run any kind of toothy fish protection because I do not run anything expensive. When I used small baits for musky I used a 6-9”124- 175# solid wire leader with no swivel.  Which are literally the size of or smaller than the glide baits you are throwing. 

[Ohioguy25]

18 hours ago, The Baron said:

Ouch, that hurts. 😕

 

We have a lot of pike up here.  I’ll risk inexpensive baits, but for things like jackhammers and glidebaits I use a 6” leader of 40# fluro that a local guy makes.  He calls them “just in case” leaders.  40# is limp enough to allow a glidebait to work well, but tough enough to avoid being bitten off.  Pike don’t “usually” inhale moving baits too bad, but they tend to t-bone things like glides and jerkbaits on the pause and that’s when things get dicey.  Very often it’s the thrashing at the boat that gets you bit off, so a quick and efficient net job is really critical if you’re not running a leader. 

You think 40 lb is enough? Why not a steal leader?

[gim]

8 minutes ago, Ohioguy25 said:

You think 40 lb is enough?

 

I use 30 pound Seaguar Blue Label.  Its specifically designed to mitigate bite offs.

 

I tried 20 but that wasn't enough.  30 is tough to tie knots with but it can be done.

[The Baron]

42 minutes ago, Ohioguy25 said:

You think 40 lb is enough? Why not a steal leader?

To prevent incidental losses, 40# has proven 100% effective.  In most cases, the leader isn’t even nicked so will last multiple catches.

 

Steel leaders are stiffer than the 40# fluro and less reliable - they can kink and break almost without warning.  If I’m specifically after big pike, I’ll use heavier fluro or titanium leaders.

[MassYak85]

I have a few leaders I made out of this stuff:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Knot2Kinky-NT01415-Wire-45-Pound-15ft/dp/B0063Q2MK6/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?crid=2QV337S275OIX&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Fu0TtkSaUYJ-ui2iZ5xKrFOoE86io7d45GsMWJ91BNjj0NzRaR-Qpn7UuQD4uniRog5E-jRYvnLSBANMr---V5EyrKPBFP55SWrWi9ciyVw.wH39Uf-_5dh0X7FHDmhS_d8JDJgUa-uMdf0nxT3jA4U&dib_tag=se&keywords=knot%2Btoo%2Bkinky%2Btitanium&qid=1721331065&sprefix=knot%2Btoo%2Bkinky%2Btitanium%2B%2Caps%2C90&sr=8-1-fkmr1&th=1&psc=1

 

It's a nickel-titanium leader material. Won't kink like steel, has mild shock absorption (it will actually stretch a bit and rebound if you pull hard on it) and is very thin. 

[joelhains]

I fish pike waters frequently. Including an annual camping/fishing trip where it's common to catch several hundred pike a week. I got away from steel leaders years ago. When I'm targeting pike, I run a 40lb flouro leader. When I'm targeting walleye or smallmouth and know I'll be getting into some pike as well, I'll tie in a 12-20 pound flouro leader. A 20lb flouro leader will hold up to pike just fine, but it won't last as long as 40lb. I'm always checking for knicks in the line and if I see any I'll retie a new leader.

 

If I was throwing an expensive custom swimbait around pike waters I'd be very comfortable using 30-40lb flouro as bite protection. 

[Ohioguy25]

14 hours ago, joelhains said:

I fish pike waters frequently. Including an annual camping/fishing trip where it's common to catch several hundred pike a week. I got away from steel leaders years ago. When I'm targeting pike, I run a 40lb flouro leader. When I'm targeting walleye or smallmouth and know I'll be getting into some pike as well, I'll tie in a 12-20 pound flouro leader. A 20lb flouro leader will hold up to pike just fine, but it won't last as long as 40lb. I'm always checking for knicks in the line and if I see any I'll retie a new leader.

 

If I was throwing an expensive custom swimbait around pike waters I'd be very comfortable using 30-40lb flouro as bite protection. 

See that’s what’s crazy I was using 20 lb Big Game

[MickD]

On 7/15/2024 at 10:31 PM, Ohioguy25 said:

How heavy does the steel leader need to be?

I use 20, and it's probably overkill.  I see an image for 13, and that might be a better solution.  Lighter/thinner for less disruption of  the lures.  And unless it's really weedy, should allow the fish to be properly controlled.