No More Trebles

[Leon Roskilly]

Nice post Leon.

 

I have a few questions though. So instead of using 2 trebles are you using just a single circle hook? I'm guessing hook placement isn't as important as when using trebles due to the decreased chance of deep hooking but what is the best way to hook the bait? Finally, what make is your landing net? I've been thinking about buying a wider mesh net for my piking and that looks perfect.

 

Thanks

 

 

Yes, just a single circle hook.

 

The bait I was using yesterday was sprats.

 

Hooked either through the head, or through just behind the head.

 

(Even when using them sink and draw or twitching them along the bank, they stayed on well, though all takes came from stactic float-fished baits, drifted onto the bottom in the margins. Interestingly, although I tried leap-frogging baits along a large section of the river, the pike all came from selected swims where I thought a pike might be in residence. In fact the second fish came when I was walking back to the car to get some sandwiches, and passed by a swim I felt just had to be tried!).

 

For larger baits (joey mackerel, herrings, smelt) , I would be inclined to either hook them though the bottom of the mouth (from inside of the mouth and out), and/or through the body near the tail (using two hooks for larger baits. Note to self: make up some double hook rigs for fishing Ardenleigh next month, upper hook rigged as a slider for attaching to different sized baits).

 

The net was bought from Steve Burke's Caliber tackle specifically for lure fishing and unfortunately is no longer available AFIK .

 

(I used to demonstrate at PAC meetings by selecting teams of 3 and tossing a lure into a conventionalmesh net, and another into a 'lure mesh' net and entangling them. The team that extracted the lure first won. It was always the team with the lure mesh! usually in seconds, whereas the convential mesh team would be struggling for quite a while!)

 

Another advantage of the circle hooks is that you don't have the problem of a loose flying treble when a pike rolls itself up in the net.

 

In fact, I always try to unhook pike in the water by 'chinning' them, but yesterday I wanted photos, so decided to bank them.

Edited September 20, 2008 by Leon Roskilly

[pikergonecarpin]

What a great post Leon!

 

I've been thinking about something similar for a while, i've just never got round to doing it. What concerned me was the size of hook/hooks i would need as i regularly use rainbows 8oz to a lb. Perhaps using the sea angers double hooking arrangement would be ideal for baits this size?

 

Paul.

[lutra]

I've been thinking about buying a wider mesh net for my piking and that looks perfect.

I was lead to believe that the down side of using large mesh landing nets for large spiny-finned species is that they can cause fin damage when lifted up in them.

[barry luxton]

What a great post Leon!

 

I've been thinking about something similar for a while, i've just never got round to doing it. What concerned me was the size of hook/hooks i would need as i regularly use rainbows 8oz to a lb. Perhaps using the sea angers double hooking arrangement would be ideal for baits this size?

 

Paul.

 

During the winter i use a 6/0 pennel. The second hook just slides and with three twist around the line you can set it at whatever distance from the bottom hook. This i use when i want to put loads of whole squid on for bottom fishing for cod. I even use it for blonde ray when i might load a mackerel fillet with even more squid up the line. You can put as much bait on it as you wish.

 

Can't see why wire traces are still used when you go piking. For the conger and ling, with particular sharp teeth, we use thicker mono. Don't hear of fish biting through it. When it gets a bit frayed, just replace it.

[bingo]

Can't see why wire traces are still used when you go piking. For the conger and ling, with particular sharp teeth, we use thicker mono. Don't hear of fish biting through it. When it gets a bit frayed, just replace it.

 

Because pike bite through mono! It's that simple.

 

By all means experiment with different hooks (Mick Brown's been doing a lot of it too) but a wire trace MUST be used.

 

Mick Brown on single hooks

[barry luxton]

Because pike bite through mono! It's that simple.

 

 

I would like to know if the pikes teeth are sharper and the mouth have more crushing strength than the conger and ling.

[gozzer]

First of all I would like to apologise to Leon if he thinks this is off topic, but I think it is relevant to the thread.

Secondly, I am not being judgemental about any method or rig mentioned in this thread.

 

It concerns what I see as a double standard that seems to be shared by some members of this forum.

 

A few threads ago I advocated fishing for jack pike with lobworms, using a 5-6lb line and a 9lb wire trace. The 'Pike Police' jumped on me from a great height, saying my views were nonsense, lacking any common sense, and taking pike angling back to the dark ages.

 

Now we have Rich advocating the use of live bait, on lesser tackle and admitting that it attracts pike, and not a word of descent from anywhere!

 

As I have said I am not judging this method, (in fact I find it a very common sense compromise).

I does make me wonder though, how some angling minds work.

After all which is most likely to attract a bigger pike, (regardless of targeted species), a livebait, or a lobworm?

 

John.

[bingo]

I would like to know if the pikes teeth are sharper and the mouth have more crushing strength than the conger and ling.

 

I just don't know.

 

All I know is that pike can and do bite through mono. There's no reason not to use a wire trace. If people are worried about wire (there's no reason to be) then there are plenty of coated wires available, as well as supple wires etc.

 

People do acidently land pike with mono etc when a pike grabs a small fish on the way in. And you may well land a fish or two with mono but why risk it? There is simply no need.

 

This is the kind of thing i'm talking about. This is from a canadian fly fishing site.

 

Note about monofilament and fluorocarbon leaders.

 

When I first fly-fished for pike, I used 30 or 40-pound monofilament and the first fish to hit my fly broke the mono. So I started using steel leaders and never had one break in 15 or so years. Recently, someone suggested that I try flurocarbon leaders instead of steel. I purchased a spool of Berkley Vanish 40-pound leader. On the evening of April 25, 2006 I tried it on a local pond. The first pike caught abraded the leader a bit (as I had been warned it might) and then I landed two more pike. The fourth pike hook broke the leader with its teeth.

 

I've used heavy mono and heavy fluoro and both were cut with pike teeth. In 15 years, not one steel leader has been cut or broken from pike teeth. The steel leaders do need replacing now and then as they get "kinky."

 

http://members.shaw.ca/clives/pike_gear.html

[Kappa]

Now we have Rich advocating the use of live bait, on lesser tackle and admitting that it attracts pike, and not a word of descent from anywhere!

 

I can see why you'd feel there are double standards, however, I think the difference is that I'm using non standard wire of only 5lb breaking strain. With a strong avon rod and 12 line. Finally I'm using circle hooks. In the event of a breakage the weakest point is the knot attaching the hook to the trace and worst case scenario is a pike being left with a small circle hook (with a crushed barb) in its scissors (I'd say no difference to losing any other fish).

 

I'd say that is the profound difference, ensuring I don't leave a pike possibly deep hooked, possibly carrying trebles, and trailing a wire trace and some mono, as I use much stronger line than the breaking strain of the wire. That is the only issue I had with the topic you mention, there was a suggestion that light line and standard traces are OK which IMO are not.

 

I've spent ages trying to find a good solution I think this is the best one, but I'd be interested in any other ideas!

 

Rich

[barry luxton]

I just don't know.

 

All I know is that pike can and do bite through mono. There's no reason not to use a wire trace. If people are worried about wire (there's no reason to be) then there are plenty of coated wires available, as well as supple wires etc.

 

People do acidently land pike with mono etc when a pike grabs a small fish on the way in. And you may well land a fish or two with mono but why risk it? There is simply no need.

 

This is the kind of thing i'm talking about. This is from a canadian fly fishing site.

 

For many years it was ok and the done thing to use wire for conger and ling, today it is nearly all mono. Admittedly for the conger mono of upto 250lb. I know of light line guys who are using main line of say 20lb but the trace used is much more than 250. I understand that the lings teeth are even sharper than the eel, however the mono trace used for them is a lot lighter. This is why i have asked the question.