Predator fisherman esp pike and eel

[Stefan]

Going Eel fishing this weekend. I've just bought some Drennan 7 Strand Pike Wire. I don't want to crimp it, on the box it says it can be twisted, but for the life of me I can't do it. It keeps undoing itself under pressure. Is there any way to tie it neatly (At the hook and swivel) or is there a certain way to twist it?

 

Any advice much appreciated.

[Andrew Burgess]

Follow my link will help you get through the problem.

 

For pike snap tackle

 

http://fjames.proboards6.com/index.cgi?boa...read=1104509258

 

For Pike spinning trace

 

http://fjames.proboards6.com/index.cgi?boa...read=1106406878

 

But for I wouldn't recomend wire trace for eel fishing unless if there a lot of pike in the water

Edited June 7, 2006 by Andrew Burgess

[Dick Dastardly]

I would! Not all waters but Ive fished some where the eels can bite through mono and other braided hook lengths.Normally waters with broad headed fish eaters.

 

As my brother rightly says though regardless of the eels if pike are present you owe it to them to use a trace.I use either Marlin Steel (which you can "spin up" really easy or "wonderwire" (a very soft multi strand wire that can actually be knotted).Several wires like Drennan and Fox are nigh on impossible to spin and very hard to twist,you need to "aneal" (I think thats the term!) the wire first by heating it.I know Andrew uses these types of wires and the "twisting" process so take a look at his links.

 

I will post a link to one of my "Tackle Workshop" articles that shows how I make snap tackles.Not much cop for eels but one of the diagrams shows a "knot" called a "larks head".I also use this to initially attach singles on to wire for eels.This will hold anything and wether you twist,spin or crimp the "tag end" of the wire it will hold.

 

 

http://www.fishingmagic.com/news/article/mps/UAN/894/V/1/SP/

Edited June 8, 2006 by BUDGIE

[GlennB]

....... but one of the diagrams shows a "knot" called a "larks head".I also use this to initially attach singles on to wire for eels.This will hold anything and wether you twist,spin or crimp the "tag end" of the wire it will hold.

 

FWIW, when I started twisting rather than crimping I followed that method. I tested traces to destruction with the "lark's head" being the only thing holding the swivel or hook to the trace (i.e. no twisting or crimping at all). Hooks,swivels and wire variously went pop according to the quality of the parts, but the lark's head never slipped.

[Leon Roskilly]

Whilst at Wingham I was shown some Titanium Wire.

 

Soft and supple and not inclined to kink or curl like most wires, it also stretches like mono.

 

 

Like Wonderwire, it can be tied with a simple two turn, one tuck blood knot.

 

Unfortunately it doesn't yet seem to be available in this country, but is proabably worth ordering from the states.

 

see:

 

http://www.terminatorstore.com/cgi-bin/sho...ader+Wire+Packs

 

 

(ps If you want to order from the above site, you need to call them to sort out international shipping - Skype Out is a cheap way of doing that http://www.skype.com )

Edited June 8, 2006 by Leon Roskilly

[argyll]

Titanium

 

http://www.rokmax.com/pages/products/tackle/tackle.htm

 

About half a dozen other UK sources also.

 

Absolutely useless for bait traces unless you intend to use only one treble. Its' almost total lack of memory makes attaching the upper treble somewhere between difficult and impossible.

[Leon Roskilly]

Titanium

 

http://www.rokmax.com/pages/products/tackle/tackle.htm

 

About half a dozen other UK sources also.

 

Absolutely useless for bait traces unless you intend to use only one treble. Its' almost total lack of memory makes attaching the upper treble somewhere between difficult and impossible.

 

 

Cheers Argyll

 

I couldn't find any UK sites supplying Titanium wire.

 

 

Even on convential wire, I prefer to have my upper treble as a 'slider'.

 

I accomplish this by putting the wire through the eye, and wrapping it twice around the shank, then sliding a piece of silicone tubing over that.

 

One advantage is that I can match the distance between the trebles to the size of each bait being used.

 

The other advantage is that if the upper treble finds a soft spot in a pike's mouth, but not the lower treble, the lower treble is drawn towards it and may also find a purchase there. Having both trebles close together in a hooked fish makes unhooking easier.

 

If only the lower treble finds a purchase, then unhooking is made easier because you can pull the sliding treble down, without the risk that it will catch as you unhook the lower treble.

 

You can also buy trebles with an eye at both ends, especially for using as a sliding treble on the trace.

 

It works for me

[argyll]

Usually strain on traces doesnt come from 'casting'..it comes from constant casting, thats why titanium is a godsend for lure and pike fly fishing. Having used it for about 6 years on lures and fly I wouldnt use anything else.

 

However IMHO for baitfishing with a pair of trebles you can't beat a good 7/49 strand trace wire like the old ET 49 strand or AFW. Titanium has no grip, it doesnt 'stick' and whilst I too used to like a sliding top treble, I preferred it to at least 'stick' to the trace. You can wrap titanium around an upper hook shank and cover it with shrink wrap or tubing but it tends to slide down too easily and for the top treble to be absolutely effective it needs to be tight enough on the trace to sink into a relatively hard boney mouth. There are ways of making it work but in baitfishing mode I never felt it's properties were so superior to a good flexible standard trace material, that it warranted using.

 

Having said all of that, I do use titanium for deadbaits since I switched a year ago to using a single VB double hook wrapped with elastic string. No top 'anything' to worry about and no two trebles to deal with in the mouth. But each to his own and thats mine FWIW

Edited June 8, 2006 by argyll

[Steve Burke]

The titanium wire (that Newt kindly gave me) is excellent for lure traces. As is the titanium wire that argyll showed me.

 

I also use the same system as Leon on deadbait traces, except that I no longer use Ryder hooks (the ones with the extra eye on the shank) as I've run out of them.

 

There's a great deal of debate on the merits or otherwise of a sliding upper treble. In theory I prefer a sliding treble, as do Barrie Rickards and Bill Chillingworth, although we seem to be in the minority. However in practice my experience is that there's not much to choose between them.

 

A sliding top treble secured by silicon tubing is so much more convenient though, and so gets my vote every time. If you use 49 strand wire such a trace lasts very much longer than one with old-fashioned 7 strand, and works out much less expensive in the long run. In fact I'd go as far as to say I've long since had no use at all for 7 strand wire!

Edited June 8, 2006 by Steve Burke

[Steve Burke]

This is what I wrote in a previous thread on sliding top trebles:

 

"Having experimented with both fixed and sliding top trebles, I've come to the conclusion that sliding ones are more effective.

 

As has been mentioned, if just one of the points of one of the trebles hits bone and stops then none of the hooks will penetrate with a fixed top hook. With a sliding top hook there's an added chance that one of the hooks will move and penetrate into a softer area. I believe it was Barrie Rickards who pointed this out, although the rig was used in Victorian times.

 

Additionally, if a pike picks up a bait and both hooks are outside the mouth, with a fixed rig you're not likely to be able to hook it immediately. You have to wait for the pike to turn the bait and swallow it before striking.

 

With a sliding top hook one of the hooks can move and thus hook the pike on the lips, as Bill Chillingworth pointed out in "Tactics for Big Pike"

 

I accept that a sliding top hook won't always work better, but I'm all for increasing my chances in any way I can. After all, that one fish you miss could be the fish of a lifetime!

 

In practice though I haven't found that there's a huge difference. However, it does mean I can slide the hooks to the optimum position on the bait. It also means that I don't have to carry around a lot of different traces.

 

I suspect that one reason that a sliding top hook isn't more popular is that it can lead to kinks in the wire. This can be partially solved, as Leon suggested, by putting some tubing over the shank of the sliding hook. With the right size tubing you don't need to twist the wire around the hook, which is one of the causes of kinking.

 

What also helps is using 49 strand wire. This is much more kink-resistant than traditional 7 strand wires, and therefore safer for the pike. Although it costs more per metre, it works out very much less expensive as it just lasts and lasts.

 

Even if you do prefer a fixed top treble I'd still recommend that you use 49 strand wire for it's kink-resistance. It's so supple that you can simply knot the top treble in place, either at home or on the bankside."