wire trace...

[smudger]

Hi all

After landing my biggest chub ever on sunday (don't ask i never had a set of scales or a camera )i want to make a effort to catch another big chub. Will use the normal baits cheese etc, but would like to use small deads as well in winter but the river i want to fish has pike in it can i use a wire trace when fishing for chub. if so what Breaking strain wire should i use if any at all,should add i will be using a single size 4 or bigger if needed and not trebles. any comments please. cheers

[Neil G]

Could try some of the new multistrand wire like the ET 49 strand stuff or even some Proleader which is armoured kevlar mostly used for pike fly fishing...now that leader is very supple and knotable.

 

http://www.thefriendlyfisherman.co.uk/sect...nd-backing.html

Edited October 14, 2008 by Neil G

[Anderoo]

I wouldn't bother. I may stand corrected, but big chub can be very picky, and I just don't think you'd catch any using a wire trace. By all means try it, but if pike are a problem I'd start with non-fish baits (bread, worm, cheesepaste) before going down that route.

[Leon Roskilly]

The main danger to pike comes from the use of trebles.

 

If you are using small single hooks to target chub then, although leaving any hook in a fish is to be avoided, the risk to a pike unfortunate enough to bite you off is much reduced.

 

Some of the new multi-strand wires are as flexible and thin as mono, so it's worth experimenting with them.

 

But then again, if I'm chubbing in a 'piky' water, I find it best to use luncheon meat.

 

The chub seem to appreciate a chunk of luncheon meat as much as a dead fish (though sometimes a pike will grab the chub!).

[smudger]

Many thanks for the input chaps.A friend of mine make traces with Wonder Wire will give that a bash if it fails will stick to meat, cheese,bread, etc thanks again.

[JV44]

I wouldn't bother. I may stand corrected, but big chub can be very picky, and I just don't think you'd catch any using a wire trace. By all means try it, but if pike are a problem I'd start with non-fish baits (bread, worm, cheesepaste) before going down that route.

 

Caught lots of Chub on lives whilst after Pike with a trace but think that any predatory fish hits a live quickly often out of instinct and throws caution to the wind in the process ,had loads of deads come back streched after screaming runs that i couldnt connect with whilst fishing stillwaters again with wire so i dont think it puts them off as such but they seem to be harder to connect with on deads.

As a footnote the guy fishing the next swim on the stillwater in question did land a big chub on a sardine but he was using those double hooks the back to back sort dont know if that made a difference to the hook up rate coz i missed loads that day .

Think on some stillwaters where the Pike guys throw there bait in at the end any large Chub [if present] would soon get tuned into this new food scource in the margins and would try in the evenings or after dark as the chub are more lightly to be in the margins then.

Have seen a guy that fishes my strech of the Thames in the winter for chub using sections of oily sea fish when its mild for chub and swears by it give it a go and see,Best use a trace if Pike are present but as has been suggested try one of the more supple wires and not a hulking great treble hook Steve.

[Steve Burke]

Way back in the late 70s and the 80s I did an awful lot of deadbaiting for chub. Indeed it was the subject of the first article I ever had published in anything other than the Chub Study Group magazine.

 

I found that, on my waters at least, using wire drastically cut the number of chub I caught.

 

Since then 49 strand wires have become available, but my experiments when I introduced Wonder Wire into the country showed that, although better than 7 strand wire, it still meant very much reduced chub (and perch) catches.

 

Indeed, even nylon monofilament was very much inferior to Dacron (an early type of braid). For more details and more on deadbaits for chub see this article of mine here on Angler's Net: http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/Coarse-Fishing...s_for_chub.html

 

Like Leon, I believe that the risk to a pike being damaged by a single hook is minimal. So whilst I'll never use anything other than wire with a treble (or even a double) hook when pike are present, I'm happy to dispense with wire when using a single for other species. I've found that pike usually get rid of such a hook very easily. Indeed, when using lobworm I once hooked a pike with a pronounced growth on it three times in one afternoon. It bit me off twice, but on the third take I landed it. Both the other hooks had been got rid of in the meantime.

 

Of course some may not go along with this stance. In reply I always ask whether they advocate using wire when fishing lobworms for other species on waters that contain pike. After all lobs get taken by an awful lot of pike - as many of you who've fished Wingham will agree!

Edited October 18, 2008 by Steve Burke