 Pike Online A reference guide!
|
|
Back | Roach | Rudd | Mackerel | Herring | Eel | Lamprey | Sandeel | Sardine | Smelt | Sprat | Squid | Trout |
|
|
ROACH
For pike and zander, the roach is on many waters its natural food source. Fished live or dead this bait has accounted for many specimens. Smaller roach are the best  ones to use, usually two to three ounces in size. As the roach is the most commonly found prey fish on most of the waters you may fish, it always makes sense to start fishing with roach as a bait. You can catch and use them as live bait (subject to the fishery rules allowing it) or kill and use them as dead baits, where restrictions prevent this you can purchase prepacked, frozen dead roach from most tackle dealers. Live roach can be fished on free roving or static paternoster rigs, most of which are shown on the pages of this site. Dead roach can fished on the bottom using simple leger rigs or float legered, an active method when things may be slow is to wobbled them like a lure on a standard two hook snap tackle. See the diagram on wobbled bait fishing.
top
|
MACKEREL
Long established as a pike bait, this can be a whole joey mackerel (which is a small mackerel) or a larger one cut in half. As with the herring mackerel is a very oily fish and if the flesh along the flanks is pierced with a knife it will aid leakage of the natural oils. It is a fairly tough  bait and casting any distance shouldn't be a problem, do not set the hooks to deeply or firmly into the mackerels skin as it can impede the release of the hooks when striking and the pike may be lost at the net when the pike shakes the bait and hooks free as they did not gain a grip on the strike!. Premounting of the hooks and freezing the bait will make the job of casting with lightly mounted hooks a lot easier. Small joey mackerel are a good bait for using as a wobbled dead bait. These can be mounted up on standard snap tackle and fished in a similar manner to a lure. To improve all the baits, the attrractiveness of them can be topped up by adding more natural oils to the flesh or into buoyant material used to suspend the bait above weed or silt.
top
|
|
HERRING
Probably one of the original sea baits to be used for pike fishing, Herring is a very oily fleshed fish and was a favourite amongst pike anglers for many years. It can be used as a whole bait or cut in half. When cut and fished as a half bait head and tail, you are increasing your chances of catching because the fishes natural oil is able to escape into the water quicker. This can be achieved with small whole baits by piercing the body with a baiting needle or similar pointed object. The oil trail released into the undertow or river flow will draw the predator to investigate. Herring is a very soft bait and a good tip for distance fishing is to hook the herring up while it is in a semi frozen state or mount the hook trace in the bait before freezing and taking the bait in a wide neck flask. Alternatively secure the bait for casting with elasticated thread around the trace at the tail section of the bait. An ideal bait for coloured water conditions from boat or bank. Herrings can be bought fresh or frozen from a fish market or prepackaged from your local tackle shop.
top
|
EEL SECTION
Eels make up a large part of a pikes natural diet and eel sections make a very good bait for both pike and zander. Over the last few seasons many of the larger zander reported to the press have fallen for a small section of eel flesh. It has a distinct smell and is able to withstand long distance casting due to the tough skin and flesh. Eels can be caught fresh or bought from a fishmonger, killed and cut into sections and frozen ready for use. If neither appeal they can be bought ready sectioned and frozen from the tackle shop. The size of any bait section will depend on the species you are after. For Pike a section of perhaps 6 inches will be ideal, the head and tails being equally attractive for use. One tip for mounting the hooks to allow for easy hook setting is to make a couple of cuts through the skin where you will place the hooks. This will help shed the bait off the hooks should the pike be inclined to use the bait as a lever by shaking its head. The slits will allow the hooks to come out of the bait on the strike! Smaller baits can be used if there is a chance you might encounter any zander.
top
|
|
LAMPREY
This has become almost a cult bait throughout the last few seasons. The main attraction is the lamprey is full of blood which very slowly breaks down in the water surrounding it and attracts the pike. Very similar to eel section the lamprey is a firm favourite with pike and zander anglers. It should be fished in a similar way to eel sections and cut into similar size sections which would mean that you could just cut an average Lamprey in half and fish head and tail sections. Lamprey section being loaded with natural juices can make an attractive bait for wobbling if things are slow to static baits. Sections can be popped up with poly foam or bait poppers from Fox tackle over silty or weed bottoms. Lamprey are only available from specialist tackle shops prepacked and frozen.
top
|
|
SANDEEL
Not a widely used bait by the coarse angler the sandeel has become more popular over the last few seasons. Whole, bigger sandeels are also a good dead bait for pike and can be fished popped up off the bottom by injecting air into the head. Sandeels have their own distinctive smell which may be enhanced by additional oils or flavouring. They offer a very aerodynamic bait for long range casting and have because of this ability to be cast further than many of the other baits produced pike that may not have come into the range of the other baits. Premounting hooks and freezing can be a distinct advantage for long range casting! Sandeels come in different sizes and the larger variety offer a better bait as they are thicker and allow better hooking. Sandeels can be purchased in frozen packs from the tackle shop.
top
|
|
SMELT
An estuarial species, the smelt was discovered to be a successful pike bait when anglers, discovering them in the out fall screens of an Essex power station used them on their local hard fished pike waters. The attraction has been attributed to their strange 'cucumber'  type smell and their ability to attract pike has led to their huge popularity with pike anglers. They can usually be used whole as they are usually 4 to 5 inches in size, a mega size smelt is sometimes available and these cam be used in two sections, however most anglers use them whole! A good bait that remains fairly durable and can be cast well, providing they are frozen when fresh and not left too long to go soft before freezing. A good hook hold can be gained by inserting one of the trebles into the tail root. Hooked head up they can be used as wobbled dead bait, piercing the flanks to allow the natural smell to leak out as the bait is retrieved.
top
|
|
SPRATS
Sprats have been a popular bait for many years but with their inherent soft flesh which  make them difficult to hook and keep on the hook, they have lost favour due to the many other baits, as listed here, that offer greater benefits, coming onto the market. They are part of the herring family and are an oily fish with plenty of natural attractants. A way to overcome their poor hookability is to mount the hooks in the bait and then freeze them and carry them to the fishery in a wide neck thermos flask. They will cast well and soften when immersed in water. They can be float fished at short range using a float leger rig.
top
|
|
Top of page
|
|
|
The contents of this site, text and images are copyright material
©2003 hooklinks.co.uk all rights reserved.
Any enquiries for use of any material should be addressed via email to pike@hooklinks.co.uk or visit the web site
www.hooklinks.co.uk
|
|
|
|