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This a method very much designed to optimise the use of live bait and to permit the natural movement of a bait to replicate the action and attraction of a natural prey fish in and around the natural feature on lakes and rivers etc. being fished. Very much again a short range method, although with the aid of line grease or other line floatant, Mucilin or similar, the wind can be used to get a bait further out from the bank.

This can also be used to get a dead bait to work in a way to perhaps imitate a live bait to some degree, convincingly enough to fool a pike from time to time and providing takes when static dead baits fail.

This method uses a ‘through the middle’ float, either round or tubular in shape, the latter offering less resistance to a taking fish but more drag to a live bait, you will have to decide which your fish will prefer! Setting up this rig really is simplicity using an 18 inch hook trace carrying two trebles and an uptrace of 24 inches, a bead on the line above the top trace swivel, the float of your choice, another bead and a ‘Powergum’ stop knot to set the depth to be fished. In practice the depth would be set to fish either bait at various depths, from 6, 7 or 8 feet in perhaps 10 feet of water, even shallower if there are signs of pike striking up in the surface layers. Whatever depth you will fish the uptrace is extremely important to prevent bite-offs with live baits as they will be likely to swim up toward the surface to avoid a striking pike and you may be unlucky that the live bait pike and your line/trace above the weight will be taken as one.

The weight loading is critical and should suit the float capacity and could take the form of 1, 2, or 3 SSG shot pinched onto the hook trace just below the swivel or a quick change egg sinker. It is worth having a quick change sinker spigot on one or two of you spare uptraces to allow you the option to be able to swap loading to suit the rig and method, these uptraces being common to several rig set ups!

It should be at the junction point to again discourage the bait being able to swim too high and get above the uptrace.

The variation in depths being fished is important and you should change this periodically if no takes are forthcoming as the pike and their prey may be at a level above or below the one you set your tackle to fish, no takes, try a new depth you might pick up a bonus fish or discover the active catching zone for the day, there are no guarantees this will be the same tomorrow, so remember to vary it again, work to keep the fish coming to the net!

Dependent on whether you will be fishing still waters or rivers etc., you have a choice of how you mount a live bait, by lip hooking, the upper trace hook in the upper lip and the end hook in the pectoral root (see River Paternoster) or the upper hook just in front of the dorsal fin and the end hook in the pectoral root, the latter also allows for the mounting of dead bait to give a more ’natural’ appearance to you quarry. These hooking layouts are shown in diagram above.

Having decide on which bait you will use, before mounting and casting a bait it is best to grease you line with one of the floatants (Mucilin etc.), to do this attach a lead weight to the end of your uptrace, having removed the hook trace and cast 50 or 60 yards, then retrieve the cast line whilst holding a pad laced with floatant wrapped around the line just in front of your reel, whilst winding the line onto the spool, apply it liberally! Once complete re-attach your hook trace, mount the bait and proceed to fish. If you wish to get the bait further out than you can cast, with the wind behind you, play out line and allow the wind to form a bow which will then eventually tow your bait with it.

The attachment of the weight to the junction area of the traces is important to keep the bait down to the depths you will set and where you hope the pike are feeding, by using the swan shots or a quick change lead locked to the up trace swivel you will provide two important elements to the success of this method. Firstly you will help eliminate bite-offs and secondly the tension between float and weight will become a positive indicator if a pike strikes from below and lifts the weight up, removing the tension on the float, if it is a tubular type of float, it will automatically pop up and lay flat on the surface giving really good bite indication. Other bite indication will possibly take the form of the float gliding across the surface and or just disappearing from the surface, expect any and you wont be surprised! In either case don't delay strike to set the hooks as quickly as possible!

Quick, early striking may not hook every fish but it will ensure that your bait and hooks do not get into the pikes throat or stomach, but stay in the mouth where they should do little damage and be easy to remove. Note you should not wait after seeing the start of a bite/run, strike the moment you are aware, do not wait until it stops and wait for a ‘second’ run, this act will certainly ensure the bait is swallowed deeply and put the fish at risk of dying from hooks sealing its throat or stomach.

NB: it is illegal under Environment Agency By-laws to move fish from one water to another with out consent and Pike Online supports this restriction on the translocation of fish wholeheartedly and recommends each angler observes this ruling and any that may apply on the individual fisheries you may visit.