Where and when to use
Pike have different periods of activity, which means the choice of equipment should always be adjusted to its behavior. With the onset of spring until after the completion of spawning, the fish exhibit active feeding behavior. Therefore, before you get ready to go fishing, you should still catch live bait. When answering the question of what types of live bait there are, we must immediately stipulate that these are small-sized fish: rudd, crucian carp, gudgeon, sailor fish.
The colder the weather, the deeper the predator goes under water. The success of fishing with live bait largely depends on the bottom topography. As a rule, the most popular habitats for predators in open water are:
- River rifts where there is a small amount of underwater vegetation;
- Bays where there is a low speed current;
- An area where there are fallen trees or snags nearby, since most often the predator’s prey likes to hide in hard-to-reach places;
- Places where there is a sharp change in depth;
- In the coastal area where vegetation grows, water lilies and algae.
Fishing methods and equipment
In the spring, for a number of reasons, pike fishing is carried out from the shore. Therefore, the main gear will be a live bait fishing rod. Every fishing enthusiast can equip it.
- You can use a spinning rod with a reel as a fishing rod.
- The main line is 0.35 mm or braided 0.2 mm, a large float that must cope with the weight of the live bait.
- A 4-6 g sinker and a hook No. 8-10 are mounted on the fishing line.
- To prevent pike teeth from cutting the line, it is better to use a metal leash 20-50 cm long.
Using a float, the fishing depth is adjusted so that the bait floats 20-30 cm above the bottom.
After the bite, the predator must be given the opportunity to swallow the prey and wait until it begins to move towards the shelter. The reel helps in releasing the line.
In the summer, there are more gear options. In addition to live bait fishing rods, fishermen use popular mugs and girders.
The circles are put out from the boat and are a large reel of foam, onto which 10-20 m of monofilament with a diameter of 0.3 mm is wound. The weight of the sinker depends on the size and mobility of the live bait, and the fisherman himself decides whether to install a leash or not. When fishing without a leash, more pike bites occur, and it grabs the fish more boldly. But sharp teeth can bite off the strongest fishing line. The bait is lowered into the water, and the fishing line is pinched on the hook so that when a pike bites, it can unwind from the circle. After an attack by a toothy predator, the circle should turn over. Painting the foam circle in different colors will allow you to determine on which tackle the bite occurred.
The principle of operation of the zherlitsa is somewhat similar to the work of the circle. Only for storing fishing line are special reels used, which are tied to the branches of bushes or trees, to bunches of reeds or reeds. After setting the line, the fishing line is fixed in a split in the reel or branch so that after a bite it can easily come off the reel. Then the pike will not suspect a trick and will not spit out the bait.
Fishing for pike with a spinning rod - a guide to catching the toothy hunter with artificial bait in the warm season.
How to build and properly use a donkey for catfish.
Catching pike perch with a spinning rod - tips for fishing for pike perch.
Some subtleties of fishing
Many novice fishermen do not have sufficient experience in catching predators, so they try to learn as much as possible how to catch predators with a spinning rod. The choice of equipment depends on the weather, body of water and other environmental features.
To catch a predator with live bait, you can use a spinning rod or a feeder. They make it much easier to pull stubborn pike from the bottom. You don't need to pull the line too hard, because if there is too much resistance, the predator may simply spit out the bait.
The choice of spinning rod for live bait fishing depends on environmental conditions. It is best to use braid.
If you plan to catch a predator in a standing body of water, then it is best to buy a fishing line, since it is practically invisible in the water column, which means that the predator will quickly fall into the trap. The most common fishing methods are donka or float tackle.
In the second option, you need to choose a float so that the bait does not drown it under any circumstances. Float tackle is good in coastal areas, where the amount of vegetation is much greater. In other cases, donka works better.
The weight of the cargo must be calculated correctly. If you are going fishing on a river with a current, then the maximum weight of the load should not exceed 150 grams. In calm water the maximum weight is 50 g. The universal length of fishing line with a thickness of 0.03 mm is no more than half a meter.
Read: How to catch pike and perch with a spinning rod
How to fish with a float
Another old and not forgotten way of fishing for pike using live bait with a float, equipping it with a fishing rod, spinning rod or an ordinary stick cut right there in the bushes. This gear is quite simple and at the same time makes it possible to fish many interesting places and creeks from the shore. It’s good to catch a toothy predator on a float if there is no boat and there is no way to swim up and put baits or baits in attractive pike places.
The simplest tackle for pike with live bait with a float is an ordinary pole or stick 3-4 meters long with a float attached to the end. And you can make at least a dozen of these fishing rods without any special financial costs. It’s not difficult to figure out how to catch pike with live bait with such gear; usually they fish from the shore on channels and canals, or if reeds and water lilies grow near the shore not so far from the coastline that you can throw the tackle to the very border of the end of the water thickets, 3-6 meters from the shore. And it is better to tie the other end of the stick to a tree, bushes or stone, so that the toothy fish, once on the hook, does not drag the tackle into the water.
For such equipment with a float, many fishermen use a conventional spinning rod, the same as when fishing for pike on a spinning rod with a reel and wound fishing line with a diameter of 0.3-0.4 mm, but equip the rod with a massive float, a sinker and tie a metal leash at the end with double for bait. This method is good if you need to throw the tackle far from the shore, for example, on a channel, throw it to the reeds of the other bank. The disadvantage of this method is that it is difficult to control several spinning rods at once, which you will also have to drag with you when fishing, and this is already a large amount in a fisherman’s equipment for pike fishing for live fish.
Methods for securing live bait
To set live bait firmly, you can use either a single hook or a double hook. The hook is easily attached to the back of the baitfish. When using a double, the second hook should pass in the gill area.
It is best if the bait fish lives in the same body of water in which it will be fished. She must be resilient and not fall asleep for a long time. For active fishing on the river, goby, gudgeon or spined lance are best suited.
Pike has a “special love” for bleak, but it falls asleep too quickly after being fixed on the hook. To catch as many fish as possible, it is important to remember that the baitfish must be active.
Pike
Catching large pike with live bait requires the presence of a spinning rod, which can be used to make long casts of 20-30 meters.
Rod equipment
It’s good if there is an inertia-free reel on the rod, but this is not critical, you can choose any reel, as long as it is powerful. The fishing line will need about 100 meters. The fishing line should be strong, 0.3-0.4 mm, a braided cord will also work.
Here is one example of equipment: a cork or foam float is mounted on the main line, followed by a load of lead “olives”. The weight of the sinker is 8-10 grams. Next, make a swivel and attach a leash with a hook to it.
Three in one
Many people prefer a metal leash, which, from their point of view, is less susceptible to being bitten by the sharp teeth of a pike. But there is also an opinion that pike do not take live bait on a metal leash so readily.
The length of the leash does not matter. But still, think about the fact that instead of a leash, the toothy fish can bite through the main fishing line, so it is not advisable to use a very short one. For such equipment, only single hooks with a long shank are used.
The tip on the hooks should be bent towards the fore-end. It is not at all necessary to fish with a large hook, the main thing is that it is well sharpened. I often had small pike swallow a hook that was too big for them, and at the same time a 2-kilogram pike was caught on a small hook.
When biting, the pike does not completely swallow the hook, and double or triple hooks give about 50% of the hooks. So, from my point of view, a single hook is more reliable. But they also catch on tees, and more than one. See how summer fishing for big baitfish happens:
Fishing tactics
When attacking, the pike grabs the bait crosswise, then it goes into cover and swallows it whole. Therefore, the fishing tactic is to give slack to the fishing line and allow the pike to calmly move away. You need to wait for the second tightening of the line, pause for a moment, and then start picking up the slack.
The main thing is not to rush and wait for the pike to swallow the bait along with the hook. Excessive fuss and nervousness when playing will cause great harm. Wait calmly for a pause. But if the pike does not stop moving, having moved 4-5 meters away, hook it, there is nothing to wait for.
Pike take crushed live bait better.
Summer pike fishing begins in the morning, while it is still cool. But the summer heat has a bad effect on it; it stays near the bottom and feeds poorly.
Float rod
To catch pike, a float rod is often used. This type of fishing rod is not much different from the one usually used for catching other fish, only it is more powerful. And the rod itself, and the reel, and the fishing line - all the gear is designed for biting and landing larger fish. Often a float rod for pike is made from a spinning rod. Only it is equipped with a large float and a leash with a load. The length of the rod in this case does not have to be long. Such tackle, equipped with a spinning reel or other spinning reel, allows you to cast considerable distances from the shore.
You can also use an ordinary fishing rod that is not designed for long casts. In this case, it itself should have a significant length of up to 4-5 meters. But they are caught very rarely with such gear. Most often, ordinary spinning tackle is converted into a float fishing rod.
Read: Jerk fishing
For equipment, use a large float with a load capacity of 5 grams and above. The size is selected depending on the size of the live bait used, the casting distance and the strength of the current. A metal leash with a large hook must be placed at the end of the fishing line, and a sinker is placed above the leash, which prevents the bait fish from floating to the surface, holds it at the required depth, and prevents its behavior from being too active. Otherwise, too active live bait may move too quickly across the reservoir, preventing the angler from fishing the place he needs.
Live bait is attached to the hook, the float is set to the required depth, and the tackle is thrown into the area of the reservoir where the pike may be. Next, they watch the float and wait for a bite. If there is no bite, then the tackle is transferred to a slightly different place, or they move on. After the bite, they wait a little and hook. Usually, when a pike grabs a live bait, it swims for some distance with the fish in its teeth, and then, stopping, begins to swallow it. It is during a stop that you need to make a sweep.
Sometimes the hook has to be done immediately after the pike bites. Otherwise, it can simply pull the tackle into the grass or snags, where it will quickly become entangled and the fisherman will not have the opportunity not only to pull out the fish, but also to save the float, weight and part of the fishing line. You need to look at the circumstances and the nature of the fishing spot, and based on all this, make a decision about when to hook. You can fish from the shore or from a boat. From a boat, of course, the opportunities and chances of catching increase. This is a simple and fairly catchy tackle, especially considering the bait used.
