what pound test for pike fluorocarbon leaders

[northernnyice]

Where do you hook your bait ? My experience has been to hook all bait it the rear 1/4 of the bait... I know everyone runs with the idea that pike tussle and flip bait around in their mouths before attempting to swallow it.. My belief is they just inhale it from the get go... Their teeth are more of a restraining or wounding tool.. I dont know about yall but it always seems a bait is going down their throat head 1st... Keeping this in mind and having a bait hooked in its tail quarter allows the hook to leave the bait more freely and at the same time have a shorter distance to the tooth line.. Which is why i seem to have almost a 95% hook up rate in the outside corner of the jaw.. Thus eliminating teeth from the equation.. Do i still get gut shots ? Yup.. But not nearly as many as i have in the past hooking bait in the dorsal fin or back area... I just recently started to document this... Tail hoked bait leads to corner of the jaw hooksets... Give it a try see for yourself... Rub a few sets like that and see what happens, id be interested to see your results....

I also believe that most pike smash the bait and inhale it right then and there. I think its nonsense that some people do the whole "let it go wait till it stops, let it go again, yada yada " under the belief that a pike will grab a bait, take it, drop it, turn the thing and then inhale it. Funny lol.

[thomasthepikehunter]

I tend to use only 2 rigs. One is a single circle hook, and there other is a 2 treble quickstrike. The circle hook I hook it right in front of the dorsal fin so the bait is balanced. The quick strike I put one right behind the dorsal fin, but in the side of the body, and the other some where in front of the fin, on the other side, and also in the side of the body. There's no way pike inhale the bait I use. I've seen in many times on camera and in person how pike strike these big suckers. The come up the the side and t bone them. Then they cruise off 25-75 yards, sometimes more, and finally turn the bait head first and swallow. Small bait sure, it gets sucked right in, but not a foot long live sucker struggling the whole way. Pike go to where they feel safe. I don't wait to set hooks, and I couldn't even begin to give percentages, but I don't miss many fish anymore, and most are hooked on the outside of the jaw. The problem is they are wild creatures, and a lot can happen in the seconds it takes to get to your tip up. I've tried tail hooked bait before, but it was dead bait. What kind of bait are you using, and what size of hooks?

[deadsmelthead]

I tend to use only 2 rigs. One is a single circle hook, and there other is a 2 treble quickstrike. The circle hook I hook it right in front of the dorsal fin so the bait is balanced. The quick strike I put one right behind the dorsal fin, but in the side of the body, and the other some where in front of the fin, on the other side, and also in the side of the body. There's no way pike inhale the bait I use. I've seen in many times on camera and in person how pike strike these big suckers. The come up the the side and t bone them. Then they cruise off 25-75 yards, sometimes more, and finally turn the bait head first and swallow. Small bait sure, it gets sucked right in, but not a foot long live sucker struggling the whole way. Pike go to where they feel safe. I don't wait to set hooks, and I couldn't even begin to give percentages, but I don't miss many fish anymore, and most are hooked on the outside of the jaw. The problem is they are wild creatures, and a lot can happen in the seconds it takes to get to your tip up. I've tried tail hooked bait before, but it was dead bait. What kind of bait are you using, and what size of hooks?

I run a mixed bag, suckers, shiners, perch, Ive used big suckers before up to a foot long but i never seem to get anything on them unless they are dead.. Hooks, i also run a mixed bag usually depends on the size of the bait..  1 2 3/0 hooks are in my arsenal, along with 4 6 and 8 trebles.. And i would have to agree with you reguarding big bait, ive noticed when i use perch in the hand size range  (8") that they are usually T-boned as you say, and they tend to take them for a longer ride..

[Knife2sharp]

When I was younger I had game fish aquariums. I've raised panfish, bass, northern, trout and sturgeon. Many from fry size to fingerlings. I even had bass I could feed by hand and they'd let me rub their bellies. They were like dogs, I'd come into my room and they would watch me and swim erratically behind the glass like an excited dog. Bass will grab everything that enters the water and spit out if its not food. The northern were like ninjas, they'd slowly move towards a fish, then all of a sudden they'd snatch it up, within a blink of the eye. If a minnow is quite large they would try to grab it crossways holding the gills shut. They would hold it until the struggling subsided. If they had the nose in their mouth they would start swallowing and even with it crossways, it would start straightening out. They can maneuver the bait without spitting out and grabbing it again. If they happen to grab the middle of the bait, they would only hold it for a short time before doing a quick spit/grab to try and grab the head. But I never had more than one northern, so there was no competition. So in a natural ecosystem, the smaller fish will grab food and quickly swim off to a safe area to eat. 

I think a lot of bite offs come from the hammer handles. Their teeth are sharper and much closer together. Its generally not the bighting down that breaks the line, but when the line is positioned just right and the moment there's any resistance.

[mr tip up]

30# fluoro  20 to 30#  steel

[lakerman]

my god, go STEEL or go home.................. ......please we are talking big pike here ,right ? not panfish, teeth, big teeth, figure it out...

[northernnyice]

my god, go STEEL or go home.................. ......please we are talking big pike here ,right ? not panfish, teeth, big teeth, figure it out...

80lb fluoro. How many 20 pounders you ever caught?

[HybridHunter]

80lb fluoro. How many 20 pounders you ever caught?

You sir are a broken record.
This has gotten the original question absolutely no where. Fish with what you're comfortable with and experiment.

[northernnyice]

You sir are a broken record.
This has gotten the original question absolutely no where. Fish with what you're comfortable with and experiment.

my point was that I think heavy fluoro is safe on big pike. But thanks for the insult I guess.

[HybridHunter]

Its even personal preference in the pro staff world. Obvious that not one setup is key. This argument can go on for years. http://www.in-depthoutdoors.com/magazine/february-magazine/finding-big-wi-pike-through-the-ice/

[northernnyice]

Its even personal preference in the pro staff world. Obvious that not one setup is key. This argument can go on for years. http://www.in-depthoutdoors.com/magazine/february-magazine/finding-big-wi-pike-through-the-ice/

yes, its highly debatable and preference oriented. but that is what a forum is all about.. this topic has been covered year after year. I use to be on the other side of the fence. Steel city.