First of all let me say I have not fished for pike through the ice...I am a trophy Pickerel hunter...snicker if you will...and not a very good one either...most years I catch a few very large pics...but I am after the state or world record. I will give you my set up...and except constructive criticsm and I am always looking for new ideas..
Caution about the advice you get take everything with a grain of salt. I have been fishing hard for over 40 years...HARD...I am still learning and still make huge mistakes...if it was baseball there would be a flashing light on the green monster that said Bozeiceman 1 angler error after last year....you see what I do is wait until ice...then I change for a barbless hook CPR guy catch photograph and release...I fish almost exclusively with the fly rod...when ice comes I switch to Mr. Trophy Pic Hunter.
Last year I had been reading about how guys catch pics on 4 and 6 pound leaders...just have to play the fish right! Learn to fish they say! I catch them all the time on light line! That's what some will tell you! So in an attempt to generate more hits I set a trap out with 0X florocarbon leader material on a pickerel trap. It was working well and I had caught a bunch of picks no problem. Then a monster, a giant pick, the fish I had been waiting years hits a giant select golden shiner! I saw it twice go under the hole and I thought...over 27" easy...maybe bigger and heavy...NOT a pike but a monster herring fed pickerel...chewed right through the floro..gone!! Agler error..devestation, disapointment, defeat...all alone dark cold dismal...kicked my ass all the way home...
Kind of a long winded story...but critical if you are going to fish for pike. The moral of the story is light tackle and light leaders are sporting and fun and the way I fish most of the time...I am a ultralight fly rod guy...but my advice is if you are trophy fishing seriously after big toothy species you need tackle that will land the biggest and strongest of the species...That is what you are after right?
I will tell you I switched to 30 floro seaguar...and caught pics to 26" without a scratch on the floro...so...I am optomistically somewhat confident for pics this might be ok...but I need more data...others with more experience at pike fishing tell me the right tooth in the right place floro is gone and to use wire. For trout and stripers and tuna wire is with cut your strikes big time...big time....
For picks and pikes..not so much..if any...need more data...
So...when I fish for giant pike and muskies I thing I will use some new school tyeable steel like TYGER leader...for trophy pics I will fish 30 seaguar this year and you will hear me scream if a world record chomps through that this winter!!
I use 36lb braided dacon...cortland greenspot if I can find it with a 1/8 egg sinker sliding to a ball bearing snap swivel. (USA Made) small but like 80lb test...to the florocarbon. I have different length leaders pre made...a three foot leader gives the bait 6' in all directions to run a 2' leader cuts the amount the bait can run by a whole lot. I fish are not in the mood to chase a one foot leader shortens the baits leash! Dependding on how big and game the bait is I put a 1/8 rubbercore about 8" from the bait. Bait struggles to pull that around...like a ball and chain...gamefish get a kick out of that...I've seen them pull up right behind it until baitfish breaks out in a sweat then slammo!! Anyway, for pick I use a #6 GAMAKATSU (if I was afetr pike I'd go to #4 maybe even #2 since one prong burried..)treble stick one prong deep behing the dorsal fin of the bait.
One other trick I use is to take a 1/8 rubbercore and cut lead in half making a 1/16 rubbercore...The key to the system is the length of the leader and weighting the rubbercore 8" from the bait. Lets say you are running a 6' leader from the ball bearing....a game bait could be 12' down 12' acoss....if pike are hunting and hungry they could find that guy anywhere right? Bait is on a 10' leader could be swimming all over chance of attracting a gamefish is greater than if bait is weighted to a specific spot....but if fish are lethargic and just not feeding....sometimes you put the bait on a ball and chain things happen....
So when I go out I have five different leaders and rubbercore combos....then change them up when I get a feel for what is happening..
Anyway this is my theory...how I do it...not so difficult...the difficult part is the baits...I prefer native forage, biggest possible, game as possible that is the game right there. The 36Lb dacron bomb proof the ball bearing swivel overkill the floro stealthy the egg gets me to depth the length of leader keeps my bait confined to a volume diameter and the rubbercore acts as a ball and chain for the bait to constantly struggle with...
Other guys will weigh in with Pike leader material...I think I'm safe with 30 seaguar for picks...but I don't want to lose the first ten pound pick ever caught either...data..need more data..
