How Pike hit suckers

[Feeling Crappie]

Hey guys I was out the other day and my buddy and I decided to set a flag in the house and watch the sucker with my camera. We had a theory that pike always took their food head first and therefore had a single hook in the tail of the minnow. We had 4 fish come in and they all took the minnow differently only one was close to agressive the other three basically looked like they were going to take it somewhere and didn't want to hurt the minnow. We never actually got a fish up the hole (which is ok cuz then we didn't stink like pike) and I'm thinking that it is time to invest in some quick strike rigs. What have you guys noticed as far as strikes and best hook setups on your flags?

[husb0023]

Haha, I know the feeling.  I swear the pike are just trying to whisk the shiners away to safety some days. 

I only use 3"-4" shiners and dorsal  hook them.  The shiner is so small the pike usually ends up with the hook in the mouth.  If I was using a big sucker I would probably go for a quick strike rig.

[UP jigstick]

I make my own quick strike rigs, that is all I use for northerns. A couple of size 10 treble hooks on a thin wire leader. One hook in front of the dorsal fin and one near the tail has always worked well for me.

[canthookit]

I was using circle hooks right below the fin and I went an entire season missing almost every flag I had on this particular lake. I fished a different lake and my impression is that the fish were more aggressive when taking the bait as they all engulfed the bait and hooked themselves.

So personally I don't think pike take the bait the same, or even consistantly. Watching a lot of the videos on youtube, it looks like they will grab it, spit it out and then completely swallow it.

I switched to quick strikes late last season and I rarely ever had a flag with nothing on the hook.

[jayswimmer09]

for large suckers you have to go with the quick strike rig, its a must

[Tainterslayer]

I've noticed that pike that swallow minnows tend to eat them head first. I hook them through just below the dorsal fin.

[esoxmaster]

Last season I made my own Quick Strike Rigs out of a tieable leader wire that I got those metal tubes for and clamped loops into it for the hooks. they kept breaking. even on ones that I tied the "teiable leader" to the hooks. I only caught one pike on one of them and the hook broke free immediately after icing the fish.

[keepah seekah]

i've read alot about quickstrike rigs. and im pretty excited to try them out this year. i was able to pick a couple up on one of my trips to walmart a couple weeks ago. the ones i bought are made by HT Enterprises.

[esoxmaster]

I guess I'll be buying them this year!

[pike4some]

We tried the camera thing a few years back. Had the cam in the shack and a tip up 6 feet out. We watched the same pike for around a half hour. He would come in sit about 6" to a foot away from the minnow and wait for the shiner to get in the right direction and slam it. Only thing is he did this 6-8 times and spit it back out then he would go make a circle 20-25' out and come back. The flag never went off once until the last time we got it. I figure he was hungry but felt something wrong and spit it back out or he wanted something dead. What ever he was thinking it was fun to watch. This kind of probaly shows why at times you check you tip ups and there is no bait left on them.

RESPECT THE PIKE

[ThatsASub]

Last season I made my own Quick Strike Rigs out of a tieable leader wire that I got those metal tubes for and clamped loops into it for the hooks. they kept breaking. even on ones that I tied the "teiable leader" to the hooks. I only caught one pike on one of them and the hook broke free immediately after icing the fish.

When using the tubes, send the loop thru long enough to send it thru again.  If you can pull it thru the tube is to big, use a smaller size.  Also try not using tieable leader line.  Just get the black or silver leader line and loop and clamp.  Also still send the second thread thru (if you can or have to) and you know it will not break after clamping.

[ICE DOG 69]

I use a trebble hook hooked at the dorsal.  Almost every Flag last year had a hooked fish on it.  Easier to get 1 trebble hook out instead of 2 trebble hooks out. 

[minnowdrowner]

I have always dorsal hooked them with a single treble as well. But from talking to a few people and reading a few things, I might have to try out the quick strike rigs I bought last year and never used.

[woody38]

does anyone on here ever use spoons on their tip ups? or pretty much just quick strike rigs or single treble hooks?

[minnowdrowner]

I do sometimes, IMO it helps draw the fish's attention from further off, let the minnow do the close up work. I'm not sure if most people do though

[BaitWrangler]

I've researched how pike eat bait pretty thoroughally.  I did that so I could try to find where I think the best place to hook the bait is.

I've watched hundreds of pike feeding videos and very rarely do I see them hit the bait head first. What I do see 98% of the time though is pike and picherel hit the bait at a 45 degree angle, either facing up or down. When they do that, the area behind the dorsal fin and anal fin is usually always in their mouth which makes me beleive putting the hook just behind the dorsal is the best way to go.

Ed

[pike4some]

does anyone on here ever use spoons on their tip ups? or pretty much just quick strike rigs or single treble hooks?

We have done this and had good results.  1-1.5" is what we used

[a1professionalgu]

try using american fishing wire avaible @ cabellas.14lb is expensive but worth it.attach a spoon or even better a glow jig w/ treble stinger on wire line.up about 2 ft. attach a floater jig w/ stinger so you work 2 depths @ once.i catch more than my buddys all the time.they swicthed last year w/ great results.

[Feeling Crappie]

So if you are just putting one treble behind the dorsal what size hook do you use? Also I was using suckers that were maybe 5 inches long. When I fish I usually release everything so I don't want to be hooking these fish too deep. Do quick strike rigs have a higher kill rate then a single treble?

[lostfishy]

Anything above your terminal hook will catch the lower edge of the ice while you are trying to bring in a fish. Even a large swivel can catch for a second but usually pops by unless it gets stuck in a crack. Hooks, especially trebles will undoubtably snag. Good luck.

[pike4some]

I use a size 8 treble

[FishinIsLife]

does anyone on here ever use spoons on their tip ups? or pretty much just quick strike rigs or single treble hooks?

I've tried it all some days they just want a plain treble hook but the best luck I have is with a spinner blade on a steel wire and a treble hook and minnow hooked to the end of it. also on hook placement always just in front of the dorsal fin. pike no matter how big are like anyother carnivore when they get there food they take it somewhere else to eat it. When a flag goes up I wait for the initial run to stop before setting the hook.

[deadsmelthead]

Heres my thinking and the whole thing.  If I am a big pike on the prowl and I am slowly sneaking up on a lone minnow,,,,, I am not going to sneak up looking it right in the eye. I am going to approach it from the rear and inhale it. That is why I hook all my bait in the tail. Do I know this as fact ? No.... It's just what I would do if I were a Pike.

[Feeling Crappie]

deadsmelthead, the pike that I watched come in on my camera looked like they were tourtering my minnows. The would come up to it and sit six inches away for a couple seconds then suck it in and spit it back out right away. They would do this a couple times before actually taking it all the way in. They may have been timid because they were small fish (1-3 pounds) but there didn't seem to be any "sneaking" from a specific direction the minnow would usually be fighting the hook till the fish get there and then wouldn't move once the fish was on camera.

[deadsmelthead]

deadsmelthead, the pike that I watched come in on my camera looked like they were tourtering my minnows. The would come up to it and sit six inches away for a couple seconds then suck it in and spit it back out right away. They would do this a couple times before actually taking it all the way in. They may have been timid because they were small fish (1-3 pounds) but there didn't seem to be any "sneaking" from a specific direction the minnow would usually be fighting the hook till the fish get there and then wouldn't move once the fish was on camera.

I understand what you saw first hand, but I just don't believe pike behave like that all the time. I do a lot of trout fishing on the fly rod, I can't tell you how many times fish are curious but just will not commit to taking. Then there are days when it seems like they don't even think twice about. It sounds like the pike were not very aggressive maybe it just got done filling its stomach an hour before, basicaly kinda turned off. I don't know. I would have to jump in that fishes head to really know the answer. I'm just looking at it from the perspective of being the "hunter" and thinking about how the "hunted" would need to be approached.

I relalize that the sucker was dangling on a hook, but I would have to say they pike recognize or differentiate baits. 

Ever approached a school of suckers along a stream ? Most of the time if you snap a twig on the bank it sends them off to cover.  Could be the pike was confused as to why the sucker wasn't off and swimming like every other sucker he has come across.

Like I said, we are basically trying to figure out what a fish thinks and until one of us gets reincarnated as a pike and then back to a human again so he to tell us all about it, then we will never know. We can ponder and take some guesses though..

[two_fish_tommy]

alot of it depends on the time of day and conditions.  When its prime feeding time they are very aggressive but if its not they like to torture the prey. Northerns are predators by nature, they eat anything and kill anything that swims including other northerns, that's why quickstrike rigs have fewer empty flags if they just want to torture the bait theres a good chance of still hooking them.  That's part of the reason why musky fishing takes talent and luck cause muskies like to torture and stalk there prey before eating it, and if they cant do that they will just turn around and eat there own tail

[Feeling Crappie]

Ok then so what is the best time for agressive pike that want to kill not kiss my minnow?

[two_fish_tommy]

if the barometer is around 30 and the wind is out of the west I have my best luck other than that its hit or miss with my experience

[Dinga LING]

I use the quick strike rig for all pike fishing.  I put on 2 size 8 trebil hooks.  The red ones are the best.  I have very few false flags and have yet to lose a hooked one.  I start out with 6 to 8 inch live suckers then dead ones.  Don't seem to matter.  Over 90% of the pike seem to take it head first. One of the #8 hooks end up in the pikes belly.  Not good when you get a hammer handle cause you have to kill the pike to get your hooks back.  I always put one hook through the suckers lip and one through the dorsal.  Keeps them alive longer just incase a big wall eye or laker comes by.

I make up a dozen or so Q/S rigs and just unclip the one with the fish on and replace it with a spare.  I retrieve my rig when I fillet the fish.
These work on big (18 pound biggest so far) as well as smaller fish.

While it has been my expierience that most pike take it head first I have caught pike with one of my hooks in each cheek and even snared one some how.

You would have to actually show me a better performing rig before I would change.

[Feeling Crappie]

The problem I have with that is that I don't want to kill the fish. I'm in it for having fun and drinking beer. Plus I don't really like to eat fish which is the main reason I don't fish walleye's, I'd rather catch 30 crappies than 3 walleyes.