Pike Fishing: Wire Leader, No leader or fluorocarbon?

[Snag]

Now that Westmeath is coming up soon, I think everyone is getting excited to fish for the toothy critters.

I was doing some reading and I was surprised to read that people use fluorocarbon leaders to target pike. I've never found pike very leader shy so in most cases I've always stuck on a 30cm wired leader.

But in the case I read in the magazine, they were using braided line and putting on a 4ft long fluorocarbon 20lbs test leader. Won't you get lots of bite offs using a fluorocarbon leader? Is there an advantage for using fluorocarbon for pike?

What do you use when fishing for pike? I'm most cases I've had the habit of using a wire leader however last year I found myself feeling more confident in just directly tying PP to a spinner and casting for pike.

[Moosebunk]

If the pike are finicky, which in comparison to other fish wouldn't be as often, I could see going flouro then because you may want to present a slower presentation that may get greater inspection by a pike. I'm fishing tanin to double double stained up here, and so in that case I don't think wire is catching me any less fish. Wouldn't hurt to have both on hand.

[Snag]

I might try it. You can get a small spool of 20lb fluoro for cheap.

[Jigs]

Snag:

WIRE SAY IT AGAIN: WIRE, WIRE

I have had small pike bite through floro like it wasen't there. I don't want to lose a big one, nor do I want one swimming around with a big lure caught in its mouth.

Definately in favour of heavy wire leaders (black), with "good" snaps. Brand name; no cheapos.

Also.............. ; go barbless. Easier to let them go.

End of rant.............

Regards:

[squig69]

snag
i just baught a small spool of 15lbs fluro leader line (stren) for about 15$, 25m

chris

[scuro]

I recently bought flouro carbon and will be using it for the first time this spring on pike. My local fishstore guy said not to buy any flouro carbon under 60 pound or they could cut through it.

Hey Bunk, up on that Abitibi your line should have large arrows pointing to the lure to help those poor fish out. Honestly the water looks like flowing coffee with double cream, midsummer!!!

[RJ]

My only thinking on this question is when have pike ever been line shy?....we've all used wire leaders for years.....I personally won't be changing to fluoro for pike...I just see the need for it...

When throwing spinnerbaits I'll tie direct to PP... when throwing cranks....I use a small steel leader.....black preferably....

I will be trying out fluoro on my tube/senko rig this year.....just to see if it makes a difference.....we'll see....

RJ

[Guest]

pike usually do not care about leaders,,, they wills till hit a bait. IN Florida the cudas were leaders shy and as soon as I tied on a bait without a leader BAM... landed 1 out of 10...

[wolfe]

Snag,

good post.

I also have always used wire leaders of varying lengths when target'g pike.

I guess an advantage to fluorocarbon might be as Moosebunk mentioned: to enhance a slower presentation bait, maybe not just for cautious pike but to better keep the lure action true? This is just speculation, though.

W.

[Canadian Bacon]

I wanna keep my lures so...Wire leader for me...or Straight to the PP.. (might lose one that way though).
I really don't think Pike are to picky as to what thier food is attached too.

[grumpy7790]

I usually do not use a leader. I like to use Strikeking's Magnum King Jr 1.25 oz spinnerbaits. Their about twice the size of your normal 0.5 oz baits which helps prevents being bit off.

I was also wondering anyone here has ever used TyGer Leaders?

Tyger Leaders are knottable stainless steel leaders. Yes, they say they are flexible enough to be tied right on like normal mono???


Check it out:

http://www.tygerleader.com/index.html

[Jabba]

Up until this week, I would have thought a heavy braided line would be OK for pike. Heck, I can't cut through it with nail clippers, and gave up trying to chew through it with my teeth (I have no trouble chomping through 3 lb mono), but twice this week, my daughter had pike cut thru 30 lb. Power Pro like it wasn't even there, while fishing for bullheads. If I'm going for pike, it'll be wire leaders.

Where there are really big pike, especially if I'm trolling, I've often used a Willow Leaf in lieu of.

[Manny]

I have seen times were pike can be real leader-shy, in 2 different lakes about 1000 miles from each other. Really a difference between catching fish and not.

Kesagami pitching jigs and bo-liz in cabbage and rock-points. Guests would be pitching to the weeds with jigs (and leaders) and not catching a thing when I would be jigging the edges for wallies for shore-lunch and I would be catching pike and walleyes. Off came the leaders and the pike would start hitting. Fireline (back in the days before PP)as a main line, too bad, splice up a mono leader. I will even go further by saying that break-offs were actually rare.

Last summer, fishing with the GF near Maniwaki, couldn't buy a pike until the leaders came off, trolling spoons and rattlin-raps. Now I wonder if taking our leaders off would have changed our luck the times when we fished that lake and the action was slow.

I was thinking that maybe the leaders kill the action of the lures but poeple use the same snaps when trolling for walleyes with cranks.

Through the ice, I just use tiny leaders put on the market by Red-Wolf. They are generic and I have no idea how the would hold up to anything over 10 pounds but I have caught a bunch and they kill regular leaders in a head-to-head duel, same day, same spot, same bait deal.

That said, I have never used flurocarbon so if anyone has good success with these, please keep us posted.

[bcsmitty]

Last spring, I tried florocarbon leader, 40Lb test, as a Pike leader. It was okay, untill I got cut off. I was husky jerking 6incher rapala, black and silver, in about 15 feet of water. Jerk, Jerk, Pause.......line starts to move, set the hook, and feel a big one, start reeling in.........line went slack too soon, got the rig in, about 10inches up the leader, the florocarbon was cut right off. pee pee ME OFF!!!! Even if it was an out of season musky, I'd would have like to have seen it and try to get the lure back! I'll conintue to use florocarbon, but use my musky leaders(80lb or above) for it. I'll use the 40lb stuff for bass, walleye, or salmon.

Spro swivels and snaps, in 80lb class or so, work are the best, but you have to pay for it!!!

Have a good one and take her easy. If she's easy, take her twice.....

[Hoser]

Used 30 lb 12" flouro leaders all last year without a single cut off. After every pike I checked the line for nicks, and changed it when necessary. I think it's just luck of the draw with those razor sharp teeth. I can say for sure my count went up with walleye when I stopped using wire. I always hated the way it ended up curling and quite happy with flouro.