by Gary Spencer

Created on: July 01, 2010

Pike fishing can be an expensive pass-time. Treble hooks, larger floats, heavier line. Just about everything is bigger stronger and pricier than the standard. However, there is one simple item that costs very little and will help you catch pike. And that is the humble rubber band.

Method One

Whether using live or dead bait pike will generally take some line and run for a few seconds before they are ready to be hooked. Now, while a fixed spool reel with a

free spool feature will allow the fish to do this, not everybody has these technically advanced and therefore more expensive reels. So take an elastic band and wrap it around the rod handle and reel seating, directly above the spool, until it’s tight. Once the bait is out and the correct tension between the rig and rod tip has been obtained, release the bale arm of the normal fixed spool reel. Make a small loop of line between your first finger and thumb. Pass this loop between one of the rubber strands and the rod handle and make sure that the line between the spool and band is tight. When you get a bite the loop will be pulled through the band, often creating a snapping sound, and the pike is free to take line. When you are ready to strike, lower the rod towards the fish, flick the bale arm back into place and tighten the line until you can feel the fish. Strike hard into the pike. You should only allow a pike five or six seconds of running time as you don’t want to deep hook them. Another tip is when you strike, strike hard! Pike have very hard bony mouths and that means you need to drive the hooks home.

Method Two

Baits used for pike fishing are often fragile. Whether they are alive or dead their main problem is that they don’t stay on the hook well. If you’re using live baits another problem is keeping them alive. Take a look at the treble hook. It should have one barbed point and two semi barbed or barbless points. The barbed hook should be used to secure the bait. The best way to keep a fish lively is to keep it healthy and the least amount of times you hook it the healthier it will be. If you’re fishing small live baits such as roach, one treble hook attached to two feet of wire trace is often enough, meaning the fish need only be hooked once. The best way to do this is to pass the hook through the mouth and out via the nasal cavity or the nostril. By doing this you are actually inflicting little damage to the bait. However, the bait fish is not secured to the hook very

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