Wire or no wire leader for spring pike

[muppetmullet81]

I've never targeted pike, but I have caught one or two while targeting bass, I've never had one cut through a 20lb bass leader. But if I was going to start targeting them should I use wire or just keep using what has worked in the past?
Did I just get lucky?

 

[ottosmagic13]

I've never targeted them on a fly but with a casting setup I've always used a wire leader 1'-18" backed by either #30 mono or #60 braid when specifically targeting them in Irondequoit Bay (Ontario Lake).

That said I caught several while targeting bass with #20 mono leaders.

 

[luj333]

I've never targeted pike, but I have caught one or two while targeting bass, I've never had one cut through a 20lb bass leader. But if I was going to start targeting them should I use wire or just keep using what has worked in the past?
Did I just get lucky?

What size pike are we talking about? For smaller hammer handle pike, not a huge deal, but when you are targeting 35-40" plus pike, you really just don't risk breakoffs.

 

[rangerrich99]

At least up to 30" fish, wire isn't really necessary. I use Spiderwire superbraid; bought a spool nine years ago and still have almost all of it left. Never lost a pike using it. Never caught a pike larger than 30 inches though.

I used Spiderwire for over ten years when I was just a bass fisherman and was a big fan of the stuff. Super tough, abrasion-resistant, super limp and will last forever. Only downside is that it's a bit tough to cut with most nippers.

On a fly rod the stuff casts pike flies a lot better than a tapered mono leader.

 

[suzyhector]

Here in Sweden we use either 0.90mm flourocarbon or wire trace leader.

Small pikes have a tendency to easily bite off anything that isn't wire, for bigger pikes flourocarbon is just fine.

The standard setup here in Scandinavia is: Pike adapted fly line with about 1meter (for floating and intermediate line) nylon leader, then about halv meter wire trace leader with loop to loop connection. Shorter nylon leader if you use a sinking line.

 

[ia_trouter]

I've had tiny pike bite through mono. Teeth are sharp no matter the size of fish. There are many ways to skin the cat but I generally use a foot of tyable wire on the business end of a leader. Or just tie on a simple braided 1 foot pike leader that costs about a dollar. The snap swivel on the end is handy. Pike are absolutely not line shy so you can do whatever you like without fear of scaring them off. If you are on true trophy water use higher end components to be safe.

 

[suzyhector]

I've had tiny pike bite through mono. Teeth are sharp no matter the size of fish. There are many ways to skin the cat but I generally use a foot of tyable wire on the business end of a leader. Or just tie on a simple braided 1 foot pike leader that costs about a dollar. The snap swivel on the end is handy. Pike are absolutely not line shy so you can do whatever you like without fear of scaring them off. If you are on true trophy water use higher end components to be safe.

They are not leadershy, so better safe than sorry!
Wire material is so good and cheap these days that there are no reasons to not use it IMO.

 

[Ard]

I've done it both ways; caught a great many using 15 pound Maxima with Whitlock Sculpins. The fly works well but one day a nice one sheared me off as if I had taken my Benchmade to the line. After that I bought spools of that wire strand with vinyl coating and use that for the tip. The wire gets kinked after the first fish but when they are there and biting they don't seem to mind a few kinks.

Ard

 

[ia_trouter]

They don't mind some leader kinks. I was a longtime spinning gear pike angler but I jumped on the fly wagon and tried to make things complicated with fancy hand tied pike leaders. I'm confident it's a complete waste of time and money. The $1 braided stainless wire leaders work fine. I go through one or two on a week long trip. A small amount of quality tyable wire is not a couple bucks. For true trophy water use a fancy store pre-made leader. You can build your own but you won't save much, or probably nothing at all. For the big boys you can spend $10 on a HD titanium musky leader with a high end snap swivel. It would take most of us years to wear it out.

 

[dennyk]

I'm a fan of the Rio Pike leaders. The ones I use are 71/2 feet long with a good taper down to 18" of 30# wire with a snap connection for the fly.

Haven't caught one on my flyrod yet, but the fun is in the chase.

Denny

 

[lonm]

I agree wire works fine, and I have caught hundreds of smallish pike as a kid with a spinning rod loaded with 20lb nylon, but had many bite off.
I build my leaders cause I like doing it. 25lb nylon then 18" of hundred lb Flouro, I use crimps and epoxy to make a smooth loop with a snaploc for changing flies.
Turns over big flies great

 

[ia_trouter]

I agree wire works fine, and I have caught hundreds of smallish pike as a kid with a spinning rod loaded with 20lb nylon, but had many bite off.
I build my leaders cause I like doing it. 25lb nylon then 18" of hundred lb Flouro, I use crimps and epoxy to make a smooth loop with a snaploc for changing flies.
Turns over big flies great

My last post was a little harsh. Let me try again....

Tying your own wire leaders for pike is not at all required, and you won't save money. But I do have some hand tied leaders. If you care to put in the time and experiment you can dial them in nice to turn over your preferred flies. Better than just slapping a store bought leader on the end of some mono. Even if you only own two or three spools of mono or flouro in various sizes, you have a lot of control tying them yourself. And significantly less complicated than trout leaders IMO. Leader sections don't need to be dialed in +/- one inch.

 

[corn fed fins]

I just use 6" of the toothy critter line attached to a 2x leader. Nothing special.

 

[silver creek]

I don't fish pike so I have no personal experience.

The expert on pike and musky in Wisconsin is Bill Sherer of the We Tie It Fly Shop in Boulder Junction. He uses Knot-2-Kinky Nickel-Titanium Wire for the bite tippet. So if hard mono is not working for you, you can consider this product.

Hammer Creek Fly Fishing Blog - Hammer Creek Fly Fishing

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENtr_g_i6Jg[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xOPPzjZgDk[/ame]

 

[philly]

The only time I really fish for pike is when I take my annual trip up to a lodge in Northern Ontario. Since my main target is smallmouth, I use a straight piece of 25 lb fluorocarbon and will just switch over to one of my pike streamers if there's a pike in the area. Since I'm usually up there in late July or early August, most of the pike I'll catch are in the 18 to 30 inch range. The ones I've lost were usually inhaled by the pike but I've had a few lost because the leader was cut by the gill plate. Still I've landed more than I lost, so I'll stick with the fluorocarbon for now. I also tie my streamers on 2XL hooks which gives me a bit of bite off protection.

 

[lonm]

My last post was a little harsh. Let me try again....

Tying your own wire leaders for pike is not at all required, and you won't save money. But I do have some hand tied leaders. If you care to put in the time and experiment you can dial them in nice to turn over your preferred flies. Better than just slapping a store bought leader on the end of some mono. Even if you only own two or three spools of mono or flouro in various sizes, you have a lot of control tying them yourself. And significantly less complicated than trout leaders IMO. Leader sections don't need to be dialed in +/- one inch.

I didnt find it harsh, its true, many ways to rig for dem toothy snakes. Can be easy and inexpensive or tons of Flies, leaders, about 8 rods just for Pike Im thinking I might need an intervention.

 

[ia_trouter]

I didnt find it harsh, its true, many ways to rig for dem toothy snakes. Can be easy and inexpensive or tons of Flies, leaders, about 8 rods just for Pike Im thinking I might need an intervention.

I am out of control on flies. I don't live near pike water and am lucky to fish for them two weeks a year now. I could have stopped tying pike flies 30 days after I started but that is no fun. I have some new feather patterns this year I am itching to try. Hopefully the pike will shred them and I will have an excuse to tie more off season. The bunny strips are just too durable.

 

[Rip Tide]

I often fish the Connecticut River for pike this time of year
They stage just off of the wet lands where they spawn and when the spring flood comes they'll move up into the marsh and do their thing
I went for a look-see the other day and the water is already way up so unfortunately there will be no wading for pike this year

It's long been my understanding that wire is needed for small fish much more than the the biggins'
This is because with the small fish their teeth are closer together and therefore you're more likely to get bit off.
Larger fish have more space between their teeth and if you're using a stout leader it should settle in that gap and you're fine

When I fish for bluefish, I use a 4' wire trace. Blues like to kill their prey so don't need to go long
Pike on the other hand will swallow their prey whole so you need to go with 8" minimum.

Before there was the 64 strand knot-able wire I always used the 7 strand coated.
As long as you don't develop "buck fever" there's no reason to think that you need a store-bought trace, especially if you've got "knot-able"
Dealing with the knot-able is a walk in the park compared to the coated or the even more difficult to deal with single strand stainless

 

[ia_trouter]

I often fish the Connecticut River for pike this time of year
They stage just off of the wet lands where they spawn and when the spring flood comes they'll move up into the marsh and do their thing
I went for a look-see the other day and the water is already way up so unfortunately there will be no wading for pike this year

It's long been my understanding that wire is needed for small fish much more than the the biggins'
This is because with the small fish their teeth are closer together and therefore you're more likely to get bit off.
Larger fish have more space between their teeth and if you're using a stout leader it should settle in that gap and you're fine

When I fish for bluefish, I use a 4' wire trace. Blues like to kill their prey so don't need to go long
Pike on the other hand will swallow their prey whole so you need to go with 8" minimum.

Before there was the 64 strand knot-able wire I always used the 7 strand coated.
As long as you don't develop "buck fever" there's no reason to think that you need a store-bought trace, especially if you've got "knot-able"
Dealing with the knot-able is a walk in the park compared to the coated or the even more difficult to deal with single strand stainless

The knottable is easy to use, There are probably some fancy knots suited for it but even a simple knot like they illustrate on the package works fine. I kept it pretty simple last few years with good results. About a 4ft total leader. 40# Big Game Mono- 25#- 15# or not depending if I want a break section for hard cover. Then about a foot of wire or a just a 1ft store bought leader with snap and swivel for about a buck. It turns a big fly over.

 

[mattbr]

There is no need to tie any knots for your wire tippets, and the wire can be had very cheap. Here are the steps:

Go to michaels or joanns, with your 40-50% coupon you can get off either stores' website, and buy 49 strand stainless beading wire. I buy the "bead buddy" brand because you get 15 feet versus the 10 feet in the beadalon packages, and comparing the two they appear to be the same product. I am using the .018, which is 30 lb.

Put a snap in your vise, feed your desired length wire through, and wrap your wire 6 times or so as if you are tying a clinch knot. Take a lighter and run it quickly near the wraps. The nylon coating will bubble, and weld the wire. Too much heat will burn the coating, avoid this.

Cut off tag end of wire with wire cutters.

For your other end, throw a hook in the vise via the shank, with the bend facing out from the vise as something to wrap around. Wrap your wire 6 times around again, weld wire same as above. Now you have your loop to connect to your mono/fluoro leader.


In about 1 minute, and for about 50 cents per 18" leader, you can make your own. My leader consists of ~3 ft of 40lb maxima, blood knotted to ~2 ft of 20lb seaguar fluoro, looped for connection to the tippet.

Here's a ~15lber I picked up today with this exact set up. (net is 23" wide, for reference)