Losing baits to Pike

[JoeTC]

How often do you get bit off by pike? I've been losing a jig or two each of my last few times out and it's starting get costly. I've been using 12lb fluoro and I'm contemplating going up to 15 or 20 but really don't want to go that heavy and am not sure how much it will help. What do you do to deal with bite offs or do you just buy lots of extra jigs and deal with it?

Joe

[reinhard1]

without using some kind of wire leaders i dont know what to say in my opinion. i know this is a bass thread so others may give you better ideas. i just deal with it fishing for walleys ect. fishing for pike, musky's it wont happen as much using heavier gear. heavier line may do the trick but will it hamper your presentation? bass jigs are more spendy than the jigs i use for eye's so i hear you. good luck.

[RK]

Hiya -

I figure it's the price of doing business.

I assume you're taking skirted 'jig and pig' type jigs... I typically use 16# flouro for jigging, but it's a Japanese brand - Toray Superhard Upgrade - that has a much smaller diameter than American brands rated at the same break strength. American lines typically under-rate their actual breaking strength, so diameter is a more reliable number for comparison. It's very hard, tough stuff, but even with a premium line, you still get bit off.

You can try a short (4") leader of Cortland Toothy Critter knotable wire. I use it on a couple lakes where the pike are over the top numbers-wise and fishing without it is a 5 or 6 jig a day deal. Doesn't seem to affect the bass biting - I think jigs are a reaction bait anyhow. But the leader to main line connection can be a weed catcher sometimes.

I also buy my favorite jigs by the dozen... Like I said - price of doing business.

RK

[Ufatz]

You will find several kinds of "tyable" wire leader material that is plastic coated. We often use a 10" piece of that as a leader. Does not much change action of your bait or lure and will save some tackle. When you are throwing some of those $15 custom made Japanese bass plugs you don't want to lose very many of them. And we don't like to lose our fifty year old Injured Minnow topwaters either!!

Look for the wire. I think it will solve your problem.

[hockeybc69]

I use Power pro on every reel I own.... I am sure I havent been bitten off a half dozen times this summer.

I know I know. people like the flouro for the stealth factor.

A very close friend of mine and I went to Lake Erie smallie fishing a few years ago and he told me I was doomed using braid in gin clear waters.... I was not. I outfished him in size and numbers.... He shunned me for proving him wrong... LOL

My point, braid works for me in every application for bass fishing. Are there situations where flouro might be better? Sure. But years of bass fishing, I have no issue whatsoever to use braid exclusively for everything I toss. And I do not get snipped off often at all.

[chief]

If you're set on using fluoro, you'll have to keep "donating". Braid, while not bite-proof, will save a few jigs. I personally use braid for jigs, and over the course of a season I don't feel it costs me any strikes. (Neither do I fish tournaments, or count the fish I catch, though.)

Tyger Wire, Cortland Toothy Critter, and Surflon Micro Supreme are tie-able wire options. In 14 to 20lb. test, all of these are very flexible and inconspicuous.

[corncob]

Dont throw jigs much , but, do know if your throwing spinner baits your asking to get bit off, northerns luv em!

[GooBack]

Buy cheaper jigs, and use heavier line.

If you're spending more than $2 on a jig, you're spending way too much.

People will tell you custom skirts and custom paint jobs on $5 jigs work better...but in reality, they don't.

[RuddyDuck]

I started using jigs more this year and noticed the same thing, losing 1 or 2 each time I went out. I just began using a standard 12in leader with a snap. Most of the water I have been fishing was pretty dirty and it doesn't seem to have mattered much except now I get to reel in the pike! I haven't had the same issues with crankbaits or spinnerbaits, so I still just use a small snap with those.

[JoeTC]

Buy cheaper jigs, and use heavier line.

If you're spending more than $2 on a jig, you're spending way too much.

People will tell you custom skirts and custom paint jobs on $5 jigs work better...but in reality, they don't.

Probably what I'll do. You can put together a pretty high quality jig if you buy the heads and skirts seperate or even better, just tie your own.

Joe

[GooBack]

Exactly. I get jigs from a local company for a buck a piece. Skirts are about $.15-.20 when you buy bulk from skirts plus. Doesn't hurt much when I lose 100 plus every year.

[OLY]

I was pitching jigs in reeds up on Minnewaska sunday and got bit off twice using 50lb power pro, there is not much you can do. I figure it cost me about 5$ a time too, tungsten weight, trokar flippin hook, punch skirt, sucks big time

[mainbutter]

Try using heavier fluoro and see if it impacts your catch rates. If it doesn't, just stick with it! I've got a spool of 20lb and a spool of 25lb triple fish fluoro for leader material, never had a bite-off from anything since I started using it in 2008. Big pike, little pike, big muskies, medium lake trout, lures in the mouth, line scraping against teeth..

It's not bite proof, but sure has done me well over the years. I just replace the leader if I can feel any knicks or damage. I attach it to my main line with back to back uni knots, and use a uni to tie on any lure.

[thatoneguy]

Buy cheaper jigs, and use heavier line.

If you're spending more than $2 on a jig, you're spending way too much.

People will tell you custom skirts and custom paint jobs on $5 jigs work better...but in reality, they don't.

Wrong and wrong. But that's just my opinion

[GooBack]

Color and cosmetics of a jig is the least important aspect.

[RK]

Color and cosmetics of a jig is the least important aspect.

I don't buy more expensive jigs for the color and cosmetics - anyone can make a watermelon or green pumpkin skirt.

I buy them for the hook. I have no patience for cheap hooks at all, and with cheap jigs, you get cheap hooks most of the time. They spring (especially with heavy braid and a flipping stick), they don't stay sharp, points roll over... I hate 'em...

I do think you get some other benefits too. Head designs are better, weedguards are better (are the right stiffness for the task, and won't fall out), the hook is the right type (I like a heavy hook for pitching or multi-purpose jigs, but a lighter hook for casting where I'm setting the hook a long ways away, especially on football heads with weedguards, for example). Skirts are tied on (NorthStar) or bonded to the collar (Northland) vs banded, and last longer.

Quality's quality, and you get what you pay for. And really, Jungle Jigs and Chris's jigs from NorthStar are both really pretty cheap and unless they DO get bit off, they last far longer than a comparable cheap jig. I've had a NorthStar pro jig on one rod since mid-July, and it the skirt's getting a little thin but the hook's still sharp and the weedguard is intact... That's a lot of use for $2.60.

Note that this says nothing about whether or not one cares. If you're happy with cheaper jigs, awesome. I'm not criticizing in any way. I have your exact attitude about spinnerbaits - half of mine run sideways and I couldn't care less.

As far as braid vs. fluoro goes: I'm 100% convinced I get more bites with fluoro in some situations, mainly open water, weedline stuff in clear water. I use fluoro any time I can get away with it, even pitching, especially early and late in the season when cover's lighter and the water's clear.

Last summer a friend of mine and I did a side by side test fishing jig and pig on a deep weedline on a pretty clear lake. We both had identical jigs and trailers, one rod with 16# fluoro and one with 40# braid. We switched rods every other fish, and switched positions in the boat as well. Fluoro was ahead 15-1 when we gave up and both used fluoro the rest of the day. Having been there, there was no question fluoro was superior in that situation. It's conceivable line diameter played a role (drop speed) but the line diameters were nearly identical (.014" for 16# Toray Superhard, .013" for 40# Sufix Performance Braid).

Like I said - I'm convinced it helps, and I also think it helps with the feel of jig fishing. You can't feel a slack line bite with braid, but they sometimes rattle the line in the guides with fluoro. All in all, I'll deal with a bite-off now and then, because I'm convinced I get more bites in the long run...

Cheers,

RK

[JoeTC]

When I'm referring to cheap jigs I mean getting them cheap by buying components in bulk and tying/assembling myself which is what I think GooBack was referring to as well. I was actually planning on buying bulk jig heads from Northstar and tying my own skirts. Have you used their pro series jig heads? Do you like the hook on those?

Thanks,

Joe

[RK]

When I'm referring to cheap jigs I mean getting them cheap by buying components in bulk and tying/assembling myself which is what I think GooBack was referring to as well. I was actually planning on buying bulk jig heads from Northstar and tying my own skirts. Have you used their pro series jig heads? Do you like the hook on those?

Thanks,

Joe

Use them all the time - Mustad Ultrapoint is a great hook.

[GooBack]

When I'm referring to cheap jigs I mean getting them cheap by buying components in bulk and tying/assembling myself which is what I think GooBack was referring to as well.

Exactly.

RK, I agree with you about jig hooks. I am very particular about it as well, and I won't use any jig that doesn't use one specific hook, even if they were free.

And yeah...braid sucks!

[AwesomZZ]

You’ll need some kind of wire leader to prevent pike or other sharp tooth critters from biting your lure off. Losing 1 or 2 jigs every fishing trip to northerns sounds normal to me. Just a few weeks ago with 30lb power pro super slick and brand new a jig tied on, I pitched it into the weeds. One second after the jig landing I left a very nice thump and almost instantly the line went limp. I didn’t even get the chance to set the hook cause the second the northern bite the jig, it cut the jig off. Imagine that, cast, jig lands, thump, jig gone.

A week after, we were in musky territory and I lost a chatter bait to a huge musky. At least I got to see part of the musky before it took off with my chatter bait.

[HellaBass]

Upsizing flouro & braid sizes will have minimal impact on bite offs, they cut just about everything

[Slob_Samurai]

I have found the heavier flouro to be more bite resistant than powerpro. I have caught many pike on 15lb berkley 100% flouro with only the line dangling out of their mouth (crankbait not visible). I use 17 and 20lb for jigs and rarely lose one on a bite off. I think pike cut through braid quite easily...

[JoeTC]

Just ordered 20 new jig heads from northstar and 90 skirt tabs online so hopefully that will last me through the fall:)

The weird thing is that I catch a lot of pike walleye fishing with 6 lb fluoro leaders on rigs and slip bobbers and I land more than I lose. Must be the softer rods and drag vs. the stiffer rod and harder hooksets fishing bass.

Joe

[wbliceman]

Tyger wire. For a short leader. I have had no issues with it doesnt effect fishing either.

[DeBo101]

25lb Seaguar leader material is good for really minimizing bite offs. Seems like you need to go that heavy for good protection. Uni-Uni to the main line and leave enough to retie once in a while as the pike will rough up the line. I use this system back home in lakes that are lousy with pike.