If a fisherman is interested in catching pike on live bait, then he needs to get a spinning rod with a reel, which allows casting for 20 meters or more. A fisherman should reel 70–100 m of the main fishing line onto a reel, fix a large float made of cork or polystyrene and 1–4 sliding lead “olives” on it, weighed about 7–10 grams in weight. Tethering a swivel to a fishing line and securing a single hook completes the preparation of the gear.
Catching pikes is exciting! However, it is worth remembering that when preparing tackles, it will be superfluous to take care of a metal leash, since the pike often bites the fishing line, no matter how thick and durable it is.
It should also be noted that hooks for fishing should be chosen with a long forearm and a sting, and the sting should bend towards the forearm. Pike is well caught on live bait if the angler uses double hooks or triple hooks. In these cases, the number of “dead” hooks during posting increases significantly.
Directly catching pike on live bait is as follows. The fisherman should stop in the boat near the top edge of the pit - five to fifteen meters. The distance is determined by what is the depth at which the edge is located, what is the difference in depths on the dump and how muddy the water is. If the water is clear and the dump is gentle, then the boat should be installed as far as possible. The shallow depth at the edge indicates that the boat should be set further away.
It is successful to catch pike on live bait, if you choose the place of fishing the confluence of two rivers. The most catchy place may be an island remote from the coast, near which there are differences in depth.
After the preparation is completed and the place is chosen, the process itself begins - catching pike on live bait. First of all, you should put a fish - bait fish on the hook. If it is bleak or small roach, which are distinguished by a weak upper lip, then you need to plant the bait in this way: pierce the lower lip with a hook, it must be brought out through the nostril. True, this method of packing, being the most reliable, contributes to a rather quick death of the bait.
You can also use another method by pushing a live bait onto the hook behind the upper lip. In this case, the bait fish will remain mobile longer, however, there is a possibility that especially nimble fish can break and swim away, breaking off their lips.
Before the live bait attachment, the fisherman must perform a couple of control casting tackles to determine the dumping density and the optimal number of “olives” on the fishing line. It is necessary to adjust the tackle so that when posting the fisherman can clearly fix the touch of the bottom of the pond.
It is also advisable to empirically calculate the minimum weight of the load in order to avoid unnecessary injury to the live bait and give it the necessary freedom during posting - the live bait should “walk”, and not hang limply on the fishing line. And after the predator grabs the bait, the tackle should not provide strong resistance.
If during a posting with an already live bait fish the fisherman has a feeling that the hook has caught on something, or there is a sudden jerk, he should immediately stop pulling up the tackle. Most often, this means that the predator made a bite, but there may also be a fact of interference in the form of driftwood or stone. In any case, you should use a minute pause.
Although sometimes a pike pecks in the form of a “hook”, this kind of bite is extremely rare for her. More often this is the way zander.
If the fisherman suspects that the pike is biting, he must loosen the line by feeding the rod forward and remove the reel from the brake. The pike usually clamps the live bait with its teeth and moves 1.5-2 meters, rarely - more than 5 meters, then, stopping in place, turns the live bait forward with its head and swallows. After that, she tries to swim further.
The fisherman should let the pike swim 3-5 meters and only after that hook. Doing this before is not recommended, so that the predator does not notice the resistance of the fishing line. After cutting, the survival process follows. This is done in order to tire a strong, fast and quick-witted fish, which is a pike.
You need to be especially careful at this time! You can not give the pike the opportunity to go under the boat or start a fishing line under the rope that goes to the load. Therefore, fishing should begin to be carried out at a distance of about 10 meters from the boat.
Well, the fish is caught and set on the cook! It remains only to cut off the leash, free it from the hook and prepare a bucket for a real fish soup: with pepper, dill, onion and, of course, with smoke. Bon Appetit!