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Safer Bite Indication
for Pike
I think it fair to say that one of the areas of pike fishing which
has improved in leaps and bounds over the last few years is that of bite
indication. This has led not only to a greatly improved hooking rate, but
also a much higher survival rate with the percentage of pike which are
deeply hooked greatly decreasing. However, there is still a lot of room
for improvement, and it is unfortunately still too common to see pike anglers
fishing with bite indicators which are either inadequate for the job in
hand or set up badly that they run the risk of deep hooking pike.
As with most things in life the best solution to this problem is also
the simplest; and that is to use a float set-up and properly cocked so
that the moment a pike picks up your bait, you will, provided you are actually
watching the float, have an almost instant indication. As simple float
leger set-up as shown in this diagram is one of the most effective...
Unfortunately, given the fact that most pike anglers in the United Kingdom
tend to fish with more than one rod, the above method often requires some
form of back-up indication at the reel in order to ensure that any takes
you may miss because you are distracted will still be spotted in plenty
of time. This is where drop-off indicators like this one come into play...
These indicators are attached to the rear rod rest and clip on to the line
close to the reel spool. When set up properly, they will indicate two types
of takes. The first and usually most common is when the pike picks up the
bait and moves away from where the angler and his rod is positioned. This
causes the line to pull out of the clip and line to spill from the open
reel spool - thus indicating a bite. It is important to close the bail
arm of the reel and strike quickly the moment you get such an indication.
The second kind of bite is known as a 'drop back' bite. These occur
when the pike picks up the bait and moves towards where the angler
is positioned. This will cause the line to go slack and the drop off indicator
will simply drop back will the line still clipped into the indicator. This
kind of drop back bite tends to give many novice pike anglers difficulties,
because they usually expect the line to pull out of the drop-off indicator.
However, it is important to remember that a pike which has picked up the
bait and swam towards you has taken the bait with just as much certainty,
and therefore your reaction should be the same - don't hesitate, close
the bail arm, tighten up any slack line and strike as quickly as possible.
So far we have discussed what you might call visual means of bite indication.
But is is also true that you can combine these visual bite indicators with
some kind of audible means of telling you a pike has grabbed your bait.
There are two basic ways this cam be done. Either with a standard 'optonic'-type
alarm which fits to the front rod rest, like this...
Alternatively, you can use a drop-off indicator which combines the drop-off
and the audible indicator in one compact unit, which fits onto the rear
rod rest like this...
Which one is best? There have been many inconclusive arguments amongst
experienced pike anglers over the years on this subject. Both systems do
work, the important point to remember is that any system can only work
if it is set up properly.
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That means the line should be as tight as possible to the bait.
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The drop off indicator bobbin should be positioned directly underneath
the reel spool to ensure that it shows both straightforward runs and slack
line takes.
But above all, you can only strike and hit takes from pike if you are
standing or sitting directly by the side of your rods. A fact which unfortunately
seems to be lost on even experienced pike anglers.
James
Holgate
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