Another popular option is with a shorter leader on the dorsal hook and a longer one on the head hook so that your bait will hang head down in the water. And as you may guess, pike are drawn to the scent of bait better than to artificial lures. They can indeed, pike will follow a scent trail a fair ways underwater. It’s a very active fishing method but it’s not scalable. Some people will also catch and freeze suckers for this purpose also. Big is ok as far as hook size is concerned. The grocery store is great place to get bulk bait fish to use as pike bait.
Pike will eat carrion naturally so smelly dead fish is their thing. Once the bait is in the water it will unfreeze completely and start emitting its scent. "@type": "Answer", Just keep the bait as fresh as possible for it to work the best. "acceptedAnswer": { © 2020 Copyright Western Canadian Fishing. We’ll discuss the best bait for Northern pike later in the article but in general – baits with stronger scent can attract pike from a longer distance. There are some differences when compared to lure fishing, that make dead bait fishing easier. The truth is, once it’s all set up – bait fishing is amazing. You are able to set multiple baits into the water at once. Usually, the same rules apply in every season – the greasier the fish is the more scent it lets out. It’s important to understand where you’re about to fish and what the conditions are like. Jack fish rigs are quite similar to Pickerel rigs. Rigging dead bait to catch pike is one of the more popular methods used to catch these fish. Take a look at the following video of how long pike may think before actually taking the bait. Suckers arnt considered game fish so you should be fine to do this in your state or province. This will ensure a “head down” presentation as most fish take bait fish head first. A small piece of belly meat from a bait fish added to a spoon introduces scent to an already flashy presentation. In there most basic form you can just make your own with the leaders going up to a central loop. ", Different from some other species, pike isn’t very picky about what it eats – as long as it’s them who gets to eat it. There are even jig heads with a small propeller that seems to work well if you’re moving them in the water for extra Flash. Pike Spawning Season: Everything You Need To Know, Pike Fishing: The Complete Seasonal Guide (With Tips And Gear), Dead Baits: Take Your Pike Fishing To The Next Level, 9 Most Asked Questions About Pike Fishing Gear Answered. If you want to use a bigger bait and more stable rig, you can have a swivel at the top of the main line, from which two leaders come off and have treble hooks at the top of the leaders. Suspending a deadbeat underneath the float is ideal for some situations such as heavily weeded areas where you don’t want to get snagged constantly.