Pike Wire Traces

[Coral Maestro]

I've found that 2 semi-barbless treble hooks on the trace are quite safe to use if good striking and unhooking techniques are used. I've always struck as soon as the fish moves off with the bait. This business of waiting until the second run should be consigned to history along with gaffs and gags. The single barbed point of the treble should be set in the bait and in this position it rarely ends up in the pike making the removal of the barbless points from the fish straightforward.

[Coral Maestro]

When pike fishing I never strike as such, I just tighten and take up a fighting position. Hitting a pike has resulted in many a broken rod - including mine once!

I have used circle hooks for ages and find the Owner Mutu in 8, 6, and 4 to be perfect for all predators. I haven't used the light weight ones so cannot comment on them but they are much easier to get hold of.

I would never recommend waiting a long time before hitting a bite, in fact, with circle hooks a quick tightening is very successful.

The light and heavy Mutu hooks are available on the 'Bay. These sound worth a try as they claim to avoid gut hooking of fish due to their offset design:

[Mr B]

Thanks for your feedback, good interesting stuff.
I have used the Circle hooks to good effect while Bass fishing in the sea.

Mr B

[Kev D]

I have read this thread with great interest.
I can understand why the photos have to be removed because of space etc.
Are the photos available to see? ( I was interested in Isis set up)
The single hook has got to be “ the way” now, those trebles, snap tackles are pretty barbaric and I have used plenty of them over the years.
I have some wire and can tie the knotless knot, but it’s always good to see a photo..

Mr B

I posted a few months a scholarly article that had examined the effects of different hooks and treble hooks were found to inflict less damage than singles when used correctly. One of the problems with snap tackle is that often it was used with the technique of letting pike run with a bait and only striking when it moved off on the second run. If that tactic was used with single hooks then it would still result in deep hooked fish, but it would be easier to unhook the fish in many cases. But if used correctly the author claimed that treble hooks were actually safer than single J hooks.

Yes ,l think the clue is in the name "Snap Tackle".
In other words it was designed to allow the angler to strike almost immediately the pike snapped its jaws onto the bait. .
Used as intended, with a treble along the back and another behind the gills ,a decent sized pike will close its mouth on both hooks as it seizes the bait.
The habit of lip hooking baits with the lower treble(or any design hook) reduces the snap tackle's effectiveness in an instant strike as a pike seizing a bait crosswise may have the bait fish's head outside its mouth.
Then comes the scenario of waiting for the pike to turn the bait and the increased possibility of deep hooking .

[Dave Burr]

I have read this thread with great interest.
I can understand why the photos have to be removed because of space etc.
Are the photos available to see? ( I was interested in Isis set up)
The single hook has got to be “ the way” now, those trebles, snap tackles are pretty barbaric and I have used plenty of them over the years.
I have some wire and can tie the knotless knot, but it’s always good to see a photo..

Mr B

I posted a few months a scholarly article that had examined the effects of different hooks and treble hooks were found to inflict less damage than singles when used correctly. One of the problems with snap tackle is that often it was used with the technique of letting pike run with a bait and only striking when it moved off on the second run. If that tactic was used with single hooks then it would still result in deep hooked fish, but it would be easier to unhook the fish in many cases. But if used correctly the author claimed that treble hooks were actually safer than single J hooks.

Yes ,l think the clue is in the name "Snap Tackle".
In other words it was designed to allow the angler to strike almost immediately the pike snapped its jaws onto the bait. .
Used as intended, with a treble along the back and another behind the gills ,a decent sized pike will close its mouth on both hooks as it seizes the bait.
The habit of lip hooking baits with the lower treble(or any design hook) reduces the snap tackle's effectiveness in an instant strike as a pike seizing a bait crosswise may have the bait fish's head outside its mouth.
Then comes the scenario of waiting for the pike to turn the bait and the increased possibility of deep hooking .

I think that Snap Tackle was devised under the impression that every pike take was the same. The idea that they grab a fish, run off with it (okay, swim) then turn it and swallow, is far from accurate. It's more likely the fish that's been caught at one end that precludes this scenario. But pike will totally engulf fish and lures, taking them straight into the throat and causing all sorts of unhooking issues. This is why the two treble outfit is 'effective' but so dangerous. And let's face it, back in the day the pike was a meal or considered vermin and dispatched, not a trophy.

The hooks as shown by Coral Meastro are excellent for all predators and I've never had a problem with them. The hook can be pulled out of the throat of a fish harmlessly but, as it connects with the bony areas of the mouth, it will turn and the job is done.

[Coral Maestro]

Apologies Mark, the thread seems to have drifted away from the original question!
I used to use these:


but found they cracked rather too easily and didn't pack very well in my fishing bag so moved on to one of these:


These were made by Fox and have thick plastic sleeves. I've found it's lasted well and packs easily. I've been using this for 20 years+.

[Mark]

Apologies Mark, the thread seems to have drifted away from the original question!

No problem CM, my question was over 8 years ago, in this time I have become an old man so don't even remember posting it.

[Phil Arnott]

I've only just picked up on this thread and I've not read all of the above but here are my thoughts. -

I've done quite a lot of pike fishing mainly with live baits and for many years used a single no. 10 semi-barbless treble. The small size was used as some experienced pike anglers came to the conclusion that should the pike gulp the bait and take it deep down making it impossible to remove, the hook would not penetrate the stomach wall and damage the internal organs if left in the fish. In the years I was intensively pike fishing I had to leave the hooks in three fish. One fish, a 21lber, I caught three years later at 23lb in a healthy condition.

Like Dave Burr I never strike at pike but just wind down hard into them and let them run against a high resistance.

Having used circle hooks for live baiting for bass with success, as I noticed has another member, I have now made up some pike traces with circle hooks but I've not tested them yet. However, I do have a high level of confidence that they will prove very effective.

I've done a lot of reading of the research that has been carried out using circle hooks and one thing I've found is that of definitely avoiding the off-set circle hooks which have been banned in some states in America because they lead to deep hooking. Circle hooks are virtually impossible to remove from deep hooked fish. I have produced a write up with references to this research and also conclusions which I will post if members are interested.It has been posted on the B.A.S.S. website.

I've tried a number of different circle hooks and eventually settled on Mustad Demon fine circle hooks which are strong enough for anything other than big game fish. Size 3/0 which I use for bass should be fine for pike.

When using a dead bait providing that the bait can be secured for casting using a single circle hook and by head hooking, then they should proved very effective. There are a number of ways of achieving this. Mounting the bait with the hook in other positions may not work at all. Circle hooks are effective when the bait is dangled from the hook bend.

When I first fished with whole mackerel for bass I mounted them using a large "J" hook in the flank but to take the strain of casting used a small hook in the mackerels lip. The first small hooks I came across in my tackle box when rigging up were no. 6 circle hooks. Those will do I thought and that's what I ended up using. The fish I caught were all hooked on the number 6 circle hook and I couldn't understand why but after some thought came to the conclusion that when I tightened into the fish which were taking the bait head first, the bait slid backwards out of the fish's mouth and pulled the tiny circle hook into the the scissors as shown below.

[Coral Maestro]

Apologies Mark, the thread seems to have drifted away from the original question!

No problem CM, my question was over 8 years ago, in this time I have become an old man so don't even remember posting it.

I really ought to read the date on these posts! What did you end up using?

[Tizer]

I used to use the 2 treble hook trace,I was happy with it for a good number of years,but as I got older and maybe wiser I started to give it some more thought,to cut a long story short I now use circles and sometimes a single hook ,I am having my best season for years,I feel good knowing that I am doing the best thing for the pike(other than to stop fishing for them altogether)..A few people I have met on the bank are now trying circles and are enjoying the benifets as are the pike,I usually say to people "do you use a gaff? do you use a gag? The answer is always no,I then say to them ,"so why are you still using trebles"