deadbait for pike

[SBCregal]

I am going on a couple of outings for pike this coming long weekend and have a few questions about dead bait fishing for pike. Is it too late in the spring for this approach? I've read that ice-out is the ideal time but im not sure when it becomes less productive. Are the water temps getting too high for this tactic? Ive been out almost everyday for the past couple weeks tossing jerkbaits, spoons, spinnerbaits with no luck yet. I was at the grocery store today looking for frozen sardines/smelts and the ones they had were 8" and up.. too big? anybody have preferences. It'd be great to get into some fish for once

 

lets hope i can come back and post a report.

 

ryan

[rromberg]

Dead smelts are still working in muskoka as well as algoma area.

[rromberg]

Dead smelts are still working in muskoka as well as algoma area.

[Kenny G]

Put em under a slip bobber.

Yeah they still work.

The ones I have used are about 11" long.

Good luck,

Kenny G.

[RoyL]

Dang! I was thinking of using the same technique, but here in Zone 18, we can't use any bait-fish longer than 13cm (5.1in), alive or dead. I guess they don't want us catching any big ones!

 

RoyL

[irishfield]

Pretty sure they recinded that for 18, Roy, thanks to angler uproar!... We still have it on Lake Temagami though in 11

[RoyL]

Irishfield -- that would be great news! I have a river here where I can catch shiners the size of trout -- they're a blast on ultralight, and then go pike fishing a couple hours later. Best size are the 7 inchers, but I've caught them up to 14".

 

The restriction is printed in the 2008-9 summary. I'll look online.

 

Found it! Changes to the printed regs. You're right!

http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/239044.pdf .... Page 6

 

Love this board!

 

RoyL

[solopaddler]

Water temps are still cold and as far as size goes the bigger the better.

So yeah, deadbaiting should work just fine for you.

[splashhopper]

Put em under a slip bobber.

Yeah they still work.

The ones I have used are about 11" long.

Good luck,

Kenny G.

 

 

What size of hook for those and do the sardines fall apart when they go in the water?

Edited May 12, 2009 by splashhopper

[BillM]

What size of hook for those and do the sardines fall apart when they go in the water?

 

If you are fishing a big bait, you should probably be using a quick strike rig.

[SBCregal]

i was going to use a quickstrike rig with a circle hook at the nose of the smelt and a treble at the back, with 2 wire leaders. ive seen treble/treble combinations but im not sure if that puts it over the allowable hook point numbers.

[Jigster]

Good thread - I was just given two bags of frozen smelt from Manitoulin yesterday at the office ... they're only 3 inches long ... can I use them for pike in Gbay if i just rig them up to a hook and splitshot and drag them around??

[Bob]

Hey Ryan, how goes? The lakers are still shallow here and pike too. Dead bait will work almost any time of year. My granddaddy used to fish Frenchman's Bay all summer long with 10" suckers and bring home huge pike. Of course, that was a long time ago.

[SBCregal]

hey Bob, things are going great... we'll be up your way for almost a week in July. we'll stop by for sure

 

thanks for all the info guys... like i said, hopefull we'll have something to report!

 

ryan

[CLofchik]

Water temps are still cold and as far as size goes the bigger the better.

So yeah, deadbaiting should work just fine for you.

 

+1 on that.

Pike are crazy for having eyes bigger than their stomach, years ago up around Kenora we were doing well cutting the heads off mackerel and using 1lb. baits 10" long.....and we were STILL getting 5lb fish hitting them.

 

i was going to use a quickstrike rig with a circle hook at the nose of the smelt and a treble at the back, with 2 wire leaders. ive seen treble/treble combinations but im not sure if that puts it over the allowable hook point numbers.

 

Trebles are considered a single hook unless they are specifically banned in the exceptions.

[SBCregal]

CLofchik... thanks for that info. I think I'd heard that before...but I wasn't 100% and didnt wanna break any regs.

 

ryan

[dave524]

There was a time when a quickstrike rig with 2 trebles would get you in trouble, more than 4 hooks. Trebles were only deemed to be a single hook when part of a lure. So as to circumvent this ruling there was a practice of putting a bead and a small willowleaf blade on a quickstrike with 2 trebles making it a lure. Maybe some other older members may remember this and it still may be the case .

[SBCregal]

see thats where my confusion came from

 

anyone else have insight on this?

have the regs changed?

 

ryan

[CLofchik]

http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/LetsF...L02_163615.html

[RoyL]

I have been following this discussion, and actually pulled out my reg summary book to check on this hook issue, because I also remember a line in the old regs that specifically said a maximum of 4 hooks, with a treble counted as 3 hooks UNLESS part of a lure. i.e. if you used a treble on a quick strike, you could only use another single hook (the workaround of turning it into a "lure" left for another discussion).

 

However, current regs now define a "hook" as a "single pointed or multiple-pointed hook on a common shaft". I think there has been a change somewhere down the line. They now seem to call each "hook" in a treble a "point", not a hook. So a treble is now just one hook, where it definitely used to be 3, unless attached to a lure.

 

RoyL

[SBCregal]

CLofchik thanks for the link to the regs, im at work and dont have my copy handy.

 

Royl thanks for clearing it up a bit

 

ryan