Pike wire

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Martin

Fly fishing - Fish Better

Guys,

what are your experiences about pike wire?
What do you prefer?
Any comments about stiffness, softness, numbers of strands against strength etc?

A big pike cut my leader yesterday, with a clean bite!

Kasper

Hi Kasper.

I've used Malin's HardWire
[url]http://www.malinco.com/fishing/hardwire.html[/url]
For my pike rigs, I usually tie( or rather twist) the wire on the hook in advance, and then connect the wire to the leader using an albright knot.
The hard-wire was developed and is used for barracuda fishing, so it should stand up to pikes too. Its fairly inexpensive but kinks easily.
I have so much of it that I'll be happy to supply some, for you to try out, just email me your address.
I haven't been lucky yet (nor tried that hard) to catch a pike on the fly, so in actual fishing circumstancens, I actually don't know how well they'll stand the test. But they cast the fly well.

-Jari

[quote:37d5672b31="HaRRi"]Tiger Tail, never heard. Do you know if there is some other wire brand which is working with twist knot (with lighter)?[/quote:37d5672b31]

Harri,

Look for Drennan Pike Wire, which is available in many tackle shops. That is also a coated wire, which can be twisted and melted to bond.

Martin

Ok, thanks. Normally I use Fortress predator and never have tried melting wires with a lighter. First time I saw this method used, was in Danish pike fishing video. And now I would like to try it...

Hi Kasper,
If I´m fishing in clear water (what probably you too) I prefer fluorocarbon leader
http://www.flylines.com/Flylines_Accessories_TippetsLeaders.cfm
(Airfo - Sightfree) in 12 and 15lb. It is very stiffness, but must be use´d free knot that fly has right movement. If water is not clear then I use flies at which fluorocarbon dont have any importance(sparklers and flies with reflect or expresive colour as chartreuse).
Then I use classical monofil with thickness 0,50-0,65mm. I think a lot of firms sells this monofil as ´´Hard Mono´´. :wink:

I've seen Musky that big, but not a pike. I do most of my pike fishing when I do a yearly trip to Ontario, Canada, mid to late July, so big pike aren't really an issue. What I do catch range from hammer handles up to around 30 inches. I use fluorocarbon tippet usually 20 lb or 30 lb, not sure what that translates to in kg. There's a coated, knotable wire marketed over here as Tyger Wire. Might be Tiger Tail, under a different name. I picked up some to see how it stood up to bluefish. I've been able to tie an improved clinch in the 5 lb and 15 lb wire. It gets a bit harder as you go to the heavier wire.
One trick I use for bluefish is to tie some flies on a long shanked hook, starting the fly on the back half or back third of the shank. With the front part of the shank providing the bite guard.

Matej,

what a heavy catch! Do you know how many fish you loose compared to how many you bring to hand?
I have never tried "hard mono" abd I am a little skeptical.

Kasper

[quote:fd9e1f548b="Kasper Mühlbach"]I have never tried "hard mono" abd I am a little skeptical.[/quote:fd9e1f548b]

Hard mono is good, you just have to check it after each fish. The easiest way is to run the mono between your lips in case your hands are cold.

I've used 25-lb Mason hard mono for quite a few years. Pike usually aren't leader-shy, and the higher weight leader means that it's thicker. :lol:

I was looking for good wire, when I tried ultra light spin fishing. In thi time I was very satisfied with wolfram wire made by I think Jaxon, its poland company. This I am using still, but another chance is Tyger wire, this I used in Costa Rica and its perfect!!!

www.tygerleader.com

And here is small crocodile picture, taken by czech guy on our dam. small is about 20 inches.

Holy crap, Matej. That is a nice pike. Where did you catch it? We call pike that big watermelon. Fantastic. Check on YouTube and type in Pike Bite. There is a guy getting his hand shredded while releasing a small pike.

And what happened in your picture, Dada? Looks like another fun fishing expirience.

Hi Esox, that video is great!!! :shock: Very nice. My pike was caught on reservoir Žilina. I live 5 km from this reservoir. There are big big pike, some waylle, and nice brown and rainbown trout. Last weekend I was there and it is unbelievable. I was want to fish some :? I do not know how it say hmm ´´church´´? fish like waylle, there where I caugt my biggest pike. On first cast came contact with big fish. It was pike!!! :D
On my rod was 0,20 fluocarbon and two little boobies :D I don´t know how I was get this fish. It was gooood luck :wink: after take fish from water, fluocarbon do ´´puk´´! :lol: but fish already was in my hands....

Hei Body....
You are living not more than 400km from me. And your pikes look like from another planet!!!!! Iam living in Prague and Iam not able to get fish like this on the rod! Sometimes we have good fishing but fish no more than 70 cm, usually 40 to 60cm. So could you recommend me where? Lakes, ponds, creeks, rivers or what? And your catch on bobby?????? You kidding???? Gooood catch..

Hi everyone,

I've tried all sorts of wire and mono leaders over the years, but through this season I've used titanium single strand leaders only - works perfect. This is what pikers has been looking for for years.

It is possible to tie the titanium in 20 or 30 lbs. and attached to a small swivel in one end and to a fas-snap (actually what its called...) in the fly end, you're ready to go.

This leader is bulletproof - no pike bites through - it has very little weight - no kinks or curls - easy to change fly - very little visibility.

It may look a bit fragile on the picture, but I've had a 0% failure rate on more 100 pikes this season - four of them big ladies over 105 cm. No flies has left the fas-snap by mistake.

I admit that they are a bit expensive to make - but they'll outlast any other pikeleader I've come across.

Peter

I completely agree with @scandicangler/Peter about single strand titanium - it's absolutely the best material with really no faults (strong, reliable, light, thin, flexible, kink-free) and I have tried everything else as well!

Not sure about those fas-nap's though. I have had failures using the Mustad version so now I avoid them. The only reliable snaps I have found are the fastach & smart lock snaps, both in size 2 or the stay-lok snap in size 1 (but this doesn't alway take the flys eye easily). These are the smallest sizes that will work reliably but also minimise weight.

I am still working on the best way to attach snaps and oval rings to the Ti (my traces have a light oval ring at one end and a fastach at the other). Some Ti takes a perfection loop well, otherwise a tucked clinch knot. You can use crimps, but ones that are light enough are not a really good grip on the very slippery surface of the Ti and I have had one fail. I am also experimenting with whipping a loop at each end with mono and then covering with UV gel and this is both light and (so far) reliable.

Hi Kasper.

I've used Malin's HardWire
[url]http://www.malinco.com/fishing/hardwire.html[/url]
For my pike rigs, I usually tie( or rather twist) the wire on the hook in advance, and then connect the wire to the leader using an albright knot.
The hard-wire was developed and is used for barracuda fishing, so it should stand up to pikes too. Its fairly inexpensive but kinks easily.
I have so much of it that I'll be happy to supply some, for you to try out, just email me your address.
I haven't been lucky yet (nor tried that hard) to catch a pike on the fly, so in actual fishing circumstancens, I actually don't know how well they'll stand the test. But they cast the fly well.

-Jari

[quote:37d5672b31="HaRRi"]Tiger Tail, never heard. Do you know if there is some other wire brand which is working with twist knot (with lighter)?[/quote:37d5672b31]

Harri,

Look for Drennan Pike Wire, which is available in many tackle shops. That is also a coated wire, which can be twisted and melted to bond.

Martin

Ok, thanks. Normally I use Fortress predator and never have tried melting wires with a lighter. First time I saw this method used, was in Danish pike fishing video. And now I would like to try it...

Hi Kasper,
If I´m fishing in clear water (what probably you too) I prefer fluorocarbon leader
http://www.flylines.com/Flylines_Accessories_TippetsLeaders.cfm
(Airfo - Sightfree) in 12 and 15lb. It is very stiffness, but must be use´d free knot that fly has right movement. If water is not clear then I use flies at which fluorocarbon dont have any importance(sparklers and flies with reflect or expresive colour as chartreuse).
Then I use classical monofil with thickness 0,50-0,65mm. I think a lot of firms sells this monofil as ´´Hard Mono´´. :wink:

I've seen Musky that big, but not a pike. I do most of my pike fishing when I do a yearly trip to Ontario, Canada, mid to late July, so big pike aren't really an issue. What I do catch range from hammer handles up to around 30 inches. I use fluorocarbon tippet usually 20 lb or 30 lb, not sure what that translates to in kg. There's a coated, knotable wire marketed over here as Tyger Wire. Might be Tiger Tail, under a different name. I picked up some to see how it stood up to bluefish. I've been able to tie an improved clinch in the 5 lb and 15 lb wire. It gets a bit harder as you go to the heavier wire.
One trick I use for bluefish is to tie some flies on a long shanked hook, starting the fly on the back half or back third of the shank. With the front part of the shank providing the bite guard.

Matej,

what a heavy catch! Do you know how many fish you loose compared to how many you bring to hand?
I have never tried "hard mono" abd I am a little skeptical.

Kasper

[quote:fd9e1f548b="Kasper Mühlbach"]I have never tried "hard mono" abd I am a little skeptical.[/quote:fd9e1f548b]

Hard mono is good, you just have to check it after each fish. The easiest way is to run the mono between your lips in case your hands are cold.

I've used 25-lb Mason hard mono for quite a few years. Pike usually aren't leader-shy, and the higher weight leader means that it's thicker. :lol:

I was looking for good wire, when I tried ultra light spin fishing. In thi time I was very satisfied with wolfram wire made by I think Jaxon, its poland company. This I am using still, but another chance is Tyger wire, this I used in Costa Rica and its perfect!!!

www.tygerleader.com

And here is small crocodile picture, taken by czech guy on our dam. small is about 20 inches.

Holy crap, Matej. That is a nice pike. Where did you catch it? We call pike that big watermelon. Fantastic. Check on YouTube and type in Pike Bite. There is a guy getting his hand shredded while releasing a small pike.

And what happened in your picture, Dada? Looks like another fun fishing expirience.

Hi Esox, that video is great!!! :shock: Very nice. My pike was caught on reservoir Žilina. I live 5 km from this reservoir. There are big big pike, some waylle, and nice brown and rainbown trout. Last weekend I was there and it is unbelievable. I was want to fish some :? I do not know how it say hmm ´´church´´? fish like waylle, there where I caugt my biggest pike. On first cast came contact with big fish. It was pike!!! :D
On my rod was 0,20 fluocarbon and two little boobies :D I don´t know how I was get this fish. It was gooood luck :wink: after take fish from water, fluocarbon do ´´puk´´! :lol: but fish already was in my hands....

Hei Body....
You are living not more than 400km from me. And your pikes look like from another planet!!!!! Iam living in Prague and Iam not able to get fish like this on the rod! Sometimes we have good fishing but fish no more than 70 cm, usually 40 to 60cm. So could you recommend me where? Lakes, ponds, creeks, rivers or what? And your catch on bobby?????? You kidding???? Gooood catch..

Hi everyone,

I've tried all sorts of wire and mono leaders over the years, but through this season I've used titanium single strand leaders only - works perfect. This is what pikers has been looking for for years.

It is possible to tie the titanium in 20 or 30 lbs. and attached to a small swivel in one end and to a fas-snap (actually what its called...) in the fly end, you're ready to go.

This leader is bulletproof - no pike bites through - it has very little weight - no kinks or curls - easy to change fly - very little visibility.

It may look a bit fragile on the picture, but I've had a 0% failure rate on more 100 pikes this season - four of them big ladies over 105 cm. No flies has left the fas-snap by mistake.

I admit that they are a bit expensive to make - but they'll outlast any other pikeleader I've come across.

Peter

I completely agree with @scandicangler/Peter about single strand titanium - it's absolutely the best material with really no faults (strong, reliable, light, thin, flexible, kink-free) and I have tried everything else as well!

Not sure about those fas-nap's though. I have had failures using the Mustad version so now I avoid them. The only reliable snaps I have found are the fastach & smart lock snaps, both in size 2 or the stay-lok snap in size 1 (but this doesn't alway take the flys eye easily). These are the smallest sizes that will work reliably but also minimise weight.

I am still working on the best way to attach snaps and oval rings to the Ti (my traces have a light oval ring at one end and a fastach at the other). Some Ti takes a perfection loop well, otherwise a tucked clinch knot. You can use crimps, but ones that are light enough are not a really good grip on the very slippery surface of the Ti and I have had one fail. I am also experimenting with whipping a loop at each end with mono and then covering with UV gel and this is both light and (so far) reliable.

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