The Pikers Pit

How long would you recomend to stick with the same piece of bait before you would thinkabout using a fresh piece thinking the original has lost too much of its blood and oils. I assume part of the reply will be dependant on the specific type of bait bieng used.

Depends on what baits,

Slimy baits like eels, lamprey and silverfish, I use them as statics until the slime is gone, then they get kept for wobbling.

Smelt, mackerel, herring get changed every other swim, about 2 hours or 5-6 casts, then in the chop bucket

Sardines, every swim, then in the chop bucket.

cheers Duncan

Some people must be made of money!

If I'm fishing one swim all day with three or four rods I'll happily leave one of the baits in the same place for as long as it takes to get a run on it - or wind it in when I pack up - while recasting or swapping the other baits.

Otherwise baits get used until they start falling apart (or even after their bellies have split!), or in the case of lamprey until the blood stops oozing out. Lamprey and eel sections are great for refreezing.

Lamprey - 6 months

davelumb wrote:

eel sections are great for refreezing.

I know a chap (fellow river piker) that re-used the same eel section for most of the season Just tied it on and injected with oil each cast .... must have looked a right ol mess, he was quite an accomplished river piker

Personally, I always opt for a fresh bait when it starts looking a bit "poached"

I'll only re-freeze frozen/semi-frozen baits at the end of a session, anything thawed gets the "swim-stim" pre-bait treatment That said, it was Hammy that made me aware that I'm probably stimulating nocturnal feeding by doing so (makes sense if its a regularly fished/last light pre-baited swim)

Heard a few horror stories over the years of fellow pikers copping a right ol dose at both ends after handling "iffy" baits!

(better safe than sorry face)

Must be the anticoagulant in old reused baits that keep catching, if its good enough for one pike its good enough for another

Don't worry much about using ole baits after all pike are known for eating dead fings found in water, how dead well probably a long time.

Had a fish last night on a lamp section had been out 3 times cast in at 7.45 am and fish took it at just after 5pm from same place, edit it's back in the freezer well is my lucky one now If your worried the baits bit washed out stick some oil on it give it a recharge or slit the belly open. Wash your hands often!

Cheers for the replys, I'm pleased to hear the general consensus is use it till you loose it as I'm from Yorkshire My personal thought train was that you should be able to reuse baits as all predators will happily scavenge and I doubt pike would be any different, which leads me to another question (this is just one for arguments sake) if you used say a lump of steak or any other bloody meat as a hookbait what would you rate the chances of a take, I know it's a bit of a bizarre question but and I'm not trying to revolutionize piking but going back on my predator/scavenger statement theory (in my head ) says theres no reason they wouldn't eat it.

No reason id think they take fillets, wood chip, empty packets of crisps ffs.

I think the question is though; can they tell the difference between fish and steak?

Andrew Croft wrote:

.....I think the question is though; can they tell the difference between fish and steak?

They associate fish as a regular food item, so yes, they can tell the difference

That said, a steak (or whatever) may still be inspected (picked-up) as a possible food item

To quote a phrase "fish don't think, they react"

Until they fall to bits!

adam11 wrote:

Cheers for the replys, I'm pleased to hear the general consensus is use it till you loose it as I'm from Yorkshire My personal thought train was that you should be able to reuse baits as all predators will happily scavenge and I doubt pike would be any different, which leads me to another question (this is just one for arguments sake) if you used say a lump of steak or any other bloody meat as a hookbait what would you rate the chances of a take, I know it's a bit of a bizarre question but and I'm not trying to revolutionize piking but going back on my predator/scavenger statement theory (in my head ) says theres no reason they wouldn't eat it.

Must be prime fillet..not any old bit of sirloin or rump

sebshelton wrote:

adam11 wrote:

Cheers for the replys, I'm pleased to hear the general consensus is use it till you loose it as I'm from Yorkshire My personal thought train was that you should be able to reuse baits as all predators will happily scavenge and I doubt pike would be any different, which leads me to another question (this is just one for arguments sake) if you used say a lump of steak or any other bloody meat as a hookbait what would you rate the chances of a take, I know it's a bit of a bizarre question but and I'm not trying to revolutionize piking but going back on my predator/scavenger statement theory (in my head ) says theres no reason they wouldn't eat it.

Must be prime fillet..not any old bit of sirloin or rump

I remember a few yrs ago 2 young lads on a fen drain using & catching pike on sausages(pork or beef I dunno)
suspended under a float 2ft. deep....

On a small lake close to home the old guys will only use streaky bacon and they always catch??

mickmcd wrote:

On a small lake close to home the old guys will only use streaky bacon and they always catch??

I remember an uncle of mine using and catching on bacon

not a chance pal, bacon is for me

sebshelton wrote:

adam11 wrote:

Cheers for the replys, I'm pleased to hear the general consensus is use it till you loose it as I'm from Yorkshire My personal thought train was that you should be able to reuse baits as all predators will happily scavenge and I doubt pike would be any different, which leads me to another question (this is just one for arguments sake) if you used say a lump of steak or any other bloody meat as a hookbait what would you rate the chances of a take, I know it's a bit of a bizarre question but and I'm not trying to revolutionize piking but going back on my predator/scavenger statement theory (in my head ) says theres no reason they wouldn't eat it.

Must be prime fillet..not any old bit of sirloin or rump

....but cut into a fish shape

Andrew Croft wrote:

Must be the anticoagulant in old reused baits that keep catching, if its good enough for one pike its good enough for another

good point about handling baits that have been refroze. i work in food industry i know about cross contamination and food poison. i used to refreeze baits that were still in good nick until last yr i had very bad s***s. i`m assuming it was cos of handling refrozen fish. now i use food industry gloves that i got from work.