Dead baiting

[John Whelan]

When do you stop using dead bait for pike? Or do you still use it during the summer?

[suffolk si]

it depends on lots of factors but water temperature is what most would say is the main one.If you live in Scotland it’s generally gonna be different to the norfolk broads, round my way I guess most would say October/ November until March / early April if it’s cool and fish aren’t spawning which usually they are in my experience .

[Stewlaws]

Was watching some loved pike today, female followed by a few males and dancing away in the weed.

[Mike J]

When do you stop using dead bait for pike? Or do you still use it during the summer?

Welcome aboard John

When is sometimes governed by club rules, sometimes simply by tradition.

Some like me do not fish for pike beyond March 15th, others especially if where they are fishing the water is colder will continue longer.
Slightly different when we start with the majority not wetting a line until October.

.

[stubbojo]

some people view it differently , but i dont pike fish in summer ..... it does depend where you are , but avoid June July august , most of September
october should be ok but keep your eye on the temps at all times ....seen quiet a few pike go belly up in summer from the numpty brigade.....

regards steve

[Richard.]

Between March 15th and November 1st I’ll leave the baits well alone.
October 1st seems to be the traditional start up time but on the southern rivers I usually target, October is still very much a warm month.
Baits get hit very hard and swallowed really quickly in warm water conditions so it’s best to make sure the water your fishing is definitely cool enough before introducing trebles on static baits.

[John66]

Typically i stay within the Pike season but have fished deadbaits if its not to warm on a deep scottish loch.

[Dean0]

I'm in Scotland too. We had a coldish spring but this month has warmed up and water levels are low so have stopped chasing pike for now. Will start again when the weather cools off and river levels are up. In addition deadbaiting in summer usually involves very smelly baits potentially catching lots of eels whilst being eaten alive by swarms of blood sucking insects.

[Steve Dennington]

some people view it differently , but i dont pike fish in summer ..... it does depend where you are , but avoid June July august , most of September
october should be ok but keep your eye on the temps at all times ....seen quiet a few pike go belly up in summer from the numpty brigade.....

regards steve

Sept/Oct water temps will be pretty much same as, or higher than June.

No deadbaiting for me until winter, but I might throw a cheeky lure here and there, now and then.

[stubbojo]

some people view it differently , but i dont pike fish in summer ..... it does depend where you are , but avoid June July august , most of September
october should be ok but keep your eye on the temps at all times ....seen quiet a few pike go belly up in summer from the numpty brigade.....

regards steve

Sept/Oct water temps will be pretty much same as, or higher than June.

No deadbaiting for me until winter, but I might throw a cheeky lure here and there, now and then.

i do a bit of lure fishing for perch later on in the year , but on the bass most of the summer , i just like to leave the pike alone till winter
plenty to go after till it cools down .........

[barnsy]

Static deads only in the colder months as others have said, I have no specific cut off date, but definitely not when it's warm. I would troll a dead later into the year if on a big northern glacial type water (especially if I might get a ferox), but generally deadbaits for me stop about March, and I'm looking for a frost before they start again. I might sight fish a livey on a turbulent river stretch or fish lures at any time of year, but I usually think of other species and give the pike a break. Watched too many die in summer as a kid, takes the fun away completely if it's not for food and doesn't go back.

[stubbojo]

Static deads only in the colder months as others have said, I have no specific cut off date, but definitely not when it's warm. I would troll a dead later into the year if on a big northern glacial type water (especially if I might get a ferox), but generally deadbaits for me stop about March, and I'm looking for a frost before they start again. I might sight fish a livey on a turbulent river stretch or fish lures at any time of year, but I usually think of other species and give the pike a break. Watched too many die in summer as a kid, takes the fun away completely if it's not for food and doesn't go back.

like you i have seen many pike die , due to the waters i fish are not suited to warm weather piking to shallow and suffer from algae growths in summer,the problem is when caught they look ok when returned , but later on maybe over an hour later i have seen the same fish belly up ...and have done my best to save the fish , but to no avail ......
even tried to explain to the guys on the bank in the heat of summer ...august ....i kid you not on deadbaits and their
simply not interested even though i waded in to try to save there pike ........pointless one dead pike....

regards steve

[barnsy]

Static deads only in the colder months as others have said, I have no specific cut off date, but definitely not when it's warm. I would troll a dead later into the year if on a big northern glacial type water (especially if I might get a ferox), but generally deadbaits for me stop about March, and I'm looking for a frost before they start again. I might sight fish a livey on a turbulent river stretch or fish lures at any time of year, but I usually think of other species and give the pike a break. Watched too many die in summer as a kid, takes the fun away completely if it's not for food and doesn't go back.

like you i have seen many pike die , due to the waters i fish are not suited to warm weather piking to shallow and suffer from algae growths in summer,the problem is when caught they look ok when returned , but later on maybe over an hour later i have seen the same fish belly up ...and have done my best to save the fish , but to no avail ......
even tried to explain to the guys on the bank in the heat of summer ...august ....i kid you not on deadbaits and their
simply not interested even though i waded in to try to save there pike ........pointless one dead pike....

regards steve

People are odd creatures. Once when having a walk around a park pond in the height of summer I saw a kid reluctantly casting a (semi) live roach. He'd caught the roach on a waggler setup, and was being egged on by a gang of kids to cast it (on the same tackle with which it was caught) to a pike they'd seen. I advised against this and he seemed to take that on board, not wanting to lose his gear. 20 minutes later a little kid came up (I was only maybe 13 myself) and asked if I'd help unhook a pike. He'd only hooked and landed it! The hook was right in the lip and easy to remove, they were all just scared. Sadly it made no attempt to swim off at all, the fight on light tackle (and prolonged ordeal on the concrete bank before I got there) had done for it, and the 18" deep concrete lined water offered no chance of recovery.
I had to let go of it when the group of kids who were originally egging the lad on to catch the pike, then started beating him up for killing it!!!
In splitting them up I was distracted while another kid grabbed the pike and ran off with it. Never a dull moment on that pond.

Sadly, in the internet age of so much 'received wisdom', a lot of people forget that some of us had to learn the hard way through trial and error and know from actual experience what poor angling can cause. Without much access to info, I found out the hard way that freelining deads was more likely to lead to deep hooking, and that fishing when it's hot meant they were less likely to go back, and more likely to turn up dead later. I also saw it happening to others, again and again, and knew what had happened when I found a big dead pike in the margins a day or two after someone said they'd had a good one. I made a mat myself, from a piece of a scouts foam camp mat and bin liner, not because of "carpy tackle tart fashion", but after seeing the result of fish being unhooked on crap surfaces....Like so many things, there are those that just don't want to hear it.

[stubbojo]

Static deads only in the colder months as others have said, I have no specific cut off date, but definitely not when it's warm. I would troll a dead later into the year if on a big northern glacial type water (especially if I might get a ferox), but generally deadbaits for me stop about March, and I'm looking for a frost before they start again. I might sight fish a livey on a turbulent river stretch or fish lures at any time of year, but I usually think of other species and give the pike a break. Watched too many die in summer as a kid, takes the fun away completely if it's not for food and doesn't go back.

like you i have seen many pike die , due to the waters i fish are not suited to warm weather piking to shallow and suffer from algae growths in summer,the problem is when caught they look ok when returned , but later on maybe over an hour later i have seen the same fish belly up ...and have done my best to save the fish , but to no avail ......
even tried to explain to the guys on the bank in the heat of summer ...august ....i kid you not on deadbaits and their
simply not interested even though i waded in to try to save there pike ........pointless one dead pike....

regards steve

People are odd creatures. Once when having a walk around a park pond in the height of summer I saw a kid reluctantly casting a (semi) live roach. He'd caught the roach on a waggler setup, and was being egged on by a gang of kids to cast it (on the same tackle with which it was caught) to a pike they'd seen. I advised against this and he seemed to take that on board, not wanting to lose his gear. 20 minutes later a little kid came up (I was only maybe 13 myself) and asked if I'd help unhook a pike. He'd only hooked and landed it! The hook was right in the lip and easy to remove, they were all just scared. Sadly it made no attempt to swim off at all, the fight on light tackle (and prolonged ordeal on the concrete bank before I got there) had done for it, and the 18" deep concrete lined water offered no chance of recovery.
I had to let go of it when the group of kids who were originally egging the lad on to catch the pike, then started beating him up for killing it!!!
In splitting them up I was distracted while another kid grabbed the pike and ran off with it. Never a dull moment on that pond.

Sadly, in the internet age of so much 'received wisdom', a lot of people forget that some of us had to learn the hard way through trial and error and know from actual experience what poor angling can cause. Without much access to info, I found out the hard way that freelining deads was more likely to lead to deep hooking, and that fishing when it's hot meant they were less likely to go back, and more likely to turn up dead later. I also saw it happening to others, again and again, and knew what had happened when I found a big dead pike in the margins a day or two after someone said they'd had a good one. I made a mat myself, from a piece of a scouts foam camp mat and bin liner, not because of "carpy tackle tart fashion", but after seeing the result of fish being unhooked on crap surfaces....Like so many things, there are those that just don't want to hear it.

sad but true pal ......its to much hassle trying to guide some youngsters when there on there own they sometimes listen , but when theres a gang of them they just take the p**s out of each other ..or me ......

[stubbojo]

When do you stop using dead bait for pike? Or do you still use it during the summer?

john does any of the answers help ...... or are you out deadbaiting ...

[Taffypiker]

My basic beginners deadbating was from here

Sprat

Fished short to medium range on a drennan esox float

Single treble

I have done OK out of it

[Mark Phillips]

When do you stop using dead bait for pike? Or do you still use it during the summer?

I would not recommend fishing dead baits during the spring (post spawn) and summer, even early autumn. Pike are feeding hardest at those times and will swallow a bait very quickly, even without moving off with the bait. Lures are the way to go during those periods - but avoid high water temps and make sure fish are brought to the bank quickly, unhooked/returned fast as well. Do not bait fish for zander in warm water either, you'll just kill them, very fragile fish in those conditions - especially at night.

Taffy is right, sprats are such an underrated bait. I caught my first 20 when I was 14 years old on one. What I had left over from the day, my Dad would eat when I got home.... different times...

[Taffypiker]

When do you stop using dead bait for pike? Or do you still use it during the summer?

I would not recommend fishing dead baits during the spring (post spawn) and summer, even early autumn. Pike are feeding hardest at those times and will swallow a bait very quickly, even without moving off with the bait. Lures are the way to go during those periods - but avoid high water temps and make sure fish are brought to the bank quickly, unhooked/returned fast as well. Do not bait fish for zander in warm water either, you'll just kill them, very fragile fish in those conditions - especially at night.

Taffy is right, sprats are such an underrated bait. I caught my first 20 when I was 14 years old on one. What I had left over from the day, my Dad would eat when I got home.... different times...

They look like small roach , dace etc , at least that's why I think they work

And of course when it's dark and water is dirty they have a good scent

[phil adams]

Chub love a freelined sprat too. Just let them drift down between streamer weed and hang on.