Fishing Time
Fishing Guide

Paul the Pike

Northern Pike · Esox lucius

The classroom for this fish. Use the Trip Planner when you want a mark for today.

Line

Braid mainline, an optional short fluoro or mono leader, and wire to the lure — always. Pike teeth cut braid like cotton.

Mainline

30–50 lb braid, filled to about 2 mm below the lip. Put mono backing or a strip of tape on the spool first so the braid can’t spin.

Animation: respooling a spinning reel. Bail open, thread the rings, tie on with an arbor knot shown close up, close the bail, filler spool in a bucket of water, reel on under light tension to just under the lip, then bed it in.

Wire trace

20–30 cm of 20–40 lb twisted or coated wire, a good swivel one end and a snap the other. Check it after every fish. If it’s kinked, bin it.

Animation: uni knot tying braid to the swivel on a wire trace. Through the eye twice, make a loop, eight wraps round both lines, wet it, slide it down and trim.

Braid to the swivel with a uni — through the eye twice, 8 wraps, because braid is slippy. Never clip braid straight to the lure.

Grok

Ask about Paul

Line and knots. Ask how it works, what to buy, or what people get wrong.

Ask anything about this. A few places to start:

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