I promised a bit more detail on the Pike rigs I use for river piking so here goes-
As I mentioned earlier a great way to find the pike is to use a method called "leap frogging" even though I tried to explain it here is a simple diagram I knocked up to try and clarify it-
Position the rods as shown (you can obviously use any number you like from two to four,circumstances will dictate this) After a period of time move rod 1 down to position 4 then just keep repeating this gradually rolling along and covering lots of water.
I am a great believer in using both dead and livebaits at any one time.In the situation shown in the diagram I would use two lives and one dead unless experience of the particular water had shown otherwise.I would stagger these ie putting a live in position 1 and 3 a dead in 2.For presenting these baits I use the following rigs-
The sunken Float Paternoster rig is one of the most effective ways of presenting a live bait that I know.The rig both keeps the bait in the desired position and keeps it working hard.This is a point that a lot of people dont realise about live baits.Unless the rig is designed to work the bait ie keep it moving the bait will just remain still and be no where near as effective.The sizes of polyball and lead shown are suitable for a 5"-6" bait.For bigger baits you will need to increase the size of both polyball and bomb.For faster currents you will need to just increase the weight of the bomb.In fast water I often substitute the round poly ball for a pencil shaped sunk float.
Bite detection with this rig is best done with a rear mounted drop arm indicator like the one I showed in the DIY article.This can be combined with a front mounted buzzer or built in to a rear mounted "Backbiter" type alarm.For livebaits I prefer the rear mounted type as you get less false "blips" caused by the bait moving.When tightening up to this rig to set the indicator care should be taken not to tighten up too much.If you do you will pull the rig over,it fishs much better up right.With a bit of practice you will soon be able to feel this as the polyball will pull the line/indicator away from you if it has been pulled over by over tightening.
Although the Sunk Pat rig is primarily a live bait rig for some reason small whole coarse deads also work well on it.But for big coarse deads and half sea dead baits then the rig I always use is the very simple but highly effective Free Running ledger rig shown above.I have always found predators to be intolerant of resistance so therefore always fish with an open bail arm (as opposed to a bait runner system) and try and make my rigs as resistance free as possible.The curtain ring in this rig aids this.The cork or polyball acts both as a stop and to keep the ring of the bottom and away from any weed etc that could cause resistance.I say to use a 2ozs bomb minimum as if you use any lighter you will find that it slides up the line on the cast!Bite indication again is by far best with the good old drop arm.The tighter you can get your line to the bait the better your indication will be.
On the subject of indication.A lot of non pikers think that the common practice of fishing pike rods on single rests (as opposed to rod pods) and spreading them out to cover the water rather than just keeping them close together and casting the baits apart is a recipe for bad bite detection and subsequent deep hooking problems.Nothing could be further from the truth.The reason most pikers do this is to aid good bite detection,I will try to explain-
The three rods on the left of the diagram have been set up close together "carp" style whilst the three rods on the right have been spread out on single rests "pike" style.Although the amount of water covered by the baits is the same in both cases the bite detection is greatly improved by spreading the rods as opposed to the baits because there is less distance between the indicator and bait and everything is in a straight line.BUT because you are not directly on top of your rods you must ensure that you remain vigilant at all times and that not only can you hear your buzzers but see your indicators as well.As regard to the distances apart then a bit of common sense must be used.EA regulations say that the rod butts must all be within a certain distance (2m?).
The other method that is equally good at covering the water and finding the fish is Deadbait Wobbling.This requires only the one rod and is ideal for short sessions when you dont want to cart a lot of tackle about.I like to use a specialy made rod of 10' long with a test curve of 2 1/2lb combined with a small multiplier.However your standard pike/carp rod and reel will work fine.The rig for this is simplicity in itself just a standard snap tackle with a nice firm deadbait like a roach mounted head up.You can add some weight to the trace imediately above the baits head if you want.Some times you will have to puncture the baits swim bladder to get it to sink but the baits boucancy,or should I say how you change/use this bouyancey will obviously depend on your swim.In a very weedy one it would be an advantage if the bait floated whilst in a very deep one you would want to puncture the swim bladder and add weight to get the bait down.
The bait is cast out and allowed to sink to the required depth,it is then slowly worked back towards you.You can actually stop retrieving full stop and let it sit still on the bottom for a few minutes if you like.It is quite common to get a take just as you start retrieving again.Vary the depth and speed of retrieve untill you contact the fish.To cover a stretch of water effectively try using the "Fan Casting" method shown below-
Start in position "A" cast to all the points shown in numerical order.Move to point "B" repeat the casting sequence and so on.
Well I hope that helps a bit.When I nexty get some time I will write a bit on some of the different baits used for river piking and how they are mounted on the hooks.I will leave you with this picture of a nicely marked fish taken from the Sussex Rother on a roach fished on a Sunken Float Paternoster Rig.
;D ;D