Get More From Your Deadbaits

Geplaatst Roofvis Tactiek at Oct 06, 2010

Ace predator angler Mick Brown explains several ways to make your pack of frozen deadbaits go further and increase your chances of putting a fish on the bank...

Top deadbaits from the Dynamite range are Herring, Mackerel, Smelt and Lamprey. These are some of the most popular choices amongst pike anglers today. Herring and Mackerel have stood the test of time, catching on most venues that have not been over pressured with them. In fact, on many waters there is little need to look at using anything else. Where pike are a little more fussy, we have in our range what are probably th e most devastatingly effective deadbaits ever used by UK anglers – Smelt and Lamprey which continue to produce some amazing results when all else fails. 

Quality of product is what is really important of course. This is why we have gone to a lot of trouble to source the freshest baits of the right sizes that are ready to rig with minimum further preparation. Regular anglers may be familiar with rigging up with deadbaits but for those that are not, we have shown popular rigging methods on the packaging to help.

Most of the baits are ready to rig as they come out of the packet and we have aimed at providing them at an ideal length of 6 to 7 inches. Sometimes they might have to be cut down slightly to achieve this. This is a bonus because any cutting of the bait lets out more enticing and attractive body fluids which is a distinct advantage. With baits of the correct length, you can always puncture them slightly with a sharp blade to achieve the same effect. Baits will work straight from the pack but, as you can see already, there are things that you can do with your deadbaits to make them work even better for you.

A deadbait laid on the bottom is sufficient to attract pike and quite often that’s all you need to do using a suitable rig. What if the bottom is covered with weed or thick mud? Do what many successful pike anglers do today and pop the bait up using poly balls or balsa sticks. There’s plenty of info on the web to show how to do this.

Sometimes a static deadbait isn’t enough to tempt the pike as they want a moving bait. If you don’t have livebaits or lures as an option, consider wobbling your deadbait. Simply rig it with the head pointing up the trace and add a little weight to the trace to help it to sink. It’s so simple and yet so effective. Whole fish are best, small Smelt can be very good with this method as can Lamprey tails.

Give yourself an edge

Up to now I’ve only mentioned traditional ways of using deadbaits. Let me introduce you now to other things that you can do with your pack of Dynamite deadbaits.

'Chunking' is a tactic more associated with sea fishing whereby the angler simply impales a chunk of fish on a large single hook and holds it in the tide. Sea fish like bass are suckers for a chunk of fresh fish, oozing with fishy body juices. Well, it actually works very well for pike too but, of course you need to rig up in a responsible way with good bite indication that prevents the pike from swallowing the chunk.

To make a chunk even more effective, try putting several chunks on the rig. There’s a few ways of achieving this including using a wire hair to hold them. When we saw the potential of this rig, we developed a ‘Kebab’ rig which utilises a plastic pin to house the baits in a much neater presentation.

What else can you do with your fish baits? There are lots of things and if you think about it enough, there’s no need for any waste at all. Every scrap of your deadbaits can be utilised. A very obvious but underused tactic is to catapult waste pieces around your swim, as close to your baited rigs as possible. It’s another trigger to get the pike hunting in the area for more tasty morsels. The fact that this works is easily proven as pike are frequently caught with bits of fish in their throats after baiting up in this way.

A little more revolutionary is the use of Groundbaits For Pike. Any waste you have from either cutting up baits or baits that have been badly chewed up by catching a pike, can be utilised by cutting into small pieces and adding to the groundbait mix.

There are a few approaches mentioned in this article that might be new to you like groundbaiting, chunking and kebab rigs. This pro-active style of pike fishing is becoming more and more popular especially with anglers who like to remain static in a notably good pike area or who prefer session style fishing in a swim for a few days. By all means take a traditional approach but don’t be surprised if the angler in the next swim catches a lot more pike by being proactive in his fishing approach!