A great example of poor tackle.

I hooked in to something which turned out to be about ten feet of line with a trace and spinner on the end. It came in easily and wasn't connected to a snag, or a fish even, so no ideas how the person lost so much line. When I took a closer look I realised it was a perfect example of something that is a million miles away from being anything suitable for pike. I can only guess that the person using this just simply didn't have a clue, so as with my guide I posted a week or two ago, the best thing I can do is share the knowledge in the hope that someone learns from it.

So here's what I found and it isn't the first time I have seen the same sort of set up.

So what is wrong? The top lure and trace is what I had on. This is a heavy set up, 100lb titanium trace and 80lb braid. The bottom spinner is obviously on a much lighter set up but this is not what I am trying to highlight. Firstly, those cheap green traces aren't the best, but even worse is the fact that this trace is about five inches long. This simply is not long enough and even a small pike can engulf that spinner and the whole length of trace. When it bites down or during the fight the 10lb mono will be bitten through easily. Compare with the lure I am using, which itself is nearly as long as the whole other rig. I often catch pike which swallow the lure I was using whole, so this should illustrate the fact that you need a long wire trace, at least 12 inches long and better if it is 15-18 inches.

The person using this obviously had the good intention to protect his gear from pike. However they simply did not realise how far down a pikes throat that spinner can end up. Lost tackle is bad enough but a dead pike too, that's just not right. So please, if you are using anything similar then throw it away and get something longer.