My ‘go-to’ bait on most waters – the white colour stands out well and even a very large smelt is a perfect pike bait. Ideal for long-range... TROUT. Sardines emit a rich oily trail which works wonders on many good pike waters. Make sure they sink by puncturing the swim bladder and squeezing the air out. But while deadbaits are easy to buy from your local tackle shop or fishmonger, the more I have fished for pike, the more fussy I have become over the ones that I use. The blood seeps into the water and eels will smell the bait from great distances. But don’t expect a slumbering pike to go looking, this is when roving can be so productive. Ideal for long-range fishing, but pike find them a little tricky to pick up off the bottom so I always take the head off to make a smaller bait and balance them with a Bait Flipper.Brown trout are particularly effective, being tough and quite buoyant. Best used whole and cast out frozen, because of their soft flesh. Herring.
Expect to get just one cast from each bait.A tough bait that on many venues makes up most of the pike’s diet. It is a very oily bait which emits a strong aroma. This strange whitefish is very much hit-and-miss on many waters. For pike fishing, roach are successful when presented whole as a deadbait in sized up to 1lb (0.45kg), or in clear water fished sink-and-draw style, hooked with the top treble through the head and the bottom treble through the flank.Not the ones you get in tins (which you cannot hook because they are too soft), but the ones you whole from the fishmonger. Suckers. Mackerel, Smelt, Sardines and Roach, these are the dead baits I buy in October for a winter of pike fishing. On some venues they out-fish even smelts. Giant sandeels, these long thin fish on their day are up there with the best of baits. I like ‘joey’ mackerel that are about 8ins long.These prehistoric fish have a very chequered track record in my book. Not only should they be as fresh as possible, but they also need to be the right size. Try to buy roach that are in good condition. It is a bait which seems to get you runs on hard-fished waters where all else fails.These are the smallest and cheapest of all frozen deadbaits. You can buy them either frozen at your local tackle shop, or fresh from your nearest trout farm. Smaller is often better in this case, simply because it is easier for even a big pike to pick up a 6ins bait than one twice this size. Ideal for sink and draw fishing, as well... SMELT. They … Of all the many fish available, herrings look most like roach, the most natural of all deadbaits. They will catch all predators, and small roach up to about four inches (10cm) long are easily the best bait for zander and perch. Between them, they cover all variations of size, taste and skin, add in the “something exotic” and the Pike don’t stand a chance. There are other sea baits that anglers use when those pike have become wise of the usual baits. They can be dyed easily and take a flavour well.
Half a roach, either head or tail end, is the ideal bait for eels. Generally, 8- to 12-inch baits are best. Getting hold of the right size and the freshest baits can be difficult in winter, so stock up when you find some good examples. I like the small ‘jacks’ of about 8ins. You’ll get fewer bites with larger baits, but the biggest pike prefer big baits. The good thing for the angler is that as these predators get bigger and older, they become less agile and less inclined to chase live fish. The golden variety is very bright and is worth searching out as a good change bait. Although I don’t like to stay in each swim any more than an hour. Mackarel is a particularly deadly bait on clear water venues like gravel pits and it has led to the downfall of many 30lb (13.6kg) pike.Roach are the most natural deadbait of all. Mackerel Herring Smelt Sprats Sand eel Roach Carp Whatever small fish I can catch before I fish for pike We deliver the definitive fishing material straight from the experts. What is your preferred dead bait for pike fishing? A very oily bait, herrings are effective on most venues. If you drop a dead bait right in front of a slumbering pike, it may just take it as an easy ready meal.