Safe hooks for pike

There has been much non productive chat about eye damage to pike. Great shame because it is relevant. At the same time its worth raising the point that Bulldawgs are proving a liability with damaged rakers. Soft bodied lures are sucked well back into the throat of a pike. One way round both problems is to use circle hooks. Eagle Claw Barbless Sea hooks are proving first class. Used on soft bodied lures they are proving invincible! If you go to the Harris Angling site, the messages forum, scroll down to Bulldawgs, read the replies from yours truly & Gerry Castles & you'll be on your way to NOT having blinding pike sessions.

Pete,

Have you got a pic of how you rig them up..?

Peter, maybe you can shed some light on my theory about Balldawgs.

I have not personnaly used one yet, but from what i have seen and read, the Balldawg is most successful when fished with a slow, steady retrieve.

Could this be where the fault lies. The Pike can sneak up behing it and engulf it. With the bigger jerkbaits, I find that the tail treble is the usual hooker, which i put down to the bait being brought back quicker and with an erratic retrieve. It seems the Pike will hit it hard...maybe to stun it first...rather than engulf it.

Just a theory mind...any comment anyone?

When fishing mag Grubs I have had the same "engulf" takes when used slolwy.

Chris, I'll send you one. Rob, you could be right. Its accepted that rubbers are more likely to be hooked in the back area of a pike's mouth. Hard lures are possibly spat out because they are hard. Soft lures feel more naturel therefore are less likely to be ejected.
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Rob, I've also had the same problem when rock fishing in the sea for pollack/bass (ok they're not pike, but they are still predators) etc. when using jelly worms (even the 8-9 inch ones) but you're just as likely to have them engulfed with a fast retrieve as a slow one, although steady retrieves are the usual method. Maybe the predators can "line the bait up" better with a steady retrieve.