M
madpiker
Guest
i met a young lad piking on one of our local waters.he was lure fishing with a light spinning rod and 10lb bs line,the trace on the end was no longer than 6 inches long,about 15lb bs and fitted with a snap link so weak that i wouldn`t even use it as a lead clip!!!!!!!!!he also had a gag and some sort of forked disgorger for hook removal.apparently,he went to a local tackle shop and asked for advice on spinning for pike and was sold this lot!!!!i ended up making him some decent traces,loaded his reel with 28lb line and gave him some long handled ,longnosed pliers.isn`t it about time that tackle manufacturers stopped making crap and shops stopped selling it?i confronted the dealer in question and he has stopped selling the short traces.i also printed off a minimum tackle requirement sheet for him to give advice from.however,he still sells gags,as,"people still ask for them and it is better than using their foot to open pikes mouth"!!i told him that there are moves to ban gags and gave him some old pac leaflets with unhooking instructions on them to hand out.i ask all of you to visit your local tackle dealers and inspect the piking gear on sale.i feel that many dealers are match\pleasure orientated and know little about pike tackle.oh and i forgot,the landing net was a small pan net suitable for commercial pasty catching waters.