Wire Trace For Toothy Fish

It Is A Fish Welfare Requirement

A pike bites through monofilament and fluorocarbon readily, which means the fish swims away with a lure or a hook in its mouth attached to trailing line.

That trailing line snags on weed and structure and can tether or kill the fish, which is why wire traces are considered mandatory rather than optional where pike are present.

Anybody lure fishing in water containing pike should use a trace regardless of what they are targeting, since a pike takes a perch lure readily.

Wire Types And Their Trade-Offs

Single strand wire is thin and stiff and kinks permanently, and a kinked trace is weakened and must be replaced.

Multi-strand and titanium traces are considerably more supple, resist kinking and cost more, which for a trace used repeatedly is usually worthwhile.

Coated wire is easy to work with and the coating can crack and admit water, corroding the wire beneath invisibly.

Length And What It Needs To Cover

A trace must be long enough that a fish taking a bait deeply still has wire rather than line in its mouth, which for pike means a reasonable length rather than a token one.

Traces that are too short leave line exposed at exactly the point where teeth reach, which defeats the purpose entirely.

Longer traces are slightly more visible and marginally affect lure action, which is a small cost against the alternative.

Inspecting After Every Fish

Wire is damaged by teeth, by kinking during a fight and by crimping stress, and damage is frequently visible only on close inspection.

Running a trace through fingers after every fish catches kinks and frays, and a damaged trace should be replaced rather than fished again.

That is a small routine and it is what prevents a bite-off from a trace that was already compromised.

Crimps, Knots And Homemade Traces

Wire is joined with crimps or specific knots depending on the type, and a badly crimped join is the commonest failure point in a homemade trace.

Crimping tools designed for the job produce reliable joins where pliers crush and weaken the wire.

Ready-made traces from reputable makers are inexpensive and remove the question, which for most anglers is the sensible route.

Breaking strain of a trace should match or exceed the main line, since a trace weaker than the line defeats the purpose and fails at exactly the wrong moment. Wire is rated differently from nylon and a comparable figure is not always directly equivalent. Buying traces rated well above the expected fish size costs very little and removes a whole category of failure.

Swivel and clip quality at each end of a trace matters as much as the wire, since a cheap clip opening under load loses the whole rig regardless of how good the wire is.

Unhooking tools are the other half of this, since a pike in a landing net needs long forceps and a gloved hand rather than fingers near the teeth, and a mat to lie on while it is done.

The Verdict

A welfare requirement rather than an optional accessory anywhere pike are present, where inspection and correct length matter.

Single strand kinks permanently, short traces leave line exposed, and badly crimped joins fail.

Use one anywhere pike swim. A bitten-off fish trails a hook and line that can kill it.