Toothy Critters

I have been encountering quite a few of these fellows during my last few warmwater outings.  The larger specimans usually make short work of the 1x or 2x leaders I typically fish for bass.  They are causing me to spend a lot of hours, at the tying bench, replacing lost bass bugs.  Some of these pickeral have been real brutes getting close to typical northern pike size, but these smaller guys can usually brought to hand without the risk of a bite through. Even these little ones can make short work of 1x tippet if they get the chance. 

 I think the next time I visit this particular lake I am going to tie on a short flexible wire tippet and target some these  larger pickeral.  I am also experimenting with some  braided lines as tippet material.  So far they are holding up well but I have not hooked any big fish with this set up to really put it to the test.  On light tackle they are great sport, they often spend as much time out of the water as in.  

The Rising Lippa4Life tool  makes handling these fish a breeze.  Especially when fishing from a kayak.  In addition to being toothy there a bit on the slippery side and a writhing, snapping pike or pickeral thrashing around between your legs on the bottom of the kayak is an adrenaline filled experience to say the least.

Mono or flourocarbon tippets don't stand a chance!