Probably the simplest way to fish for pike is by legering with small to medium sized dead baits, these may be small dead coarse fish or for those not able to acquire such baits then sea baits such as smelts, sardines, sprats, herring and small ‘joey’ mackerel will suffice and are readily available today pre-packed and frozen and kept in tackle shops all over the country.

This second of our float leger rigs is a variant of the first on (see Float Leger 1) and is designed for conditions where that rig becomes impractical, typically when fishing in windy conditions where the float is likely to be popping up and down due to waves and tow and when trying to fish a float leger from a boat and the twisting and turning of the boat will make the float sink and pop out frequently when there is no bite, you eventually get fed up and ignore these actions and risk missing the early signs of a bite!

Float Leger(Semi-loaded float)

This rig uses a long ‘semi-loaded pencil’ a commercially available one or one you might wish make yourself. It’s critical in rough, windy conditions, particularly if you are likely to be fishing from a boat, to have a buoyant float that will provide positive bite indication, one that is very visible and shows what is happening at the bait end. If you were using an unloaded pencil float in such conditions you would encounter many frustrating ‘false’ bites. We’ll cover more detail as we proceed.

Shows float in its normal position after casting given that you have discovered the depth by plumbing and adjusted the rig to fish 1 to 3 feet over depth, with the white section fully visible. The float is usually designed to sit with the whole white portion visible in its ‘free’ floating position. This is also a position you will experience should a bait be picked up after you have set the rig to fish correctly.

The float should be mounted using a link swivel to allow you to change or remove it easily and the depth set using either a Powergum stop knot and bead or a silicone braid/float stop and bead. You may wish to switch to an unloaded pencil float when bank fishing if conditions improve. See the unloaded float leger rig page. More details later.

This shows the float now set up, ready to fish and provide good bite indication. It has had the reel line tightened slowly to settle the float so that the white band is submerged and perhaps only half the red tip showing. This is important to give positive bite indication when a pike picks up the bait, it may do several things, which indicate what’s happening. It may rise to the original cast position, showing the white band (1), either in stages or completely in one move, which would indicate that the bait has been moved, most likely having been picked up by a pike, or it may simply disappear instantly as pike picks up and runs off. Its most likely though that the float will rise before it disappears, so you do need to keep your eye on your float(s) at all times.

When fishing this rig from a boat, it may be necessary to forsake tightening the line too much, as it is highly likely that the boat will swing about in the breeze and tighten and slacken the tension, sinking the float or popping it up as it does so. It’s really a case of watching the float closely for any unusual movement once you understand what the float is doing most of the time. A bite will be obvious when it comes.

The weight you use is pretty much dictated by the float in use, how long and thick it is, most commercial ‘pencil’ floats are around 1/2 inch in diameter and approximately 7 inches long with a mid point marker. Some are just 2 colour red and white others red topped with a mid point white band.

The weight can be a number of larger swan shots, 2, 3 or more 2SSG/3SSG shots locked onto the trace or as in this rig a ‘quick change sinker’ locked onto the hook trace swivel or onto the bottom swivel if you use an uptrace.

If you choose to use an uptrace, and we always recommend you do, it should be a minimum twice the length of the hook trace and be of 30lb BS multistrand (7) strand wire. The length should prevent the hook trace tangling with the reel line during casting.

With the semi-loaded pencil float it was important to very slightly overload the float to allow the reel line to be tightened to sink the float slightly. That’s not of such importance in all conditions with this float, the rule can still apply in calm conditions (better to use an unloaded pencil in calm conditions), but in rough conditions, when fishing in rivers and from a boat the way the weight is fixed is more important and the swan (SSG) shot method is better. It allows you to adjust the load to work the bait better in the breeze or flow as you don’t want the float continually disappearing and giving false bites. You can add or remove the SSG shot as you need

Either way the load should be slightly greater than would sink the float. You will need to test your floats loading in a bucket with a set of SSG or a quick change sinker attached to the bottom, chose a set that is just slightly overweight.

Too much weight will possibly affect how you get bites and thereafter runs, too much weight may spook the pike as it feels the weight of the lead, you may see the float jump but do no more, you may even completely miss this! With the weight only slightly over loading the float you are more likely to see bites develop properly. For some part of what happens when the weight is lifted, the float takes the weight, so the pike feels very little, this changes as the float rises, get the weight ratio right and everything works in your favour and you will get more runs, with baits staying where you put them!

When fishing this rig from a boat and from the bank in slow flowing water, the swan shot method is very much the preferred way to set this rig up, it allows the bait to be worked in the flow to get it into position by using the drag of the breeze or the pull of the current in rivers.

This rig shows a half section deadbait, it could be a small to medium sized whole bait, a sea bait like a smelt or sardine or a dead roach or rudd or similar. The important point is how it is hooked. The trace you use will ensure everything is balanced, you should match the trace to the baits you have to use, choosing one with the hooks spaced suitably with hook sizes to suit the bait. These maybe in the range from sizes 4, 6, 8 or 10 spaced between 1 1/2 inches to perhaps 3 inches apart, the larger spacing for larger baits and hooks. The hook trace should be ideally around 15 to 18 inches long, of minimum 20lb BS multi strand (7) wire with the hooks secured, as you will see in ‘trace making’ to ensure the upper hook is locked and cannot slip or be moved up or down.

Set the hooks in the bait so that they do not extend further than 2/3 of the length of the bait, be it a whole or half bait to prevent the risk of the hooks getting too deep in the pikes throat if it swallows the bait quickly. Perhaps something you may get with smaller baits.

Bite indication using this rig will vary with definite signs of a bite developing, so you do need to keep an eye on your float(s) at all times. Is the float is tensioned as in (2) it can do two things, firstly it may rise up to show the white band or bottom half as the pike picks up the bait and the weight(s), rising back up to show the white marker band on the surface, and possibly followed by the float disappearing as a run develops. It may be that the pike picks up the bait gently and simply swims off, in which case the float will slowly sink and disappear.

In either case if you are alert and watching the float you should pick up your rod and strike as the float disappears, or very shortly after, don’t delay it may do more harm than good!

Any way hopefully that explains how to set up and use a simple, effective float leger for rougher conditions and for boat fishing, go and enjoy using it!