Most pike anglers leger their deadbaits, and there is nothing wrong with that. But I fish a float on at least one rod almost every session, and on plenty of waters I fish two. It presents a bait in places a leger cannot, it lets you cover water, and there is nothing in fishing quite like watching a pike float slide away.
What a float gives you that a leger does not
Three things.
Presentation off the bottom. Autumn and winter lake beds are covered in dying weed and silt, and a bait lying in that can go unfound. A float lets you present a bait at any depth you choose, just off the deck or well up in the water.
Mobility. A float-fished bait can be drifted or trotted with the wind or the current, covering water rather than sitting in one spot. On a big water that is a genuine advantage.
Indication. A float tells you far more than a bobbin does. You can see a pike pick the bait up, move with it, put it down, pick it up again. You learn what is happening rather than guessing.
Setting it up
A sliding float is the standard because it lets you fish deeper than your rod length and still cast. A stop knot on the mainline set to the depth you want, a bead, then the float, then your trace.
Match the float to the bait. It needs enough buoyancy to sit properly with a deadbait under it, but not so much that a taking pike feels resistance. A cigar or a pencil-shaped float takes less pulling under than a fat round one.
Shot or a small drilled bullet above the trace balances the float so it cocks properly. You want the tip visible and the float sitting low, so any interference shows.
Setting the depth
Plumb it. Actually plumb it, do not guess. Clip a plummet or use the bait itself and find the bottom, then set the float so the bait sits where you want it.
My default is the bait just off the bottom, six inches to a foot. Over heavy weed I go higher, sometimes fishing a bait a couple of feet down over ten feet of water, because a pike will come up for a bait far more readily than it will root through weed for one.
Making the bait behave
A little buoyancy in the deadbait makes a real difference. A small piece of foam or a buoyancy insert pushed into the body cavity lifts the tail and makes the bait sit at an angle rather than flat, which looks far more like a dying fish.
Injecting a bait with oil or flavour is worth doing, particularly in coloured water. It puts a scent trail up through the water column that a bottom bait cannot.
Drifting and trotting
This is where float fishing gets interesting. On a windy day you can let a float drift across a lake, covering a huge amount of water and searching out fish. On a river you can trot a bait down a stretch, working it through the likely spots.
It turns pike fishing from waiting into hunting. On a big water where you do not know the fish, it is the fastest way to find them.
Hitting the run
This is where people go wrong and where fish get deep hooked, so it matters.
The old advice was to let a pike run, stop, turn the bait and swallow it before striking. That advice killed a lot of pike and it should be forgotten.
Hit it early. When the float goes and the line starts moving away, close the bail arm, wind down until you feel the fish, and lift into it firmly. A few seconds, not a few minutes. You will hook the vast majority in the mouth where the hooks come out easily.
Semi-barbless trebles, one point crushed, make unhooking far quicker and cost you almost nothing in hooked fish.
Have the gear ready
Long forceps, side cutters, a proper unhooking mat and a big net, all laid out before you cast. If you cannot confidently unhook a pike, go with someone who can before you go alone. That is not gatekeeping, it is about the fish.
A session worth trying
Take two rods. Leger one bait on a known spot and fish a float on the other, drifting it with the wind across open water. Count how many of your runs come to each. On most autumn waters the float will surprise you.
Gear that fits this
If you’re kitting out for this, these fit.
For lures, Westin Ricky The Roach Inline 15cm 52g Sinking Lure Headlight UV Roach, Mepps Aglia Spinning Lure Gold 0 and Fox Rage Ultra UV Wobble Replicant 14cm 50g Lure Silver Halo are all worth a look.
Baits and bait gear worth adding: Holy Mackerel Liquid Fish Natural HydroilZ 500ml, Predator Hd Loaded Pencil-Medium and Dart Camo Slider-15g.
On the reels side, Max X Spinning Reel With Braided Line-2500, 26 ZX Reels-5000 and Savage Gear THORIZ Spinning Reel.
Rods: Warrior Medium Spin Rod 15-40g-210cm, Daiwa Ninja Spin Rod 8ft 15-50g and Favorite X1C X1.1C Rod 802-110 2.44m 30-110g Fast.
Rob Hadley grew up fishing the rivers and drains of the Norfolk Broads, and it was inevitable that pike would become his species of choice. He’s been targeting predators seriously for over 20 years – starting on dead baits, moving through live bait rigs, and eventually landing on lure fishing as his preferred method about eight years ago.
These days he fishes the Broads through winter, travels to Chew Valley Lake each spring for its outsized fish, and spends the warmer months working soft plastics on rivers across the East Midlands for perch and zander. He’s had pike to 31lb and perch to 3lb 9oz, and reckons both records are beatable on the right day with the right set-up.
At The River Bend, Rob writes the predator species guides, lure fishing technique articles, and most of the winter fishing content.
Covers: Pike, perch, zander, lure fishing, winter fishing, predator rigs