Best fishes,

John

Being able to make your own pike traces can allow you to be a lot more versatile in your fishing as you can alter your trace length and the distance between the hooks to suit your fishing. Making your own pike traces will also save you more money in the long run and can be a lot more satisfying when you land fish on them. To make your own traces you will need a good pair of wire cutters and crimping pliers. (See picture below)

The rig components used in this demonstration were Drennan 7 strand pike wire, Drennan semi barbed trebles, Drennan slim crimps and ESP Hi Performance Carp Swivels. (See picture below) 

Step 1.

Cut a 13-14 inch length of pike wire off the spool and thread a crimp on to one end. (See picture below)

Step 2.

Now thread a treble hook on and double the pike wire over. (See picture below)

Step 3.

Now thread the other end of the pike wire through the crimp. (See picture below)

Step 4.

Then using the crimping pliers flatten the crimp in three central places making sure that no wire protrudes beyond the crimp as your mainline could catch on this during the cast. (See picture below)

Once crimped the hook should look like this. (See picture below)

Step 5.

Now cut a small 1-2 inch length of pike wire from the spool and bend it in the middle passing it through the eye of another treble hook. (See picture below)

Step 6.

Then thread another crimp down the pike wire to your desired distance away from the bottom treble and thread the two tag ends of wire holding the second treble through the crimp and crimp in three central positions again. Making sure that no wire protrudes like before so it doesn’t catch your mainline. The method of using another piece of wire to attach the second hook avoids kinking the main pike wire. (See picture below)

Step 7.

Now thread another crimp down the wire followed by a swivel, then thread the last tag end of wire back through the crimp and flatten in three central places to finish the trace. Again making sure that no wire protrudes beyond the crimp as your mainline will catch on it. (See picture below)

The finished trace will look like this. (See picture below)

You can make your traces to your own desired length to suit bait choice and fishing situation.

Tight lines

Dave