Best Wire Traces for Pike (For All Methods)

When fishing for toothy predators, such as pike, using a wire trace is your smartest choice, as it effectively prevents line cuts by the pike’s ultra-sharp teeth and hence preserves your end tackle and lures.

As there are so many different types or wire trace materials out there, I have decided to put together this helpful guide in order to help you find the perfect wire trace any pike fishing method.

This article includes the best wire traces for pike when it comes to fishing with both lures, deadbait on the bottom, and live bait on the float.

Best Wire Traces for Spin Fishing Pike

As there are as many anglers who prefer using ready-tied traces as there are those who tie their own wire traces for pike, I decided to include both options.

Both of these titanium wires are made of highly qualitative choices that you can rely on 100% I chose titanium because it’s simply the best wire material out there. You won’t find a more suitable material for spin fishing!

I like to go for a trace strength of about 20 to 30lb and a length of 10-15 inches, which I find more than apt for spin fishing pike.

Daiwa Prorex Titanium Wire (Ready-Tied)

Starting off with the ready-tied option, Daiwa’s titanium wire is a really great pick if you want to use ready-mades. I could tell you that those packs of 30 traces that you see all over Amazon are great and totally worth it, but they’re really not!

The quality is usually horrible and you are much better off getting a few high-quality traces than a whole bunch of inferior ones that will break after a few fish.

The Daiwa Titanium Wire, on the other hand, won’t let you down and thanks to its awesome material, it will actually last for a very long time.

The wire’s flexibility will give your lures the very best presentation underwater and the quality of the materials used for this trace, meaning the crimps and swivels, is just outstanding.

All-in-all, a really great trace that is very durable and hence also very cost-effective.

Find Daiwa’s ready-tied titanium wire traces on Amazon here

Daiwa Prorex Titanium Wire Trace

If you’d rather tie your own lure traces, Daiwa has got you covered on that front as well! Their wire trace is made of the exact same material as their ready-tied model, which is the very best titanium.

If you’ve ever used an old-fashioned single-strand steel trace, you will appreciate titanium so much! I got so frustrated every time those steel traces would kink beyond recognition, as it totally screwed up my presentation.

Then, I bought a length of titanium wire, tied me a few traces, and boy, do I don’t look back to those steel wire days. It’s really like night and day! No kinking (really, none whatsoever), and the flexibility of the Daiwa Titanium is just insane.

Take a closer look at the Daiwa Prorex Wire on Amazon here

Best Wire Trace for Pike Fishing with Dead Baits

Now, let’s move over to ledgering with dead baits. This is a very popular method of catching pike, mainly during the cold water season, and using the right type of wire for this fishing method is extremely vital.

What most sites or experts won’t mention is the fact that using a slightly stiffer wire trace can actually be very beneficial when using dead baits, especially for beginners.

The reason for that is simple; when you cast out a dead baitfish that’s on the heavier side, the last thing you’ll want it to do is to get tangled up in your wire trace or mainline. The risk for that happening is especially high when fishing at a greater distance.

The more power you put into that cast, the more your dead bait will move around on its way through the air. And a tangled-up baitfish on the bottom is pretty much the worst presentation you could imagine.

Pike, especially the cold water variety, are smart creatures, you know! They will notice if anything looks odd or doesn’t move or lie naturally on the bottom.

That is mainly the reason why I like to use the Super Trace by E-Sox. It’s coated, it’s a little stiff and extremely durable, while still having enough softness to it. In other words, it’s the perfect trace for dead baiting!

I recommend using a 28lb wire strength when dead baiting for pike.

You can check out E-Sox’ awesome Super Trace on Amazon here

Best Wire Trace for Pike Fishing with Live Baits

The last pike wire trace I want to recommend is the perfect fit for float fishing with live baitfish; the Fox 49 Strand Wire.

For this method, you will want to use a wire that is very soft and flexible, so that it doesn’t hinder the baitfish’s movements in the water in any way.

When it comes to live bait, a natural presentation is everything, if you ask me. A heavy and stiff trace is simply not equal to that. Worse still, it can actually fatigue your baitfish and cause it to remain rather inactive.

When float fishing for big pike, a non-moving, sluggish live bait is the last thing you want!

But, with the right type of wire trace, which is one that both baitfish and pike will barely notice, you won’t have such problems.

Many years ago, Fox came up with this amazing 49-strand wire material that is as smooth and soft as they come. It’s the perfect innovation if you think about it. A finely woven wire trace will be both extremely soft and flexible, as well as really, really, strong.

With a wire like that, your baitfish can swim freely and naturally and will be able to lure even the oldest and smartest of pike.

A wire of about 25lb for open water and 40lb for waters with a lot of snags is optimal.

If you need to buy a length of Fox’ super smooth and flexible 49 Strand Wire, you can find it on Amazon here

Why Should You Use Wire Traces for Pike?

Pike are toothy predators! In fact, they have up to 700 extremely sharp teeth of varying sizes in their mouths, making them perfect hunting and killing machines.

And while you can get away with using really thick and durable fluorocarbon traces, keeping to wire is always the better option, especially when it comes to fishing with baitfish.

Check out this related article if you want to read up on pike teeth and see some pretty cool toothy images of them: Pike Teeth (Lots of Facts and Pictures)

For one thing, it’s just the safest choice, as the pike simply won’t be able to bite through this type of trace material.

For another thing, using super thick fluorocarbon is actually counterproductive in my opinion, as it just won’t be very flexible and hence impact the presentation of your baits and lures negatively.

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