Good mid-morning all from the great state of Montana! I have a question for you regarding the quick strike setup for pike. I'm normally loathe to fish dead bait under a bobber, but as stubborn as I am, I've been refining my technique as the pike in my area aren't actively chasing lures yet. When you rig your quick strike setup, how do you keep the fish from swallowing the treble hook? I went out yesterday and intended on releasing the bigger fish of the day, but ended up taking a 30"er home because the front hook was down in his belly, even though I set the hook quickly.
Do pike tend to hit dead bait from the front, and if so, would rigging the treble hooks towards the back end of the smelt result in more grabs in the pike's mouth? My setup was as follows: I tied a barrel swivel to the main line and ran two 10" pieces of 50 lb. mono off of the other end of the swivel, to which I tied two size 2 treble hooks. I had the smelt hooked in the head and behind the dorsal and had it balanced with split shot so it hung horizontal in the water.