The Best Pike Trace : No Crimps Needed

When fishing for pike or other carnivorous fish you'll find out that these monsters will slice through every fishing line. Therefore you need a steel trace to protect your bait or lure from getting lost in the process,otherwise leaving you frustrated and harming the fish. I tried several pre tied brands and homemade versions of these pike traces and eventually came up with the best solution. Extremely reliable, easy to tie and cheap. Go check it out!
Thanks to Marcel and Jacques (Aeternum vale, amicitiae causa)

Materials Needed

You will need:
- Nylon coated steel trace wire.( Any nylon coated brand will do, I advise using the brand shown in the picture for it's fine properties)
- Cutting pliers
- Lighter ( candle will do when you are at home)
- Swivels with and without snap

Cut Wire to Desired Length and Add Swivel

Cut of your desired length of steel trace. For lure fishing 50cm will do. Put the swivel the line.

Make a Loop

Make a small loop with the swivel in the middle, roughly 1 cm in diameter, leaving a tag end of about 7 cm.

Feed the Tag End Through the Loop and Swivel

The following steps shows you how you can make a loop that holds the swivel, giving it great manouverability and a clean finish.
First feed the tag end through the eye of the swivel and passing it through the loop.

Forming the Loop

Keep passing the tag end, now only through the loop. Don't overdo this step.
Usually two or three times is sufficient. Just follow the flow of the material used untill you reach the beginning.

Securing by Twisting

Now that the loop is formed, take both mainline and tag end in one hand and hold the loop in the other. You need to twist the tag end and main line together using the loop as a leverage. Again, don't overdo this step and just follow the flow of the material.

Fusing by Melting

Now take your lighter and start melting the twisted wires together. This might take some pratice because it's easy to burn the material and the underlying metal wire. Let it cool and then melt/ fuse the loop. Be careful of touching the swivel while it's hot!

Last is to smooth out the little tag end. You might need to trim it first. Hold the main line and tag end parallel and just hit it shortly with the ligther and instantly pinch it with your finger.
Redo these steps for the other swivel.

Tip for making live/dead bait rigs:

You can also attach a hook at the end by first tying a no-knot ( google) and then melting the knot together. 100% secure!

Go catch a big one and tell me what you think!