Making dead baits pop up safely.
There are various options for getting baits up off the bottom and making them more visible and attractive to pike. With live baits this usually involves coloured foam bait poppers. For dead baits it is more likely to be by inserting a buoyant material into the body cavity to get it to become semi-buoyant to suspend over weed , silt or other bottom material and to be visible and with added attractors like oils and flavours, a magnet to any pike in the vicinity.
There are often many types of buoyant material recommended in the articles that get written about this subject and it is amazing how little thought is given to the material suggested and the possible side effects these may have upon the pike, if they are digested.
It is important, particularly when using dead baits, to consider the problems these materials, typically polystyrene in various forms, balls, strips etc. or the same with high density foams that are available to make pop up bait presentations for carp fishing, can cause seriuos problems if they are retained in the pikes stomach.
If these materials are stuffed into the body cavities of your dead baits, and as is a very real possibility, they cast off and are loose in the water and subsequently taken by a pike or that they come off during a take and get swallowed, they offer considerable problems for the pike. These materials are unlikely to dissolve in the stomach or be disposed of naturally and may cause distress by altering the pike ability to control it natural balance via its swim bladder, ultimately this may lead to the pike being unable to feed and eventually die.
It is far better to use a retainable or soluble insert material like those take the form of balsa wood bait inserts as shown in item 'A' in the pic here. The item 'B' is a similar bait insert, but this uses a dense foam moulded to the same shape as 'A'. These are used as illustrated in the accompanying diagram by inserting them into the body cavity of your dead bait, be they roach, smelts herrings or any similar bait. With both being securely attached to the trace with a wire link.
 This can be by insertion via the mouth as in 'B" or "C" in the illustration or by inserting the spear through an enlarged vent to allow the hooks to be in the tail section of the bait. The bait spears can be inserted into the mouth with tail mounted dead baits, as in "C", but it requires a longer braid or wire attachment, which can make it more likely to snagging. The other two methods (preferred) provide a short link cord and to set these all up, insert the bait spear first and then position and attach the hooks as detailed.
 You may need to check and adjust the necessary length of the braid attachment cord, 40lb BS braid being ideal, to get a happy medium length to suit the baits you will be using.
In addition to this method of making baits more visible and clear of snags, remember to make the bait more attractive by piercing the baits body to release natural body juices and if available, add some oils and flavours to enhance these. This will pull in any fish that are able to detect this as it is distributed and dispersed via the undertow or current, if you are fishing a river. In coloured water these two methods will really improve your chances of getting more pike on the bank!
Finally though, do help prevent harm to our pike by avoiding loose polystyrene or dense foam being left in the pike by using this method of making your dead baits buoyant, the bait spears are available commercially (Fox make them), but you can easily make your own from balsa wood and old float stems or glued in swivels.
A workable option is shown in the illustration on the right, in this version it uses a wire link (available ready made from one or two tackle manufacturers) which is inserted through the bait with a baiting needle and the bouyant insert is then attached to the wire with a link clip and pulled down into the body cavity through the baits mouth.
The wire retainer is attached to the hook trace in varius ways. If usung a ready made one attach these by threading it on over the swivel and sliding it down to the upper treble where it will be unable to be lost, before mounting the bait.
If you are making your own you can attach the trace wire via a loop to the eye of the upper treble and secure it by crimping it. This does mean the trace has a single use, but that's not such a bad thing. For complete flexibilty, if making your own, them make a link trace that is like the commercial version with a loop in the end that you will add to any trace you may be using.
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