Pike Lures?

[saxon]

I caught more muskies and northerns growing up in Wisconsin on Doctor spoons than any other spoon type lure. I had the best luck with the old style polished silver ones with the little red eyes..

[dipbait]

I envy you catching Pike. Ive only caught one in my life. Fishing dikes for bass on the Mississippi I caught a little one on a spinnerbait.

[banana-clip]

Early spring back home in Nebraska we would use chubs to catch them.

I never had much luck catching them past early spring.

[mewolf1]

I envy you catching Pike. Ive only caught one in my life. Fishing dikes for bass on the Mississippi I caught a little one on a spinnerbait.

About 8 hours north on 35 and we can change that!

[Yorkshire Boy]

I'm not an expert but these are my pike fishing observations...

Generally speaking big pike like big baits.

I only fish from the bank for pike, but I know the Rapala Super Shad Rap would be a good trolling lure for you.
I tend to fish the SSR with a very slow retrieve, so it creeps just under the surface making a bulge in the water. If I crank it down then I can bump it along the bottom (removing the belly hook helps limit snagging on obstacles, and even with heavy braid and heavy wire trace it's a very buoyant lure).




(sorry about the mad eyes!) Pike caught on a very slow retrieved Rapala SSR in perch colour.

Sometimes though, large pike want small baits.

This



was caught on a little Lucky Craft Sammy walk the dog lure.


Sometimes bigger isn't better

Talking of small lures, jack pike (small pike) offer good sport on ultra light gear.



Which was caught on this Beetle Spin

[willseeyalater]

Nice fish there Yorkshire Boy. Your fishing method sounds much like we use here in the States. Is it true that access to fishing waters is a challenge in the UK? Here we have many options both in boat and from shore but Minnesota is one of the states with many lakes of all categories and rivers as well so our situation is not typical of every state.

[Yorkshire Boy]

Nice fish there Yorkshire Boy. Your fishing method sounds much like we use here in the States. Is it true that access to fishing waters is a challenge in the UK? Here we have many options both in boat and from shore but Minnesota is one of the states with many lakes of all categories and rivers as well so our situation is not typical of every state.

There are more and more lure anglers in the UK, but I would say the most popular method for catching pike is live and dead baiting. Our lure techniques and tackle is usually developed in other countries (North America, Japan, Europe etc..) but our bait techniques are pretty much home grown and compared to others fairly sophisticated.


There's about 3000 miles of canal networks in the UK, giving easy access to fishing for many city and town dwellers (lots of pike in these waters). There are hundreds of lakes, twenty major rivers and if we get bored of freshwater fishing (nowhere in the UK is more than 70 miles from the sea) then we have 11,000 miles of coastline (I wish we had barracuda ).

Canal network





Try to match the hatch...



Caught on the green twintail jig, just round the corner from where I found the squished frog.

Nearby is the Abbey

[B.Mauser]

Nice pike! Looks like yours have been hitting the gym compared to mine. Beefy fish.

[willseeyalater]

There's about 3000 miles of canal networks in the UK, giving easy access to fishing for many city and town dwellers (lots of pike in these waters). There are hundreds of lakes, twenty major rivers and if we get bored of freshwater fishing (nowhere in the UK is more than 70 miles from the sea) then we have 11,000 miles of coastline (I wish we had barracuda ).

Sounds like there are many good options for fishing. Thanks for the firsthand information.

[Circle10]

Oh man this thread brings back memories. I miss fishing for those Northerns in Michigan and Canada! The 5 of diamonds was always my favorite. The bigger the lure the bigger the fish.

[Yorkshire Boy]

Oh man this thread brings back memories. I miss fishing for those Northerns in Michigan and Canada! The 5 of diamonds was always my favorite. The bigger the lure the bigger the fish.

This chub had a healed bite mark, so a 12 inch lure could be considered small



Imagine the average size of prey this pike would eat.
NOT ME AND NOT MY PHOTO


Honestly though, I think very large lures and heavy tackle is overkill for my pike fishing (I have no experience in boat fishing so that might be different). Most of my pike lures weigh between 7 and 50grms, and the heaviest braid I'm now using is 50lb.

I love to catch pike on the Storm Chug Bug.

[Yorkshire Boy]

Nice pike! Looks like yours have been hitting the gym compared to mine. Beefy fish.

All pike are good, even the wriggly little ones which are like hammer handles!


There's a book on pike fishing by In Fisherman, and it goes into some detail about different world pike populations, it's a good book and well worth a read.

[rocketbomb]

Mepps spinners catch me a lot of pike.

However, you can also catch a TON of pike on bluegeill (both live and cut as you would for catfish). Catch more fishing under a bobber than on the bottom but both work depending on the day.

[ConBon]

Crankbaits that run shallow, bout 3-6 feet, work wonders trolling. I am actually going to the cabin today, and will be using them. They catch plenty of bass too.
Also, a 2" long white and chartreuse 3' deep Lucky Craft crankbait caught a 30+ inch long pike, and she was a fatty too. Spoons work well when casting, but I don't use them for trolling much. Remember, patience is the key.
Tight lines to ya!

[ConBon]

Mepps spinners catch me a lot of pike.

However, you can also catch a TON of pike on bluegeill (both live and cut as you would for catfish). Catch more fishing under a bobber than on the bottom but both work depending on the day.

+1 for this

[iahunter3]

I would just add one thing as all lure options are good. Don't be afraid to cast to the same exact spot 3-4 times. They often will sit there and watch it go by a couple of times before hitting the bait.
My favorites are the Williams Wobbler and large inline spinners.

[kgd]

My favorites are Mepps spinners (#3-5) for pike. I prefer to cut the treble hook off, fit a split ring and worm hook. Then I texas rig a Black Sluggo (personal favorite), or various rubber worms. Dark coloured plastics usually work better for me than white/yellow. Fire tails on black do nicely though.

[comoha]

My most successful lure for northerns has ironically been the Bass-Oreno. About 3 1/2" long, it has a nice wobble and with 3 treble hooks, it's not letting anything go.
It is a bear to unravel from your landing net though.

[upnorth]

Pretty much anything that wobbles\spins\flashes will attract pike. They are predators. A buddy of mine was a taxidermist for years and he would find beer caps in pike bellies. The caps wobble and flash on the way down after being tossed out of a boat.